Destiny 2: Warmind offers new landscapes, weaponry and raid options
Destiny 2’s second expansion, released on May 8th, brings new story content complete with NPCs and areas, a new raid, and themed weapons, armor, and gear.
Destiny 2‘s second expansion Warmind gives Titans, Warlocks, and Hunters more to do in the Destiny universe. The expansion comes with new story content exploring the polar ice caps of Mars and learning more about Rasputin and a new ally, Ana Bray. There’s also new strikes, raids, and everyone’s favorite: Loot.
Story
The expansion opens to an unfamiliar face, explaining how Guardians aren’t supposed to look into their past lives and how she’s going to outright ignore that suggestion. Cue the groundbreaking up, icy Hive attacking, and an epic fight scene.
This is Ana Bray, a Hunter that’s been missing while on her own personal journey to discover who she was, how she relates to Clovis Bray and Rasputin. Your character meets up with her on Mars when the Vanguard-only channel has a distress signal broadcasting on it.
The story follows a similar pattern to all the Destiny 2 storylines: Someone notices something strange going on with the enemies, you go on various missions that include a ton of enemies and small boss battles, rinse and repeat, and eventually, you beat the big bad.
In this expansion particularly, you discover the core of the Warming Rasputin, an ancient Hive army set out to destroy everything and dutifully serve their god Xol. Ana’s mission is both to learn more about her past and of course, destroy the Hive and their god.
Still, for as repetitive as this formula is, it’s still a winning one. There’s something so satisfying about taking down enemy after enemy. Plus with the challenging bosses and ever-changing gear, it’s never the same twice.
Mars
Destiny 2: Warmind expansion. Image via Bungie and Activision
The new area brings the player back to a familiar planet, Mars. But it is a different terrain than what we were used to in the first Destiny. This time the location is at the polar ice cap and a Golden Age Clovis Bray facility. This expansion adds icy environments and “retro” (for Destiny‘s timeline at least) architecture. The combination of red dirt and ice is a stunning one, adding a unique look to the normally drab Hive tunnels. The Clovis Bray facility reminds me of Titan, but better preserved and it’s refreshing to see screens and tech that isn’t destroyed.
Enemies
Frozen Hive that worship Xol in Destiny 2: Warmind expansion. Image via Bungie and Activision
The main enemies are an icy version of Hive that for the most part act and attack in the same way as normal Hive. There’s also remnants of the Red Legion that have landed on Mars and you’ll be fighting them too along the way. I found the enemies in the Story mode to be a touch more difficult. Proceeding through the story alone is a challenge for sure, especially during the respawn restricted areas. If you’re finding it particularly tough, grab a friend or spend some time maxing out your gear and you’ll do fine.
Loot
The best part of expansions is the new loot. New items always breathe life into Destiny by giving players something to aim towards. New weapons to get, new shaders, new emotes, new speeders and ships, and of course new armor to customize the look of your Guardian. And, with increased level and Light caps, it means grinding for better gear to infuse your exotics with. The new Warmind themed items are pretty cool and range between triangle patterned items and dirty gear that looks ancient.
Features
A few new features also dropped in tandem with Warmind, the most exciting being multi-emote customization and private Crucible matches. The multi-emote customization lets players finally change the default emotes that have been automatically assigned to the arrow keys. Now you don’t have to choose between your selfie emote and ramen eating emote! Private Crucible matches give you full control over maps, gameplay and invited players. That’s something that will really change up PvP and bring us back to the good-old-days of Halo matches with your friends. Season 3 also started with Warmind, and while you don’t need the expansions, having them gives you access to the new maps.
The level cap is now 30 with a max Light level of 385, vault space has been increased from 200 to 300, and seasonal ranks are available.
Post-game activities
Escalation Protocol: a new ritual activity in Destiny 2: Warmind expansion. Image via Bungie and Activision
Desinty 2‘s Warmind expansion provides several new activities for players to partake in after they finish up the new addition to the story. There’s a new Raid Lair called Spire of Stars takes place on the Leviathan and features a new boss. A new Ritual Activity called Escalation Protocol pits Guardians against seven waves of enemies.
Two new strike options are also available. Strange Terrain has you fight a Herald of Xol. Will of the Thousands is where you take up the Valkyrie to stop an attack on Rasputin.
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Final thoughts
Bungie and Activision certainly have a winning formula with Destiny that lends itself to both casual and hardcore gamers alike. The constant updates give regular players constant fresh content and goals. The larger updates, like Season 3 and Warmind, remind lapsed players that Destiny is still there and worth diving back into.
Having stepped away since Expansion I due to Monster Hunter, Far Cry 5, and God of War, Expansion II: Warmind has come at a perfect time to capture my interest again… or at least until Detroit: Become Human releases.