Destiny 2 news, updates and DLC

Update: Good news for Destiny 2 fans who own an Amazon Alexa-enabled device - you have a new skill to try out! Announced by Amazon and Activision at the recent AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, the Ghost Skill will allow players to control their in-game guide and companion through their Alexa device.

For example, when playing the game it'll be possible to say "Alexa, as Ghost to" and request anything from information on which of your friends are online, what you should pursue next in the game, or find out more about the in-game world. Conveniently, this takes away the need to click through menus for certain actions and has the potential to streamline gameplay.

This is the first time this kind of skill has been created for a voice assistant and according to Activision, the aim is to bring a part of the game into the player's real world and make it more immersive as a result.

Voiced by Nolan North the skill is available to download for free from the Alexa app now.

For anyone that would like even more of Destiny 2 in their home, Amazon also announced a limited edition Destiny 2 Ghost speaker. This WiFi enabled speaker looks like in-game Ghost and even uses Nolan North's voice to respond to your enquiries. However, it's worth noting it does still require an Alexa-enabled device such as an Echo Dot in your home so it doesn't work on its own.

The speaker is available for pre-order now from Amazon for £79.99/ $89.99 and it'll be available from December 19.

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Destiny 2 has arrived on all platforms but though the game has finally been released that doesn't mean the news and updates are going to stop – this is a game that's only going to grow over time.

With that in mind, we've created a one stop shop for all of your Destiny 2 update needs. Here you'll find the latest news on what's being added to the game and when updates are coming.

It is, however, still early days so in the meantime why not take a look at our definitive Destiny 2 review to get an idea of whether or not this is the game for you. Convinced it is? Then you might be interested in our tips and tricks for getting started. Whether you're completely new to the Destiny universe or just need to brush up on all that jargon, this guide will ease you in.

Read on below for our pre-release coverage of the game.

Cut to the chase

What is it? The highly-anticipated follow up to MMO shooter Destiny
When it is out? September 6, 2017 on console and October 24 on PC
What can I play it on? PS4, Xbox One and PC
Destiny 2 developers: Bungie and High Moon Studios
Destiny 2 publisher: Activision Blizzard

Planned improvements

Following some rather critical player feedback, Destiny 2 developer Bungie has announced that it's going to be making some changes to the game over the coming months. The changes were detailed in a long blog post in which the game's designer and director acknowledged the need to be more transparent and communicative with players.

A big issue that has risen with the game recently is that players were being misled with regards to the number of experience points they were earning. This was fixed with a hasty patch over the Thanksgiving period. However, it was just another problem for players who had already been reporting issues with a lack of variety in the game and PS4 exclusive content.

Many of the changes Bungie announced in its blog post will be coming as soon as December when the Curse of Osiris DLC is released, but others won't appear until 2018.

The first changes, Bungie has said, will mainly make quality-of-life improvements to the game by giving players more rewards and more opportunities to spend their Legendary Shards. When 2018 rolls around further improvements will see better rewards for Prestige activities, Adventures and Lost Sectors, and private matches will come to the Crucible.

The full list of improvements is extensive and can be found on the official blog post.

DLC

Expansion I: The Curse Of Osiris

Not long at all after its release on consoles Destiny 2's first DLC was confirmed as The Curse of Osiris.

The DLC was first reported by Kotaku and subsequently spotted in an Xbox Store listing where it says the expansion will take the player to the planet Mercury and something called the Infinite Forest to continue their "Guardian's journey with all-new story missions and adventures."

In the game they'll ”Journey through time and space to learn the secrets of Osiris, avert a dark future, and rebuild the ties between the legendary Warlock and his greatest student—Ikora Rey.“

According to this listing there's also going to be new story missions, themes weapons, armor and gear, new cooperative activities, new competitive multiplayer arenas and more besides.

The DLC was later confirmed at Sony's Paris Games Week showcase where the release date was announced to be December 5. This DLC will mark the first appearance of the legendary Warlock via a brand new storyline.

