Everything you need to do in Destiny 2 before The Final Shape
Here's an essential list of all the prep you can do to help you get started in Destiny 2 The Final Shape when it launches
Getting all your Destiny 2 The Final Shape prep done will help you get off to great start on your journey through the Pale Heart to face the Witness. However, the end of Year 6 means a whole swathe of seasonal activities and all their loot are going away, so you might have a lot to do in not a lot of time. Don't despair as not everything below will be gone from Destiny 2 forever, but some things will be much more difficult to get or farm for – if at all. With my Destiny 2 The Final Shape prep guide below, I've laid out some things to do and loot to get before the expansion arrives.
Destiny 2 The Final Shape prep guide
The final week before Destiny 2 The Final Shape is upon us. While this expansion will be adding a new campaign, new Dread enemies to fight, and (of course) lots of new weapons and armor, it also marks the end of the line for lots of seasonal activities and gear as they head into the Destiny Content Vault. You have until 5pm UTC on June 3 (9am PST, 12pm EST, 6pm BST, 7pm CEST) as this is when a day-long Destiny 2 maintenance period begins prior to The Final Shape's launch on June 4.
Remember, endgame activities added since Destiny 2 Lightfall, such as Ghosts of the Deep and Crota's End, will not be leaving, along with Onslaught and the reprised Exotic Missions that came with the Into The Light update. The Season of Defiance Avalon and Season of the Wish Starcrossed Exotic missions will also remain. Obviously, you'll also keep any weapons (and patterns), armor, titles, shaders, and other cosmetics and gear that you unlocked during these seasons.
Essential things to do in Destiny 2 before The Final Shape
Here's a quick list of the broad things to do in the next week to prepare for The Final Shape before getting into the specific things to do for each of the Year 6 seasons:
- Spend all your vendor Engrams: Yes, all of them. Vanguard, Crucible, Gambit, Trials of Osiris, Gunsmith, and all four types of Seasonal Engrams. This will help you get any weapon rolls or patterns that you might be missing. Unspent ones will be deleted.
- Claim vendor rewards: Make sure you also claim any reputation rank rewards from these vendors too, such as weapons, shaders, and other cosmetics.
- Save Exotic Engrams and Ciphers: Exotic focusing is changing a lot with The Final Shape, giving you new ways to spend your Exotic Engrams thanks to a revamped vendor reputation system for Master Rahool. Exotic Engrams are stored forever in your personal Engram inventory, and extra Engrams can be "stored" at the Postmaster too.
- Unlock Season Pass rewards on all characters: Make sure you claim any outstanding rewards from the Season of the Wish Season Pass on all your characters, such as armor ornaments and upgrade materials. Deepsight Harmonizers should be claimed to help you get weapon patterns. Via Bungie.net, you can also claim rewards from Season of the Witch too.
- Save materials: Make sure you've got Glimmer and various upgrade materials saved up and ready to use, such as Ascendant Shards and Alloys, Upgrade Modules, and Enhancement Cores to keep up with the power grind. Legendary Shards are being deprecated with The Final Shape so spend those while you can too.
- Unlock Seals and Titles: The Queensguard, Aquanaut, Haruspex, Wishbearer, BRAVE, and Moments of Triumph 2023 Seals will be unobtainable when The Final Shape launches, so don't miss out. Complete the necessary Triumphs for each one to unlock them permanently.
- Save bounties: Start stocking up on completed Bounties, then turn them in once you start up The Final Shape on or after June 4 to get a head start with XP.
- Clear vault space: Vault slots are increasing from 600 to 700 with The Final Shape, but you should still give your vault a good clear to ensure you've got plenty of room for any new weapons, armor, and Exotics you want to try as you play.
Things to do in Season of Defiance
- Complete seasonal story: As well as assaulting Neomuna in Lightfall, the Shadow Legion has invaded Earth and begun kidnapping citizens. As newly appointed Queensguard of Mara Sov, it's down to you to save the prisoners and crush the legion's operations on home turf.
- Get Weapon Patterns: There are 10 weapon patterns to unlock from this season, and you can get Deepsight weapons from focusing Defiant Engrams at the War Table and by completing Defiant Battlegrounds. The best weapons I recommend chasing are the Perpetualis Auto Rifle, Royal Executioner Fusion Rifle, and Regnant Heavy Grenade Launcher.
- Complete Vexcalibur Exotic quest: The quest for the Destiny 2 Vexcalibur Glaive, which involves the Avalon Exotic mission, will be leaving. However, since the mission is staying, Vexcalibur will likely become a completion reward as part of the Exotic mission rotator.
- Defiant Battlegrounds will be going away with the launch of The Final Shape, so it doesn't look like they will be joining previous Battlegrounds missions in the Vanguard Ops playlist as in previous years.
