Destiny 2: the bubble shield returns, and more insights from E3 interviews
There has been a lot of news about Destiny 2 coming out of E3, but there are a few details you may have missed.
This video from Arekkz scours all the interviews and statements made by Bungie last week for interesting tidbits about the game, and after watching it we know a few things that we weren't clear on beforehand.
We've talked about Flashpoints before, Destiny's new PVP activities that will send players to specific locations and complete unique tasks, with high-level rewards at the end. Arekkz gets into these in detail, pointing out that sixteen players can converge in one location in Destiny 2, meaning that players won't necessarily need to squad up for these missions - because everyone is being driven to the same point each week there's a very good chance that you will encounter other players when you head to these flashpoint missions.
Arekkz also points out that engram rewards will now be specific to their colours. If you have a purple engram, for instance, it will yield a purple reward.
Next up is the Titan 'Ward of Dawn' bubble, a controversial ability that many players considered more-or-less essential for several endgame activities. The Sentinel class (replacing the Titan) can use a shield, but Bungie wants to encourage players to move around rather than planting down, so people were concerned that the bubble was gone.
In an interview with PC Gamer, though, it was confirmed that the bubble will be available as a secondary ability for the shield, albeit without the boosts the original bubble had. Those boosts are now handled by the Warlock's 'rift' ability, and allowing you to stack those would no doubt overpower players.
Destiny 2 won't feature ranked play at launch, and the plot will focus on light over darkness. While we knew this already, the video above digs into why a bit more, and explains that the purpose of the 'Darkness' in Destiny's lore has had to change over time, especially now that the game is a success and Bungie has more freedom to tell their story.
There are also no beards in Destiny 2, just in case that's a dealbreaker. The video ends by breaking down the PlayStation exclusive material, which doesn't sound too substantial.
Be sure to check out our enormous Destiny 2 guide for everything we know about the game so far. Destiny 2 releases on September 6 for PS4 and Xbox One, and on October 24 for PC.