Destiny 2 is coming closer. What should players know who have never played Destiny before and want to get started now? Here is our compact beginner guide with important information and tips from experienced Guardians.
On September 6, 2017, Destiny 2 was released on PS4 and Xbox One. From October 24, PC players can also dive into the once console-exclusive Destiny universe for the first time. Bungie and Activision want to target an even broader market with Destiny 2.
This means there will soon be quite a few new Guardians. To ensure that beginners – or anyone who hasn’t played Destiny for a while – can make a successful start in Destiny 2, we have everything you need to know!
What is Destiny and what is it about?
Destiny is – like its sequel Destiny 2 – an MMO shooter. Specifically, this means: you fight in first-person perspective against a variety of enemies in PvE and PvP, with the online aspect, loot and progress playing an important role. Your character becomes stronger by engaging in activities that reward you with loot.
The developers at Bungie continuously take care of the game and regularly release updates, hotfixes, expansions, and sequels. Destiny 2 is the first sequel to Destiny in three years.
Destiny 2 represents a fresh start. The developers want to provide all new players with a barrier-free entry into the Destiny universe. The new villain takes away the heroes in Destiny – the Guardians – their power, weapons, and abilities. Every player, whether a newbie or a long-time veteran, starts fresh. You need to find new weapons and armor pieces, learn new abilities, and evolve back into a powerful Guardian.
What do I need to know about the story?
Although the story in Destiny 1 was one of the biggest points of criticism, as it was incoherent and confusing, quite a bit has happened in Destiny over the last three years. You can find a detailed summary of the Destiny story here. Here is the short version:
- Destiny takes place in a fictional future, in a science-fiction setting at a time after the “Collapse”. The Collapse marks the end of the Golden Age.
- The Golden Age, regarded as the peak of humanity (alien planets were colonized, there was rapid technological progress), was initiated with the arrival of the Traveler.
- The Traveler is the mysterious, massive sphere that hovers over the last city of humanity. Very little is known about the Traveler.
- At the beginning of Destiny 2, the Light of the Traveler – and thus your Ghost – is taken from you. You must find both again.
- In Destiny 1, the Guardians were able to hold back numerous dangers thanks to the Light of the Traveler. They fought on Earth, the Moon, Venus, Mars, and on a grave ship near Saturn.
In short: All dangers could be averted in Destiny 1 with the help of the light that the Guardians used.
Who or what do I actually fight in Destiny 2? – The Enemies
In Destiny, there are various alien races that are hostile towards you. These include:
- The Fallen
- The Hive
- The Vex
- The Cabal
- and the Taken, which are special variants of the previous races.
In Destiny 2, all enemy races will encounter you. However, the focus is on the Cabal:
The Cabal are the largest known military force in the universe, and they show their true strength in Destiny 2 for the first time. The Red Legion, an elite unit of the Cabal, comes to Earth with their leader Ghaul. They are heavily armored, heavily armed, and weigh hundreds of kilograms.
In the first story mission, you see the arrival of the Red Legion on Earth. Ghaul believes that the power of the Traveler rightfully belongs to him. He aims to prove this by annihilating humanity.
To stop the Guardians – the “superheroes” in the Destiny universe – he shields the Traveler with a massive barrier. At the end of the first story mission, the Guardians lose their power. Things look grim for the Guardians and humanity. Therefore, the motto under which Destiny 2 stands is: “Welcome to a world without light.”
This results in the main campaign unfolding in such a way that you must search for new ways to regain strength, to recover your power, and to defeat Ghaul.
Who am I in Destiny 2? – Guardian Classes and Subclasses
In Destiny 2, you are the Guardians – the protectors of the last city and humanity, chosen by the Traveler and endowed with special abilities through its Light.
In Destiny 2, you can create your own Guardian or take over the Guardians from Destiny 1. There are three Guardian classes to choose from:
- Titan: This class is aggressive in attacks and resilient in defense.
- Hunter: This class focuses on agility.
- Warlock: These are the “scholars of Light” who use energies to heal themselves or empower their weapons.
Each of these classes has three subclasses, the “focuses”. Each subclass has its own abilities.
- The new subclasses in Destiny 2 are introduced here.
- Need a little help with your decision? Destiny 2: Class Guide – Titan, Hunter, or Warlock?
The Guardians enter battle with various weapons, armor pieces, and abilities. As abilities, the Guardian uses a grenade, a melee attack, a class ability, and a super (a devastating attack). All abilities have cooldowns and cannot be used continuously.
There are many different types of weapons. They are classified into three categories:
- Kinetic Weapons – These are the standard weapons.
- Energy Weapons – These weapons have various elemental damages (Arc, Solar, or Void). They are strong against enemy shields.
- Power Weapons – The powerful weapons that deal significant damage.
Each weapon slot requires its own ammunition.
- You can read all about the weapons in Destiny 2 here: Destiny 2 Weapon Guide – All Information on Slots, Mods, Shields, Elements.
The power of your Guardian is indicated by its level and its power level:
You increase this power by finding and equipping better weapons and armor. The higher the power, the more damage you deal and the more damage you can withstand.
What is there to do in Destiny 2? – Content and Activities
In Destiny 2, you can engage in a variety of activities. The PvE activities can or must be completed together with other Guardians (Co-op), while the PvP activities are always in a 4v4 format.
The PvE content:
- Story Missions (can be played solo or in a fireteam with up to 2 other Guardians)
- Strikes: 3-player group activities where you defeat many enemies and there is always a big boss waiting at the end.
- Raid: 6-player group activity, which is the most challenging and intense PvE activity. There are huge bosses, jumping sections, and team mechanics.
- Open World: In Destiny 2, there are four different worlds and each of them has an open game world. Here you will find public events, dungeons, side missions, and additional game content.
You can find all PvE content in Destiny 2 here.
The PvP area of Destiny is called the Crucible. Here, the Guardians “train” in various modes and on various maps. Fans of PvP will get their fill here.
There is a quick play playlist with casual PvP modes and a competitive playlist with intense PvP modes. Read all about PvP here.
Tips for Beginners from Our Community
We asked our readers, what tips and information they would give to Destiny beginners. Some of these were already presented above, here are more tips:
- In Control mode, don’t run around madly but capture the control zones! (from Pueschi)
- Don’t get discouraged in PvP. Instead, learn the maps and find the weapons that suit you (from Duke885)
- Have fun (from Schlumpf-Venom)
- You should know who Zavala, Ikora, Cayde-6, and Shaxx are (from EinenÜbernDurst). You will encounter these four characters directly in the first story mission of Destiny 2. Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde-6 are the Vanguard leaders who had missions for the Guardians in Destiny 1 and directed many of your missions. Together with you, they protect the Last City and the Tower – the home of the Guardians. Lord Shaxx is the overseer of the Crucible, the PvP area.
Destiny 2 is released on September 6, 2017, on PS4 and Xbox One and on October 24 on PC.
Do you have any tips to share? Then let us know in the comments.
All news, information, and guides about Destiny 2 can be found on our “Destiny 2” overview page and on our “Destiny 2 – Mein MMO” Facebook page.
