Destiny 2 Season 2: all the changes coming with Curse of Osiris today

News by Brenna Hillier Contributor

Published on Dec. 5, 2017

Destiny 2 gets new content, new systems and a new focus on giving you reasons to keep playing this week.

Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris releases later today (check what time Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris releases in your region), but whether you buy into the expansion or not, you'll benefit from a series of major updates in December and early 2018 as part of the Season 2 retuning.

This a high level overview of new content and systems in Destiny 2 Season 2, but if you want fine detail on sandbox tuning check out the Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris update 1.1.0 patch notes.

Read on for all the details of what's changing in Destiny 2: Season 2 this week, this month and throughout the quarter. We'll run through in chronological order, starting with the free updates and moving into paid content below.

Change to daily reset time - December 5

Curse of Osiris will change a tradition dating back to the first week of D1 by moving the daily Destiny 2 reset time to 5:00pm UTC.

Armour Ornaments - December 5

In Destiny 2 Season 1, Ornaments were random Bright Engram drops. As of December 5, when Season 2 apparently starts alongside the release of Curse of Osiris, you'll be able to earn armour Ornaments by completing specific challenges.

Bungie said the new Ornaments will change the way specific armour sets look, without wiping applied shaders and mods. Like the existing Exotic weapon ornaments, armour ornaments are permanently unlocked account-wide once achieved, so you never need to worry about accidentally deleting them or using them up.

Armour Ornaments are unlocked through vendors, so that's where you should check the requirements for each one and activate any you have already met the requirements for. Once unlocked, you can apply the Ornament by inspecting the appropriate armour set in your inventory.

These are the armour sets getting Ornaments for Destiny 2 Season 2:

Vanguard Faction Armor
Crucible Faction Armor
Trials of the Nine Armor
Iron Banner Armor
Dead Orbit Armor
Future War Cult Armor
New Monarchy Armor
Eater of Worlds Raid Lair Armor

Economy changes - December 5

Destiny 2 Season 2 brings a number of changes to Destiny 2's economy. Here are the details:

Rare mods will dismantle into Gunsmith Materials with a chance for Legendary Mod Components
Banshee will sell a rotating selection of specific Legendary mods, for Legendary Shards and Mod Components
Rahool will sell Legendary engrams for Legendary Shards
Daily Challenges will reward more tokens
Cayde's treasure chests will offer more tokens, but still be random
Strikes will award more tokens
Common Destination token drop rates will increase 100%
Common Destination token value will increase by 50%
Rare Destination tokens will increase in value by 250%
Reputation requirements per engram will increase by 37% at Destination vendors and 50% at the Gunsmith
You won't need to clear a full raid in order to redeem Leviathan Raid token.

Curse of Osiris content - December 5

Curse of Osiris is the first of two announced expansions for Destiny 2, and brings a stack of new Activities and systems all on its own. Here's a rundown of what to expect when the DLC hits. This content is exclusive to those who purchase the Curse of Osiris expansion - yes, including the Heroic Strike playlist.

New story campaign
The story of Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris is focused on the exiled Warlock Osiris and his battles against the Vex - a tale Destiny fans are very interested in. We don't know how many missions it includes, but we do know that the included Strikes are remixed versions of missions from the campaign, so they'll actually be part of the story this time.
New destination: Mercury
A whole new destination previous seen only in a couple of Crucible maps, Mercury is a planet dominated by the Vex. As well as playing host to the story campaign, in boasts a random dungeon called the Infinite Forest and the biggest public event in Destiny 2. It also houses the new social space, the Lighthouse, previously seen in D1's Trials of Osiris.
New Raid Lair: The World Eater
Cruse of Osiris brings us a brand new kind of Activity called Raid Lairs. These are shorter but more intense raid experiences set in and around existing raids. Leviathan will eventually have two. The first is called The World-Eater and is part of Curse of Osiris, although Bungie hasn't confirmed when it will unlock.
New and Power cap: 330
Yes, you'll be able to make your Guardian much more Powerful since Curse of Osiris raises Destiny 2's Power cap to 330 - or 335 with mods. The difficulty of the existing Leviathan Raid will be scaled to match this new cap, and will award more Powerful gear for the same reason. The Level cap is also rising to 25 so it's a good thing the XP system is more transparent now.
New Heroic Strike playlist
Yes, Strikes will return to endgame status with the introduction of a challenging Heroic Strike playlist. No word yet on the loot, unfortunately.
New Heroic Adventures
Adventures, destiny 2's sidequests, will also be given a challenge upgrade in the form of Heroic variants. Expect the usual uptick in enemy level and damage dealt.
New weapons and armour
You'll be able to earn new weapons and armour in Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris. Although it cancelled the planned livestream showcase, Bungie provided a sneak peek at the new loot in a Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris teaser trailer. We think we've identified a number of new Exotics coming to Destiny 2 with Curse of Osiris.
New weapon quests and forge
New weapon quests will be added with Curse of Osiris, but rather than receiving them randomly, you'll find them arrayed on the wall of the Lighthouse as part of a new weapons forge. Complete the quests, or "verses", attached to the appropriate nodes on the Forge to unlock a number of Vex-themed weapons created by Osiris himself.
New multiplayer maps
Bungie has confirmed two new multiplayer maps. Pacifica is set on Titan. We don't know where Wormhaven is set, but we do know it's a PS4 exclusive - sorry, PC and Xbox One players.

