Players are almost 3 years deep into Destiny 2 and Bungie has provided numerous places to explore. Some areas were once exciting and now devoid of players, some were big letdowns from the get-go, while others are still prevalent and thriving. Exploring in Destiny 2 is low-stress compared to other arduous activities in the game.
Destiny 2 offers planets and moons for Flashpoint, public events, lore, Lost Sectors, gold chests, dead ghosts, and to simply explore. The following places are ranked based on visual appeal, activities, and lore. Here are the 5 places every player loves to explore and 5 places they want to avoid.
10 Tower
The mission "Zero Hour" took players back to the Destiny 1 Tower and explored its secrets. However, Destiny 2 Tower has many secrets of its own. The Leviathan's Breath exotic bow quest had players explore Banshee-44's workshop. There are multiple scannable items that are intriguing such as the Ana Bray's notebook in the Daito room.
Besides coming to the Tower to grab weapons or armor, fans spend a lot of time jumping around. The Tower has the lava floor game for those who do want to jump around even more. The map is filled with secret rooms and interactable items which makes the Tower engaging even though it is simply a social space.
9 Tangled Shore
The Tangled Shore is a large map that could have provided space to explore, yet it falls short. Frankly, there just is not much to see here. The Tangled Shore is considered a wasteland with asteroids anchored together which doesn't look pretty, but it has somewhat of a pirate atmosphere.
Overall, there is no incentive to explore here. This place was only relevant for the Destiny 2: Forsaken storyline and it isn't engaging for exploration. Not only is this land barren of activities or lore, but it has also become barren of Guardians as well.
8 Mercury
Going to Mercury was a special experience for Trials of Osiris players in Destiny 1. Those players were curious to know what lies beyond the Lighthouse. The Curse of Osiris DLC gave fans the chance to finally explore, but it didn't live up to the hype.
Mercury is a Vex machine planet shrouded with so much mystery, it's disappointing that it couldn't engage fans. On top of that, public events rarely occur and the single Lost Sector is just as bland as this map. The circular map filled with golden stone structures of Vex architecture that seemed intriguing at first quickly became tasteless.
7 Titan
What was once considered a utopia during the Golden Age is now taken over by the Hive. With its unflattering appearance and lack of activities, Titan is a lackluster place to explore. Titan's size is limiting which makes it difficult to complete the Flashpoint milestone in a reasonable time. However, Titan has a mysterious sea monster that swims around the thunderous seas and it has piqued people's curiosity.
The area that slightly saves Titan is the Solarium, the indoor colony. The Solarium gives insight into how life was on Titan before the Collapse. Perhaps the Solarium residents may have also relied on the beauty of the Solarium to make up for the rest of Titan.
6 Io
Io is one of the most fantastical and otherworldly locations in Destiny 2. The Traveler began terraforming this land which is why it has over-the-top features such as large tree roots, bones, ammonite fossils, and persistent volcanos in the distance. The Vex have also transformed Io with its mountainous Pyramidion.
The Pyramidion is eye-catching yet it doesn't provide much for those who want to explore Io's secrets. Io may be small, but scannable points of interest around the map give bits of lore and "The Whisper" mission provided fans a way to explore the depths of Io. Visually, this place is captivating, but it doesn't provide many activities and has ill-timed public events.
5 Mars
Although Mars isn't a big region, it still has much to offer. This map provoked player engagement since players had to discover Sleeper Nodes and Lost Fragments for various quests. Escalation Protocol is the main reason players still visit this planet even though it was from the 3rd season in Destiny 2.
Not everyone starts or joins Escalation Protocol to complete it, some come to grind for enemy kills for their quests. Noticeably, it differs from Mars in Destiny 1. This Mars has ice-covered cliffs and tall Golden Age buildings. Mars gives a peek into the history and importance of Clovis Bray. Also, around BrayTech Futurescape, you can activate little computers that give a brief description of Golden Age technological advancements.
4 European Dead Zone
The European Dead Zone map is a town that resides in a quiet forest that got torn apart during the Collapse. The EDZ helps understand how devastating the Collapse really was and why the Last City is so important to protect. This area is enormous and a highly useful map in Destiny 2. With public events occurring often and multiple Lost Sectors, this is a very active region. There are 5 landing zones in EDZ which makes the map easily accessible for public events, lost sectors or hunting particular enemies.
EDZ also has the social space called The Farm which is a refugee camp for those who were affected by the Red War. Here you can do jumping puzzles, play soccer, or find points of interest to scan.
3 Nessus
Nessus blends Vex architecture with waterfalls, lush red forests, and red vegetation which contrasts with the blue-green sky. There's no doubt that the Vex know how to build artistically. Since it's a large map, there are multiple landing zones which makes it easy to travel around the map.
Finding a public event on Nessus isn't difficult because the map is divided into many regions. You can effortlessly bounce around the map and complete Flashpoint in minutes. Around Nessus, you can discover scannable pieces of lore that relate to the crashed Exodus Black ship during the Golden Age and humanity's encounter with the Vex.
2 Dreaming City
There is no other place that is as elegant and ethereal as the Dreaming City, the holy land of sorts for the Reef Awoken. Visually, this is the most pleasing area to explore. The City is covered in blue crystals, flowers, and greenery, making it look like a paradise. During Destiny 2: Forsaken, every 3 weeks, the Dreaming City appeared as if it were slowly being captured by the Taken. This activity brought players back to this map time and time again. Although a large map, it isn't the best for public events, however, the Blind Well activity can be accessed easily. The map extends with its portals to the Ascendant Realm's nightmarish atmosphere which heavily contrasts the Dreaming City. This map also contains 9 cat statues you can go search for.
1 Moon
The Moon is the renewed and expanded map from Destiny 1 that uses nostalgia to promote exploration. Revisiting places that may have changed or remained the same from Destiny 1 excited curious players. This map can be explored underground or on the Moon surface which makes it an incredibly large map.
The "Altar of Sorrow" public event in Sorrow's Harbor prevents players from spending time aimlessly looking for something to do. Additionally, with Nightmare hunts, the monumental Scarlet Fortress, and the mysterious triangle ship there's plenty of exploring do on the Moon. Similar to the Dreaming City, the Moon has Jade Rabbit statues hidden around the map that you can find.