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No more speculation, after a last-minute leak, Bungie has pushed back the official reveal timing and finally spilled the beans on Destiny 2 Season 17, a new experiment in near-total pre-launch secrecy.
Today, along with a new trailer, Bungie finally revealed the actual name Season of the Haunted, which was leaked in some circles ahead of time, but no one knew if it was legit or not. It was!
So why hide that name? Well, it can be about What is Haunting, this is Calus’ leviathan megaship, which was sunset when the pyramids arrived and Beyond Light struck, but has now returned this season in a “corrupted” form to commune with the sleeping pyramid on the moon. Calus has been working on a plan to serve the Darkness, possibly trying to become an apprentice like Rhulk, and guess what? We have to stop him.
And we’re going to do that with Solar 3.0, the new subclass that was in addition Hidden until this moment, although again some pretty steep clues pointed in that direction (for once, one of my predictions worked).
We have a small amount of information about the seasonal content that will be released in just a few hours. The list:
story: Leviathan is corrupted, overtaken by darkness. We will return through old zones like the Dogs/Throne rooms that have now been converted. The story revolves around Crow, Zavala, and Caiatl confronting ancient “Nightmare” demons who haunt them just as Eris was stalked by her dead fireteam. The footage shows Crow confronting Uldren, Caiatl confronting Ghaul, and Zavala possibly confronting his dead former love, otherwise I don’t recognize her. I have to confirm that, but the Leviathan appears to be an actual freeroam space now, at least the parts that have been brought back for this season (and possibly permanently).
nightmare containment: We’re back in the fight against Nightmares on the moon. These aren’t the old Nightmare Hunts, but rather battles that will take place somewhere in the newly corrupted Leviathan. This activity is free for all players. I’m not sure about player count yet, but Bungie has been doing mostly 6-man stuff lately.
Separate: This is a type of paid seasonal activity that has players navigating the underbelly of Leviathan to uncover the truth behind Calus’ plan and sever the Nightmares he controls. Not sure if this could be anything similar to Expunge type missions in Season of the Splicer.
Sun 3.0: There are no details here, except that we can “ignite the flame of creativity” with the aspect and fragment system. Many speculated that the new element was being kept secret because it was tied to the story, but no confirmation of that here yet.
prey: In the press kit, I’ve seen images of lunar-themed armor that I assume is the season’s base set, some evil Ghost Rider-like armor that’s probably high-tier ornaments, and a solar Eververse set like the Void we have last time. There’s new loot again that looks pretty badass and includes a new Scout Rifle, Rocket Launcher, a Glaive, and a Legendary Trace Rifle. Most urgently, however, Bungie has brought back four classic menagerie weapons, Calus MINI Tool, Beloved, Drang, and Ausstringer, presumably with new perks and an origin trait. There’s also a new scythe players can wield, but I feel like this is like a relic weapon for the activity, not actual loot.
intruder: The only exotic Bungie is revealing is one they accidentally revealed a few weeks ago, the return of the Trespasser, Shiro-4’s exotic bow sidearm from Destiny 1’s Rise of Iron. This is the Exotic Season Pass that all players receive.
The dungeon: No new information here other than his “secrets are strictly confidential”. Given the events of the season, I’d be a bit surprised if it wasn’t on the Leviathan, but technically the dungeon isn’t seasonal content, it’s purchased separately through the Witch Queen Deluxe Edition or in a special two-dungeon pack for Sale. So it really could be anywhere. I don’t think loot or screenshots from the dungeon are shown in the press kit.
It doesn’t sound like things like the Vault Raids or the Menagerie are returning as activities, but some of those old areas are being used and the fact that the ship is back in the first place might open that door later.
Even with this last-minute revelation, it’s clear that Bungie is likely keeping a lot under wraps about this season. Was it all worth the mystery and hype? I mean logging in to find Calus’ ship over the moon is a pretty big deal, but we’ll see how the season goes from here. I’m definitely excited based on what I’m hearing here.
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