We’re just inside of a month before the release of Destiny 2’s new annual expansion, Beyond Light. While the update will add a new location, raid, and lots more loot to collect, large portions of the game’s world will be indefinitely removed. Here’s a bunch of stuff worth finishing before that happens.
I’ve tried to make the following rundown both varied and approachable. If you’re a Destiny 2 diehard you’ve probably already done most of this stuff. If you’ve never picked up the game before, it’s arguably one of the better times to dive into its weird and magical sci-fi world. The current Season of Arrivals is one of Destiny 2’s most fun and lucrative in some time, and the next few weeks are also the last chance for players to experience the game as it’s existed more or less since launch.
That’s because on November 10 Bungie’s loot shooter will lose six destinations, including planets Mercury and Mars, moons Titan and Io, as well as four raids, over a dozen exotic quests, and the majority of its main story campaign. With four weeks until that happens, there’s still plenty of time to witness some of Destiny 2’s most dazzling locations, experience some of its best missions, and collect some of its most worthwhile loot.
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Board the Immortal and defeat Dominus Ghaul to free the Traveler’s Light.
The Red War campaign is what Destiny 2 launched with, and it still contains some of the most interesting missions and story beats the game’s ever had. If nothing else, you should prioritize finishing it. It’s still the single best way to see all the solar system’s sights, and the final boss fight against Ghaul atop his command ship in the Last City remains one of the series’ most stunning set pieces. You can find the quest line by visiting shipwright Amanda Holliday in the Tower’s docking bay.
Carry out the last will and testament of Cayde-6.
Ace of Spades is a versatile and all-around fun exotic hand cannon that used to belong to the irreverent Vanguard Hunter Cayde-6. He’s one of Destiny 2’s most beloved characters, and the exotic quest to get his hand cannon is one of the most intimate windows into what made the hero tick.
To make it yours you’ll have to restore it to its former glory by finding all of the fallen Exo’s hidden stashes and completing the super-fun “Ace in the Whole” mission. Wielding the weapon is an appropriate tribute to a former comrade, but the quest to get it also takes you deep inside the underbelly of Titan while letting you listen to Cayde-6’s final audio logs along the way. All you need to do to kick it off is complete the “Nothing Left to Say” mission from the Forsaken expansion.
Embrace the Anthem Anatheme and earn the Whisper of the Worm.
Not only is Whisper of the Worm one of the best sniper rifles in Destiny 2, it’s also part of one of the game’s most mysterious quests and a fascinating artifact in its own right. Players originally stumbled upon the secret “Whisper” quest by accident, but you can now go ahead and complete it any time you want. It’s extremely tough, though, and must be completed within 20 minutes. But the reward is worth it.
Whisper of the Worm is a powerful ally in just about any situation and, as the lasting embodiment of the ancient worm god Xol, the Will of Thousands, it’s also a perfect entry point into Destiny 2’s uniquely wild brand of metaphysics. You can start the quest from the Io map. Just make sure you have a solid fireteam at your back.
Challenge Enkaar, the Anointed to a duel.
The Last Word is a gunslinger’s hand cannon that you can rapidly fire simply by repeatedly sliding your hand over the hammer (that part in the back that cocks it). It’s a fun and reliable weapon for Crucible matches and close-quarters encounters, but the final mission to get it is the real highlight, requiring you to think on your feet rather than just mow down faceless hordes as quickly as you can.
After getting the quest called “The Draw” from the drifter, you have to fill up a series of bars by killing all manner of enemies in all manner of ways. Eventually you’ll unlock a mission called “The Conversation,” which sends you to the Tangled Shore to tango with a legendary Hive gunsmith. Best him in a series of duels that combine mini-puzzles with twitch reflexes and you’ll get the Last Word. Bungie’s confirmed that exotics like this will return in some fashion after Beyond Light, but the one-of-a-kind quests you earn them through will be gone for good. (Bad Juju, Sleeper Simulant, and Thorn are also all worth picking up through their original questlines if you find yourself with a bunch of extra time on your hands).
Confront the Fallen mech monstrosity Insurrection Prime at the Last City.
Destiny 2 is losing a bunch of raids next month. In an ideal world you’d have the time and friends to give them all a go, because each offers its own personal twist on the game at its most high concept and challenging. If you only have time to do one soon-to-be-vaulted raid, make it Scourge of the Past. In my opinion it’s the most bang for your buck in terms of new environments, spectacular moments, and cool fights, and it’s also one of the shorter and more straightforward six-person activities to get through. It takes you through the ruins of humanity’s last city at night and by dawn matches you against a giant robot, all without any super confusing or puzzle mechanics to make things too aggravating. If you’re lucky, you’ll snag the Anarchy exotic grenade launcher, which launches tripwire mines when fired.
