We’re approaching the 22nd Season of Destiny 2 very soon, so it’s safe to say we have a lot to go off of. With 21 Seasons come and gone, the game has seen many changes and adjustments with them—some good, some great, and some that could have been better. So today, we’re ranking the top 10 Seasons of Destiny 2 from worst to best as of the Lightfall DLC and Season of the Deep.
PSA: While we say “worst to best” in the opening, this only refers to the top 10, as those that make it into the list are all very good and much better than those that don’t.
10. Season of Dawn
Kicking off the list is the second Season during the Shadowkeep era, the Season of Dawn.
The story revolved around Osiris attempting to use his “time travel” machine, known as the Sundial, to prevent the Red Legion from changing history and winning the Red War rather than us. Along the way, our paths collide with the most famous Titan in history, Saint-14, who paid the ultimate sacrifice ages ago. Ultimately, we prevented the Red Legion from changing history and even prevented Saint-14’s death, bringing him to our time.
The Sundial turned into a six-man seasonal activity where players were sent to various timelines where the Red Legion hid themselves, and it was our job to defeat them. It was a solid upgrade over the Vex Offense activity we had in the previous Season, Season of Undying.
That said, the main highlight of the Season was the hidden Exotic mission, the Corridors of Time. The event had hidden codes that made the player base band together in order to decrypt it. In the end, the Exotic Fusion Rifle Bastion was the reward.
Overall, the Season of Dawn wasn’t a significant upgrade over the Season of Undying, but it gave us some solid loot, a great seasonal activity, and a fantastic Exotic mission.
9. Season of the Haunted
Season of the Haunted was not met with happy reception when it was first unveiled last year, but players quickly mellowed out with the content it provided.
The story revolved around the return of the Cabal Emperor, Calus, and his now-infected ship, the Leviathan. The Emperor had formed an alliance with The Witness and now seeks control of the Lunar Pyramid. Meanwhile, the Lunar Pyramid is sending Nightmares after Zavala, Caital, and the Crow, who must battle their inner demons to fend them off. In the end, the Guardians were able to help them suppress their Nightmares and ward off Calus before he could take control of the Pyramid.
While the story wasn’t as enticing compared to other Seasons, the content was pretty solid. The seasonal activity took the form of a Public Event that allowed Guardians to freely roam the corrupted Leviathan Ship to ward off Nightmares. This was a nice gift for a lot of players who weren’t able to participate in the Leviathan Raid when it was still available before the Beyond Light DLC sunsetted it.
On top of that, Guardians were able to try out their newly powered-up Solar abilities with the Solar 3.0 changes, allowing them to burn everything they see in new and exciting ways.
However, the icing on the cake was the addition of a new Dungeon, Duality. Guardians traversed into the mindscape of Emperor Calus to find his own Nightmare, which took the form of his daughter, Caital. Players were very fond of the high-difficulty the Dungeon brought, along with some amazing weapons.
Overall, Season of the Haunted was one of the weaker Seasons during the Witch Queen era, but it provided Guardians with some solid content to keep them busy until the Season of Plunder.
8. Season of Plunder
Revealed during the 2022 Lightfall Showcase, the Season of Plunder gave us a pirate-themed Season for Guardians to enjoy.
The story revolved around the return of the ship-stealer, Eramis, now freed from her Stasis prison thanks to The Witness. Eramis is trying to re-gather her old pirate crews in the hopes of recovering ancient Darkness artifacts for The Witness. In the end, we stop Eramis from recovering the artifacts, and even used them to restore Osiris from his coma. Unfortunately, Eramis escaped, so it’s likely we’ll see her again in a future Season.
The seasonal activities definitely weren’t a highlight of the Season. Expedition was a prolonged three-man activity where players had to wait for a cache to move across an area to dig up treasure. It was very slow-paced, which the player base did not enjoy, to say the least. However, the second activity, Ketchcrash, was a six-man adventure across Fallen ships where players had to defeat waves of enemies and eventually defeat the ship’s captain. The enemy density was a big highlight, allowing Guardians to stretch their limbs and go all out with their powerful builds.
Speaking of builds, players had an abundance of new ones to test out with the Arc 3.0 changes, improving their Arc abilities to new heights. In particular, Arc Titans shined the brightest with their buffs and builds.
However, the main highlight of the Season was the second “reprised” Raid, the return of Oryx, The Taken King, and the King’s Fall Raid. It’s safe to say the King’s Fall Raid made the Destiny franchise so famous, and it did not disappoint with its return to Destiny 2. With updated encounters, the return of the Touch of Malice Exotic Scout Rifle, and craftable Raid weapons, players were eating good, to say the least.
Overall, with the King’s Fall Raid, Arc 3.0 changes, and more, the Season of Plunder was a solid addition to the Witch Queen era.
7. Season of the Forge
The first “Season,” but technically Season 5, Season of the Forge, had a lot on its shoulders after the success of the Forsaken DLC. While it didn’t have as much content as future Seasons did, the quality of said content was a major step-up.
