Everything coming and going with Season of the Wish in Destiny 2

A new Season is nearly upon Destiny 2 players. Season of the Wish is set to kick off on November 28, 2023. Now that our bellies are full of turkey and other assorted seasonal foods, let's sit back and digest what's coming and going.

Note that this list doesn't detail everything, as Bungie simply hasn't told us everything. While the studio has been a lot more communicative lately, it still understands that saving some surprises is a wise move.

The Witcher collaboration

Launching alongside Season of the Wish is a collaboration with CD Projekt Red for a Witcher-themed collaboration. As reported yesterday by a certain handsome person, Guardians will be able to adopt the look of another, slightly less handsome, monster slayer. It's incredibly conflicting as player sentiment is at an all-time low, and Bungie is now putting up $20 armor sets. Do I stick to my guns, or do I get some sweet Geralt gear?

Queensfoil Censer Seasonal Artifact

With a new Season comes a new Seasonal Artifact. With the Queensfoil Censer, it looks like rocket launchers and Solar are going to be the meta moving forward. With that in mind, we're likely to see Exotics like Gjallarhorn, Eyes of Tomorrow, and the upcoming Dragon's Breath worked into more loadouts.

Column 1

• Anti-Barrier Sidearm
  • Sidearms fire shield-piercing rounds and stun Barrier Champions. Also, sidearms are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Unstoppable Hand Cannon
  • After aiming down the sights of a hand cannon for a short time, shots stun unshielded combatants. This is strong against Unstoppable Champions. Also, hand cannons are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Unstoppable Bow
  • Holding a bow fully drawn for a short time, shots stun unshielded combatants. This is strong against Unstoppable Champions. Also, bows are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Overload Auto Rifles
  • Continuous shots from auto rifles stun enemies, delay ability energy regeneration, and lower damage. This is strong against Overload Champions. Also, auto rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.
• Overload Pulse Rifle
  • Continuous shots from pulse rifles stun enemies, delay ability energy regeneration, and lower damage. This is strong against Overload Champions. Also, pulse rifles are always overcharged when that modifier is active.

Column 2

• Flame, Fiber, and Freeze
  • Combines Solar/Strand and Solar/Stasis Siphon mods into one.
• Kindling Trigger
  • The Radiant effect causes Solar weapons to apply Scorch to enemies not already affected by Scorch.
• Blast Radius
  • Rapid final blows with grenade launchers or rocket launchers grant Armor Charges.
• Origin Perk Specialization I
  • Improves the buffs from Sundering, Nano-Munitions, and Nanotech Tracer Rocket Origin Traits. Weapons with these traits are also always overcharged.
• From Whence You Came
  • Increases ability damage against Taken and Scorn.

Column 3

• Flint Striker
  • Rapid precision hits and final blows from Solar weapons grant Radiant.
• Torch
  • Deal increased damage to enemies afflicted with Strand or Stasis debuffs.
• Heart of the Flame
  • Give nearby allies Radiant while also increasing your Super damage for each nearby ally when casting your Super.
• Origin Perk Specialization II
  • Improves the buffs from Noble Deeds, Unsated Hunger, Head Rush, and Dragon's Vengeance Origin Traits. Weapons with these traits are also always overcharged.
• Wished Into Being
  • Ability final blows spawn Orbs of Power when your Super is almost fully charged. Season of the Wish armor decreases this threshold.

Column 4

• Unraveling Orbs
  • Strand weapons get Unraveling Rounds when picking up an Orb of Power.
• Pillar of Ice
  • Killing an Encased enemy spawns Stasis crystals.
• Revitalizing Blast
  • Champions and bosses are weakened for a short time when damaged by a Solar ability.
• Overload Rocket Launchers
  • Rocket launchers are super effective against Overload Champions.
• Dragon's Bite
  • There is a chance to suspend or freeze a target when breaking its shield with a Strand or Stasis weapon. Season of the Wish armor increases the chance of this happening.

Column 5

• Horde Shuttle
  • Randomly spawn a Threadling when damaging an unraveled target.
• Hail the Storm
  • Shattering Encased targets and Stasis crystals deal increased damage. The latter also shoots off ice shards that damage and slow enemies.
• Rays of Precision
  • Solar precision final blows ignite enemies while Radiant.
• Solo Operative
  • You deal increased damage when you are the only fireteam member.
• Argent Ordinance
  • Shooting a rocket launcher burns one stack of Armor Charge which gives increased damage and reload speed until you either reload or stow the rocket launcher.

