An official image from Bungie has surfaced, showing the true scale of the Traveler from Destiny 2. This was necessary – because the game does not always provide the right perspective to make estimates.
The Traveler is one of the central “Figures” in Destiny 2. He is omnipresent. The massive sphere has been hovering above the last refuge of humanity since the Collapse. It was already known that the Traveler has gigantic dimensions – but the exact measurements were not known, at least until now!
14 kilometers of pure light
For an image has emerged that shows the Traveler in relation to enemy spaceships. This and other concept art comes from Bungie’s concept artist Dorje Bellbrok, which he published on his blog! According to this, the diameter of the Traveler is 14,000 meters:
This makes the Traveler outshine all other formations on our planet, even Mount Everest, which is only a measly 8,849 meters high. For comparison: The Earth has a diameter of about 12,700 kilometers.
Also interesting: Even next to the Destiny 2 location Nessus, the Traveler need not hide; the planetoid measures only 60 km in diameter.
That’s why the Traveler could have wiped out the dinos
Scientific calculations revealed that the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs millions of years ago was between 10 and 15 kilometers in size. The Traveler fits perfectly into this scheme.
One can count themselves lucky that the Traveler was friendly towards humans; a slight shove, and the few insects that would have survived the catastrophe could have enjoyed a golden age.
The Traveler and the right perspective
The Traveler does not always appear so gigantic. Even though the sphere is visible from space, the Traveler does not seem that impressive upon close inspection. These perspective flaws can be found in several places within the game.
The following image shows the Traveler as seen from space:
The Traveler clearly stands out from the earth’s surface. The following image comes from the second story mission of Destiny 2 and provides an impressive, albeit perspectively questionable, panorama:
The Traveler appears much smaller than when viewed from space. These irregularities clearly serve for presentation, but make accurate estimates more challenging. Such inconsistencies were also apparent in the predecessor.
Oryx’s Dreadnaught also offered more show than substance
With the Taken King, Oryx parked his Dreadnaught in the rings of Saturn. In relation to the rings, estimates suggest that the Dreadnaught must be between 1,000 and 2,500 km long.
For comparison: The Death Star from Star Wars measures only 900 km in diameter. In the story sequences and when approaching the Dreadnaught, however, it appears much smaller.
Even though the dimensions are not always easily ascertainable, large objects are impressive and must also be easily recognizable from close up for presentation purposes. For this reason, the Traveler does not always appear to be the same size.
What do you think? Would you have considered the Traveler to be larger or smaller?
