Destiny 2 Forsaken walkthrough and guide to what's new in Year 2
Our guide to the main story missions and features in Destiny 2 Forsaken.
Destiny 2 Forsaken is the first full expansion for Destiny 2, after the likes of DLC packs Curse of Osiris and Warmind.
Not only does the expansion add new destinations, a Raid, new mode Gambit, new supers and abilities and more.
It also marks the start of Destiny 2 Year 2 and a lot of quality of life changes, such as how weapons and mods work, to new ways lore and activities will be tracked.
On this page:
What's included in Destiny 2 expansion Forsaken?
The game's year one expansion adds the following features:
- New story centred around The Reef and a team of dangerous Fallen Barons you must hunt down
- A new destination, The Tangled Shore
- Gambit, a new mode that fuses PvE and PvP
- A new Raid set in end-game space The Dreaming City
- Nine new Supers, one for each sub-class
- New weapons and armour, including a new weapon type - the bow and arrow
- Changes to the way weapons work, from a new equip system to random rolls and mod adjustments
- A new 'Collection' tracker for activities, achievements and lore
- PlayStation exclusive additions
- A new DLC structure that changes the way you pay for further Destiny 2 content
Though not confirmed, we can also expect a number of new Crucible maps (which will be free for all Destiny 2 players) and Strikes in the mix.
Destiny 2 Forsaken walkthrough
Visit the Tower first to get Eververse and Clan bounties, then it's time to start some missions from the game's Director (map screen).
The Forsaken expansion plays out as follows:
Forsaken Milestone
- Last Call (The Tangled Shore, 330 Power recommended)
- Visit the Gunsmith to start 'Cayde's Will', then Ikora and Zavala to unlock 'High Plain Blues' mission, 'New Powers' Milestone
- High Plain Blues (The Tangled Shore, 340 Power recommended), which unlocks the Tangled Shore patrol space
- Speak to Petra then complete milestone 'Earn Spider's Trust' by completing 5 Bounties from Spider
- Scorned (The Tangled Shore, 360 Power recommended) - unlocks six Adventures in Tangled Shore
- Target: The Rider (390 Power recommended)
- Target: The Trickster (400 Power recommended)
- Target: The Mad Bomber (410 Power recommended)
- Target: The Hangman (420 Power recommended)
- Target: The Mindbender (430 Power recommended - don't forget the Mindbender hidden chest location!)
- Target: The Rifleman (440 Power recommended)
- Return to Spider and Petra in The Tangled Shore
- The Machinist (450 Power recommended)
- Return to Spider and Petra in The Tangled Shore
- Nothing Left to Say (460 Power recommended)
With that done, the main story is complete. Of course, there's so much more left to tick off - including Exotic questlines, the New Powers milestone (where you collect 'Visions of Light', unlocking new abilities and Supers for each class with a Seed of Light), and once the story is complete, and unlocking The Dreaming City:
Beyond the Watchtower milestone
- Complete the Broken Awoken Talisman step
- Kill any Taken - found in Io, The Sludge in the EDZ, Gambit matches and strike 'Lake of Shadows'
- Complete the 'Either Harvest' public event in the Tangled Shore's 'Four-Horn Gulch'
- A Hum of Starlight (Tangled Shore, 500 Power recommended)
- Awakening (The Dreaming City, 500 Power recommended)
At which point, The Dreaming City Patrol space unlocks, allowing access to all kinds of end-game activities - including the Last Wish raid, Ascendant Challenge and Blind Well.
An in-depth guide to everything in Destiny 2 Forsaken
In further detail, here's what we know:
Returning to The Reef
The expansion focuses on a return to The Reef, which sees you join Cayde-6 hunt down Fallen that have escaped from a prison. The primary destination is a new Patrol space named The Tangled Shore, which is a collection of latched together asteroids, and is designed to have a Wild West vibe.
This lawless place is where you'll find the Scorn, a faction of Fallen where a group of eight Barons are the top dogs. The story appears to be about hunting down these Baron leaders, and each encounter will offer something different gameplay-wise - from a sniper-versus-sniper fight, to taking down a huge Baron with melee attacks.
Moreover, the story appears to follow the death of a fan-favourite character. Watch the following trailer if you don't mind spoilers. The question is - will it be permanent?
An evolving end-game destination with The Dreaming City
As well as The Tangled Shore, players will visit The Dreaming City, the home land of the Awoken. It'll be home of a new Raid, and is themed to be an "epic adventure where you're going out to slay a big monster", according to the developers.
The good news is it'll have the most bosses of any Raid yet - so expect it to be a bit more combat-centric than the puzzle-heavy Leviathan.
It's more than just where you'll be undergoing to Raid, though. Billed as the "first space designed from the ground up to support end game content", it'll feature all kinds of strange puzzles to solve and passages to uncover, with the destination evolving as time goes on.
Sounds like something along the likes of the Leviathan and Dreadnought, then. It's also a bit of a stunner, as all these screens show. We're pretty excited to explore it and uncover its secrets!
Gambit, a new mode that fuses PvE and PvP
Described as like "adding bacon to peanut and jelly", this is a competitive mode that two teams competing against one another while also taking on computer-controlled enemies.
