Bungie Announces Destiny 2: Witch Queen Release Date, Bungie 30th Anniversary, and more...

Today, Bungie went live on Twitch to showcase Season of the Lost, Witch Queen, and beyond. Although there has been leaks circulating the internet about the major expansion, a big proportion of the community has agreed to prevent these from spreading. Places like r/RaidSecrets have banned leaks from being posted and shared. So if you are like me who avoided the leaks like Vex Mythoclast avoids dropping (whyyyy) then lets dive into what Bungie unveiled for us today!

Witch Queen Release Date

Witch Queen finally has a release date! Although the Beyond Light Reveal back in June announced Witch Queen Arriving in 2021, Bungie announced in early 2021 that Witch Queen will not be arriving until early 2022.

Well today, Bungie announced a rather funny release date of February 22, 2022. Yep. 2/22/22 (or 22/2/22). Which also happens to be a TWOSday. Although some might find this to be a long wait, I am rather happy about it. If Witch Queen did arrive this fall, it would have a lot of competition with games like Back 4 Blood, Battlefield 2042, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Halo Infinite.

The only downside to this is that Season of the Lost would be the longest Destiny 2 Season to date, about 6 months long. Bungie has 2 options here; stretch out Season of the Lost and its content for 6 months, or release the content at the same pace as previous seasons which is usually about 3 months. We will have to wait and see how Bungie decides to handle it.

Campaign & Story for Witch Queen and Year 5

Well, we learned how to wield The Darkness in Beyond Light, and now our enemies know how to wield the Light.

We have heard the line "The line between light and dark is so very thin, do you know what side your on?" since the beginning of Destiny. Although we thought this line only applied to us Guardians, we now see that this applies to our enemies as well.

Savathun has showed the Hive how to wield the Light. This is a threat to not only us, but the Fallen, Cabal, and possibly the Vex. In my opinion, the Vex and the Hive have always been the biggest threat in the Destiny Universe, so seeing Savathun's presence definitely has the same vibe that Oryx did in The Taken King.

Bungie also once again announced that this is just a chapter in the Light and Darkness Saga in Destiny 2, and also announcing that this saga will end with one more expansion after Lightfall, called Destiny 2: The Final Shape. However, this will not be the end of Destiny 2, which Bungie said MULTIPLE times during this Showcase.

I am incredibly curious where the conclusion to this saga is going. It is hard to imagine Destiny without the Light vs Dark, as it is all that we know in Destiny. I am excited to see what new stories Bungie has to tell after Destiny 2: The Final Shape.

New Content For Witch Queen and Year 5

Although Witch Queen is still months away, Bungie teased some of the content we can expect after today. Here is some of that content we can expect in Witch Queen and beyond.

• New Campaign
• New Destination (Savathun's Throne World)
• New Raid
• New Enemies
• New Weapons Archetype(s)
• Light Subclass Updates
• Weapon Crafting (New!)
• 2 New Dungeons
• New (and returning) PvP Maps & Modes

While some content is expected to arrive with every expansion like a new campaign and raid, it is nice to know that there will be not one, but TWO dungeons releasing in Year 5. Bungie also announced that players can expect a new Raid or Dungeon to release every 3 months starting in December. (We will get to that in a second.)

Ontop of that, we are finally getting "Weapons 3.0" in Destiny. Weapon Crafting has been a huge request since the launch of Destiny, and seeing it finally arriving in Witch Queen should spice up the grind for finding and crafting your perfect weapon. To summarize it, using a gun will make it stronger. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. As simple as that is, it is needed desperately in Destiny 2.

Bungie also announced that the Light Subclasses will be receiving the same facelift that Stasis received in Beyond Light. Light Subclasses will be receiving Aspects and Fragments similarly to Stasis.

However, there are a LOT of light subclasses, so we can expect these subclasses to get updates over time. Void Subclasses will be the first to receive Aspects and Fragments when Witch Queen launches on February 22nd.

Bungie’s 30th Anniversary

This year marks a huge year for Bungie, as it is their 30th Anniversary. To put it lightly, Bungie is going all out on this celebration. Here is what to expect from Bungie's 30th Anniversary Celebration in Destiny 2 this December:

• Dares of Eternity is a 6 player activity that is free for all players that will explore and earn rewards from Bungie's history.
• Bungie's 30th Anniversary Pack which includes a "Treasure Theme" Dungeon set in the Cosmodrone where players can earn a new set of armor, some old weapons from D1, and the king of exotics, Gjallarhorn. This pack will also include a ton of Bungie themed cosmetics. Including two Universal Armor Sets inspired by what appears to be Halo, Myth, and Marathon.

Bungie seems to be only getting started, and it starts with Season of the Lost that arrives TODAY. As a player, I am so excited for the future of Destiny 2 because it seems brighter than ever.

~ Protheon

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