Destiny 2, like many loot-based games, has different rarities of gear for players to collect. The most commonly-used type of equipment is Legendary, which shows up as purple in the game. Exotic items, the most unique armor and weapons in Destiny 2, show up as yellow. But there’s another color of gear that players will frequently encounter in Destiny 2 — blue drops — which don’t seem terribly useful for the most part. Just what is the deal with blue or “rare” items?
Well, back when Destiny 2 first launched, Legendary gear wasn’t the norm. Players begun the game with gray (common) gear, progressed to green (uncommon), then to blue (rare) and finally to purple (Legendary). Now, several years later, Legendary gear has basically become the standard for both weapons and armor. However, blue gear still drops from many activities in the game.
The major difference between blue (and lower) drops and Legendary gear is that the latter have random rolls. Rare gear has fixed stats and perks, meaning that one Refrain-23 rare auto rifle is identical to another. That also means that once you have a blue drop, there’s really no need to ever get another, since if you actually wanted to use it for whatever reason, you could always pull it from your Collections.
All that blue drops are currently useful for in Destiny 2 is helping you climb to the soft power cap, above which you’ll need to earn Powerful engrams to increase your power. If you’re at or above the soft cap, then rare gear doesn’t have any utility. You should dismantle them on sight, and that includes both weapons and armor. At least you get a little Glimmer from doing that.
Is Bungie Going to Remove Blue Drops from Destiny 2?
Rare gear drops less frequently than it used to in Destiny 2 — playlist activities can no longer reward it on completion after players have hit the soft power cap. However, blue drops still appear frequently from other sources in-game. This can be a pain, because they can clog up your inventory and postmaster. Removing blue drops from the game entirely or at least providing a system to switch them off once players hit the soft power cap has been an oft-requested feature for the last several years of Destiny 2. Right now, though, it doesn’t seem like Bungie has any plans to get rid of them.
That said, it does seem like Destiny 2 is placing less emphasis on power level lately. Several recent seasonal activities have raised or capped power, which indicates that Bungie is getting a little more comfortable crafting encounters based on modifiers and enemy stats rather than power level. If power level is removed from the game, then it might take blue drops with it, since their only current purpose is to help newer players reach the soft power cap.