Things to do in Season of the Deep
- Complete seasonal story: Having survived for the last few years seemingly alone on Titan, Deputy Commander Sloane needs help dredging up artifacts from the deep that will strengthen her newly forged psychic connection to a massive worm creature that holds knowledge of the Witness' origins. All the while, the Hive and Taken forces of Xivu Arath are ravaging Saturn's moon.
- Get Weapon Patterns: Destiny 2 Season of the Deep has six weapon patterns to unlock, which you can do by playing Salvage and Deep Dives, and by focusing Deep Engrams at the Sonar Station. I recommend prioritizing the Until Its Return Shotgun and Different Times Pulse Rifle.
- Get Reckoning Weapons: There are also six reprised Reckoning weapons which cannot be crafted, so you'll need good old-fashion random rolls which you can get by playing Deep activities and via Deep Engram focusing at the Sonar Station. The Bug-Out Bag SMG, Outlast Pulse Rifle, and Spare Rations Hand Cannon are worth considering.
- Complete the Whetstone challenge: The Whetstone challenge will not be making the cut for The Final Shape since it's part of Deep Dives. The Wicked Implement Exotic Scout Rifle reward will probably be made available later through other means.
- Salvage and Deep Dives will also be removed with the launch of The Final Shape, although it looks like Destiny 2 Fishing is staying.
Things to do in Season of the Witch
- Complete seasonal story: Savathun is the only being that might know how to reach the Witness, so a bargain is struck with Savathun's Ghost, Immaru: deal with Xivu Arath first, then Savathun will be resurrected to help. With that, Eris Morn ascends as the Hive God of Vengeance with Guardians embracing the Sword Logic of the Hive to enhance Eris's strength.
- Get Weapon Patterns: There are six weapon patterns available in Season of the Witch and the necessary Deepsight weapons can be obtained from Savathun's Spire runs, Altars of Summoning, Witch Engram focusing at the Ritual Table, and from unlocking certain Minor Arcana Cards. Be sure to get The Eremite Fusion Rifle and Kept Confidence Hand Cannon.
- Savathun's Spire, Altars of Summoning, the Imbaru Engine, and the Lectern of Divination Arcana Cards will be leaving Destiny 2 once The Final Shape arrives.
Things to do in Season of the Wish
- Complete seasonal story: With Savathun's help, a way into the Traveler is revealed, but another deal must be struck, this time with the spirit of the last Ahamkara, Riven. Recover her lost clutch of eggs and she might grant one last wish.
- Get Weapon Patterns: There are 10 Season of the Wish weapon patterns to unlock, and you can get Deepsight weapons from focusing Wish Engrams with the Spirit of Riven and by completing runs through Riven's Lair, including in the Coil. The weapons I recommend chasing are the Scatter Signal Fusion Rifle, Supercluster Shotgun, Doomed Petitioner Linear Fusion Rifle, Subjunctive SMG, and the Adhortative Pulse Rifle.
- Complete Wish-Keeper Exotic quest: As with Vexcalibur, the quest to get the Wish-Keeper bow is getting vaulted, but the mission will remain, so the bow will probably be added as a reward there.
- Riven's Lair, The Coil, and all the secrets within (such as the Starcats!) will be leaving with The Final Shape's launch.
Things to do in Into The Light
The Into The Light update for Destiny 2 added lots of new and reprised activities and loot, but some features and items are going away when The Final Shape launches. Onslaught and Legend Onslaught, Whisper of the Worm, Zero Hour, and the BRAVE arsenal are all staying, but here's what's going away:
- Shiny BRAVE weapon variants: You'll only be able to get the standard, randomly rolled versions of the BRAVE weapons in Onslaught after The Final Shape.
- Hall of Champions: Lord Shaxx's Hall will be going away which also means BRAVE weapon attunement and Grimoire lore cards will be going too. Trophies of Bravery and Brave Engrams will also be removed so spend them while you can.
- Superblack Shader: With the Hall of Champions gone, there won't be a way to get this exclusive Shader, although it might could be re-added later.
- Parade Suit armor sets: With the Hall getting removed from the game, the Parade Suit armor chests will be gone too, though it's likely that all the armor will be added to the Onslaught loot pool instead.
© 12DOVE. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Sign up to the 12DOVE Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Will Sawyer is a guides writer at 12DOVE who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.
Destiny 2 players were right: Bungie confirms an issue "in our code" making some god roll guns harder to get, and says it has already identified a potential fix
Denied their crafting fix, Destiny 2 players got so unlucky that they started conspiracy theories about the MMO's drop rates, and got so loud Bungie had to correct them