What You Need to Know About ‘Destiny 2’ Echoes Act 2, Coming Tomorrow

Destiny 2’s second act for its first “episode” arrives tomorrow, and you might be wondering what’s changed. While Bungie has made a direct detailing what happens then, I thought I’d do a recap in case you forgot, and what to expect, or not expect, when you log on.

• Bungie has said that in Episode 2, all three weeks of story content per act will be released in the first week so players can play at their own pace. But that’s not the case for Episode 1’s Acts 2 and 3. Instead, there will (presumably) be three weeks of story content, three weeks of break, similar to what we’ve seen so far.
• The story is supposed to get darker from here on out, as hinted at by Saint’s recent mind control and existential crisis. The new character “The Conductor” will play a bigger role, and we’ll see if the widespread fan theory that it’s Maya Sundaresh holds true.
• The “new activities” promised in this act aren’t simply new maps for the ones already existing in Act 1. Instead, they’re three new battlegrounds, albeit slightly more interesting ones than previous iterations. They’ll serve as narrative content, with one ending and one starting in the same location as we follow Radiolaria draining into the heart of Nessus to figure out what’s going on. They’ll also have three unique bosses rather than a single room with essentially identical mechanics. Two will be released tomorrow, with the third coming next week.

• A solar rocket sidearm, Abhorrent Action, is being added, joining the Strand and Arc archetypes we currently have. It’s probably the best archetype in the game right now, it can do combos like Heal Clip/Incandescent. Corrasion is an arc pulse rifle that’s being added. You can craft both. can’t Craft Perfect Paradox, the returning Saint shotgun from Season of Dawn.
• A new set of Artifact mods are being added that focus almost entirely on Solar and Sniper Rifles, meaning Still Hunt and Whisper of the Worm should be the best choices. The Solar Sniper’s precision shots burn targets, and a final column mod allows the sniper’s precision shots to grant stacking damage, stability, and reload bonuses.
• However, Still Hunt is being weakened as it is too powerful an option for bosses at the moment. Still Hunt’s Golden Shot damage is reduced by 25%.
• There are improvements coming, though, but they won’t be live until early August. These will include a 50% reduction in sniper recoil in PvE, a 30% buff to Tex Mechanica scout rifles. Eriana’s Vow will get a 67% increase in damage against shields, and it should be able to double-shot any shield as a result. No more stat penalties from adept mods. The Titans’ Twilight Arsenal and Sol’s Hammer will have increased damage against bosses and mini-bosses.
• Solstice is the holiday event coming to this act. I’m not sure what week, but soon. Bungie didn’t mention the activity (same EAZ again?) but they did show off a few adventure-themed armor sets.

That’s it, I think. But it’s a decent amount and gives me a little more hope that the episode/act structure might finally work. We’ll know more tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter, Youtube, And Instagram.

Get my science fiction novels Herokiller Series And The Earthlings Trilogy.