Destiny 2 Lightfall expansion: Release time, trailer, story, Strand subclass & everything we know
BungieDestiny 2: Lightfall is the follow-up to The Witch Queen DLC expansion. So here’s everything we know about Lightfall, including its launch time and release time, release date, trailer, story, the Strand subclass, and even more planned content.
Destiny 2’s Witch Queen expansion was arguably the game’s high point as we said in our detailed review, but its ending left players with plenty of questions that we don’t yet have answers to. The game’s next expansion, Lightfall, has a lot of hype to live up to, but much of it remains shrouded in mystery.
While the expansion was originally intended to be the end of the current Destiny “Light and Darkness” saga, it’ll now lead into Destiny 2: The Final Shape, yet another expansion revealed by Bungie that is expected to wrap everything up.
In the meantime, let’s guide you through and tell you Destiny 2: Lightfall’s release date, its release time, and the general launch time of the latest DLC.
Contents
- Destiny 2 Lightfall release date
- When is Lightfall released?
- Trailers
- Platforms
- Story
- New content
- Destiny 2’s future after Lightfall
BungieDestiny 2 Lightfall Release Date
Destiny 2: Lightfall will officially launch on February 28, 2023. The expansion was originally set to launch in 2022, with the preceding Witch Queen arriving in 2021. But circumstances and plans changed slightly with The Witch Queen arriving slightly later in 2022.
There are no delays being discussed, so expect Lightfall to drop when expected. Also, for more info on the expansion pack’s official launch time, read on.
When is Lightfall released? Destiny 2: Lightfall launch time
Destiny 2: Lightfall will become available to play from 9 AM PST (1400 GMT) on its release date, with players able to pre-download the game before then.
Bungie has revealed the exact timing of maintenance and rollout schedule for Destiny 2: Lightfall, which is as follows:
- February 27th, 9 AM PST (1400 GMT): Destiny 2 is brought offline.
- February 27th, 9 AM PST (1400 GMT): Players can pre-download Lightfall on all platforms.
- February 28th, 9 AM PST (1400 GMT): Destiny 2 will be brought back online. Lightfall will be available on all platforms and regions. This coincides with the weekly reset.
Destiny 2 Lightfall: Trailers
Players were first introduced to Destiny 2: Lightfall through its reveal trailer which showed Guardians defending against an assault on the Last City. Calus is back, and he’s got new friends, too.
You can check it out in its entirety below.
Destiny 2 players then got a further look at the upcoming expansion at the 2022 Game Awards with a new fully-fledged trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTPJy0m9n6A
The most recent look at Lightfall came at the hands of the latest trailer showing off the new Neomuna location.
Destiny 2 Lightfall: Platforms
According to the game’s official website, Destiny 2: Lightfall will be available on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series X/S, and PC via Steam, Windows, and the Epic Games Store when it goes live.
While Bungie was purchased by Sony in January 2022, both parties have expressed an interest in Destiny 2 remaining multiplatform — so don’t worry, Xbox players, you’re not going to be left behind anytime soon.
Destiny 2 Lightfall: Storyline
BungieBungie had confirmed that the events of The Witch Queen ending will push the narrative through Destiny 2: Lightfall and beyond, and the core concept of the battle between Light and Darkness will be laid to rest.
“The Witch Queen will light the fire on a strongly interconnected narrative across Lightfall and beyond, unlike anything we’ve ever attempted before, with characters, arcs, heroes, and villains that persist over multiple future releases.”
Guardians are off to Neomuna, on Neptune, a fresh location in Destiny 2. Here we’ll be teaming up with Cloudstriders — a new civilization we haven’t encountered before.
We’ll be squaring off against Calus’ new Shadow Legion, too, who fight alongside new creepy-looking Tormentors.
Destiny 2 Lightfall content
In an interview with Dexerto, Bungie confirmed that Destiny 2: Lightfall will feature a Legendary campaign — just like The Witch Queen’s.
In a tweet, the DestinyTwoLeaks account also noted that a Sparrow revamp, originally revealed back in March, has been canceled because “Bungie wasn’t able to get it working”.
The feature would have seen two-player Sparrows, but appears to have been cut.
The same account also suggested that an overhaul is coming for Power Levels, although this would be a sizeable shift in how Destiny has operated for years, and also suggested Bungie was, at least at some point, considering an “Event Pass” for the expansion, presumably in the shape of the Event Cards we’ve seen so far.
Bungie was tinkering with the idea of adding an event pass, but for a whole dlc.
I doubt it would still be called “Event Pass”, and it may just be something they planned to add to season passes.
— Destiny Leaks (@D2Leaks) October 18, 2022
Finally, Bungie has re-added the Salt Mines area of the EDZ, according to a Reddit post. This could be due to some upcoming content, it’s hard to say for now.
New Strand Subclass
Bungie confirmed we’ll have a new green subclass, called Strand. Players will discover it and learn to use it throughout the new Destiny 2: Lightfall campaign.
It’ll even be useful for traversal, with Guardians shown swinging through urban environments.
It’s about consciousness and stems from Darkness. Guardians will be able to manipulate the connections between living things. Players can apparently grab anything, with the trains in the Prison of Elders shown pulling them along in the trailer.