Related: Best holiday gifts for Destiny 2 fans

Ability changes

• Woven Mail
  • Reduced damage resistance against PvE combatants from 55% to 45%.
• Restoration
  • x1: Reduced healing rate 40 hp/s (PvE) and 20 hp/s (PvP) to 25 hp/s and 17.5 hp/s respectively.
  • x2: Reduced healing rate 65 hp/s (PvE) and 32.5 hp/s (PvP) to 50 hp/s and 25 hp/s respectively.
• Void Warlock Devour
  • Healing amount (activation and when refreshed) reduced from full to 100 hp unless Feed the Void is equipped.
  • Refills both health and shield sections simultaneously instead of separately.
• Void Warlock Feed the Void
  • Grenade energy regeneration per kill while Devour is active has been increased.
  • Strength of Devour's heal is improved.
• Can no longer activate Sprint and Slide melees after firing a weapon during a slide.
• Arc Hunter Tempest Strike
  • Increased based damage from 110 to 125.
  • Longer-range tracking is more consistent.
  • Consistency improved when traversing over rough terrain.
• Strand Titan Banner of War
  • Increased the number of foes defeated required to level up the Banner by roughly double and increased the amount of time added per each enemy defeated at each level to offset it.
• Solar Titan Throwing Hammer
  • Melee energy is returned over 1.4 seconds rather than instantly when picked up.
  • Tracking improved by 20%.
• Solar Titan Sol Invictus
  • Reduced maximum Sunspot duration from 20 to 12 seconds.
• Well of Radiance and Ward of Dawn
  • Increased base cooldown from 417 to 455 seconds.

What's the deal with Stasis?

Despite promises from Bungie, Stasis isn't seeing the love that was promised. The following changes are meager at best, so it's unlikely we'll see much, if any, uptick in Stasis usage. It's a shame as I love the concept of an ice Titan, but playing Berserker is just the worst.

Fragments

• Whisper of Hedrons
  • Removed -10 Strength penalty.
• Whisper of Impetus
  • Added +10 Resilience.
• Whisper of Shards
  • Removed +10 Resilience buff.
• Whisper of Hunger
  • Changed -10 Mobility and Intellect penalties to -20 Strength penalty.
• Whisper of Bonds
  • Removed -10 Discipline penalty.

Stasis Hunter

• Withering Blade
  • Projectile speed increased by 10%.
  • Increased maximum projectile lifetime by 10%.
  • Increased maximum bounce count from two to three.
  • Increased tracking consistency.
• Winter's Shroud
  • Increased slow stacks in PvE from 40 to 60.
  • Increased slow duration in PvE from four to eight seconds.
  • Increased slow detonation size in PvE from eight to nine meters.

Stasis Titan

• Shiver Strike
  • Slows players on hit once more.
• Glacial Quake
  • Once again freezes nearby players when cast.
  • Reduced on-cast freeze impulse size in PvP from eight to six meters.

Stasis Warlock

• Frostpulse
  • "Significantly" increased consistency against fast-moving targets.
  • Freeze detonation size in PvE increased from 8 to 8.5 meters.
• Penumbral Blast
  • Increased detonation size when impacting the environment from 1.5 to 2 meters.

Grenades

• Glacier Grenade
  • Reduced base cooldown time from 152 to 121 seconds.
• Coldsnap Grenade
  • Increased arming shape size from 0.9 to 1.4 meters.
  • Tracking strength now ramps down rather than immediately turning off.

Miscellaneous

• Increased Special ammo weapon damage bonus against Frozen targets from 5% to 10%.
• "Frost Armor" is being introduced.
• Further changes to current Stasis Fragments.
• Harvest Aspects will be getting additional behaviors.

