The initial excitement about Destiny 2 has calmed down. Guardians are still playing with enthusiasm – but critical voices are increasing. Here is our wishlist for upcoming updates!
Bungie has done a lot right with Destiny 2 and has further developed the franchise in significant ways. The ability to see public events directly in the game or to go treasure hunting using the map are great innovations. The beautifully designed locations invite exploration. Not to mention, the story has made tremendous strides in terms of presentation and variety.
In other respects, however, Bungie has not only taken a step back but has completely removed meaningful features from Destiny 1 that we now sorely miss. With the following points, we want to provide suggestions on how Bungie could meaningfully improve Destiny 2 in the coming months.
The Level Progression – fast at first, then not at all
While you follow the really well-made story of Destiny 2, you automatically level up and increase your Power Level. So far, so good. Upon completing the story and reaching Level 20, various opportunities are available for you to continue leveling up.
You can play Strikes, complete public events, scour the Lost Sectors, or complete weekly milestones that allow you to level up. And fast. Really fast. Before you know it, you will have reached at least Power Level 265. And then? Nothing more. At least it feels that way, because the factions and vendors in the world will only give you items that are below your current Power Level from that moment on.
Lost Sectors? Free of charge. Even the Strike playlist won’t help you from this moment on. You can now only level up through weekly milestones, exotic Engrams, the raid or through the Trials of the Nine. When you reach Power Level 265 quickly, and the level progression after that feels like sticky gum – especially without any apparent reason – that is no fun.
Even creating a second character of the same class does not help. Except for the quests for exotic weapons, you will only receive drops that are below your current level. It is particularly frustrating when you have just completed a Nightfall Strike, and all rewards are 10 Power Levels below your equipped items.
Whether this is a bug or intentional by Bungie is unknown – but it punishes players who prefer to play multiple characters of a class.
It is unclear why it no longer makes sense to level up the factions at Power Level 270 (unless you are hoping for a specific item), as this eliminates the incentive to explore the world (since you no longer need to collect tokens).
Players who want to level up will consistently farm public events heroically to level up with exotic Engrams. Why? Because they are the fastest to handle – by far. I am sure this is not the “endgame” Bungie had in mind. While exotic Engrams also drop from other activities, they do not justify the time investment.
Therefore, I wish that the level progression could be possible in more ways. The Lost Sectors were touted as a great innovation by Bungie, but they become completely irrelevant and unworthy at Power Level 270. It can be slower than the way to 265, but it must be steady. This keeps players engaged!
The Leviathan Raid – Great Design, Weak Loot System
The first step into a new raid is always a great experience. Thousands of players also dove headfirst into the adventure with the Leviathan Raid and embraced the battle against the mechanics. The raid is designed to be really varied, and the secret underground offers plenty of room for explorers.
However, the loot system is to be criticized. Whoever at Bungie thought it would be a good idea to introduce tokens that I receive instead of the rewards in the raid, which then have to be exchanged at a vendor in the Tower after the raid, should play the raid themselves and then tell me how much fun they had with it.
Nothing is more exciting than comparing the drops among each other after a victorious battle and trying them out. However, in the current Leviathan Raid, the drops are so sparsely scattered that in most cases you only have tokens to show for it.
And you have nothing from these tokens before you have completed the raid. Because the relevant vendor in the Tower will only be unlocked once Calus is defeated. You haven’t finished the raid, but have over 50 tokens? Tough luck, you can’t use them for anything.
The keys that unlock certain chests in the underground are an interesting element in and of themselves. However, the fact that you have to dive into a labyrinth only after finishing the raid to open these chests causes further delays in looting.
Moreover, the special raid weapons do not offer any specific perks for this raid, which increases the incentive to farm them.
So Bungie, please significantly increase the drop rates in the raid and unlock the vendor as soon as you’ve earned the first tokens! In future raids, the weapons should play a more specialized role and not just be existing weapons with new skins that nobody really needs.
The Strike Playlist – two steps back
Strikes in Destiny are inherently a great thing. Self-contained instances that must be tackled in a fireteam of three players invite speed runs and challenges.
In Destiny 1, the strikes were more or less integrated into the story, many were unlocked only with a certain progression and could be selected individually over the respective location.
All of this no longer exists. There is only the strike playlist now. I myself have not yet seen all the strikes to this day – there is also no reason to play the strike playlist.
Because as soon as you reach Power Level 270, it no longer makes sense to play the strikes since you will not receive any loot that increases your Power Level. There is also no strike-specific loot that you can chase. Furthermore, Bungie has removed the improvement of rewards when you play multiple strikes in a row.
So I wish that Bungie would allow us to select the strikes individually if desired. I also want great loot that is only available in the respective strikes and increases the incentive to play them. A logical integration of the strikes into the story probably won’t be possible anymore.
The Vault – the Discovery of Chaos
The positive note first: The vault is significantly larger than it was at the start of Destiny 1. But that is where the good news ends. Instead of the clear tabs in Destiny 1, where everything was neatly separated by weapons, armor, and consumables, in Destiny 2 we experience pure chaos.
There is only one view into which all items go. Unsorted. Whether shaders, mods, ships, sparrows, weapons, armor, etc. – all in one view. Additionally, the entire distribution of items changes as soon as I take one from the vault.
What has prevented Bungie from using the vault from the predecessor is beyond my knowledge. What has been presented to us here has neither head nor tail and is simply frustrating.
Bungie – please give us the vault from Destiny 1 back!
The Navigation in the Open World – give us waypoints!
The ability to call up the map in-game and orient oneself is a sensible innovation. However, as soon as I leave the map, I am lost. Which direction was the region chest now? Lost Sector? Call the map up again and take a closer look. I also have no idea where the members of my fireteam are located.
I wish that
- waypoints can be placed on the map that every member of my fireteam can see
- I can see the exact location of my fireteam on the map, and
- the cardinal direction north is marked with an N on the radar. This would significantly improve orientation.
Nothing is more frustrating than having to explain to a colleague where you are based on some scattered boulders.
The Problem with the Missing Grimoire Cards
Yes, the Grimoire cards were not a really elegant solution to tell the exciting lore of Destiny. Bungie has removed these with Destiny 2 and replaced them with items scattered throughout the world that reveal details about the background story after a brief scan.
However, I cannot find this information anywhere. Not even on bungie.net, where at least the Grimoire cards could be read. I would therefore like a compendium of all the objects in the game that I have already found, so I can read them again later. Horizon Zero Dawn shows how this can work.
Your Own Performance in the Companion App – gone!
Bungie has sensibly enhanced the official companion app in many ways. In the Companion App for Destiny 1, players could still access dedicated information about their own performance in PvE and PvP content.
This feature no longer exists. Of course, there are external apps that do this job as well, but one should not have to rely on them. I would like to see my own statistics again in Bungie’s app.
Let us know in the comments what changes you would wish for Destiny 2!