Help Destiny 2’s lovable planetary weirdos prepare for evacuation.
One of Season of Arrivals’ main quests is a three part series called “Exodus,” which sees you visit Titan, Io, Mercury and Mars and brace them against the invading alien pyramids. The quest steps are all straightforward and easy to fold into other objectives like grinding planetary bounties and playing Contact public events.
More importantly, they combine to tell a moving story about each of the locations’ vendors: Asher Mir, Commander Sloane, Ana Bray, and Brother Vance. Each has been around since Destiny 2’s first year, and the lore that drops at each step in “Exodus” provides them fitting sendoffs. You can launch the quest by speaking with Commander Zavala in the Tower.
Save Eris Morn from the necromancer Hive prince Nokris.
Savathûn, the Witch-Queen has sent her nephew Nokris to lay a trap on Io and stop the pyramids from making contact with the guardians. It’s a mini-story that takes place across four separate interference missions Bungie has been doling out across the season, but which have now finally all been revealed. Not only do you get a pinnacle drop each week, you also get a peek into the ongoing royal Hive family drama and what the pyramids’ arrival might mean for their future.
To start the week’s interference mission you need to first complete the weekly Means to an End requirement at the Drifter’s Prismatic Recaster—usually completing a heroic Contact public event and then collecting a certain number of Umbral traces from killing certain enemies in Crucible matches or Vanguard strikes. You can then access the interference mission from Io’s map. It’s unclear if Bungie will find a way to rotate in the full set of interference missions before November 10, but anyone who missed the previous ones can still jump in and take on Nokris in the final Clear the Air mission.
Enter the realm of the Nine to discover the secret of the Darkness.
Season of Arrivals also added a new three-person mini-raid called the Prophecy. It’s one of the game’s most visually stunning and inventive activities to date, and unfortunately it’s temporarily leaving when Beyond Light begins. The good news is that it’s not terribly difficult, especially if you’re at or above the recommended power level of 1040. Otherwise you can try to recruit some high-level players to carry you through it, which you definitely should do if you want to see what it would look like for Tarsem Singh to direct a Destiny level. It’s also chock-full of esoteric but evocative lore bits.
Hit rank 57 in the Season of Arrivals pass.
This one is less exciting than the others but will serve you well if you plan to keep playing Destiny 2 when Beyond Light hits. That’s because rank 57 marks the last piece of Holdfast armor you can earn through the season pass, and will net you a full set of gear in which each piece has a total stat spread over 60. The Holdfast set is also one of the game’s most stylish, and won’t become obsolete until next fall.
Hitting rank 57 is no easy task, but still totally feasible in the time that’s left. Just doing the other stuff on this list with a full set of bounties in tow at all times will get you much of the way there. If it proves too ambitious, feel free to settle for rank 30, which is when you unlock the Falling Guillotine sword, one of the strongest power weapons currently in the game.
Earn some god rolls.
Chasing god rolls—solid guns with the best perks loadouts—isn’t for everybody, but it’s another part of the Destiny 2 grind that Season of Arrivals has made less tedious than usual. This season in particular also has some easy-to-obtain but still pretty fantastic weapons thanks to the Umbral Engram system. You don’t even have to worry about ranking up the Drifter’s Prismatic Recaster all the way in order to get them. In fact, some are likely to drop just while going about the rest of your business and will leave you in great shape heading into Destiny 2’s fourth year.
The legendary assault rifle Gnawing Hunger is one of the easiest to get. It’s got a big magazine, handles like a charm, and still packs a punch. You can get it from Dredgen-focused Umbral Engrams or random world drops, but Lead-Focused Umbral Engrams have the highest chance of decrypting into one. There are very few rolls that are trash on this gun, but some combination of Subsistence and Rampage, Demolitionist, or Swashbuckler is what you’re after. Meanwhile other good finds are a Dire Promise hand cannon with Overflow and Swashbuckler (random drop), an Ikelos SMG with Subsistence and Surrounded (CQC-Focused Umbral Engrams), or a First In, Last Out shotgun with Auto-Loading Holster and Surrounded (CQC-Focused Umbral Engrams).