Along with a half-dozen planets and countless weapons and armour, Destiny 2: Beyond Light made us say goodbye to the game’s existing raids – so it’s about time it added a new one of its own. Thee Deep Stone Crypt opens its doors today, letting you put all that hard-earned Europan gear to the test in the expansion’s first real endgame challenge. Or, alternatively, get ready to watch Destiny’s smartest Guardians duke it out in the race to be the first to clear Bungie’s latest sci-fi puzzle-box.
Watching folks figure out the latest raid is always a well good time. And thanks to a last-minute hotfix, we can be sure that boss tactics will be a bit more varied than using stasis warlocks to nuke ’em into oblivion.
Now, there are a few things to keep in mind for the opening days of Deep Stone Crypt. In service of folks attempting to “World First” the instance, the raid will be locked into something called Contest Mode for the first 24 hours. Artefact powers will be disabled, power levels will be capped at 20-below the bar for each encounter, and facing the final boss with over 1230 power will give you no advantages. As close as you can get to a level playing field in a loot-centric game like Destiny, really.
While it’ll be an intensely stressful experience for teams looking to grab the title, it’ll be a great watch for the rest of us. While I don’t know who the favourites to win are, you’ll want to keep an eye on the Destiny 2 Twitch category to see who’s taking a shot. Or, don’t, and try keep the spoilers to a minimum when you make your own blind attempt with your pals. That’s half the fun.
Despite worries that Shadebinder Warlocks would put a massive wrench in the race, it looks like we’ll have a fairly exploit-free show tonight. Even so, Bungie will be vetting claims at the world-first title before letting then claim their special emblems. For everyone else, beating the raid before December 1st will let you pick up this snazzy winter coat.
Look, at least it’s better than those naff trainers.