On the night before Destiny 2‘s Beyond Light launch, a live event concluded Season 11. MeinMMO author Philipp Hansen stayed up all night and shares how he experienced the arrival of the Darkness.
What happened in Destiny 2? If you try to log into Destiny 2 right now, you’ll see nothing but black; the servers are unreachable. This is due to maintenance work that will last into the evening hours of November 10th in preparation for the new DLC.
However, for the Guardians, there was a closing event that cleverly integrated the downtime into the game’s story. Unfortunately, the finale of Season 11 and the transition to Beyond Light took place at a very inconvenient time, in the middle of the night from November 9th to November 10th.
We present to you the events from the casual perspective of MeinMMO author Philipp Hansen and show you through images and a video what you missed.
The Darkness swallows half the game, and I was there live
Hello, Philipp Hansen here. I am the Destiny expert at MeinMMO and have been involved with the franchise privately for 6 years. Like many others, I hope that Beyond Light will be the next big thing that Destiny 2 desperately needs.
Therefore, I didn’t want to miss the chance to experience the transition to the new chapter live.
This is how I experienced the event:
- 12:55 AM: I did it like little kids before New Year’s; I napped beforehand. Starting from 11:00 PM, I dozed on the living room couch until my alarm went off at 12:55 AM.
- 1:05 AM: Destiny 2 can’t find the mini-update; I frantically check some live streams, which also have their problems loading the update.
- 1:10 AM: Finally, the download works! Half awake but completely confused, I log into Destiny 2 – after 4 attempts, the servers finally allowed me to log in.
- 1:30 AM: I spent the last half hour watching the Traveler shine or collect energy – meanwhile, I pose next to Zavala and glance at the repeatedly appearing “Contacting server” message in the corner of the screen.
- 1:35 AM: I’ve laid back on the couch again; my Guardian is holding the position in the Tower – he doesn’t need sleep.
- 3:00 AM: The alarm rings again. It was not a pleasant sleep anyway, as my PS4 Pro roars like a jet. But the ordered PlayStation 5 and its advertised whisper mode give me hope – the warning for pre-orderers from 06.11. crushes this hope.
- 3:01 AM: In the Tower, a new mission can now be started: “The Last City”. Right after the mission starts, the event-exclusive emblem “Disaster Protocol” is added to the inventory and proudly equipped.
- The mission leads me down into the streets of the city, and I notice numerous residents pointing at the Traveler in the sky.
- Instead of directly following the quest marker, I explore the picturesque area, hop through front yards and narrow alleys. I briefly stop in front of a Ramen shop and think of Cayde and his forgotten noodle soup coupon.
- 3:10 AM: I find a boost that lets me jump higher and have finally reached the quest marker. The door opens, and suddenly I’m not alone anymore.
- The rooftops serve as viewing platforms for many Guardians – almost all carry the sword “Falling Guillotine” on their backs. Do they know it will receive a nerf in Beyond Light?
- 3:50 AM: My Guardian has been standing still in front of the Traveler for 30 minutes; I watch videos to stay awake. The next alarm is already set for 7:00 AM, which doesn’t make the situation any better.
- 3:51 AM: The Traveler is glowing very brightly now, and everything is pulsating with energy. Eris Morn speaks through the speakers and chats with my Ghost. The creepy lady confirms what many suspect: The Traveler is healing itself.
- 3:59 AM: Everything goes black, and shortly thereafter, a small cutscene begins – accompanied by the repeatedly popping up message “Contacting server.”
- You can see the well-known map of the solar system known for 3 years, with the Traveler shining like a disco ball in the center. Darkness approaches from the edge, depicted as nebulous tentacles, swallowing half the game.
- 4:01 AM: The screen goes black again; the servers then shut down, and I actually lose connection – this time, however, it is planned, as Destiny 2 remains unreachable and black until November 10th at 6:00 PM – until Beyond Light launches.
- 4:05 AM: The PlayStation is off, and I am left half disappointed and half hyped.
My conclusion about the event: Thanks to the tweet (via Twitter) from Destiny head Luke Smith, I didn’t expect too much. I find it cool that they drew inspiration from the “Black Hole” event from Fortnite and effectively explained the long 14-hour waiting time in-game. However, I would have preferred to see the pyramid ships in action rather than the tentacles.
Despite the connection warnings, the entire season finale was stable for me and was significantly more compact than the event concluding Season 10 that dragged on like chewing gum. However, I found it lacking in bombast, which Bungie usually masterfully includes in videos. But it’s not like I can think too much about it; I fell asleep again.
But who knows what awaits us tonight at the start of Beyond Light? It’s possible I will see my pyramid action after all.
Here you can watch the event: Check out the video tour through “The Last City” here and the cutscene featuring the impending Darkness starting at minute 07:15:
Did you stay up late for the closing event? How did you find the whole thing? Were you also so tired? Did the servers ruin your plans, or did you sleep soundly and are watching the summaries in the video now?
