Almost two years after its initial launch,Destiny 2, Bungie’s popular sci-fi looter-shooter, has been re-released into a free-to-play version that covers the first year of content.Destiny 2: New Light, as the F2P version is known, is being launched alongside Shadowkeep, the game’s fourth major expansion.
For players who are entering the world ofDestiny 2for the first time, there’s a lot of catching up to do before they can leap intoShadowkeep. Two years and four expansions have leftDestiny 2a confusing cavalcade of daily bounties, weekly challenges, special missions and public events. With only minimal hand-holding to steer players in-game, here’s our top three tips to help newcomers find their feet starside:
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First Campaign
Before the release ofNew Light, any player booting upDestiny 2for the first time would find themselves at the start of the Red War campaign, attempting to pick up the pieces after the destruction of the base fromDestiny 1. With the free-to-play release however, players begin with character creation, followed by a tutorial mission in the Cosmodrome, an old Russian spaceport. After the mission players are dropped into the Tower,Destiny 2’shub, with a bewildering selection of vendors and missions to choose from.
This amount of choice can be overwhelming, and players wishing to acclimatize themselves to the world ofDestiny 2before diving in should find Amanda Holliday, the NPC who starts theRed War campaignfrom the original release. The campaign is a decent length, with a good story that acts as an introduction to the lore, something which is a little thin on the ground in the New Light version.
Varying Ammunition
Not all ofDestiny 2’sweaponsuse the same ammunition, and nor are each of the ammo types equal. Primary/White ammunition is the most plentiful in the game, but also used by less-damaging weapons, while Special/Green ammunition is dropped more rarely, but is normally used by higher-impact weapons like shotguns and sniper rifles.
This means that to avoid wasting ammo drops it’s a good idea to carry one of each of the weapon-types at all times, using the primary weapon for lower-tier threats, and only getting thespecial weaponout when a little more punch is required.
Learn to Experiment
To say that there are a lot of guns and class options in Destiny 2 would be an understatement, from the very first missions players will be inundated in a sea of choice. Faced with such an abundance, it’s tempting to leap on the first weapon that feels good and cling to it like a life-raft, only replacing it with a higher-tier version of the same thing. Doing this inDestiny 2is a real mistake, as the sheer amount of variation in fire-pattern, fire-rate, spread, recoil, optics andweapon perksmeans that even players who’ve found a hundred shotguns and haven’t liked a single one may find their opinion changed with the next drop.
Destiny 2is out now for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, with a Stadia version also in development.
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