Here’s the rundown according to Bungie:
Hunter Threadrunners
“Masters of Movement, speed, and grace. The city is a Threadrunner’s playground as they grasp threads and weave new ones to dart through the air, finding the fastest way between two points.”
Titan Berserker
“Untamed and wild, Berserkers tear at Strand to manifest claws they use to sever their targets from the Weave. Leaping into harm’s way with wild abandon, the line no one crosses is drawn by a Berserker.”
Warlock Broodweavers
“Broodweavers effortlessly manipulate the Weave using only their mind. From the backline, these telekinetic sorcerers can even twist Strand into sentient creatures to do their bidding.”
While Beyond Light lets Guardians wield Stasis for the first time, there was no Darkness-based subclass in The Witch Queen. Instead, Bungie reworked Void in Season of the Risen, Solar in Season of the Haunted, and updated Arc in Season 18.
Guardian Ranks and LFG
Bungie will overhaul the game’s progression system, letting players showcase their achievements and help newer players experience the universe through Destiny 2: Lightfall.
The game will finally add its own LFG system, too, as well as a Commendation feature that lets you award players new appreciation.
Weapon crafting overhaul
Destiny 2: Lightfall will see further refinement to the weapon crafting system introduced in Witch Queen, Bungie revealed in one of its weekly blog posts.
The team is working to introduce new ways to earn Deepsight currencies, improve opportunities for players to select the weapon they want to craft, and reduce the need to use a weapon you don’t like just to get its currency.
Deepsight will therefore only apply to craftable weapons, making things a little easier to manage.
Loadout and mod systems
Alongside the overhaul to weapon crafting, Destiny 2: Lightfall will bring in a new loadout and armor mod system, encouraging players to experiment further with build crafting.
Loadout System
Bungie is looking to cut down on the hassle players undergo to change builds by introducing loadout slots for players to use. These slots will give players a way to save preset builds that they can swap out if need be.
There will be a maximum of 10 loadout slots per character and will be unlocked through the Guardian rank system.
Armor mod overhaul
Armor mods are receiving sweeping changes across the board to allow for a more streamlined build crafting experience.
Bungie has recently removed the energy types from armor mods and will be looking to revamp the system further with new mods coming in Lightfall.
As mentioned in their blog, Lightfall will introduce Armor Charge mods, which will replace the current Elemental Wells and Charged with Light ones. Armor Charge mods will work in a similar way to Charged with Light, as a player can gain Armor Charges which will slowly be used or fall off over time.
New Lightfall Raid
Destiny 2 Lightfall, like other expansions in the game, will come with a brand-new raid likely full of bosses, challenges, and puzzles.
Whilst we don’t know much about the raid, we do know that it’ll be released on Friday, March 10th, 2023, with a start time of 9 AM PST.
It is speculated that the raid will take place on Neomuna, Lightfall’s location as this has been the case with the previous expansions of Witch Queen and Beyond Light, and we may be fighting the Cabal given Calus’ importance to the story.
New Exotics
Destiny 2: Lightfall will also be bringing several brand-new exotics for players to mess around with. It’s likely that these exotics will have some quests tied to them, whilst others may be obtainable through completing the campaign.
Here’s the current list of exotics we know releasing with Lightfall:
- Final Warning (Strand Sidearm)
- Deterministic Chaos (Void LMG)
- Winterbite (Stasis Glaive)
- Crytarachne’s Facade (Hunter Helmet)
- Abeyant Leap (Titan Boots)
- Swarmers (Warlock Boots)
BungieBalance Changes
Bungie is also changing the meta with the upcoming Destiny 2: Lightfall expansion, bringing buffs to underperforming weapon archetypes, whilst nerfing overachievers. Bungie is also adding several subclass verbs to exotics that they saw fit.
Here’s a list of what we know is being changed:
- Machine Gun and Heavy Grenade Launcher Buffs
- Linear Fusion Rifle Nerfs
- Increased damage on kinetic weapons
- Subclass verbs for certain exotics
- Tuning to various perks
Destiny 2’s future after Lightfall
Bungie has not only committed to more Destiny content after Destiny 2: Lightfall, but they’ve even named the next expansion.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape is expected to arrive in 2024, but as yet there aren’t a lot of details. Bungie did reveal that The Witch Queen is a “moment of acceleration towards the end”, but what that end shakes out to be is anyone’s guess – is it a new story arc, a la Marvel Cinematic Universe phases, or is it a version of Destiny 2 that exists in perpetuity?
Ready to defend the solar system from the Darkness? We’ve got plenty of guides to help you out:
Best PvP weapons | Destiny 2 Promo Codes | Destiny 2 Prime Gaming Rewards | Infamy Ranks Guide | Glory Ranks Guide | Current Xur location | Current Trials of Osiris map | Iron Banner countdown | Destiny 2 voice actor for every character | Destiny 2 Osteo Striga: How to get exotic SMG in The Witch Queen | Destiny 2 Void 3.0 guide: Best builds | Destiny 2 Solar 3.0 guide: Best builds | Destiny 2 Arc 3.0 guide: Best builds