Bungie continues to drip feed Beyond Light information through its weekly This Week at Bungie blog posts, and this week the focus is on Destiny 2's core activities and associated loot. In the post, Bungie announced the return of pursuit weapons—special, curated guns that are earned through a (usually lengthy) quest that involves playing through either Strikes, Crucible or Gambit.
A quick history of Destiny 2 'pursuit' loot: in Year 2, it came in the form of pinnacle weapons, which had unique perks that made for some of the strongest guns in the game. Mountaintop, Recluse, Revoker, 21% Delirium, Wendigo GL3 and Loaded Question are all things I still regularly use, because they're still arguably the best weapons in their particular class.
In Year 3, pursuits were downgraded to ritual weapons, which offered curated rolls pulled from the existing perk pool. They were mostly underwhelming, and eventually stopped being offered. Where previously each season contained a pinnacle/ritual weapon for each of the three core activities, Season of the Worthy featured just a single ritual weapon tied to Iron Banner. Season of Arrivals has no ritual weapon at all.
For Year 4, rituals are back, but again it seems we'll be getting just one per season. This time, though, players will have a choice of how they acquire this loot. Players can choose whether to accept a Strike, Crucible or Gambit quest for the gun itself, and will get an additional ornament quest for each to alter its look.
As for the gun itself, it sure does look a lot like Beloved—a sniper rifle that still makes a regular appearance in Crucible matches. It's called Adored, according to the filename of its images, which is a fun reference as well as a name previously revealed by leaker WishYaLukk. This potentially gives credence to Wish's other Beyond Light claims—although I'll continue to treat them all with a pinch of salt.
In terms of armour, Bungie has also unveiled a new set that will be rolling out for the core activities, featuring decals and shaders specific to each. It seems like this playlist armour will only be refreshed yearly going forward, which… sure feels like a while to wait for something new. You can see Year 4's set at the top of the page. I'll be honest: I'm not a fan. That Warlock set looks pretty much the same as a handful of others that I already own. Bungie, please, what is the deal with Warlock helmets?
As for the activities themselves, Bungie has also revealed how they'll be streamlining their offerings. Over the years, Destiny 2's Strikes, Crucible and Gambit have all accumulated a lot of baggage, much of which is now being dialled back. Gambit, for instance, is being consolidated into a single mode—a tweaked version of Gambit Prime rebalanced around not having Prime's armour perks. Invasions will be less frequent and the boss phase has been tweaked to be faster, which should result in much quicker games. Also Taken Captains will no longer be sent as blockers, which is the sort of quality of life change that I'm all about.
One final reveal is regarding the return of 'Adept' weapons for players who go 'flawless' in Trials of Osiris. Originally part of Destiny 1, Adept weapons feature an intrinsic third perk that makes it slightly better than its base version. It finally gives Trials players a reason to go flawless, although the mode's loot system is still in need of a far bigger overhaul. Bungie is also planning to add Adept weapons to Strikes, too, but that won't happen until later in the year.
