Destiny 2 Season 22 roadmap, Season 21 end date
What to expect at the halfway point of Lightfall.
Season 22 is the next season of Destiny 2, replacing the Season of the Deep.
This as yet unnamed Season will mark the midpoint of Lightfall, the last expansion before Destiny 2 begins The Final Shape. There will be a new story, new maps, and the return of some of the serie’s best content.
Here is when the Season of the Deep ends, and everything we know about what’s coming in Season 22.
On this page:
When does the Season of the Deep end, and Destiny 2 Season 22 begin?
The Season of the Deep is scheduled to run from Tuesday 23rd May 2023, until Tuesday 22nd August. That will also mark the beginning of Season 22.
This will occur during the weekly reset at the following times:
- UK - 6pm (BST)
- Europe - 7pm (CEST)
- East Coast US - 1pm (EDT)
- West Coast US - 10am (PDT)
As always, players should expect Season 22 to come with the usual cadence of Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner PVP events. There will be a seasonal storyline to follow, October traditionally brings with it the spooky themed Festival of the Lost.
What’s new in Destiny 2 Season 22?
Destiny 2 has being going under some major overhauls lately, and this continues across nearly every mode in Season 22.
In the Crucible
New Vex themed PVP map called Multiplex. This is the first new crucible map in quite a while. It’s themed after the Vex Network, so be ready to take on other Guardians in an even more digital than usual landscape.
New Checkmate modifier in Crucible labs, focusing on longer time to kill with weapons, and less on abilities. Player health is increased, cooldowns take longer, and Special ammunition will be harder to come by, so strong tactics with standard weapons will be paramount.
New Relic Mode. This is a brand new type of game for the Crucible, where each Guardian earns a charge for getting kills, which can then be used to summon a 'relic' weapon, like the Aegis from the Vault of Glass raid or the Schthe from the Season of the Haunted.
In PVE
A reprised raid is being brought back on Friday 1st September 2023. The raid has not been announced yet, but likely candidates for a returning raid including either Crota’s End, or the Wrath of the Machine. This will have the normal contest mode race to finish first for the first 48 hours, and will become the 'active' raid for weekly high end loot.
Vanguard Medals are being added to the Vanguard Playlist. Similar to the medals from the Guardian Games, these will be optional score boosters that give out additional points for completing whatever objective is on the medal.
The Vanguard rotations will also see the addition of more Battleground activities, increasing the diversity of content in those rotators.
An Exotic mission rotator is being added. This allows players to go play through old Exotic weapon missions and earn Exotic associated with it. These include weapons like Dead Messenger and Dead Man’s Tale, which will also be craftable.
In Gambit
Gambit is being deemphasized as an activity, based largely on a lack of players engaging with it. This means major updates are unlikely, and it’s going to be less important than Crucible and Vanguard Ops as a weekly activity for Guardians to complete.
Other general changes
New Aspects are being added to the Strand subclass. Hunters will have be able to add Whirling Maelstrom, Titans the Banner of War, and Warlocks will gain Weavewalk. The specific abilities of these aspects have not yet been revealed, but Aspects often add powerful effects, and can be game changers for carefully crafted builds.
Cosmetics will be able to be favourited. This is a bit quality of life upgrade for fashion oriented Guardians. Previously tracking down a specific shader in a see of now hundreds of options was a potentially time consuming chore. Now you can pin up to 100 shaders, ornaments, and emotes as favorites for quick and easy access.
Transmat effect, which show a brief image or hologram before your Guardian spawns, is going to become an unlock, rather than a consumable. Previously adding a transmat effect to your ship would remove the item from your inventory, if you wanted to equip it on another vessel you would need to find another. With Season 22, transmat effects become universal and permanently unlocked, so you can use whichever ones you want anytime.
There are few other gear changes that have been announced, but not detailed. These include reworks to seldom used exotics, changes to weapon tuning, and general adjustments to how things like damage falloff from long range shots affect damage. The maximum number of Masterwork Materials that can be held will be raised.
Destiny 2 Season of Defiance end date: When will Season 21 end?
This is your last chance to experience the story of the Season of the Deep. You can follow our guide to the Into the Depths quest to see all the steps. It also means you will soon be out of time to raise your Season rank to 100, and collect all the rewards.
It’s also a good time to finish out any of the Seasonal Triumphs. These challenges reward a lot of experience, and can give you additional rewards like Bright Dust and Nightfall Weapons.
You could invest some time in prepping for a fast start to Season 22. Filling your pockets with bounties and completing them, but not turning them in, can net you a few levels if you cash them in first thing next season. It’s a classic move for a reason.
And of course, you can always keep playing for run and to collect loot. Nothing wrong with a few more Root of Nightmares raids, or grabbing the latest weapon from the Nightfall rotation.