We’re just a few extra weeks away from the debut of Destiny 2’s season 18, and since we have now actually zero data to go off of with Bungie saving the whole lot for August twenty third’s showcase, I figured I’d simply mirror on this previous season as an alternative right now.

Season of the Haunted has ended up being a not terribly well-regarded season, I’d say, within the grand scope of all of the Destiny seasons to this point. Definitely within the backside half, if not possibly the underside 5, or decrease, relying on who you ask. It’s unusual, provided that Bungie appeared to actually be hyping it up forward of time, and the secrecy surrounding it made it seem to be one thing that will blow us away. However that’s not precisely the way it went down.

One challenge is that the nice issues that have been part of this season weren’t…technically part of this season. That might be one thing like Duality, the place though it slot in thematically with the season (and virtually shared a loot pool through two Opulence weapons), it’s a part of a sold-separately dungeon pack. And whereas I favored Photo voltaic 3.0, that’s a everlasting sandbox change, not one thing unique to Haunted.

That leaves the precise content material of the season, and I’m snug in laying out what I feel was the principle drawback on the root of the problem with Season of the Haunted: Nightmare Containment.

There are various points with Nightmare Containment, which isn’t essentially a foul exercise in a vacuum, however the season relied so closely on it in each side that it overwhelmed the entire thing.

The Leviathan returned as a patrol house, which was cool, and but Nightmare Containment solely takes place inside a single space, the Castellum, and even when it “rotates” week to week, the one factor truly altering is the ultimate boss, and never even the location of the ultimate boss. Evaluate that to Battlegrounds or Override missions which have 3-4 variations that happen in numerous areas. Right here, it was simply Castellum, Castellum, Castellum, with little variance.

In idea, you might farm some stage of drugs doing the Sever missions which not less than took you to completely different components of the Leviathan, however to be able to do that you simply wanted to get an merchandise from…Nightmare Containment, Certain Essence, for the run to be worthwhile. And it was a really, very uncommon drop.

Previous that, there have been frustrations concerning the loot itself, by way of the truth that the Opulence weapons didn’t drop instantly from Nightmare Containment or Sever or enemies on the Leviathan. Although a important approach to get keys to search out them in chests was nonetheless beating Containment for 3 simple chests. These have been among the most sought-after weapons within the season, and but the method to get them was an unlimited ache.

The sample grind right here within the second season of crafting was additionally a miss, as you needed to grind endlessly for crimson frames in Containment, and 5 patterns for every weapon proved to be too many. This additionally revealed that one thing had gone very, very unsuitable with the financial planning of this season, the place the HELM upgrades had a whole row devoted to a foreign money you by no means have been quick on, however the precise focusing foreign money for drops and crimson body looking required once more, an absurd quantity of Nightmare Containment farming.

Every part was driving gamers into Nightmare Containment, always, and the exercise itself was not various sufficient with its fastened location and barely-different boss rotation. I feel it’s a given that the majority seasonal actions will most likely find yourself feeling slightly repetitive ultimately, however Nightmare Containment felt like a brand new stage of that, and it type of made the whole thing of the Leviathan returning pointless.

There are undoubtedly issues I favored within the season itself. I like many of the new weapons, together with something with Incandescent. All of the lore and the storytelling by the Sever missions and even Containment dialogue was extraordinarily good, a few of Destiny’s greatest. However gameplay-wise, Containment was the issue, and I hope we don’t have the same activity-based challenge in season 18, no matter it’s.

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Decide up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller collection and The Earthborn Trilogy.