It was also announced there'll be new raid content, a new Mercury patrol area and the return of Destiny 1's lighthouse as a third social space.

PlayStation owners will have exclusive access to a Crucible map, set in Titan's New Pacific Arcology.

You can watch the trailer below:

Pre-release information

Destiny 2 trailers and screenshots

At Gamescom 2017 in Cologne we were treated to a launch trailer. With a mix of CGI and in-game footage this trailer sets up the high-octane excitement we've come to expect from Destiny very well. You can watch it for yourself below:

Destiny 2 got a brand-new trailer at Sony's E3 2017 Keynote on Monday, June 12 that shows the three new classes in action and re-affirming the game's September 6, 2017 release date.

We also learned that gamers that buy the game on Sony systems will receive an exclusive strike, ship, weapon and PVP maps.

That's a compelling reason for guardians to go for PS4 over the other systems, although PC gamers will be the only platform with 4K.

Is that enough to persuade gamers to Sony's systems? Check out the trailer and decide for yourself.

Destiny 2 PC

Bungie confirmed a PC release on the day it released the game's debut trailer and now there's no looking back. Only forward to its October 24 release. Bungie has said, however, it won't be available on Steam.

This is a very good thing considering that PC gamers are clamoring for Destiny 2 – and it's a perfect fit for the platform, which has long been the spiritual home of the MMO. It will also give Bungie access to a huge new audience.

And if that news wasn't good enough, Bungie is going to reward to the PC faithful by making the PC version of the game 4K compatible. Yep, your favorite shooter is now going to have a 3840 × 2160 resolution.

Here's images of the game in 4K to whet your appetite.

But its resolution isn't the only unique thing about the game's PC launch.

We've also learned recently that the game is going to be exclusive to Battle.net when it does come to PC ... which, as it turns out, might be a few weeks after the console version is released. Destiny will be the first non-Blizzard game to be made available on Battle.net, however, so that's quite an honor.

In terms of additional features, Activision has confirmed that the game will support text-chat on PC and will feature HDR graphics; plus Nvidia announced at Gamescom 2017 that it will support SLI, if you are a fan of using more than one video card, and 21:9 aspect ratio for if you like using more than one monitor.

PC hands on preview impressions

As Destiny 2 is the franchise’s debut on PC, I was excited to get hands on with the game at this year’s E3 to get even a small sense of how the massive multiplayer first-person online so popular on consoles would feel with a mouse and keyboard.

I got the chance to try out the very first mission of Destiny 2’s single-player campaign mode. Called Homecoming, the mission throws players right into the action of the invasion of The Last City lead by Cabal Red Legion commander Dominus Ghaul.

I might as well make it clear right now, I am absolutely not a PC gamer. Though I had played the original Destiny on console, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the game on PC as keyboard and mouse controls are utterly unfamiliar to me.

Keyboard is key

It’s to Destiny 2 on PC’s credit, then, that I found the keyboard controls very intuitive and clearly laid out. Nothing is lost by using keyboard and mouse, and gunplay felt as sharp smooth and satisfying as it does on console.

In fact, with the game running in 4K at a speedy 60 frames per second it might have been even better.

Something that was enjoyable about the game’s first mission was that despite it being a single-player mode in a game that’s more focused on multiplayer experiences, I didn’t feel abandoned and lonely when playing.

The planets are alive with the sound of NPCs

This is because Bungie has integrated its NPC characters into the campaign; characters like Ikora and Cayde-6 are there fighting alongside you and being an active and vocal part of the action. Not to mention the cutscenes.

In the short mission I played, the game’s environments were rich and detailed with an exciting sense of scale and life. The foreground of the action puts you in a crumbling almost completely destroyed city that feels like it’s coming down on top of you. Look past this though and you’ll see an expansive horizon filled with enemy ships.

Basically, this was a much more cinematic experience than anything the original Destiny offered and it made playing alone more exciting as a result.