Exotic changes

Weapons

• Dragon's Breath Solar rocket launcher is being added to the Seasonal rewards.
• Thorn
  • Catalyst being added.
• Vex Mythoclast
  • Increased damage against red bars by 10%, bosses by 25%, and Champions by 200% when in linear fusion rifle mode.
• Revision Zero
  • Increased damage against Champions by 100%.
• Osteo Striga
  • Removed the SMG damage bonus scalar that was affecting poison damage.
• Salvation's Grip
  • Put a speed limit in place on the detonation when damaging crystals to prevent players from literally being kicked to orbit with an error code.
• Winterbite
  • Increased the large projectile damage by 25%.
  • Self-damage blast radius has been halved and self-damage has been reduced.
• Edge of Intent
  • Healing turret projectiles now grant cures and restoration.
  • AoE radius increased to eight meters.
  • Magazine size increased from four to five.
• Edge of Action
  • When passing through the bubble, gain a buff to reload speed, handling, and a stacking damage buff alongside the overshield.
  • Bubble health reduced from 8000 to 2400.
• Edge of Concurrence
  • Lightning Seeker Jolts targets on impact.
  • Reduced direct hit damage of Lightning Seeker to account for the free ammo granted.

Hunter Armor

• Shards of Galanor
  • Throwing Knife kills now grant super energy ranging from +2.5% to +5% depending on enemy killed.
• Ophidia Spathe
  • Knife kills now grant a stacking damage bonus (+30%, +60%, +100% for five seconds) to throwing knives and dodging refreshes this.
• St0mp-EE5
  • Removed the requirement to have full class ability energy to receive movement bonuses.
  • Reduced airborne lateral acceleration bonus.
  • Added damage resistance against foes while airborne.
• Mechaneer's Tricksleeves
  • Sidearm damage buff now persists for five seconds after shields begin recharging.
  • Sidearm kills extend the damage bonus duration by three seconds and reload the weapon from reserves.
  • Damage buff has been reduced in PvP from +35% to +10%.
• The Bombardiers
  • Now applies 20 slow stacks in PvP and 40 slow stacks in PvE.
• Triton Vice
  • Increased glaive melee damage bonus while surrounded to +100% in PvE and PvP from +30% and +10% respectively.
• Celestial Nighthawk
  • Precision kills now grant Super energy ranging from +1.5% to 4.5% depending on enemy killed.

Titan Armor

• Severance Enclosure
  • Increased size and damage of the explosion.
  • Kills with the explosion now trigger an additional explosion (Mr. Torgue approves).
• Peregrine Greaves
  • Players must now be airborne for a brief time before the Exotic effects kick in.
  • Dealing damage to Champions, Tormentors, or mini-bosses with a shoulder charge deals increased damage and refunds melee energy.
• Wormgod Caress
  • Burning Fist effect is now a meter that decays over time and refills with melee kills and finishers.
• Ashen Wake
  • Fusion Grenade impacts now stun Unstoppable Champions.
• Synthoceps
  • Removed extended melee lunge distance.
  • Now improves weapon handling and reload speed while surrounded.
  • Reduced PvE surrounded melee damage bonus from +200% to +165%.
  • Increased glaive melee bonus from +50% to +100%.
• Precious Scars
  • Kills meeting the Exotic's criteria now apply Restoration Tier 1 for 1.5 seconds in PvP and three seconds in PvE.

Warlock Armor

• Ballidorse Wrathweavers
  • When casting Frostpulse Rift, nearby allies now gain a Tier 2 Stasis Surge weapon bonus for 10 seconds in PvE and 5 seconds in PvP in addition to a 50hp overshield.
  • Allies gain a Tier 4 Stasis Surge weapon bonus when hit by the Winter's Wrath Shockwave. When it ends, the casting player gains the bonus as well.
• Apotheosis Veil
  • Nearby allies receive Cure Tier 3 when you cast your Super.
  • When the Super ends, you gain increased melee and grenade regeneration for eight seconds.
• Felwinter's Helm
  • Size and duration of Weakening Burst increased one tier against all targets except for finishers against bosses.
• Karnstein Armlets
  • Melee kills now give Cure Tier 3 and Restoration Tier 1 for eight seconds.
  • Finishers now give Cure Tier 3 and Restoration Tier 2 for eight seconds.

