Destiny 2 Season 13: What’s coming next season? Sandbox changes, Umbral Engrams, more

The next season in Destiny 2’s Beyond Light era – Season of the Chosen – is scheduled to launch on February 9. Plenty of big changes are coming in Season 13, and here’s everything Bungie has confirmed for the game’s next content drop.

Destiny 2’s Season of the Hunt is winding down with its final week, and players are already hungry for information on the game’s next content drop: Season 13 – or as Bungie is calling it, Season of the Chosen.

Season of the Hunt was the first seasonal content offering after the release of Beyond Light. While it did provide players with new content to explore, the game has also suffered from issues like weapon sunsetting, content vaulting, and widespread cheating in PVP activities.

Season 13 will certainly have its own activities and loot for players to engage with, but Bungie has also confirmed a number of other changes that will address community concerns surrounding parts of the game. Here’s everything we know is coming in Destiny 2’s next season.

When is Destiny 2 Season 13?

Destiny 2’s next season is scheduled to begin on February 9, 2021, after the current Season of the Hunt comes to a close. Here’s everything Bungie has revealed about Destiny 2’s new season.

Destiny 2 Season of the Chosen trailer

On February 2, Bungie shared the trailer to the hotly-awaited update, finally revealing the full title of the update. With the previous working title of Season of the [Redacted], we were also treated to the final title of the update in the trailer: Season of the Chosen

As a new threat emerges and Classic Strikes return, players will fight tooth-and-nail for the Cosmodrome with new battleground activities. The trailer also informs that the season will draw to a close for players on May 11.

Destiny 2 Season 13 Dreaming City and Moon Rewards

One highly-requested change coming in Season 13 is the reissuing of weapons and armor from the Dreaming City and Moon. After backlash from the community over sunsetting gear earned from locations that players still need to pay for, Bungie reversed course on these changes.

The developer is bringing back weapons and armor from each of these locations. The Reverie Dawn and Dreambane armor sets will return next season, along with four weapons from each location, including fan-favorites like the Waking Vigil hand cannon.

• Read More: Destiny 2 update 3.0.2 patch notes

The reissued gear will drop with high stats and perk options that differ from the older versions, and additional perks will also be available if they are obtained via high-level activities. To help players acquire the newer versions of this gear, drop rates will be weighted towards the updated iterations.

Destiny 2 Season 13 Vendor Updates

Another change coming in Season 13 involves vendor tokens. Starting next season, players can obtain rewards by ranking up with each vendor instead of just turning in tokens. Each vendor’s rank can also be reset after hitting the level cap, providing a reliable method of acquiring upgrade materials like Ascendant Shards.

These changes will be rolled out to the Crucible and Gambit playlists in Season 13, with the Strike playlist getting the same treatment in a later season. Current vendor tokens will expire after Season of the Hunt and should be turned in before then if players want to avoid losing out on extra rewards.

Bungie is also adding 2 unique weapons to each core playlist in Season 13. The Nightfall playlist will also receive its own set of rewards in 3 returning Destiny 1 weapons: The Palindrome, The Swarm, and Shadow Price. In addition, Grandmaster Nightfalls will have a chance to drop Adept versions of those guns.

Destiny 2 Season 13 New Content Model

Beginning in Season 13, players will retain access to some of the activities introduced in past seasons. Several Season of the Hunt activities will remain available like Wrathborn Hunts and the Adored weapon quest, and players will be able to revisit them for the foreseeable future.

• Read More: Bungie winds back plans to ‘vault’ loot in Season 13

While most content from Season of the Hunt is being maintained, there are a few pieces that will be removed in Season 13. Crow’s bounties, Messages from the Field, and the seasonal artifact and season pass rewards will all be unavailable after February 9.

Bungie also confirmed that in Season 13, players may notice some irregularities due to the shift in seasonal content structure. For example, Crow’s behavior may seem inconsistent during the next season but these types of issues should be cleaned up in the future.

Destiny 2 Season 13 Umbral Engrams

In a move praised by many players, Bungie also confirmed the return of Umbral Engrams in Season 13. Originally introduced in Season of Arrivals, Umbral Engrams allow players to target specific weapons and armor drops they are desperate to get their hands on.