The story revolved around meeting the last of the Black Armor Forgemasters, Ada-1, who requests our help restoring the Forges so she may grant us weapons and armor. In the end, all of the Forges were restored, and Ada-1 said she would assist us in any way possible moving forward. Unfortunately, though, she hasn’t done anything of significance since then, and is now the main vendor for transmog bounties.
Along the way, a new Raid was unveiled, Scourge of the Past, which was a massive success with the player base.
However, the main highlight of the Season came with the Niobe Labs event, where the community banded together to try and figure out certain codes to decrypt a hidden vault room for an Exotic weapon. The featured weapon took the form of the Exotic Sniper Rifle, Izanagi’s Burden, a powerful Sniper Rifle that would be used in every Raid loadout for the foreseeable future until its eventual nerf in a future Season.
Overall, Season of the Forge did a solid job of maintaining the hype of the Forsaken DLC and keeping players entertained until the arrival of Season of the Drifter.
6. Season of the Lost
It’s fair to say many players weren’t ready for the six-month long Season, Season of the Lost. Bungie had announced prior that the Witch Queen DLC would be delayed from November 2021 to February 2022, giving the players the most extended Season the game has ever seen.
Usually, Seasons before a DLC drop are pretty jam-packed, and while Lost did a solid job overall, it wouldn’t be rated so high if it wasn’t for the 30th Anniversary event that took place midway around Christmas 2021.
The story revolved around the return of the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov, whom we haven’t seen since she entered the Ascendant plane during the Forsaken DLC. Mara tasks the Guardians with finding her Techeun Witches before they are killed by the Hive War God, Xivu Arath, who wants control of the Ascendant Plane to send her armies wherever she pleases. Meanwhile, we also interact with a captured Hive God, the Witch Queen Savathun, who stole Osiris’s body during Season of the Splicer. At the end of the Season, we were able to repel Xivu Arath and her forces at the cost of freeing Savathun, thus leading into the Witch Queen DLC.
In the meantime, Guardians were left with two new seasonal activities, Astral Alignment, and the Shattered Realm. Astral Alignment didn’t capture the player’s hearts like the Shattered Realm, as it was an ever-changing experience with new weekly secrets. Bungie has stated they are working on more activities like the Shattered Realm for future Seasons.
Moving onto the highlight of the Season, the 30th Anniversary event gave players everything they wanted. A new Dungeon, new six-man activity in the form of the Dares of Eternity, and unique Bungie-themed loot like Halo weapons, emotes, and more. It was a huge success and definitely the saving grace for the six-month long Season.
5. Season of the Splicer
Season of the Splicer had a smaller introduction than other Seasons did, but it made sure to leave its mark with unique experiences and more.
The story revolves around the Vex casing a simulation on the Last City, forming an Endless Night. With the help of new allies in the form of Mithrax, the Kell of Light, the Guardians dive into the Tron-like Vex Network to stop the Vex and put an end to the simulation for good.
The player base fell in love with the Vex Network almost instantly, as the unique aesthetic and great jumping puzzles made it a fantastic experience for the Season.
Next, the Season introduced the first “reprised” Raid, the return of the Destiny 1 Raid, the Vault of Glass. Needless to say, many veteran players were happy to see such a beloved activity return in its full glory to Destiny 2.
The Seasonal loot and activities were also excellent, adding to the “techno” vibe of the Season.
Overall, Season of the Splicer did a great job maintaining an entertaining storyline while keeping Guardians busy with suitable seasonal activities and the return of the Vault of Glass Raid.
4. Season of the Deep
Reeling in the latest Season, Season of the Deep is an excellent addition to the mix. Most of the player base is tired of the standard seasonal format we are accustomed to, but that isn’t to take away from how good Season of the Deep is.
The story revolves around the mysterious return of Titan, the moon of Saturn that was once lost to the Pyramid Ships during the Season of Arrivals. When it came back, we also saw the return of Commander Sloane, who has some dire news waiting for the Guardians. The Hive War God, Xivu Arath, has now set her sights on a mystical creature, a Leviathan, who can “predict” the future. This Leviathan, later known as Asha, is trying to communicate with us to help us form a plan on how to stop the Witness. Unfortunately, her words weren’t what we were looking for, as she tells us we must seek the aid of the Hive Witch Queen, Savathun, whom the Guardians slayed during the Witch Queen DLC.
Moving on, the Season introduced a new Dungeon, Ghosts of the Deep, where the Guardians traversed the ruins of the sunken Dreadnaught ship and discovered the Lucent Hive trying to revive Oryx, the Taken King. The Ghosts of the Deep was a massive success with top-tier loot, good mechanics, excellent aesthetics, and an overall fantastic PvE experience.
We had a new seasonal activity, Deep Dives, where players would fight through waves of enemies to make it to the final boss. However, players were allowed to increase the difficulty by speaking with Toland throughout the activity. This was a great addition, as the difficulty spike was incredible, allowing players to go all-out and slay hundreds of enemies with their builds. On top of that, there was even a secret Exotic mission within the Deep Dive, which rewarded the mysterious Wicked Implement Scout Rifle. Bungie also made Last Wish Raid weapons craftable, giving Guardians a “Raid” experience for the Season.
