New, Different, Better Subclasses
We’re currently in Year 3 of the first Destiny and while it’s been a good run the hype is dying down. Millions of Guardians around the world have fought, laughed, cried (usually because of raid bosses), and raged (also probably because of raid bosses), through vanilla Destiny and four expansions, not to mention the free updates. But it’s time for a sequel to take its place, one that hopefully builds upon the solid foundation that has been born from various tweaks and updates.
While the world gameplay reveal of Destiny 2 is right around the corner, we thought we’d talk about a few things we’re hoping to see before we hop on a plane for LA to check Destiny 2 out for ourselves.
Let’s start with changes to the current class system. Don’t get us wrong, we had a lot of fun with the various subclasses offered by the Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks of Destiny. But after spending hundreds of hours with them, it became clear that some were clearly just better than others, and it’s why you usually saw the same subclasses with the exact same loadouts everywhere you went. We’re really hoping Destiny 2 changes that.
It can be by doing away with all of the existing subclasses. Sounds dramatic sure, but that could be explained away with the damage done to the Traveler, creating a need for new warriors to be explored. New isn’t always better, but it usually is. This will also allow the developers more freedom in how to adjust the mechanics around the potential subclasses available in Destiny 2. In the first game, they were fairly rigid. Granted, you had some nodes you could swap in each subclass that changed how that specific class worked, but it wasn’t real freedom. You were still restricted by a specific burn and pre-ordained role of sorts with this system.
Something that works more like customizable skill trees that allow you to make your preferred type of Guardian could work in Destiny 2. It would add more freedom, help players feel more connected with their character, and increase class diversity. Letting players unlock abilities and skills, then mixing and matching them to create their own, balanced subclass. That last point in particular should put an end to fire team arguments such as who has to go Defender because good luck getting through raids efficiently without one. Tiers for skills could prevent players from just loading up on all the highest level stuff, and help the developers with keeping things fair.
We may not end up with something as free as this, but any extra level of control with more options over the current system would be greatly appreciated.
Customizable Weapons
Destiny had some really amazing weapons available at launch, and more kept being added in as time went on. The different designs and firing types were fun to experiment with. And some of the quests that surrounded a select few of the weapons on offer were quite enjoyable (Outbreak Prime is a personal favorite). However, when it came time to upgrading the various guns and swords, the excitement wore off a bit.
Weapon customization boiled down to earning experience and paying to unlock nodes on the gun. Some columns had more than one option, but the differences were marginal at best, especially for PvE, and left you with essentially with the same gun, just slightly more useful. A few weapons, usually exotics, had some powerful special abilities waiting at the last node, but even that felt like a trick to make us ignore the six boring nodes before it.
Games like The Division, Ghost Recon Wildlands, or even Call of Duty have a mod/attachment system that lets you tailor the weapon to your liking. Each weapon is limited in one way or another to maintain balance, but you can find a favorite weapon and really make it your own. It wasn’t just skins and choosing which node to light up. You could change stocks, barrels, sights, magazines, and even add-on to the weapon for alternate firing modes. It would be great to see something similar worked into all of the different alien weaponry you’ll come across in Destiny 2.
More, Better, Wilder Gear
Cayde-6 promised tons of loot in the reveal trailer for Destiny 2, and that has a lot of Guardians excited. However, a lot of loot isn’t always a good thing. It could end up being just a ton of fodder to keep you going, with nothing of any real consequence to pick up.
Now we know that there will be some hidden gems, much like in Destiny 1, but if you’re going to double down on loot, go for broke. Imagine something along the lines of a Diablo loot system. Maybe not as extreme, because Destiny 2 will probably not have as many equippable slots, but a steady stream of meaningful gear that will have you swapping pieces out and building amazing sets to use in the future. There wasn’t an extremely large perk pool in Destiny outside of exotics, particularly for armor. If we can get more pieces, and even full sets, that can focus on specific skills and playstyles, it would take off the frustration of the usual grind.
Oh, and doing away with the one exotic rule may not hurt either. Holding amazing gear in front of someone that requires tons of work to obtain only to tell them they then have to choose one is just not cool. It’s understood that it’s a balancing thing, but if other RPGs can let me deck myself out completely in the bones of actual dragons, I’m sure something can be worked out for Destiny 2.
A Juicier End Game
The raids were some of the most fun video game experiences of the last three years. Teaming up with five other Guardians then testing your mettle against the toughest enemies Bungie could think up felt truly rewarding and added to the overall lore of the experience. On the PvP side of things you had the amazing Trials of Osiris event where only the best warriors could emerge victorious, and the Iron Banner where everyone could rank up and earn some neat gear. Outside of these, though, the end game was lacking.
There’s only so many times you can run one of the same four raids or compete in the same tournament before you need something else to keep you going. Sure there was the Nightfall and Strike Playlists, but those felt more like loot grindfests you embarked on before tackling one of the aforementioned, better challenges. Especially after the one thing that made Nightfall so rewarding, the fact that failure booted you back to space, was removed right along with any real challenge.
Destiny had a very slow buildup as you worked to finally reach the initial level cap, and what waited on the other end wasn’t much. The Trials of Osiris we mentioned wasn’t available until months after the game’s release, and there was only a single raid. This led to a constant cycle of mass exodus as players would beat the challenges and leave until the next expansion. In order for Destiny 2 to fare better than its predecessor, it needs to have an enthralling end game to keep players around after the credits roll. More options for both single and multiplayer that don’t just feel like endless grinds and really add to the universe as a whole.
Separate PvE and PvP
Destiny has two very good parts: PvE and PvP. On one side you have wide open areas where you can run around alone or with friends tearing the minions of the Darkness apart, like a good hero ought to do. On the other is a way to show other Guardians that you are in fact the best Guardian to ever have Guardianed in a world full of Guardians (or that you’re really good at getting shot). Both are incredibly engaging and offer plenty of replay value but they each suffer from the same problem – they’re connected.
Gear is shared between the two modes, which is cool. You put in a lot of work, you should be able to use your rewards as you see fit. The problem is that if something is unbalanced on one side, it receives a nerf that effects both. In some cases this is no big deal, but in others it can make a weapon that you spent hours trying to get useless.
Take the Vex Mythoclast for example. It was a rare weapon drop from a Heroic mode of the Vault of Glass. It’s a primary, rapid-firing, fusion rifle with Solar Burn. It was an absolute beast of a weapon. One lucky Guardian managed to get one and decided to test it in PvP, where it absolutely slayed. This caused it to get nerfed, effecting how it performed in PvE as well, wiping it of much of its worth. There were several weapons and other pieces of gear like this. While we get that PvP needs to be balanced, those who play alone, fighting for the people of the world, shouldn’t have to suffer for it.
Separating PvE and PvP in Destiny 2 will completely remove this problem, allowing both sides to enjoy their game without any issue.
These are the things we want to see from Destiny 2, do you have any of your own? Let us know in the comments below.
Until next time, safe travels, Guardians.
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