Cinematic campaign

It’s worth going back to the fact that we noted the mission was short, though. I’m not sure if it was for demo purposes but I was surprised by how quickly I managed to make my way through it so we hope other sections of the campaign run slightly longer if only just to allow us to savor the experience.

Though we’ve only experienced a small part of it, we feel like it’s safe to say Destiny 2 is going to feel as fun and at home on PC as it does on console, if not more so with the extra effort Bungie has put in with its tailored PC version.

If the rest of the campaign looks and feels as good as the part we played, and the multiplayer is up to shape we don’t doubt fans will love it and newcomers will flock to it.

The PC version may be coming later but from what we can see, it'll be worth the wait.

Destiny 2 features

Clans

Improving on Groups from the original Destiny, Clans will be an important feature in Destiny 2 that will allow players to team up and organize games for online multiplayer.

The structure of Clans in Destiny 2 will be similar to that of Groups: they'll be capped at 100 members and those with Destiny 2 accounts will be able to be a member of one Clan per platform. The way they'll differ, however, is in their new abilities and features. The biggest change is Guided Games, a new matchmaking system for Raids and Nightfall Strikes. With this system existing Clans that perhaps don't have enough members for a higher-level missions will be able to seek another player outside their Clan in order to have a full party. This benefits high-level players who aren't members of Clans as well as the Clans themselves.

Clan members can also invite other players to join their Clan from within the game and all members of a Clan will receive rewards for each others' successes. What these rewards are is still unclear.

Bungie is making it possible for players to transfer their Groups from Destiny into Clans in Destiny 2 before the game's release which should mean a thriving online multiplayer community as soon as the game is released.

Clan leaders are now able to visit Bungie.net and decide whether or not they want to move their Group over to Destiny 2. They'll be able to transfer their title and permissions to another member if they feel they'll need a better and more committed leader for the new game.

According to Bungie, this migration period will last for one month, after which the Clan creation service will go live on Bungie.net.

A cinematic story

Gamers will be glad to hear that the developers are placing more emphasis on the story and characters this time around. "The cornerstone...is a great cinematic story," Activision exec Eric Hirshberg said earlier this year. "That's been a real focus with a great cast of memorable, relatable characters.”

In our short hands on with game's first campaign mission we definitely think Bungie have been successful here. We got a much greater sense of scale, spectacle and life here than we did in the original Destiny.

Goodbye Grimoire

As part of putting more emphasis on story and characters, Destiny 2 will drop Grimoire cards. Those who played the original Destiny game will know that Grimoire cards were cards unlocked for completing tasks in the game.

Unfortunately, they were only accessibly on the web, not in the actual game itself, which basically meant much of the game's core lore and story was inaccessible while playing.

World design lead, Steve Cotton told Forbes that this time around there will be no Grimoire cards as the team want to keep most of the lore in the game itself and tell the story through the missions, characters and scannables.

Lots of expansions

This is hardly unexpected given the success of Destiny’s myriad updates and add-ons, but Activision has confirmed that it has “follow-on content plans” for Destiny 2. That likely means the team will be listening to players and tailoring the future experience – expect fresh content, gameplay changes, and cosmetic add-ons.

More accessible for “casual players”

‘Casual’ has become a bit of a dirty word in some gaming circles, but Activision and Bungie are clear about their intention to make their game more open to all. "We've made it more accessible to someone who just wants to have a great more casual first-person action experience... without losing anything that our core players love,” Hirschberg said. What that means in practice is not clear, but we hope it means a game with less grinding and more varied gameplay.

Character continuity with the first game (to some extent)

We don’t know how Destiny 2 will handle player’s Guardians from the first game (more on that in the rumours section below), but we know there will be some continuity. “That idea is that the Guardian you have created is something you can bring along with you on that adventure,” Community Manager David Dague told IGN in 2014. “If you take a look at the way people have played other games for a long period of time, they’ve had a relationship with the same character for a very long time.” Intriguing.