It works by teams playing in their own arenas, but influencing the other by banking motes. There's even the opportunity to invade the other team's arena at certain points.
Our dedicated Destiny 2 Gambit mode explains the mode in finer detail, and you can watch footage from OutsideXbox below:
New Supers and a new weapon type
When it comes to combat, there's a lot to take in. There's nine new Supers - one for each sub-class - and the usual array of new weapons and armour.
There's also a new weapon-type - the bow and arrow - which comes in short, medium and long ranges, giving you an excuse to wield one no matter how you play. They are designed to stand up apart from all other weapon types in the game - so expect them to be pretty deadly if you are a precise player.
Changes to the way weapons work
There's also a number of quality-of-life changes to the way weapons will work. For one, there's the return of random rolls - meaning each dropped weapon will have different stats. It'll incentivise players to continue picking up the same weapon in the hope they'll get the best one of that type, which is a callback to how the original Destiny did things.
Most importantly, there will be a big change to Destiny 2's controversial equip system. No longer will Shotguns and Sniper Rifles be consigned to the Power weapon slot - in fact, you can equip any weapon type in any (or all!) of the three of the game's weapon slots if you choose.
How this works in practice is through ammo, which shows up next to its Power level, which it an attribute rather than tying it to a slot. Primary and Special ammo weapons can fit into Kinetic and Special slots, while Heavy weapons will still sit in Power.
Grenade Launchers are a good example of a weapon that can fit across both - there are single-shot launchers that are Special weapons, with the regular ones being Power weapons that use Heavy ammo. Meanwhile, expect to see special versions of shotguns, bows and snipers with Special ammo.
A new Mod system
Mods have changed from topping up the Power level of a weapon to giving them customisable perks. Mods come pre-equipped in a weapon when you find it. To get new Mods, you must dismantle weapons, dropping their Mods into your inventory - alongside the usual stash of Gunsmith Materials, Legendary Shards and so on.
You can then take these spare Mods and equip them into other weapons. Mods teased include:
- Backup Mag (increases ammo in magazine)
- Boss Spec (increases boss and vehicle damage)
- Counterbalance Stock (reduces recoil)
- Freehand Grip (increased accuracy while firing from the hip)
- Icarus Grip (improves airborne accuracy)
- Major Spec (extra damage against powerful enemies)
- Minor Spec (extra damage against rank-and-file enemies)
- Radar Tuner (radar immediately returns after aiming)
- Targeting Adjuster (improved target acquisition)
Thanks to aussiehalo from Reddit for the above list.
Changes to Masterworks
Introduced between the base game and Forsaken, Masterworks are a way of powering up a weapon to give it new perks, higher stats and the ability to track numbers of kills.
Before it was binary - weapons were or weren't Masterworks - but now they power up across ten tiers. Each tier will cost resources - Glimmer, Legendary Shards and Masterwork Cores - allowing you to invest as much or as little as you like.
When it hits Tier 7 you get kill tracking (you can now choose to display Vanguard or Crucible kills yourself, and for free at any time) while Tier 10 gives you the Masterwork emblem on the menu screen.
It looks to be far more expensive to completely Masterwork a weapon now - with aussiehalo from Reddit saying it'll cost 10,000 Glimmer, 27 Legendary Shards and 17 Masterwork Cores. It's possible Masterwork Cores will be easier to obtain in Forsaken as a result - but we'll have to wait and see.
A new 'Collection' tracker for activities, achievements and lore
Forsaken will introduce a new 'Collection' tracker that keeps tabs on the things you've done and completed. Think of it as something like Grimoire in the original Destiny, except visible in-game. Early glimpses suggest it's pretty expansive, from showing the Lore you've uncovered to how many guns and sets you've unlocked.
Completing certain activities also allows you to then add a 'title' to your character, too - how this works and how it's visible isn't fully explained, but it sounds like a neat bonus to show off your hard work to other players.
The Season of the Deep is here alongside the Into the Depths quest. You can know go fishing too! Don't forget to keep an eye on the Lost Sector and King's Fall challenge rotation schedule!
PlayStation exclusive additions
As before, PS4 owners will have a few exclusive items to play and unlock. There's an exclusive Strike, a gear set for each class, a ship and an Exotic weapon. Meanwhile, the exclusive additions for Destiny 2's base game will become available on all other platforms with the arrival of Forsaken.
A new DLC structure that changes the way you pay for further Destiny 2 content
Unlike previous annual expansions The Dark Below and Rise of Iron, buying Forsaken won't give you everything Year 2 has to offer.
Alongside the expansion is an Annual Pass, which gives you access to three additional content drops in the Winter, Spring and Summer that follows. These will feature the following:
- Endgame challenges
- New weapons, armour and 'vanity rewards' to collect
- New and returning Exotics
- New pinnacle activities
- New triumph records to collect
- New lore to discover
It's all a bit vague, but Bungie has come out to say that seasonal events and live updates won't be locked behind this annual pass.
If you want everything Year 2 of Destiny 2 has to offer, expect to pay an additional £25 to £35.99 on top of the Forsaken cost, depending on how you buy it.