Overall, Season of the Deep was a solid Seasonal experience that is only hampered by the community’s exhaustion with the format itself.
3. Season of Arrivals
Wrapping up the Shadowkeep era and the final Season before the Beyond Light DLC, Season of Arrivals had many twists and turns that let it sit so high on this list. For starters, the Season lasted a whopping five months, one of the longest in the game’s history. This was mainly due to the delay of the launch of the Beyond Light DLC, primarily because of Covid at the time.
The story revolved around the first arrival of the ominous Pyramid Ships, touching down on various locations in the game. With Eris Morn’s help, the Guardians could utilize the Tree of Silver Wings to help repel the Pyramid Ships. However, it would end up failing as the Ships were able to swallow planets such as Titan, Io, and Mercury into the darkness, removing them from the game. This was due to Bungie’s upcoming plan of “sunsetting” portions of the game, as they stated the game was becoming too big and they wished to do a “hard reset” of the current sandbox.
With that in mind, many weapons, armor, and other loot were removed from the game with no date as to whether and when they would return. As such, Bungie introduced the “Moments of Triumph”, a send-off celebration allowing players to earn an abundance of loot before being sunset. Examples included making all of the Raids at the time farmable and introducing new loot for them, such as emblems and shaders.
On top of that, the Season also introduced the Prophecy Dungeon, a soon to be fan-favorite PvE experience. Amazing aesthetics, great weapons and armor, a tough final boss fight, the Dungeon did a great job improving upon its predecessor, Pit of Heresy.
Overall, while many players weren’t pleased with the idea of sunsetting most of the game, they will never forget what Season of Arrivals gave them, as there was almost always something to do thanks to the Moments of Triumph.
2. Season of the Seraph
A few Seasons ago, Season 19, or Season of the Seraph, was unveiled. At this point in time, Destiny 2 players have been fed up with the typical format we’ve seen for the past couple of years, so they didn’t initially go in with high hopes. Thankfully, Season of the Seraph provided more than enough content to keep player interest high until the Lightfall DLC arrived a few months later.
The story revolves around the return of Ana Bray, a Hunter previously featured in the Warmind DLC who shares a close connection with the all-powerful AI, Rasputin. She has desperately been trying to bring Rasputin online again after he went offline during the Season of Arrivals. Meanwhile, the Hive War God, Xivu Arath, is attacking various Warmind stations to control Rasputin’s weapons arsenal. Throughout the Season, we see the return of an abundance of fan-favorite characters, such as The Stranger, Clovis Bray, and more. Rasputin was eventually brought online again, but made the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the Season to stop Xivu Arath from summoning her armies to lay siege to Earth.
During this time, players were gifted with a solid three-person seasonal activity known as Heist Battlegrounds. We’ve seen “Battleground” activities before. However, Bungie made good on their promise to make seasonal activities more challenging, and they didn’t disappoint. Not only did the enemy density skyrocket, but they even introduced a modifier to keep the player’s power level lower than the activity; that way, it would always feel challenging. To make things better, the seasonal loot was worth grinding for, unlike previous Seasons.
The gift kept on giving with a new Dungeon, Spire of the Watcher. While the Dungeon was initially met with some backlash, mainly due to how it was supposed to be completed, the overall reception was solid. More importantly, the Dungeon’s loot was worth the trouble, as it featured awesome Cowboy-themed armor for all classes to enjoy.
Usually, that would be the extent of what previous Seasons offered in terms of content. However, Bungie had one more gift in store for Guardians to enjoy. The Deep Stone Crypt Raid weapons became craftable to commemorate the theme of the Brays and Rasputin. This gave players a “Raid” experience for the Season, as the updated Crypt weapons became top-tier options for virtually every activity in the game.
Overall, Season of the Seraph blew player expectations out of the water with a very successful send-off of Year 5. However, only one can sit at the top.
1. Season of Opulence
The top spot shouldn’t surprise most veteran players, as most would agree the Season of Opulence was undeniably the best Season the game has ever seen. The Season started by re-introducing Calus, the final boss of the Leviathan Raid, whom we discovered to be a robot at the time, as the main “antagonist.”
He invites the Guardians on board his ship to play the Seasonal activity, the Menagerie, a six-player match-made activity that would go down in history as the best seasonal activity the game had ever seen. Players had been asking for a six-player activity to feel like a Raid regarding difficulty and puzzle mechanics for a long time, and boy did the Menagerie deliver. Not only did it capture what it feels like to Raid, and more, it even featured a top-tier loot pool where players could pick which reward they wanted.
Speaking of Raids, the Season then introduced the next Raid lair, the Crown of Sorrow, a soon-to-be fan-favorite experience that many players wish to see return one day.
Overall, while the story was a little lacking compared to other Seasons, the Season of Opulence gave players a great Raid experience, a top-tier Seasonal activity, fantastic loot, and the return of a fan-favorite character in Calus. We’ve come close, but no other Season has replicated what the Season of Opulence brought in the Forsaken era. Hopefully, Bungie’s upcoming changes to the seasonal format will make future Seasons more enticing, like Opulence.
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