Masterworks - December 12

In the wake of Curse of Osiris, Bungie will begin rolling out new systems, starting with a major patch on December 12.

One of the key new features is Masterwork weapons. Bungie described this as a "new weapon tier" for Destiny 2, which is an upgrade to Legendary gear.

Masterwork weapons track the number of kills made with them, with a choice between total or Crucible only tallies. They also generate Orbs of Light you the player and their allies on multi-kills, and have random, re-rollable weapon stat bonuses selected form a "small pool".

Bungie said Masterwork weapons can drop randomly from any current source of Legendary weapons, and if dismantled, yield a resource which can be used to convert any existing Legendary weapon to a Masterwork. Raid and Trials of the Nine Weapons will have a very high chance to be Masterworks.

Bungie said it has future plans to "extend Masterworks to other gear and expose your kill counts in more places", such as in the Crucible.

Xur inventory - December 12

When the December 12 patch rolls out to Destiny 2 our friend Xur will get a bit of an update. Xur will begin selling two new items:

Fated Engrams
Purchased for Legendary Shards and limited to one per week, fated Engrams will decrypt as an Exotic you don't already own.
Three of Coins
A new, simplified version of a D1 favourite, Three of Coins will boost Exotic drop rates form any source for four hours. They do not expire after a boss battle and do not stack in any way. They are purchased for Legendary Shards and there is no limit on how many you can buy.

Buying direct from vendors - December 12

As of the December 12 Destiny 2 update, players will be able to purchase gear directly from vendors using Legendary shards and reputation tokens. Vendors will always carry one piece of each kind of armour, and will rotate through a selection of weapons. Bungie said this applies to "most" vendors in Destiny 2, not all, so RNG isn't going away forever.

Players can unlock slots at vendors by ranking up and earning engrams. The word "slots" here probably refers to how many items a particular vendor is offering - but it's not totally clear so don't take that as gospel.

Whatever the slots thing means, players will be credited for all the engrams they've earned over the past few months of playing Destiny 2.

Economy changes - December 12

Further economy changes will roll out in the December 12 patch:

Zavala will sell Gift consumables that give bonus rewards to all participants in a Strike. They cost Legendary Shards. Possible rewards range from tokens to Exotics.
Shaxx will sell Gift consumables that give bonus rewards to all participants in a Crucible match. They cost Legendary Shards. Possible rewards range from tokens to Exotics.
The chest and resource farming lockout will trigger less frequently and require greater provocation.
Farming lockout will not reduce Glimmer earnings, and reduce token earnings to 30%, as opposed to 0%.
Vendors won't be badged when you don't have enough tokens to earn an engram.

The rest of Season 2: The Dawning and future changes

Bungie is yet to date The Dawning, the big holiday event of Destiny 2 Season 2, but we have had a look at some of the cool new gear that will be on offer during the event. Check it out through the link above, and expect it sometime over the holiday break.

In addition to The Dawning, we know Bungie is working on further updates Destiny 2 Season 2 and beyond. Here's what Bungie said it's working on apart from the above:

Crucible tuning for Supremacy, spawn rules - December
Heroic Strikes Playlist - December
Better incentives for Prestige activities - targeting January
Ranked PvP - "top of our priority list for next year"
Private Crucible matches - targeting early 2018
Quitter Penalty for Crucible - 2018
Further updates to mod system - 2018
Exotic drop duplication protection - 2018
Equipping multiple emotes - 2018
A visual indicator for farming lockouts - no date
Better incentives for Strikes, Adventures, Lost Sectors - no date
Exotic weapon tuning - no date

Bungie detailed its Destiny 2 Season 2 plans as part of its new commitment to being more open with Destiny 2 players.

Many of the changes described above are targeted at hardcore D1 veteran players, who have been disappointed by how casual Destiny 2's endgame is once you get past the opaque systems.

"Going forward, Destiny 2’s post-launch game systems, features, and updates are being designed specifically to focus on and support players who want Destiny to be their hobby – the game they return to, and a game where friendships are made," Bungie told Destiny 2 players.

"We want Destiny to be a game that fits into your life, providing you with reasons to log in and play with your friends, clans, and families. We want Destiny to be a world you want to be a part of."