A new State of the Game blog post for Destiny 2 has just dropped and it highlights a bunch of significant changes coming to the game throughout the year. Along with changes to weapon crafting, an exotic mission rotator, and tuning challenge in the game, there are going to be some substantial alterations coming to how seasonal rewards are handed out. Perhaps the most exciting update coming to Destiny 2 will be the complete removal of Umbrals, Umbral Energy, and the use of seasonal currency to open chests.
In the post, game director Joe Blackburn explains that Umbrals and Umbral Energy will no longer be used to focus weapons or armor. Instead, players will need a seasonal engram and some Glimmer to focus a specific piece of gear. Seasonal engrams will also be tracked and stored in seasonal vendors so they don’t clutter your inventory menu anymore.
Additionally, seasonal currencies will no longer be used to open chests at the end of seasonal activities. Currently, players need to spend around 500 of a specific currency to unlock a secondary loot chest that often contains better rewards. This is being removed and in its place will be keys that players can earn from completing activities. These can be earned in seasonal activities too, which means you won’t need to grind Gambit, Strikes, or Crucible matches. However, these keys are not guaranteed to drop so don’t expect to be drowning in them. To make up for the difference, Bungie will be increasing the rewards for completing a seasonal activity.
There are also substantial changes coming to the seasonal upgrade trees. Not only will they feature fewer upgrades that players will need to unlock, but Bungie promises that they will be “more potent.” These will also give players more ways to interact with seasonal activities to try and alleviate the grind.
All of these seasonal and Umbral changes will go live when Destiny 2 Season of Defiance launches alongside Lightfall.
