On top of adding flashy new content like new areas and exotic gear, Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion has also added a ton of quality of life changes. There are lots of smaller things, such as increased vault space, that will make your day to day easier. This is in addition to changing how certain events reward you, like Public Events and new Bounties, to make the game a bit more grindy, but in the good way, which I’ll admit is a statement that probably only makes sense to Destiny 2 players.
Bungie, when speaking about Forsaken, has continuously mentioned “depth” and wanting players to feel like there are lots of things to keep them busy, and that they just won’t feel bored with everything after a few short weeks. This pattern of people bailing after playing through new content is something that existed to an extent with the first game, but not to the same degree that we’ve seen with Destiny 2. Hence, the renewed focus on such changes and features in Forsaken. It also helps that Crucible is fun again now, and Gambit is great.
A lot of what Bungie has done with Forsaken to improve the “depth” is quite reasonable. However, if there’s one change that is being met with some resistance, it’s the new requirements for infusing that were introduced with Forsaken. Infusion used to just cost Legendary Shards, but now also requires Masterwork Cores, and planetary materials. Recently, Bungie held a Q&A with members of the Destiny 2 press and community, and was asked about the amount of resources needed to infuse items now, and whether it was fair – here’s what Bungie had to say:
“Yes, absolutely. It’s fair that you need them. When we talk about the depth, one of the things that’s really important is you’re making choices about what you’re bringing with you on these journeys. So when we have you put a little more work on bringing that thing forward, that’s important, instead of just saying: ‘Day one, OK I’m going to bring everything that I like with me.’ That’s not as interesting a story as say: ‘Oh I really want to bring this one weapon with me and I’m going to make a choice now on what is the most important weapon that I want to bring with me on this journey right now.’ And eventually, if you put enough time in, you’re going to be able to do that with the majority of the things [equipment], but it’s about making players have that choice. We don’t want to make it easy to bring everything with you.”
Another developer added that “tension” about choices was something they wanted players to experience, along with wanting players to experiment more with new weapons that they come across that are higher power level, rather than instantly dumping it into something they know they like by infusing it.
***
That latter point makes a ton of sense. I have certainly tried out way more weapons in Forsaken so far than I probably would have done, in archetypes such as Hand Cannons or Sidearms that I personally don’t favor. I can understand why Bungie would want to drive players in that direction. I have infused less, and used new stuff more.
The planetary material requirement seems fair, and there’s a certain kind of peaceful fun to just driving around looking for caches. The main problem is the masterwork cores. There’s really no reliable way to get them other than visiting Spider’s black market in The Tangled Shore, and dumping obscene amount of Legendary Shards for anything other than the first one you buy.
Right now, it kind of just is what it is, and players are making due and infusing whatever they can afford. Hopefully, Bungie will be able to find a balance between sticking with their vision for infusing, which does make sense on paper, but having it fit the current economy a little better. That could mean using a different currency instead of Masterwork Cores, lowering Spider’s price or the overall cost for infusion, or something else entirely. Or, Bungie could not do anything, and we’ll be forced to beg Spider for “more please” until the end of time. We’ll have to wait and see.
