Destiny 2 Annual Pass In-Depth Roadmap Analysis

From December 4th we’re going to be able to access the Black Armoury content in Destiny 2. In their recent ViDoc Bunigie gave us a look at the road ahead, but didn’t go into too much more detail about what we’d be gaining access to. We’re going to take an in-depth look at the roadmap for all three future seasons here, so let’s dive in with what Bungie has added to the content lineup today.

So we already know about the three new Pinnacle weapons for Gambit, the Vanguard, and the Crucible that have been added with the Season of the Forge. But today Bungie announced that the new raid coming with Black Armoury, Scourge of the Past, will launch on December 7th. This raid isn’t a new raid lair, and it’s completely separate to any other raid in Destiny 2. Bungie describe the new raid as closer to Crota’s End or Vault of Glass, a self-contained adventure that will challenge Guardians mercilessly.

The second part of today’s announcement was that any Guardians who played Destiny 2 Forsaken before the 16th of October will receive a package of Gratitude. This package contains a unique emblem, shader, two Exotic emotes, and a consumables bundle. The reward is planned to release on the 18th of December, but may be delayed due to minor bugs the developers have found.

With the new stuff out of the way, let’s dive into the content roadmap for Season of the Forge. The very first piece of content, available to non-Annual Pass Guardians too, is Black Armoury. Of course we already know that this DLC is accessible from the 4th of December, and looks to bring a new campaign to the game, as well as new spaces, which it has been confirmed are definitely not new planets. These new areas are described as new bubbles within the existing areas and planets.

Soon after Black Armoury we’re seeing the release of the new raid, Scourge of the Past, on the 7th of December. Also launching on the 7th of December is the second of the Forges that are new activities within Black Armoury. This Forge is called Gofannon Forge, and looks to be the way to earn Le Monarque, the new Exotic Bow that’s part of Black Armoury. The first Forge, Volundr Forge, launches with Black Armoury on the 4th of December.

Next up we have The Dawning, which launched on the 11th of December. This is the Christmas event that takes place in the Destiny universe each year. During the event Guardians are generally given gifts by vendors around the Tower, and handed a task that will let them earn extra rewards, much like Festival of the Lost did. I predict an equivalent activity to the Haunted Forest with The Dawning this year.

Then on the 18th of December we’re going to be able to access another new Forge, this one’s called Izanami Forge. I know this is going to be where you can earn my favourite new Exotic in Black Armoury, Izanagi’s Burden. It looks like the final new Forge is called Niobe Labs, launching on the 8th of January.I’m going to say that the new Exotics are all restricted to Forges, with the exception of the next one.

The Last Word will be accessible via a quest called The Draw from the 29th of January. There’s not been any discussion about these from Bungie, but I think it’s safe to say that the Thunderlord quest was a template for all future returning Exotic weapons quests. What I mean by this is that there will be a series of activities that must be completed over a few weeks before the weapon can be earned. The Exotic quest is also probably going to be limited, meaning that not everyone is going to be able to earn The Last Word.

The final part of the Season of the Forge content that we’re getting will be Crimson Days, the Valentine’s Day event in Destiny 2, on the 5th of February. During this event there is a Crucible activity available for two Guardians to play in as a team. The event brings new gear and weapons to earn, and is generally regarded as one of the best live events of the year.

The dates for all this content are changeable, which Bungie are keen to point out. They’re aiming for these dates but they will budge if necessary.

So now we’re heading into the Season of the Drifter. This season will begin when Crimson Days ends, which will also have an Iron Banner event running alongside it.

The roadmap for this next season has a lot of content coming to everyone with Destiny 2 Forsaken. We’ve got Gambit Private matches, similar to Crucible Private Matches, and a Power Level increase to 700. New vanity rewards and rank rewards will also be added with this new season, as you’d expect, but the true new content comes with the story.

Each new season has new story content, and Season of the Drifter isn’t going to be any different. The new content will bring new lore and Triumphs to complete, as well as the usual Iron Banner live events.

The Season of the Drifter will also have an Exotic quest, which I think will be similar to both Thunderlord and The Last Word’s. Which weapon will this unlock? I’m guessing whichever Destiny 1 Exotic the community yells loudest about the hardest. Get on it.

The content for this season will end with an undefined spring event, I have no idea what this could be, and an Iron Banner event.

As for those of us with the Annual Pass, the Season of the Drifter will bring much more content. Obviously the new story content is locked behind the Annual Pass, but the Triumphs are accessible by everyone in order to tease them into buying in.

On top of an additional Exotic quest, we’ll be getting Joker’s Wild weekly quests, and Xur Bounties on top of that! I’m very excited about the Xur Bounties, as it seems like this will be a way to earn new Exotics, either as rewards or through a new Exotic currency.

The last season on the roadmap isn’t technically named, so I’ll call it the Season of Penumbra for now. This season brings new vanity rewards and rank rewards, Iron Banner events, lore, and Triumphs. Everyone will also have access to a new Exotic quest, which we all know as much about as the one in the Season of the Drifter right now, and a Power Level increase to 750.

This season will also see the return of the Solstice of Heroes. This was an event early on in Destiny 2 that celebrated the first year of the game. During the Solstice the last time around we had special gear to earn by blasting through extra hard missions from throughout the base game. I’m thinking we’ll have season-specific gear to earn through similar means, but all crammed into one event. We’ll have to wait and see.

The Annual Pass holders will get the Penumbra story for this final season. there’s also more Lore and Triumphs, a new 6-player event that has matchmaking, and a brand new raid. Endgame snobs will be most excited about the new raid, but I’m more curious about this new 6-player event, particularly because it has matchmaking.

Finally there are two redacted entries for this season. Going by what was on the previous seasons one of these must be a new Exotic quest, with the other being a new feature that Bungie aren’t ready to reveal yet. I think this will be similar to the weekly quests in Joker’s Wild for the previous season.

Well that’s all of the new content listed in the image Bungie have provided. With Season of the Forge beginning so soon this sort of information is very exciting. Let us know what you think of it all, and your theories, in the comments.

Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp

I'm an avid Destiny 2 fan and player. I fell in love with Destiny 1 during the early alpha and have been hooked by the universe ever since. I really enjoy playing with other Guardians, speculating about the lore, and writing about as much of the Destiny universe as I can.