Aeon Cult Exotic armor

• Sect of Force
  • Rapid precision hits buff reload and weapon swap speeds for 10 seconds.
  • Stunning a Champion or rapid precision hits against Champions, elites, or minibosses marks them for allies.
  • Allies deal +20% more damage to marked targets.
  • When a target is first marked, nearby Aeon cult allies not using Sect of Force receive grenade and melee energy.
• Sect of Insight
  • Nearby Aeon cult allies not using Sect of Insight gain a burst of Super energy.
• Sect of Vigor
  • Receive a damage resistance buff and class ability energy when an ally is killed or revived.
  • When casting your super, nearby allies receive a damage resistance buff when near you. Those not using Sect of Vigor recharge class ability energy more quickly.

Related: The Best Destiny 2 Seasons, Ranked

Armor Mod adjustments

• Heavy Handed, Firepower, and Reaper
  • Now have a 10-second cooldown for generating Orbs of Power.
  • Reaper now requires a kill to be made within 10 seconds of using your class ability.
• Melee Kickstart, Grenade Kickstart, and Utility Kickstart
  • Provides +16% and +45% ability energy and requires at least a single armor charge to be consumed.
• Momentum Transfer, Bolstering Detonation, Impact Induction, and Focusing Strike
  • Provides 12% / 17% / 20% ability energy for 1/2/3 stacks respectively while requiring a powered melee attack.
• Outreach and Bomber
  • Provides 12% / 17% / 20% ability energy for 1/2/3 stacks respectively.
• Outreach, Bomber, and Distribution
  • Distribution provides 4% / 6% / 7% ability energy.
  • Energy provided is further reduced based on the cooldown of the class ability used with the shortest cooldowns reducing it by 60%.

Fireteam Finder

After nine years and presumably only a handful left in its projected lifecycle, Destiny is finally getting an in-game group finder. Kind of.

The Fireteam Finder isn't rolling out in full and will still be a beta feature when it runs on November 30 from 12pm ET to 7pm ET for the Raid Stress Test. Bungie will then tentatively roll out another beta sometime in December, with the final release projected to arrive in late January.

Honestly, it seems like too little too late at this point as those who want to run specified content that doesn't offer matchmaking already utilize apps or sites that do this. Yes, it's inconvenient, but it's far better than anything Bungie has put in-game yet, which is (checks notes) nothing.

New dungeon. Who dis?

The new dungeon is set to go live at 12pm ET on December 1, 2023. There haven't been any details regarding its theme or what the loot is, but I'll have you covered when it releases.

Gunsmith Focusing and economy changes

I covered the Gunsmith Focusing changes coming back in early November. Essentially, Banshee-44 will have a rotating inventory that players can target farm.

Additionally, Legendary Shards will begin getting phased out. Gear costs will be changed across the board to be in-line with the currency removal. A full breakdown can be found in my article here.

Rahool will also be receiving adjustments to his stock pricing. Note that these numbers are subject to change at Bungie's discretion.

Ghost Mod adjustments

Ghost Mod costs are being overhauled, so players have a bit more flexibility when it comes to the perks they slot in. For me, this means I might be able to use something aside from XP Boost and Cache Finder. Below are each of the Mods and their expected energy costs.

• Combo Detector: 1
• Wombo Detector: 2
• Mobility Armorer: 2
• Resilience Armorer: 2
• Recover Armorer: 2
• Strength Armorer: 2
• Intellect Armorer: 2
• Discipline Armorer: 2
• Core Harvest: 1
• Prism Harvest: 3
• Modularity: 3
• Prosperity: 3

Weapons tuning

• Auto rifles
  • Increased damage against red bar and orange bar enemies by 12.5%.
• Pulse rifles
  • Increased damage against red bar and orange bar enemies by 12.5%.
• Glaives
  • Increased projectile speed by 30%.
  • Increased projectile damage in PvE by 25%.
  • Decreased projectile damage in PvP.
    • Aggressive Frame: 123
    • Adaptive Frame: 113
    • Rapid-fire Frame: 101
  • Reduced fire to melee delay from 0.75 to 0.2 seconds.
  • Shield energy recharges passively at 1% per second when the glaive is held.
  • Glaive shield damage resistance in PvP is 50% at base with an additional 30% against Primary weapons and melee attacks.
• Sniper rifles
  • Increased PvE damage by 15%.

For more Destiny 2 content, check out When does Destiny 2 maintenance end? on Pro Game Guides!