Everything We Learned During The Destiny 2 2023 Showcase

Today's Destiny 2 Showcase focused on The Final Shape expansion which will be going live on February 27, 2024. Also on the docket was the Season of the Witch update which is launching in the shooter today.

In The Final Shape expansion, players will adventure into the Pale Heart, which is inside the Traveler itself. They will be pursuing The Witness to a final conflict inside the giant monolith the Witness has created. The Pale Heart itself is shaped by those who enter. The Witness has shaped much of it in the beginning, but the presence of players will also shape what the Pale Heart is.

The Final Shape will be the first linear experience in Destiny 2, leaving the focus on the importance of pursuing the Witness and reaching the monolith. The Destiny 2 devs really want you to feel the danger escalate as you make your way toward the Witness's monolith. After defeating the campaign, the Pale Heart will become more open to you for exploration.

Cayde-6 is of course back for this final step in the story, but you may not be getting all the answers you want as to why he is back...

There will be plenty of new weapons introduced in Destiny 2: The Final Shape, as well as new enemies in the Subjugators who will be able to use Stasis and Strand powers. The devs put a large focus on Supers and specifically showed off the Super for the Warlock, which is an expansion of energy that devastates foes and empowers allies. Each Super is developed with team play in mind with Void for Titans, Solar for Warlocks, and Arc for Hunters.

Destiny 2 is also finally getting an LFG tool with the Fireteam Finder. It's about time. Look for it in November.

Seasons are becoming a thing of the past in Destiny 2. Taking their place are Episodes. What's the difference? Honestly, probably not as much as they want to act like, but there will be three Episodes per year, broken up into three acts each. That's 9 story beats per year spaced 6 weeks apart. Some episodes will likely be stand-alone stories per the devs. They call it an evolution in the way they tell stories following The Final Shape.

During Season of the Witch, which goes live today, players can check out the brand new Deck of Whispers, a new method of player progression that allows players to customize their loadouts and powers in new ways. Build customized decks of cards full of buffs and perks by completing certain activities.

There's also a new quality-of-life system in place to help new players catch up on the story with the new Timeline Reflections feature. Players can take part in short playable missions to see brief narrative introductions and summaries of key narrative events from Destiny 2 to help them catch up on the story. There will be three Timeline Reflections with Season of the Witch.

Players who have not yet experienced The Witch Queen expansion can do so this weekend from August 24-27 during a free trial weekend.