Destiny 2 Season Of The Deep First-Look Reveals Increased Exotic Drops, Fewer Pinnacles

Bungie has revealed the first artwork from the upcoming Season 21 of Destiny 2, known as Season of the Deep. That provides an exciting first look at what awaits, both in terms of the story and seasonal armor, but the art is accompanied by some other very notable details concerning the acquisition of Exotic gear and Pinnacle rewards.

On the artwork side, you can see the debut image from Season of the Deep below, as shared in the latest This Week at Bungie. One of Lightfall’s quests teases where things might be going in the story, suggesting we’ll be returning to Titan (one of the locations that’s been vaulted for more than a year) to seek out an enemy of the Witness. The art may show a glimpse of that enemy, as Titan is known to be home to some sort of enormous being in the depths of its seas. We also see what certainly appears to be Sloane, Titan’s vendor and a key story character who has also been MIA since Titan went missing. Notably, she seems to now have a Taken-style look to her arm.

Beyond that, we also get a look at the new aquatic-themed armor for Hunters, Titans, and Warlocks that we’ll likely get as part of the Season of the Deep season pass and its accompanying seasonal activities.

Perhaps even more notable are some key systems changes (or lack thereof) coming in Season of the Deep. As previously announced, Bungie will not increase the game’s Power caps, as it normally does each season. That means if you’re already at the Pinnacle cap, you’ll remain there once Season 21 begins. And if you’re not there, you may want to get to work on it right now, as Bungie is doing away with some portion of the Pinnacle drops available each week.

But that’s for good reason, as alongside the new system that will allow you to obtain specific Exotics you want, Bungie will be increasing Exotic drops. With Pinnacles becoming less valuable–those at the Pinnacle cap have no real use for them, except as infusion fodder–Bungie will update the weekly challenges to complete a certain number of activities in the evergreen ritual playlists (Vanguard, Crucible, and Gambit) so that they now reward you with a Powerful Exotic engram instead of a Pinnacle. These engrams can be focused through the new system, letting you more easily obtain desirable rolls for Exotic armor you already own, or you can simply decrypt them for a random Exotic drop.

This means that by completing those weekly challenges, you’ll get three of these Exotic engrams each week per character (up to nine total). These engrams are also obtainable as random world drops, from the season pass (six from the paid track and two from the free track), and from vendor reputation tracks.

“But yes, you will be losing some pinnacle drops, so reaching the Pinnacle Cap will be a bit slower for everyone,” Bungie explained. “We are hoping the need for less pinnacle drops continues in future Seasons, but we will be looking at feedback and analytics, and are ready to adjust as necessary!”

Numerous other changes are coming as part of Season of the Deep, including a new means of obtaining weapon crafting patterns, ways to improve your odds of securing old raid Exotic weapons, and new Strand Aspects. The new season launches on May 23.