No one probably expected this: The prestige activities in Destiny 2 are no longer playable without acquiring the new expansion Curse of Osiris.
If you don’t want to deal with the story around Osiris on Mercury and thus do not acquire “Curse of Osiris”, you now have a problem: Because without the new expansion, no prestige mode is playable, neither in the raid nor in the nightfall strike.
Power level is raised – but not for everyone
The required power level for the raid and the nightfall strike has been raised with the first DLC.
This is what many players wished for. Because in Destiny 1, in the first two years, old raids were not adjusted to new light level standards. Consequently, there was no incentive to play them anymore.
Bungie has solved this problem by raising the power levels for the prestige activities in Destiny 2 – but not for all players.
For the Leviathan raid, you should now be at power level 330 to play the prestige variant. The same level applies for the prestige nightfall strike. Since you can reach a maximum of 305 without Curse of Osiris, you will be locked out of these prestige activities. You can’t even enter them; it states: Destiny 2 Curse of Osiris is required.
By the way, you will also be locked out of the heroic strike playlist if you do not own the DLC.
Prestige activities are now hidden behind a paywall
If you did not purchase the expansion, you will only be able to play the activities at normal difficulty. This also affects trophies and achievements.
If you have not unlocked the trophy “The Prestige” yet, you will now no longer be able to earn the platinum trophy (PS4) without purchasing the expansion. Because for this trophy, you need to have completed the raid or the nightfall strike on prestige difficulty.
The Legend of Acrius is also affected
It will be particularly hard for players who do not have the Legend of Acrius. This is the exotic raid shotgun. Throughout the quest, you will have to face the weapons dealer. This is a strike with special modifiers, which remains open to everyone.
However, the weapons dealer strike is now set at power level 330. Although it still shows 300, all enemies are at 330. This will likely be difficult for players without DLC, as they will be at least 25 levels below. Whether this is intentional or a bug is unknown.
Purchase price refunds from Sony / Microsoft?
Currently, there are increasing voices that suggest one might be able to get their money back for Destiny 2.
A Reddit user reported that he communicated with Microsoft, stating that he could no longer finish the game without the DLC, as certain achievements/trophies are now tied to the DLC and no longer to the main game.
This reason was accepted by Microsoft, and the player received his money back. It remains to be seen whether this will turn into a mass movement.
Robert says: Bungie is removing content that players paid for just a few months ago. That alone shouldn’t be possible. However, it particularly hits PC players, who could only play the prestige activities for a few weeks before they were tied to the Osiris expansion.
Even though the fact that now all activities remain relevant due to the power-level increase is commendable – the decision to exclude players without DLC from the prestige activities is, however, incomprehensible.
The impact on the trophies also leaves a bitter taste. There has not yet been an official statement from Bungie.
What do you think about it?
