Destiny 2 - Returning to the Game? Start Here!

This guide is designed to get you up to speed and down to Earth (among other places).

Destiny 2 Guides:

Beginners Guide 2019.
Moon Region Chests Locations Guide.
Materials and Glimmer Farming Guide.
All Ahamkara Bones Locations (Marasenna Lore).
How to Get Fallen Transponder + Node Locations.
All Corrupted Eggs Locations.
Every Public Event (Heroic).

What Do I Get for Free? / What Should I Buy?

All credit goes to MatterMatters!

Welcome back to Destiny! Whether you’re coming back from launch month, or coming off of the heels of the last season, this guide will get you up to speed and ready for the incoming year of Destiny content!

Disclaimer: This will be a very surface level outline and will assume you have some Destiny background. I’ll have another guide specifically catered to new players linked somewhere here. If you want a deeper look into the content itself, youtube can answer most questions. Otherwise, trying out the content yourself is always a good way to learn quickly.

If you’re returning now, you’ve probably caught the whispers on the wind about Shadowkeep, the next Season and Destiny 2: New Light. I’ll be working in most of the details on that after we cover what’s gone down since you’ve been gone.

A lot has happened since the the launch of of Destiny 2, for those of you who don’t know:

Season 2: Curse of Osiris (Free for all players on Oct. 1 with New Light)
Season 3: Warmind (Free for all players on Oct. 1 with New Light)
Season 4: Year 2 Expansion: Forsaken ($25)
Season 5: Season of the Forge (Year 2 Annual Pass Content, Free with Forsaken)
Season 6: Season of the Drifter (Year 2 Annual Pass Content, Free with Forsaken)
Season 7: Season of Opulence (Year 2 Annual Pass Content, Free with Forsaken)

You will still be able to play all of this content if you missed it, and I listed the new discounted price starting on October 1st. One of the nice things is, you don’t need any of this stuff to play future content: all Expansions and Seasons will be standalone in content.

If you don’t want to spend anything, you now have access to a LOT of content for free thanks to New Light (free for all players). This will let you access the vast majority of activities/destinations with your friends, including those from DLC you haven’t bought.

Here is everything all players have access to via New Light:

In other words, the things you dontget for free are the following:

Most Year 2 Exotics (with some exceptions)
Forsaken Campaign/Quests
Year 2 Raids (Last Wish, Scourge of the Past, Crown of Sorrow)
Shadowkeep Campaign/Quests/Exotics
Most Upcoming Seasonal Content (except everything on each free Season Pass!)

We’ve got a lot of new stuff to cover, so let’s set the record straight. Here’s a glimpse at what were getting over the next year:

Year 3 Expansion: Shadowkeep ($35)
Season 8: Season of the Undying ($10 standalone, Free with Shadowkeep)
Season 9: Season of the Dawn ($10 standalone)
Season 10: ($10 standalone)
Season 11: ($10 standalone)

Seasons will last roughly 3 months and reach a conclusion, leading into the next season and tying the story arc for the year together.

Here is the seasonal infographic with all the dates on the upcoming stuff, including info on what you get for free, without the expansion/season pass:

The new paid content as of October 1st will be:

Shadowkeep Campaign and Weapons/Armor
Nightmare Hunts Activity
Season of the Undying (Activities/Exotics/Raid)

The next sections will briefly outline each season you may have missed so you know what to expect without going in headfirst!

WTF is All the Stuff Before Shadowkeep?

Many of us were wondering the same thing when we first dropped into each new season of content and learned how all this stuff worked. I’ll be briefly giving each activity/event a summary as well as a 1-5 (least to most) rating on how important it will be to the core Destiny experience as well as how important the loot is. This is purely subjective and you are more than welcome to draw your own conclusions.

Anyway, here we go:

Season 2: Curse of Osiris (Free for all players on Oct. 1 with New Light)

Mercury Destination
Osiris Campaign
Osiris Weapons/Armor/Exotics
Eater of Worlds Leviathan Raid Lair
How important is it? : 1/5

Season 3: Warmind (Free for all players on Oct. 1 with New Light)

Mars Destination
Warmind Campaign
Warmind Weapons/Armor/Exotics
Spire of Stars Leviathan Raid Lair
How important is it? : 3/5

Season 4: Year 2 Expansion: Forsaken ($25)

Tangled Shore and Dreaming City Destinations (All destinations free through New Light)
9 New Subclasses
Forsaken Campaign
Last Wish Raid
Forsaken Weapons/Armor/Exotics
How important is it? : 4/5

Season 5: Season of the Forge (Year 2 Annual Pass Content, Free with Forsaken)

Black Forges Activity and Quests (Free with New Light)
Scourge of the Past Raid
Black Armory Weapons/Armor/Exotics
How important is it? : 4/5

Season 6: Season of the Drifter (Year 2 Annual Pass Content, Free with Forsaken)

Gambit + Gambit Prime + Reckoning Activities (Free with New Light)
Jokers Wild Quests/Exotics/Weapons/Armor
How important is it? : 3/5

Season 7: Season of Opulence (Year 2 Annual Pass Content, Free with Forsaken)

Menagerie and Tribute Hall Activities (Free with New Light)
Opulence Quests/Weapons/Armor/Exotics
Crown of Sorrow Raid
How important is it? : 5/5

WTF is Shadowkeep and Season of the Undying?

Here is the layout of the new stuff coming on October 1st:

Year 3 Expansion: Shadowkeep ($35)

Moon Destination (All destinations free through New Light)
Shadowkeep Campaign
Shadowkeep Quests/Weapons/Armor/Exotics
Nightmare Hunts Activity

Season 8: Season of the Undying ($10 standalone or free with Shadowkeep)

Vex Offensive Activity
Undying Quests/Weapons/Armor/Exotics
Season Pass Premium Track (Adds on to free Season Pass track for all players)
Garden of Salvation Raid

What comes after that?

After the Season of the Undying, more seasons will follow roughly every 3 months. Every week will have new content to explore and pursue, until the next year’s expansion is released.