Highlights
- Bungie is making significant changes to Destiny 2's economy regarding gear focusing and dismantling in the next season, with a focus on player accessibility.
- Players constantly need to accumulate Glimmer and Legendary Shards, which are the main resources in the game's economy.
- The removal of Legendary Shards will lead to discounted gear focusing, but the cost of focusing aspirational gear will increase to compensate for the removal. Dismantling costs will also be adjusted, with Exotics having a higher chance of granting an Enhancement Core.
Bungie has started to pull back the curtain on many changes coming to Destiny 2 ahead of The Final Shape, beginning with a significant shift in the game's economy regarding gear focusing and dismantling in the next season. Season 23 is still quite some time away, but that hasn't stopped Bungie from announcing changes inbound with the future season. The studio assures that the economic rebalancing is designed with Destiny 2's future and player accessibility as the primary focus.
Regarding Destiny 2's in-game economy, Glimmer and Legendary Shards are the two significant resources players constantly need to accumulate. Glimmer is the more common one, virtually dropping from any in-game source imaginable. Legendary Shards are a bit higher on the pecking order, only obtainable by dismantling Legendary and Exotic-tier equipment. These two currencies form the bulk of the trading cost for focusing equipment at Ritual vendors, acquiring bounties, crafting weapons, and upgrading Deepsight tiers. The amount of Glimmer and Legendary Shards a player requires for endgame activities also increases over time, thus becoming a pain point for many players, resulting in exploits to accrue a hefty amount of resources.
In the latest official blog post, Bungie announced a drastic change in Destiny 2's Glimmer and Legendary Shard economy and detailed every subsequent cost rebalancing for every vendor and Ritual gear source. According to the post, the removal of Legendary Shards from Destiny 2 will result in every gear focusing being significantly discounted. From Season 23 and onwards, focusing new Ritual weapons will require one engram, while older offerings will consume an additional 5000 Glimmer. Focusing aspirational gear from Nightfalls and Iron Banner will cost five engrams instead of one to compensate for the Legendary Shard removal, alongside a fee of 25,000 Glimmer.
Adept weapons will remain unchanged, with players needing Nightfall Ciphers and a 7-win Passage for Trial weapons. The blog post further outlines dismantling costs also being readjusted with Destiny 2's Legendary and Exotic gear now granting Gunsmith Reputation, 1000-2000 Glimmer, and a chance to get an Enhancement Core. Dismantling Exotics will have a 60% chance to give said Enhancement Core, while Legendaries will only have a 25% chance. Furthermore, dismantling Ghost shells will only give 1000-1500 Glimmer. Bungie has clarified the economic change being a two-fold move, with the final shift coming with The Final Shape expansion, making certain cosmetic flairs free to use and giving Xur an alternative payment method.
With The Final Shape being a critical juncture in Destiny 2's future, the playerbase is sure to meet such drastic changes with a healthy dose of trepidation and concern. However, Bungie outlines increasing player accessibility as the primary motive for such drastic change and assures the playerbase to keep a close eye on the economy moving forward.
Destiny 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
