Destiny 2: Shadowkeep - What you need to know

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is the 4th expansion of the epic from Bungie: Destiny 2. It’s the developer’s first major expansion since their breakaway from Activision in early 2019.

The DLC (downloadable content) was released past its sell date of the 27th September 2019.  Luckily it was made available to the public on the 1st of October. The new expansion takes place on the Moon, infamous for being conquered by “Vex”.

It all begins on the Moon with character Eris Morn has been scouring the solar system looking for the darkness and finds it on the Moon. Based in the Black Garden, the new raids and missions look like a strong challenge for old and new players alike.

What’s New?

With the release of Shadowkeep and a large quantity of the DLCs becoming completely free, there is a much larger fanbase and community, many of which are new players, still in their period of understanding the game, as well as the veterans who will be wondering what is new from this update?

First and foremost, all players start at power level 750 and with a ton of content to get through, even without Forsaken and Shadowkeep, you are sure to always have something to do. 

Shadowkeep and Forsaken come with brand new campaigns, wonderfully written and executed, with a perfect mix of emotion and nostalgia due to old enemies being brought back in the form of ‘Nightmares’, bringing new activities called ‘Nightmare Hunts’. These hunts are essentially strikes where the boss at the end is an old enemy in nightmare form.

Strikes:

A general boss slaying activity to easily obtain gear, set in different locations and is the most accessible activity in the game. Forsaken and Shadowkeep have brought with them new and exciting strikes, with new bosses and beautiful views that the game is famous for. These strikes are:

• The Pyramidion 
• The Inverted Spire  
• Exodus Crash 
• The Arms Dealer
• Savathun’s Song
• Lake of Shadows (PS4 Exclusive)
• A Garden World
• Insight Terminus 
• Tree of Probabilities 
• Will of the Thousands
• Strange Terrain      
• Warden of Nothing     
• Broodhold      
• Hollowed Lair      
• The Corrupted       

All of these strikes can be ‘Nightfall’ which means that they are harder and have a timer, (the loot is also based on your score). Nightfall strikes are possibly your best bet at getting good gear and come in different difficulties increasing your score multiplier and improving the possible rewards.

Menagerie:

Essentially a mini raid where you get to pick your loot, however it must first be unlocked by performing the quest acquired from ‘Werner-44’. To enter and complete a menagerie you must acquire runes by doing weekly bounties from ‘Werner-44’ upon the barge in Nessus, or from ‘Benedict 99-40’ in the Annex in the Tower. The bounties include one or two objectives and then a treasure map to find and acquire the actual rune. This rune is placed in a chalice that can be found in the ‘QUESTS’ tab of your navigator. Once you have completed this, you can enter a Menagerie.

Crucible:

This is PvP mode, with a variety of different game modes depending on the week. Completing Crucible matches increases your ‘valor’ rank which can reach up to ‘Legend’ until you must reset. But, don’t be alarmed, resetting your valor rank rewards and so you come back stronger than ever before. There is also a competitive mode which rewards ‘Glory’ as well as valor. This mode is part of most pursuits that can be acquired from ‘Lord Shaxx’ (a vendor from the tower). These pursuits reward pinnacle weapons, that are usually the best weapons you could possibly acquire in the game. The various modes include:

• Mayhem– Most people don’t even use their weapons in this mode, all abilities charge up more or less instantaneously and so is a fun mode to play with friends or to get easy and stress-free wins.
• Supremacy– A kill confirmed mode, kill the enemy and collect the crests that they drop.
• Control– Capture zones to get points, killing enemies will provide points depending on how many zones your team has captured.
• Breakthrough– Wait for the breaker to unlock then ‘capture’ it. Doing so will unlock the enemies’ vault which you must also ‘capture’ to win. If your vault is exposed instead, you must defend until the timer ends to win.
• Lockdown– Similar to ‘Control’ but points are only scored for capturing points, not for kills.
• Clash– Standard Team Deathmatch.
• Rumble– Standard Free-for-all.
• Countdown– Bomb defusal: One team has a charge and must place it in one of two zones, defend the charge for it to detonate or, if you are on the opposing team, defuse it. The game can also be won by killing all members of the opposing team, reviving teammates is possible in this mode.
• Labs– An experimental mode where new mechanics are tested.

Gambit:

A perfect mixture of PvP and PvE, this mode comes in three variations: Gambit, Gambit Prime and The Reckoning. Gambit and Gambit Prime are identical except that Gambit contains multiple rounds and Gambit Prime consists of only one round. In two teams of four you must defeat enemies who drop ‘motes’, the number of motes varies depending on the enemy (powerful and ‘Wanted’ enemies drop more than normal ones). These motes must be banked in the centre, 5 motes sends a small blocker to the enemy team, 10 sends a medium and 15 for a large. If you die whilst carrying motes, you drop them, so be careful and strategic with your banking. Two blockers at once will start draining the motes from the enemy bank. Be wary, the enemy can do the same to you. Banking motes will open an invasion portal, this portal opens up at 25 motes banked and 50, but not at 75. Banking 100 motes summons a ‘Primeval’, a boss-like enemy that can only be harmed by first defeating the ‘envoys’ that spawn. Once the primeval is summoned, the invasion portal should open every 30 seconds. Being killed by an invader will heal your primeval slightly and killing the enemy whilst invading will heal their primeval. First to defeat their primeval wins.

The Reckoning can only be unlocked after completing the Gambit Prime quest. This mode is purely PvE, where you can create synths that help you in Gambit/Gambit Prime. You also earn armour depending on what synth you synthesise. Defeat enemies to increase ‘dominance’, reaching 100% dominance spawns a boss-like enemy that must be defeated within the time limit to get the armour.

Bounties and Vendors:

These can be acquired from vendors across the system and provide XP to upgrade your seasonal artefacts that provide powerful mods to apply to your gear. They also often reward tokens of some sort, which can be turned into the vendors that they were acquired from to increase reputation. Increasing reputation rewards legendary gear that is based on your power level.

At power level 900, gold stars will appear near destinations, these show weekly and/or daily challenges that reward ‘powerful gear’. The gear comes in different tiers and is guaranteed to give gear that is above your current power level.

That’s your basic guide to Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, it’s an amazing game, beautifully illustrated and provides exciting and enjoyable gameplay.

Good luck, fellow guardians!