American game developer and the creators of the Halo series, Bungie has unveiled the next expansion of their free-to-play online multiplayer game, Destiny 2.

Dubbed Lightfall, this new expansion was just one of the many reveals at the showcase. 

In this article, we will go over the most standout announcements. For a more detailed breakdown of the reveals (in Bungie’s own words), you can check out this link.

That being said, let’s dive in.

Lightfall Revealed

As mentioned before, the new expansion of Destiny 2 will be called Lightfall. It will see players race Emperor Calus to Neptune. 

More specifically, to the neon-soaked futuristic city of Neomuna. This city was untouched by the Collapse so it looks very different from the various ruins, temples, and wrecks that players tend to explore in the game.

Bungie promises new locations and new characters such as the Cloud Striders, a superhuman group of heroes who serve as Neptune’s last line of defense.

Another interesting thing about the upcoming expansion is that it might show us the end (or the beginning of the end perhaps) of the Light vs Darkness saga of Destiny. This has massive story and lore implications and we’re very excited to see how it all plays out.

In addition to the main campaign, the new expansion will bring new raids, new activities, new Exotics, and much more.

Strand By Me

Another new update that had us excited was a subclass called Strand. 

Appearing as a green (think, the Matrix code) string-like material, this ability allows players to create items and move around in a much more free way. It basically looks like Spider-Man swinging around. 

Let me repeat: You get to Spider-Man-swing through a cyberpunk city on Neputune!

Strand is a Darkness-based subclass that Bungie admitted was “too cool” to lock within any one class. So everyone gets to join in the fun of pulling on the literal strings of the universe.

As far as aesthetic and utility goes, this new subclass appears to be promising on both fronts. 

The whole Matrix-green string thing looked amazing in the trailer and swinging around Neomuna looked extremely fun!

The utility of Strand-based movement and how it will impact the rest of Destiny 2’s content will be something that is interesting to see as well. 

Space Pirates, Ahoy!

The next thing to catch our interest was the announcement of the new season of Destiny 2. 

Dubbed Season of Plunder, it brings space piracy into the game! Ships, coats, hats, duels on deck, boarding ships, looting, and hidden treasure… it’s all here.

The cruel pirate Eramis has broken out of her icy prison and is looking for new ways to grow in power. She sets her eyes on mysterious relics and we can’t just let her take them, right?

And thus begins your journey into the seedy underbelly of the system as you steal, deal, and kill your way to the relics before Eramis can get her hands on them. Characters such as Mithrax, Spider, Drifter, and Eido will be aiding you on this journey.

This season is now live and features a new weekly mission, a new six-player activity, a new three-player matchmade activity, new gear to loot, and new weapons to craft. 

The Delicate Tomb Exotic Fusion Rifle will be unlocked with the Season Pass. 

Additionally, all players can now claim the Gift of the Thunder Gods at the start of the season. It is a totally free catch-up chest with all the gear necessary to reach level 1540 with each of your characters. 

This chest includes the Exotic Machine Gun Thunderlord and an Arc-themed Exotic armor piece for each of your classes.

It is a way for players to quickly become viable for current-game content even if they’ve been away for a long time.

Character Arc 3.0

Next, we have the news that the rework of the Arc subclass, Arc 3.0, is live and free for all players. 

After Light and Solar, this is the last Light subclass to get a rework. This rework brings in new abilities, new buffs, new melee attacks, and electric grenades. 

Bungie says that players can build their own fighting style around the Aspects and Fragments.

We are quite happy to see the Arc subclass get some love. We look forward to seeing what incredible builds and strategies Arc mains come up with with this rework.

The Once and Future King

So… Oryx, the Taken King is back.

Okay, he’s not back back in the sense that he’s back in the current story of Destiny or anything. However, he is back in the form of a Reprised Raid.

That’s right. The new Reprised Raid will be the King’s Fall raid in which players take on Oryx, the Taken King and… well… presumably he falls. It’s hard to say.

This raid will honor the original and offer players the original challenges with new twists to their mechanics and puzzles. 

Players can also race to be World First to complete the raid within the first 24 hours of when the raid launches. Just like with the Vault of Glass World First Race, you need to beat the raid once in Contest Mode and then do it again while facing certain challenges. 

And even if you’re not the first, players can still earn unique day one emblems for their efforts.

A Crossover Episode

In other, other news (there was a lot, y’all), Destiny 2 is headed to Fortnite and Fall Guys! Let’s talk about each of these one by one.

First, Fortnite. Since Destiny 2 is now available on the Epic Games Store, each class in the game will be getting armor inspired by Fortnite. 

On the other side, those playing Fortnite can unlock three new Destiny skins. The skins on offer are Commander Zevala, Ikora Rey, and the Stranger. Each skin comes with its own pickaxe, glider, and Back Bling designs. 

A new Ghost emote has also been made available.

Last but not least, there is also a recreation of the Javelin-4 map in Fortnite using its Creative mode. You can choose between Warlock, Hunter, and Titan with a premade loadout that will showcase what the class is all about. They even have Supers.

As for Fallguys, you can get some new Destiny 2 skins in it. And yes, they are adorable!

No Price Like Free

In other, other, other news, you can now get Destiny 2’s story campaigns and their associated quests and content for free.

In an offer that lasts from the end of the stream until August 30, players can obtain all this content for free and catch up on what they’ve missed. This applies whether you play on PC, PS, Xbox, or Stadia.

HOWEVER, it is important to note that the current Season Pass, the Dungeon Key, the Forsaken Content Pack, and the 30th Anniversary Pack are not available for free. 

That being said, if you play on the Epic Games Store, you can grab the 30th Anniversay Pack without a cost for a limited time.

Feature Perfect

Last but not least, we got a long list of features that will be coming to Destiny 2. Many of them are long-requested features by the community.

We won’t go into exhaustive detail of all the various features and additions planned for Destiny. That being said, let’s list out some of the more stand out ones.

• Mods and Loadout Manager: These allow you to create and save builds in a single place. Switching between your builds has never been easier.
• Commendations: These allow you to show good will towards other players who perform well and vice versa. Other players can potentially know what you are good at by taking a look at these.
• Guardian Ranks: A reputation system that will help new players find their way in the game and rewards veterans for helping others and being an all-round player.

For a full list of features, you can check out Bungie’s list of them here.