Your Destiny 2 To-Do List For This Weekend

We’re about to begin the final weekend before Destiny 2's big expansion, Shadowkeep, launches, and it’s understandable if you’re feeling a little listless.

One of the nice things about Destiny is how it’s always endeavored to offer something for every style of play, and as a result, everyone plays at their own pace. In that spirit, I’ve got three categories of tips for you: Some general things everyone should do, a few tips for the hardcore, and finally, a few pointers for less intensive players.

Tips For Everyone

• Don’t try and raise your power. This is kind of counterintuitive to how Destiny works, since the primary goal of the game is finding better gear that raises your stats, but come Shadowkeep, the current power level ceiling is going to be the new floor, and everyone’s going to rocket up to 750 power. So, while you will almost certainly climb a little bit as you naturally play, don’t make it your goal. Just do what’s interesting.
• Don’t infuse anything. That big power jump also applies to all of your gear, so there’s no point in wasting materials to upgrade weapons or armor unless you absolutely need them for something you plan to do this weekend, specifically.
• Break down your cosmetics. We’ve known this for at least a month now, but it bears repeating: break down all the cosmetics you aren’t using for Bright Dust, stat. (Bright Dust, remember, is a currency used exclusively for cosmetics and earned through play, unlike Silver, which is bought with real money.) After next week, cosmetics will instead break down into legendary shards, and you can pull previously owned cosmetics from your collections menu with the requisite materials—so you’re essentially sitting on free Bright Dust. Cash in!
• Also mods. Mods are converting from one-time-use to permanent unlocks in Shadowkeep, so you’ll only ever need one. If you have multiple mods of one type, break them down now, and stock up on Mod Components—they’ll come in handy as mods are about to become very important.
• You’ve finished the campaigns, right? A hiccup of the Destiny 2 base game going free-to-play means that, if you haven’t completed any of the story campaigns—the base game’s Red War, its Curse of Osiris and Warmind expansions, or Forsaken—your progress will be reset. Thankfully, they’re all short, so if you’re midway through any of them, you can probably knock them out this weekend. And if you can’t do that, each planet in Destiny 2 will be unlocked via experience points, not campaign progress, so don’t sweat it.
• Ignore armor. Armor is going to change completely once Shadowkeep drops, don’t even bother.
• Remember: You can’t play the game on Monday. Destiny 2 is shutting down for a full 24 hours before Shadowkeep’s global launch on October 1, from 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m EST on Monday until the weekly reset at the same time Tuesday. Make sure you wrap up your affairs by Sunday night, or at the very latest, early Monday morning.

Tips For The Hardcore

• Farm Everything. If you’re a hardcore Destiny player, you probably have loads of materials in your inventory, but do a sweep and make sure your coffers are full—the economy’s changing, and it’s nice to stay liquid. Stock up on anything you can think of: planetary materials like Dusklight Shards and Microphasic Datalattice, upgrade materials like Legendary Shards and Enhancement Cores, and make sure you’re carrying the maximum amount of Glimmer.
• Fill Out Your Arsenal. Maybe you have everything you think you need to handle whatever Shadowkeep throws your way, but are you sure? Just about every type of weapon is going to perform a little differently when the expansion hits, so you need to be thinking about versatility, and be ready to experiment. Which is fun! And even more fun if you’re prepared. Make sure you don’t have any blatant holes in your arsenal, and maybe spend some time chasing down weapons you didn’t really think highly of before. They could end up being your new favorite in Shadowkeep’s earliest hours.
• Consider Stocking Up On Bounties. This tip comes via Datto’s brief-but-excellent guide to Shadowkeep prep. Spend some time completing bounties this weekend, and don’t cash them in. This way, you bank a bunch of readily available experience points that will level up your seasonal artifact and also might come with some sweet new loot that scales to Shadowkeep’s higher power levels. The viability of this trick wasn’t known when Datto made his video, but Bungie confirmed Thursday afternoon that most bounties will still be honored, with the exception of Crucible, Vanguard, and Gambit bounties.

Tips For Everyone Else

• If you’re returning, just dip into the most recent stuff. The last year of Destiny 2 is a bit overwhelming for lapsed players, but since Bungie made last year’s Annual Pass content free this week, you might want to check it out. You need to be level 30 for these extras. I recommend you focus on the Season of Opulence stuff, which is kicked off by talking to Benedict 99-40, a robot tucked away in the Tower Annex. It’s the most well-rounded of the last year’s three updates, with a grind that feels fair and a killer activity, The Menagerie, attached. And like all of last year’s Annual Pass content, it’ll still be here when Shadowkeep launches, regardless of whether or not you buy the expansion.
• If you crave direction, find a weapon you want and go for it. There are a lot of performance tweaks inbound with Shadowkeep, so there’s no must-have gear, but there is a wide range of interesting weapons to pursue, some of which might make you play in a way you don’t normally play. Get some friends together and try a big exotic quest for a gun you didn’t think you could get, like the Lumina healing hand cannon. Look at your Lore Books, and figure out where the missing pages might be. Make your own goals, and surprise yourself.
• Think about friends who might be into joining you. While lots of exciting new stuff is exclusive to Shadowkeep, the Destiny 2 base game is also getting an upgrade and going free-to-play alongside the Shadowkeep launch, so it’s the perfect time to recruit some pals. They won’t be able to do everything with you, but they’ll have free access to every destination, so they’ll definitely be able to come along on the grind.

• If you need help, ask for it! The Destiny community has by and large maintained a pretty positive atmosphere, and is full of people willing to help solo players do things they can’t pull off alone. Consider this weekend as a time to make friends and mix it up, so you won’t be going into Shadowkeep alone.

That’s all I have for you right now. See you on the moon next week.