Destiny 2's next expansion, Year 5's The Witch Queen, will center around Savathun and the events following Season of the Lost. The foundation of Savathun's story was built during Destiny 1's The Taken King DLC in the Books of Sorrow lore that came from her brother, Oryx. With Savathun having finally arrived in the game, The Witch Queen will more fully explore what Bungie has been building toward for years. Normally, Destiny has one major expansion every year, but this year it’s different since Covid-19 concerns pushed the release date to February 22, 2022. Like every major expansion, Bungie will implement new features and changes in Destiny 2. Here's everything you need to know about The Witch Queen DLC.
Announcement
Bungie's tantalizing preview of Savathun left everyone in awe because that tiny glimpse revealed her powerful character design. Her cryptic comment about truth and a casual stroll into a sea of skeletons floating on the water made fans curious about Savathun’s intentions.
What's New?
The reveal trailer during Bungie’s The Witch Queen showcase answered some questions from the teaser while creating so many more. We now know that the upcoming expansion will take place in Savathun's throne world called High Coven, a strange and luscious wilderness unfamiliar to Guardians.
Ikora seems to be in charge of leading Guardians into the High Coven with the information she’s gathered on her evidence board. It’s rumored that Ikora is on Mars because of the deep crimson terrain around her and because of the Destiny 1 Mars map on her board. The big surprise in the trailer was that Savathun has the Light--Hive Ghosts flood the High Coven to revive the Hive skeletons as Guardians, which are our new enemies.
The Witch Queen Campaign
The Witch Queen campaign will be a string of story missions like usual, but Bungie is implementing a Legendary difficulty for Guardians looking for a challenge. Game director Joe Blackburn told GameSpot that players will take on a sort of detective role as they uncover information about Hive Guardians and unravel Savathun’s trickery in the throne world. Also in the showcase, Bungie mentioned that the difficulty will scale based on how many people are on the fireteam in the Legendary mode.
New Enemies
Guardian will have to face the biggest threat called the Lucent Brood, which is basically an army of Hive Guardians. They are Hive resurrected by Savathun’s Ghosts as fellow warriors of the Light. They’ll be given Arc, Solar, and Void abilities and can even be resurrected by their Ghosts after dying. However, Guardians need to permanently kill the Hive Guardian by destroying their Ghost.
Seeing the similarities between Guardians and Hive Guardians, killing their Ghost sounds eerie, but it must be done. Blackburn told Polygon that players will feel the pressure to defeat the enemy’s Ghost to prevent resurrection. The gameplay trailer gave an example of a Guardian killing a Hive Ghost by crushing it with their hand, rather than using a weapon. Additionally, the Scorn will be a threat to Guardians in Savathun's High Coven.
Weapon Crafting
Another new addition to the Destiny world is weapon crafting. In order to obtain a new weapon, you'll need to craft it. Crafting is all about improving combat and customizing weapons to fit your playstyle and needs. Also, weapon crafting involves a new progression system where players can complete objectives with their weapon to upgrade it.
Additional weapons from Savathun’s High Coven can be crafted. This includes weapons from the upcoming raid and season. It is believed that weapon crafting will take place in the Pyramid ship we've seen in the throne world, which would help build a deeper story connection with the Pyramid relic.
The Glaive
A new first-person melee weapon called the glaive is coming to The Witch Queen. It looks like a spear that’s similar to the Fallen Wretches. You can use it as a melee weapon, fire projectiles from it, or use it as a shield.
Light Subclass Rework
Light subclasses will get the same range of customization as Stasis and it starts off with Void 3.0 when The Witch Queen launches. Year 5 of Destiny 2 will introduce Arc and Solar changes in later seasons. Like Stasis, the Nightstalker, Sentinel, and Voidwalker will have Void Aspects and Fragments as well.
New Raid, Dungeons, And Six-Player Activity
The Witch Queen will feature a new raid that will take place inside the sunken Pyramid in the High Coven. There will also be a matchmade six-player activity in her throne world and two new dungeons in Year 5. A classic raid and some restored PvP maps from Destiny 1 are being added to the game as well.
Destiny Content Vault
When Beyond Light launched, content from the Red War entered the Destiny Content Vault to make room for the Year 4 expansion. Destiny 2: Forsaken will be free to play on December 7, 2021. The Forsaken campaign will leave Destiny 2 and enter the DCV when The Witch Queen launches. The Last Wish raid and the Shattered Throne dungeon will stay in the game as well as Year 4 activities like Battlegrounds and the Proving Grounds strike.
Release Date
Destiny 2 The Witch Queen is set for release on February 22, 2022, for PC, Stadia, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Preorder Editions
Preorders are now available for The Witch Queen expansion and they come with three in-game items: Throne World Exotic Ghost shell, The Enigma exotic emote, and a Legendary emblem. The standard edition is $40. The Deluxe edition costs $80 and it comes with seasons 16-19, two Year 5 dungeons, and the Throne World Exotic Sparrow. The Deluxe edition 30th Anniversary Bundle comes with the Bungie 30th Anniversary event which starts on December 7, 2021. The Collector’s edition comes with the Deluxe edition bundle and a detailed Hive Ghost replica, a lore booklet, and much more for $250.