Highlights

  • Destiny 2's The Final Shape expansion is a huge success, praised for gameplay and emotional story.
  • Dual Destiny Exotic mission in Destiny 2 causing controversy with communication challenges.
  • Fireteam Finder in Destiny 2 helps solo players, but some are disappointed with Exotic Class Items access.

This article contains major spoilers for Destiny 2's The Final Shape.

Destiny 2's The Final Shape launched a little over one week ago to a greatly positive reception from veteran players and newcomers alike, and it's now regarded as the best expansion in the game's history - possibly surpassing the heights of The Taken King from D1 and Forsaken and The Witch Queen from D2. The incredible praise Destiny 2's The Final Shape is getting is huge, and Bungie delivered exactly the kind of experience it needed with a mix of top-notch gameplay with the Prismatic subclasses and an emotional story. Even the recently released Dual Destiny Exotic mission made a lot of players happy due to its unique unlock method, but at the same time, some are frustrated by it.

With games like Destiny 2, which has MMO foundations and it's a live-service title at its core, it can be difficult to please everyone considering a large playerbase and a myriad of different features and playstyles. While The Final Shape expansion is mostly considered great across the board, the reception of Dual Destiny is currently mixed, with a rather large number of Guardians being displeased that the activity requires a Fireteam of two to get Destiny 2's Exotic Class Items. There are multiple reasons why this controversy started, including marketing material and design choices by Bungie.

Destiny 2 Hunter sitting on a balcony looking at the Traveler-1
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How The Final Shape Sets Up the Future of Destiny 2

Even though the Light and Darkness Saga is officially over for Destiny 2, The Final Shape sets up the game's future with even more confrontations.

Why Destiny 2 Players Are Unhappy About Exotic Class Items

Destiny 2's Dual Destiny Exotic Mission is a Controversial Way to Get Exotic Class Items

One of the biggest reasons why the Dual Destiny Exotic mission divided Destiny 2's fanbase is that it can be unlocked solo or in a Fireteam of up to three, but no communication is actually required to do that. This is not the case when it comes to completing Destiny 2's new Exotic Class Item mission, as it is necessary to have some form of communication between the two players to call symbols or the numbers on the clock-like structure toward the end of the mission. The reason is that symbols are only visible to one player at a time while the other has to shoot them, whereas the clock-like structure requires players to spot which numbers are on both of their screens and shoot their corresponding artifacts.

There is a chance Bungie slows down the clock-like structures at the end to favor accessibility in Dual Destiny, as this would still make it possible to forego voice comms in Destiny 2 and only use chat, instead.

While everything can be done via chat, for the most part, the real problem comes at the very end of the activity when both bosses are shielded at the same time. This is because the clock-like structures rapidly change their composition, so it can be hard to type in chat everything and give the other player enough time to act before the shift happens. Dual Destiny is as well received as a mini Destiny 2 Raid or Exotic mission akin to the original ones as it is being criticized for lack of accessibility.

Why Destiny 2's Dual Destiny is a Double-Edged Sword For Solo Players

Destiny 2's Fireteam Finder is a Great, But Imperfect Tool

Another major problem perceived by players is that The Final Shape's Exotic Class Items were a big part of the expansion's marketing material and something a lot of players were looking forward to. However, Dual Destiny is not a matchmade activity, and it can only be accessed with a premade Fireteam of two or by using the Fireteam Finder feature in Destiny 2 (or similar third-party LFG sites and apps).

Solo players are often at a disadvantage in Destiny 2, more so casual players who don't have a dedicated Clan or friends playing the game. However, Fireteam Finder can help a lot with that, even for endgame content.

This last bit can easily be solved with the various filters in Fireteam Finder, like asking for help or chill teammates. There are no guarantees that by using LFG features players will indeed complete Dual Destiny with ease, though, and the underlying problem for some is that the mission cannot be accessed or completed solo. Overall, Destiny 2's Exotic missions can be some of the most unique and fun content in the game, and Dual Destiny is no exception - however, it seems unlikely that Bungie will pull something like it in the future due to its reception, which can be a blessing or a curse based on who is asked.