Destiny 2 has surprised everyone with the new Omen mission. What makes it so good and why was no one expecting it?
This was surprising: In Destiny 2, the current season 12, the Season of the Hunt, is coming to an end. On February 9, the new season 13 is supposed to bring fresh air to the MMO shooter. Until then, the Guardians have already prepared for content drought.
That something should still come before the season change, Destiny 2 hinted at this in various ways. But when the Omen activity actually went live, the Guardians were surprised. Because the mission is
- more extensive than expected
- harder than expected
- more rewarding than expected
Many are now comparing Omen with the two heavyweights among hidden missions: Zero Hour and the Whisper mission. MeinMMO examines whether the latest surprise in Destiny 2 can actually compete, what makes Omen so good, and where there is criticism.
Omen has (almost) everything Guardians love
How well orchestrated Omen is: At the start of the mission, you find yourself in narrow corridors and oppressive hallways. Everything is dark and with the sporadically flickering lights somehow creepier than it should be. At the end of a hidden tunnel, it becomes bright. Sudden cut: You stand in front of a picturesque and very open ruins backdrop with a huge dam in the background. But what then?
It turns out that the dam is not part of the background, but is accessible through a well-hidden log and a daring jump into the depths.
Many Guardians probably pondered for a long time during their first visit. Because only a seemingly randomly placed enemy indicates that the path is walkable – clever placement, Bungie.
Inside the dam, it continues through long-ago rusted pump rooms. Since annoyingly the radar is disabled, you move from enemy to enemy until you have beaten down 3 mini-bosses in the maze-like tunnel labyrinth full of branches.
Once you find the exit, a multi-stage battle against annoying champions and even more annoying snipers (who are significantly more dangerous due to another hidden modifier) follows. After the battle, a treasure chest appears. This could have been the end of the mission – but that was just the beginning.
Next comes a trip past a mysterious ship and then a long, long jumping passage. The area is known; during our first visit, we blindly followed the golden falcon. Now we have to find and finally take down the actual boss of the activity without bird aids.
This is why multiple visits are worth it
Beautiful and challenging missions are always welcome, but a Guardian is primarily after loot. Here too, the activity delivers and even has replay value.
- Golden feathers are hidden everywhere in the Omen mission. Collecting 100 of them unlocks a mysterious exotic ship for you.
- At the end of the mission, you receive the Fallen Moon Exotic with random rolls. For a long time, Guardians puzzled over how to farm the first Exotic without fixed perks. Now they know.
- Additionally, upon first completion, the exotic masterwork catalyst for Fallen Moon is available as loot. The fact that it is even in the game is likely to have surprised and pleased many.
Some go overboard in the mission: Some Guardians even go overboard with the Omen mission. They delete their characters just to immediately run the farmable mission again each week. This way, they get additional copies of Fallen Moon with random rolls. Wouldn’t a week of waiting be more sensible?
How does Omen compare to the heavyweights?
We summarize: Similar to previous secret missions, Omen surprised the players.
- The Whisper mission virtually saved the botched year 1 of Destiny 2.
- And even today, Guardians have nightmares of the killing machine Trevor from Zero Hour.
In the mentioned activities, there were puzzles and additional loot that encouraged exploration and a catalyst for a fresh Exotic that one already knew from Destiny 1.
Both missions were, however, even harder than Omen – especially because of the relentless timer.
And once the initial hype around Omen has settled, this new activity is probably not able to hold its own alongside the Whisper and Outbreak missions. The often-quoted “certain something” is somewhat lacking.
As beautiful as the mission’s start is, with its claustrophobic tunnels and the impressive dam, the middle part with the rather monochromatic sewage channels is rather dull. Additionally, the Guardians could have farmed the Exotic Fallen Moon beforehand, associating only the random rolls with the mission, not the Exotic itself. In the other two missions, everything felt a bit fresher, unknown, and the puzzles were more extensive.
But one thing is certain: the Season of the Hunt saved the biggest shot right until the end – until everyone thought that all the powder had already been shot.
Particularly pleasing is that the best content of Season 12 will also remain after the current season ends:
“Destiny 2, why are you excluding solo Guardians?”
This is being criticized: A major point of criticism on reddit regarding the Omen mission is that the activity does not offer matchmaking. Either you experience the adventure alone or with a pre-made fire team.
- This causes frustration, as the mission is quite difficult and the additional firepower of other players is a great help – also because “Matchmaker” is active. This means you have to bring almost all damage elements (except Stasis) to break enemy shields – we highly recommend Void weapons.
- Other users counter that there was no player search active in the praised missions for Whisper and Outbreak either. According to them, such difficult tasks cannot be mastered with “Blueberries” (Blueberries is derogatory for random players, as they appear blue on the radar, instead of green).
- MeinMMO advises the solo Guardians out there who are struggling with Omen to use the official companion app. Currently, interest is high and even without a microphone, a fire team can be filled within seconds.
In general, many players have long wished for almost all activities in Destiny 2 to automatically connect with other players.
What do you think about the Omen mission? Are you running it for as long as it takes to get your Fallen Moon god roll and gather all the feathers? Or can you find nothing interesting in the difficult activity? Let us know in the comments.
For MeinMMO author Philipp Hansen, the mission might have come at just the right time. After all, he recently complained about the lack of new challenges: Destiny 2 is way too easy – give me challenges again, Bungie!
