Season of the Seraph has been out for a few weeks now and we’ve experienced the full range of content. We have story content, seasonal activities, a dungeon, an Exotic mission, great loot, and an overhaul of competitive ranked PVP. Today I’m going to dive into my thoughts on the season so far, and what we still may have to look forward to when it comes to the rest of the season in Destiny 2.
Without further delay, let’s dive right into things.
Story
First of all we have the story and setting. This was a much previewed storyline with Ana Bray and Rasputin coming back into the fold. Xiva Arath also takes a starring role, given she is trying to get hold of Rasputin’s Warsats and cause an extinsion level event on Earth. We have to restore the warmind Rasputin, given he was siphoned into an engram when the Pyramid ships turned up in Season of Arrivals the season before Beyond Light. Osiris seems OK again, hvaing only drunk the restorative tea made from Nezarec only a few weeks ago plus we have Clovis and Elsie Bray along for the ride.
There’s something not quite right with Clovis, we’re in that mode of having to trust him, rather than wanting to work with him, and it appears getting Rasputin back isn’t going to be as simple as putting him in the engram in the first place. As well as the weekly narrative beats, we also have great story with the Dungeon and Exotic mission, and while the story is a little confusing with many robot names and Warminds to remember, it’s still very gripping as we lead into the main story of Lightfall, and inevitably make our way to Neptune in the latter part of the season.
Heist Battlegrounds
Next up we have the seasonal activity, Heist Battlegrounds, which have been given a major upgrade in difficulty this time. We have regular Heists and Legend Heists, which often feel like Nightfalls compared to Strikes in regards to the difficulty. The structure is pretty interesting as we start out with a battle in the open space, on somewhere like The Moon, or Mars (Yes, Escalation Protocol Mars is back), then we open up a Seraph Bunker, spelunk inside and defeat a few enemies to delve further into the Bunker and face off against a combination of Hive and Fallen. It’s refreshing to have a single seasonal activity to focus on, plus the difficulty is nice, and the loot is good too.
Dungeon
The Dungeon is called Spire of the Watcher, and this one is based on Mars near the Enclave. Much of the early feedback about the Dungeon was it was short, the mechanics were simple and the bosses are bullet sponges. While I agree with the latter feedback about the bosses being bullet sponges, I’ve come around to the mechanic, whereby we have to reconnect electrical cables throughout the playspaces. I also like the vertical nature of the dungeon, plus the loot is excellent too. I still don’t have my Cowboy Hat, although I do have all other armor. The Tex Mechanica loot is fantastic including the new Sidearm that can roll Desperado, and we have the Long Arm, the legendary version of DMT. The Dungeon is also farmable, meaning you can go in time and time again, if you are looking to get a full set of cowboy loot.
Operation: Seraph’s Shield Exotic Mission
The Exotic mission is relatively new in-game having been released just before the holiday season. Operation: Seraph’s Shield is mainly puzzles and a few encounters, but it certainly one of the best missions Bungie have put out in a long time. Vox Obscura was another exotic mission similar to this, however this one far exceeds Vox Obscura. This one reuses some assets from Deep Stone Crypt, personally, I don’t mind this too much as this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing environments we have in Destiny, plus you have the individual moments like going out of the space station, and handing yourself into the Fallen, before running through a Ketch all guns blazing.
At the end of the Exotic mission we have the Exotic Pulse Rifle Revision Zero, which we can customise week over week with 4 catalysts, plus we have zones and secrets to uncover within the mission itself. This may not hit the heights of the Whisper Mission or Zero Hour, but this is by far the best Exotic mission we’ve seen in Beyond Light and Witch Queen-era Destiny.
Loot (weapons and armour)
Loot this season has been excellent. We have the reissued Ikelos weapons, and selected Seraph weapons throughout the Dungeon. The Ikelos weapons are nice and easy to get, finding the Rasputin Nodes around the system and combining resonant stems to create a map to find the loot. It’s a neat little puzzle to get some reprised weapons, whcih are better than ever. The seasonal weapons are good; The Pulse Rifle and Linear Fusion Rifle both stand out weapons to chase.
Exotic weapons are decent too. We have a couple so far. The seasonal Exotic is called The Manticore, which is a submachine gun that allows us to fly around the map. While this may end up as a novelty, it was very impressive in the opening moments of the season. Another Exotic weapon is called Hierarchy of Needs, which is an Exotic Bow from the Dungeon. This is an interesting one where you build up a guidance ring. Precision hits and final blows build Guidance Ring energy. Opposing Guardians grant additional energy. At full charge, hip firing creates a Guidance Ring. Then you have Apollonic Tangent, arrows fired through a Guidance Ring release seeking projectiles, which do more damage based on distance traveled.
As well as the weapons we have great armor sets including the Assassin’s Creed crossover, plus we have the Arc armor, which should have really been introduced last season, however, better late than never. The Dawning armor set was excellent as always, and we also have the seasonal warmind set from the season pass and the seasonal activity.
PVP
This season we’ve seen a major rework for competitive PVP, with the introduction of Competitive Division and a ranked playlist. I’ve seen a lot of negative feedback concerning new competitive, however, personally I like it. In terms of loot to chase we have Rose, a 140 hand cannon reissued from Destiny’s past. Once you complete your placement matches, seven regular matches of comp, you’ll get a static roll of Rose. Then, week over week, you can complete 3 more matches to get a random roll version of Rose, and this gun has some excellent perks. You can’t really go wrong when it comes to getting Rose.
The problem with Comp at the moment is there isn’t really an incentive to keep playing. There are no unique cosmetics for comp and you can’t show off your rank in-game. These are basic design flaws that are going to turn off players. Bungie may be laying the groundwork for further competitive reworked features in the future, like adding more loot and cosmetics, but I’ve heard plenty of feedback from top tier players that this isn’t really it. In fact many PVP players are questioning their place in the Destiny 2 ecosystem at the moment.
Personally, I am having alot of fun in comp this season, the mode is motivating me to come back and play week over week, however, I am not a high-level player, and even though I have been playing Destiny 2 PVP for years, I’m still very new to PVP and don’t know the nuances of why a mode is good or bad or not. What I do know is what I enjoy and so far so good. I think bungie can improve this mode over time, and I’m looking forward to what they can do in the future.
Events
Festival of the Lost and Solstice were criticised for being overly grindy, especially against the backdrop of Season of Plunder, which had overriding themes of grindiness, really putting players off. The Dawning this time round was much better, I breezed through the triumphs for the title, the aptly named Star Baker, and by the end of it I could happily continue playing the Dawning activities or game loop, where as at the end of the Festival of the Lost title, I didn’t want to engage in anything after that, I was just happy to finish.
Roundup
We’re only about 4 weeks into the season, but we’ve already enjoyed a lot of content. Lightfall is on the horizonm scheduled to release on 28th February 2023, and no doubt as the season continues, and we find out more about Clovis Bray and Xivu Arath, things are inevitably going to take a dark turn. I’m 100% here for it, and am happy to report Season of the Seraph is one of the best seasons we’ve enjoyed in Destiny 2 throughout the entire year of The Witch Queen.