by theygamesThe Destiny 2 Lightfall release date means a saga eight years in the making will finally come to its dramatic conclusion. Whether you love the game for the lore, hardcore PvP gameplay, or deep character customization options, the Lightfall expansion has something for every type of Destiny 2 player. The expansion will introduce us to a new city on Neptune, grant a new subclass called Strand, and offer several quality-of-life improvements that both Destiny 2 veterans and New Lights will appreciate.
Below, you’ll find everything we know about the Destiny 2 Lightfall release date, information about the new subclass, a new planet to explore, new in-game features, and more. There’s so much coming with Lightfall, and there’s a reason it’s one of the best FPS games out there.
Destiny 2 Lightfall release date
In the Lightfall and Season 18 reveal showcase, which took place just before the launch of Season of Plunder, the team announced the Lightfall release date is on February 28, 2023. If the team chooses to follow its current release format, players can expect the launch to occur at 9am PST / 12pm EST / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST that day, with a pre-release showcase taking place in the hour leading up to the launch.
While Bungie doesn’t plan to take Destiny 2 offline in the aftermath, the developers have said that this instalment is “the beginning of the end,” implying it will serve as the climax and resolution to the game’s ongoing storyline. Ultimately, players can expect it to answer questions about the Light, the Darkness, and the collapse of humanity on Earth.
Preordering Lightfall gives players instant access to an Exotic Ghost and a Legendary Emblem, while pre-ordering Lightfall and the Annual Pass will grant those two items plus instant access to the Quicksilver Storm Exotic Auto Rifle and an Exotic emote.
New Darkness subclass
The showcase event gave players their first glimpse at Strand, a new darkness subclass. Strand appears to be about movement, with the most notable feature being players’ ability to grapple through the world around them.
It also allows players to tap into the matrix in the world around them that connects all beings through consciousness. The Warlock will be able to tap into the telekinetic power of Strand to manipulate matter, while Titans can weave a set of claws to do area of effect damage. Finally, the Hunter will be able to leverage a rope dart.
Neo Luna location
The Lightfall showcase also revealed a new location called Neo Luna. Located on Neptune, it appears to be a bright and luminous city and is a stark contrast to the desolate Earth, which is overrun by Fallen enemies and Cabal invaders. Neo Luna has harbours, office buildings, and an arcade.
Calus has parked his army in the city, effectively putting it under siege. The showcase alluded to a different Cabal force than the Red Legion we’ve come to know, as the Shadow Legion has different armour and is said to be more powerful than the Cabal we’ve faced before because they are enhanced by Pyramid technology. These enemies will also have suppression devices that can eliminate some of your abilities, and they’re aided by enemies called Tormenters, which appear to be a form of headless entity.
But, as we discovered at the end of the Witch Queen campaign and into Season of the Haunted, Calus merely acts as a disciple of The Witness. The Witness appears to be the leader of the Black Fleet that caused Mars, Mercury, Titan, and Io to disappear.
When it comes to the inhabitants of Neo Luna, a group of beings known as Cloudstriders resides there. They’re comparable to Guardians in that they’re the protectors of a city under threat but differ in that Guardians were chosen to protect humanity while Cloudstriders decided to do so themselves.
Legendary Campaign option
With The Witch Queen expansion, Destiny 2 also offered its first-ever Legendary Campaign option. This option lets players complete the campaign on a higher difficulty setting, with the promise of an exotic and other bonuses at the end of their run.
Bungie had previously announced the forthcoming DLC would have a Legendary campaign mode but confirmed it with this announcement. The goal here is for it to be an “inside track” to being raid-ready when the raid goes live shortly after the launch of the new DLC.
Guardian Ranks and quality-of-life improvements
Bungie also announced that it would introduce Guardian Ranks, which will provide a visual indicator of a player’s game mastery. The goal is to not only celebrate the game’s best and most active players but also to tout them as people who can help other, less experienced players who may need some assistance in the game world.
This is all to solve a more significant problem within Destiny 2. For years, solo players searching for teammates to run fireteams for high-difficulty activities or activities requiring six players, such as raids, would have to go off the platform to find teammates. It introduces a host of challenges, as there’s no central point known to be the place to find Destiny 2 teammates. Players might have to check Discord, Reddit, forums on stat aggregation sites, and other third-party options to find others looking for teammates.
Fortunately, in announcing Lightfall, the Bungie team also shared that Bungie would be introducing in-game group formation in Destiny 2 to make finding teammates for these activities easier.
Commendations were also announced, allowing players to offer feedback about their teammates in an activity. The options only award positive commendations, so there’s little room for trolling.
Further, Bungie announced that it would now offer options for players to create and save loadouts and manage their mods. This is huge as typically, each time a person wants to develop a new build for an activity, they have to choose not only their subclass but also choose appropriate weapons, armour, and armour mods that best suit that activity. Often, even a small change, such as forgetting to equip a specific mod, can disrupt the build, so having quick access to favoured builds is a huge win.
As you wait for the forthcoming content, check out our build guide for the recently revamped Arc 3.0. You’ll also want to catch up with our Solar 3.0 and Void 3.0 guides to make sure you optimise your builds in advance of Lightfall.