An Emblem has seeming leaked the fact that The Haunted Forest will return with Festival of the Lost to Destiny 2 this year, but we need some changes for this year’s iteration.
As was recently pointed out by Polygon, the 2018 Haunted Forest Emblems have been updated for 2019 stats, meaning they’re probably coming back as rewards for the event this year. Bungie hasn’t spoken about Festival of the Lost much, but we do know that it’s coming back this year thanks to Shadowkeep’s roadmap. According to that we should be seeing the event return between the 29th of October and the 19th of November.
Changes
We need some changes for this year’s Haunted Forest. I don’t know what the majority of Guardians would like, but these are the changes I want to see on the 19th of October.
Haunted Exotic
Arbalest is an Exotic Fusion Rifle that was first available exclusively through the Destiny 2 Easter activity, The Revelry. After the event ended it entered the overall loot pool, but for a brief window there was an opportunity to earn it and become part of the exclusive Arbalest owners club.
I want to see an Exotic weapon for The Haunted Forest this year that can only be earned while the event is on, but also enters the general loot pool afterwards. I think that these timed-events are brilliant, but the drive to earn a new Exotic enhances them beyond what anything else can achieve. The Exotic can’t really have Haunted Forest perks to it, but it could have a perk that makes The Haunted Forest slightly easier, in the same way that Arablest’s Exotic perk makes most bosses a big easier to handle.
Haunted Glow
The Solstice of Heroes armour is a thing of beauty, but it’s the glow you could purchase and attach to it that makes it look incredible. Those Guardians who earned this armour while it was live can still be seen wearing it now, since it was the first ever armour to make the Armour 2.0 transition.
However, this armour has had its time, and we need something new for Destiny 2 Year 3. I think that there should be a horrific armour set that Guardians can earn in The Haunted Forest, and a similar glow set that can be applied to it. The Solstice of Heroes armour makes Guardians look like saviours, but what about the villains among us? You only have to look at Destiny Steam Names to understand what I’m talking about.
Secret Longer Runs
The idea behind The Haunted Forest is that Guardians make their way through as many areas as possible in order to kill a certain boss, which determines the rewards they then receive at the end of the run. Runs took about 15 minutes, but I don’t think that’s long enough for some of us.
Much like how it was possible to earn more time as you defeated more enemies in the EAZ, there should be a way to extend the timer in The Haunted Forest. I also think that once Guardians extend the timer they should have a new objective, one that could lead to the aforementioned Haunted Exotic.
Destiny 2 is filled with secrets that get uncovered through nothing more than player ingenuity, and that’s what makes the game so incredibly fun to play. Even if the Haunted Exotic isn’t the reward, I think that there should be a set of actions that extend the timer for the ultimate reward in The Haunted Forest.
A New Mechanic
This final idea is pretty non-sepcific. The Haunted Forest worked because it was fast-paced and frantic. The mechanics were easy for all Guardians to understand, and it led to a lot of fun moments between members of the community. I think there needs to be at least one new mechanic thrown into the mix this year, just to make it different enough that we need to learn how it works all over again.
The mechanic could be as simple as an invincible enemy spawning at a certain point who follows you throughout the rest of the activity, or as complex as a debuff that will slowly kill Guardians if they don’t get through areas fast enough. However it works, I think that The Haunted forest 2019 needs at least one new mechanic to keep it interesting.
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