Destiny 2 leakers have gotten their hands on a new development video that inadvertently shows off the upcoming Darkness abilities for Guardians. The showcase itself is quite small and unassuming, but it seemingly confirms what the next set of abilities is supposed to be and may kick off a whole new round of theorycrafting in the community.
What's particularly curious about the new ability leak is that Destiny 2's Strand abilities leaked in much the same way, with one of Bungie's artists accidentally posting a video hinting at an all-new type of spellcasting well before it was officially announced. Though the source for the new video isn't yet known, the odds of it being faked are fairly low, giving it credence in the grand scheme of things.
Though the community has long suspected that Destiny 2's third and possibly final set of Darkness abilities would be red in color, this notion has now finally been given some credibility by a newly leaked gameplay video. The video itself, shared by user Nimbus9002 on Reddit, shows off one of the game's many Transmat effects, this one being a burst of Methane themed after the Season of the Deep. The important piece of the showcase, however, lies in the WIP in-game HUD, where the ability highlight features a distinctively red color that isn't present anywhere else in the game. Bungie has historically been careful in setting Guardian abilities apart from one another, and none of them has featured a stark red color up until now.
While some parallels could certainly be drawn with Destiny 2's Solar abilities, it's worth pointing out that these have always been orange in color, rather than red. As it currently stands, the live version of Destiny has no actual red abilities, which obviously implies that Bungie is working on the third and final set of Guardian Darkness abilities that may or may not be coming out as part of the upcoming Final Shape DLC.
As the community doesn't hide the fact that many players are completely burnt out on Destiny 2 already, Bungie may have chosen to leverage the excitement generated by a glimpse of an all-new ability set in order to prop up The Final Shape in 2024. As the mid-development demo wasn't supposed to show them off in any meaningful way, it's likely that the mysterious red abilities will stay hidden until the next major gameplay showcase or beyond.
The bit worth pointing out here is that Destiny 2's Season 22 is unlikely to feature the leaked abilities, as they're bound to be kept under wraps until The Final Shape comes out. As there are plans to keep Destiny afloat after The Final Shape, the red Darkness abilities may be coming even further down the line, but it does seem that they're now at least unofficially confirmed to be coming.
Destiny 2 is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