In Season 13, Umbral Engrams will drop from a number of sources including the three core playlists, patrols, and both past and future seasonal activities. The new Umbral system also allows players to target loot from multiple seasons via the Prismatic Recaster, expanding the options available.

Bungie also confirmed the drop rate for Umbral Engrams in Season of Arrivals was actually higher than intended, and they have rebalanced their drop rate for next season. Players should still see a good amount of these engrams appear, even with the reduced volume.

Destiny 2 Season 13 Gilded Titles

Another change coming to Destiny 2 next season revolves around titles. Starting in Season 13, if players have already completed a title tied to the game’s core activities – Unbroken, Dredgen, Flawless, or Conqueror – a new set of seasonal objectives will become available, and completing these will reward a gilded version of that title.

• Read More: Why The Witch Queen will make or break Destiny 2

Once a title has been gilded, it will display a new border effect around the title’s Seal, a tracker displaying how many times the title has been gilded, and unique color and symbol that will display above the player character showing off their gilded status.

Titles will only remain gilded during each specific season and will reset to their base status as the current season expires and the next one begins. The original completion of the title will be kept, and players can begin working on gilding the title again in the next season.

Destiny 2 Season 13 Seasonal Challenges

Bungie also outlined a new system coming in Season 13: Seasonal Challenges. These will replace the three weekly Crucible, Gambit, and Strike bounties and are intended to “guide the player through the Seasonal content, week-over-week.”

For the first 10 weeks of each season, new challenges will become available each week for players to complete. Some are related to seasonal content, while others involve the game’s core playlists or other less-specific activities like gaining Power levels or unlocking seasonal mod slots.

Challenges are account-based and will be available until the end of each season. With this change, Bungie has “taken more leeway with creating some interesting or more difficult Challenges” for players to participate in, helping to reduce the game’s reliance on bounty completion.

Destiny 2 Season 13 Bright Dust Changes

Another constant hot-button issue for Destiny players is the Eververse store and its related currency, Bright Dust. Bungie confirmed that starting in Season 13, players will be able to acquire Bright Dust by completing the game’s new Seasonal Challenges.

• Read More: Destiny 2 update 3.0.1.2 patch notes

Bungie also revealed exactly how much Bright Dust players can potentially earn in Season 13 – Seasonal Challenges reward up to 10,000 Dust, the Season Pass contributes 10,500 and the weekly challenges provide another 14,040 for a grand total of 34,540 Dust for players to acquire.

Reaching that number will require a significant time investment during Season 13, but Bungie has made it clear that they want players to have the potential to earn plenty of Dust no matter what activities they choose to participate in.

Destiny 2 Season 13 Sandbox Changes

To help prepare Destiny 2 for crossplay (currently scheduled for release sometime in 2021) Bungie confirmed a substantial set of sandbox changes releasing in Season 13, including significant changes to the game’s recoil stats across the board for mouse and keyboard users.

Auto, Scout and Pulse Rifles, Submachine and Machine Guns, and Hand Cannons will all see a recoil increase on mouse and keyboard. While these changes will be balanced out in some places by buffs, they will certainly affect mouse and keyboard players at the start of Destiny 2’s next season.

In addition, a range of other weapons are also being tuned. Rocket Launchers, Fusion Rifles and Breach Grenade Launchers will all receive buffs, while Sniper Rifles and Swords will be nerfed next season. The sandbox update will include minor tweaks to some exotic weapons as well.

In addition to the massive list of changes coming in Season 13, the team at Bungie also reiterated their focus on the long-term health of Destiny 2. In a post shared by Assistant Game Director Joe Blackburn, the studio confirmed some of their plans for Destiny 2’s future.

Blackburn’s message to the community touched on a number of important topics like the release of transmog, increased weapon rewards, and improving on areas where the studio failed during the release of Beyond Light and Season of the Hunt.

The Assistant Director also issued a tweet on January 19 that told players to expect a “State of Destiny 2021” post in Season 13, which should tackle more of those important issues. We will keep you updated on all those future developments regarding Season 13 and the future Destiny 2.