Dev Insights - Return of the Director

Welcome to our first Dev Insights article, prepping for the release of Monument of Triumph on June 9. We have quite a bit to get through over the next few weeks. Today's article focuses on the return of the Director and Destiny 2 activities. Here's a quick list of what we'll be covering:

• The Director: Layout, additions, and updated Destination loot
• Distortions: Adding some spice to select Patrol modes
• The Portal: Breaking down barriers and overhauling the experience
• Gambit Ops: Bringing our old friend into the fold
• Heavy Metal: Vehicular mayhem
• Sparrow Racing League: Returning tracks, new loot, and some twists along the track

Tomorrow we're planning to have our second Dev Insights article focused on the weapons sandbox alongside a Friday TWID, so stay tuned!

The Return of the Director

With the release of Monument of Triumph, we're putting the Director back at the center of your gameplay. It's your guide to the Destiny universe and the place to plan your adventures. It creates that feeling of wonder we all love. You see the Sol system before you, ready to be explored.

To bring the Director up to date, we've added Kepler and the Lawless Frontier to this space as well.

Destination and Patrol Updates

Destinations have always been a foundational part of Destiny, whether you touch down briefly for a Public Event, roam areas for patrols and secrets, or find various factions moving against each other. Our first steps as Guardians were in the Cosmodrome and beyond that we've spent over a decade patrolling the wilds of our Sol system to protect the Last City. With the return of the Director, we felt now was a better time than ever to thrust players back into these frontiers.

We've revitalized each pre-Edge of Fate destination's loot with new perks, tiered weapons for non-craftable pools, and set bonuses that reflect their themes and stories. For our destinations featuring crafted weapons, as outlined in the Monument of Triumph article, they will be receiving additional perks per column to make them feel up to modern sandbox Power standards. We're also introducing a new event... one with some added difficulty that appears during Distortions that only occur on certain Destinations.

You'll primarily be able to earn this loot through Public Events. Base completion will grant Tier 3 rewards and Heroic Tier 4, with each drop having a chance to upgrade all the way to Tier 5. During a Distortion, these rewards will be upgraded by one tier to match the added challenge. Unique destination activities like Blind Well, Altars of Sorrow, or Terminal Overload will also distribute tiered rewards (full details in the patch notes).

Additionally, we've updated what we call the “World Loot Pool” earned through Legendary Engrams that drop from general gameplay to now feature a collection of tiered loot with gear spanning multiple years of Destiny 2. You may find a few old favorites inspired by Splicer tech or our old friend Saint-14 within this engram.

With that said, let's look at loot from a few destinations. Below is a taste of what's to come: we want to excite but not spoil your appetite. (P.S. Don't write while hungry.)

Cosmodrome

Where it all began… many Guardians can recall their first moments awaking in Old Russia and they weren't alone. Rasputin, the Warmind, called the Cosmodrome his home and proved himself to be a mighty ally of humanity. The returning weapons that drop from the Cosmodrome come from Rasputin's storied arsenal, along with a new origin trait.

NEW Origin Trait – Eyes Up

This weapon gains reload speed, range, and increased damage against combatants for a short time when combat begins. Final blows extend and enhance this bonus.

Seraphic Arsenal

Our sample weapon from the Cosmodrome is a reprise of the Seventh Seraph CQC-12, updated with new perks and keeping its Rasputin's Arsenal origin trait.

Seventh Seraph CQC-12 felt like the right showcase for Cosmodrome because it's both a core Rasputin weapon and a flexible close-range workhorse. With its updated perk pool, we wanted it to support everything from classic melee-heavy builds to pure add-clear shotgunning without losing that “Warmind toolbox” identity.

Nessus

With good robots (Failsafe and friends), bad robots (the Vex), and a lot of early Guardian memories, Nessus deserved a loot pool that reflects its status as a classic destination. So, the Sandbox Team reached through time to pull together a collection of weapons reflecting Guardians' many expeditions on the unstable centaur. We hope you agree that our selection plays as well as they look.

NEW Origin Trait – Fail-Deadly

Dealing damage grants a stacking bonus to magazine size, target acquisition, and range until your next final blow with this weapon.

Echoing Reprisal

Our sample from Nessus is Pluperfect, reprised with a new perk pool built to play into its deliberate, hard-hitting identity while opening up new Kinetic-focused options.

We see Pluperfect as the backbone weapon of the Nessus set: reliable, deliberate, and built to carry momentum from one target to the next. Its refreshed perk pool gives players room to chase a range of playstyles while still preserving the feel that made the weapon memorable.

Europa

Europa was a defining destination in Destiny's history, marking a turning point where allies and enemies alike began to wield Stasis and deepen their understanding of the Darkness. Its frozen frontier is inseparable from Braytech whose ambition and technology remain etched into every corner of the moon. For this refresh, the team wanted the returning weapons to feel at home on Europa, reflecting both its harsh environment and its legacy as a defining frontier.

NEW Origin Trait – Winterized Gear

After being out of combat for a moderate duration, this weapon gains stability, reload speed, and handling. These benefits decay over time after reentering combat.

Rewards, Rebooted

Our sample from Europa is High Albedo, and no, your eyes do not deceive you. High Albedo has been updated to be the first Kinetic Micro-Missile Sidearm!

High Albedo matches Europa's identity by pairing precision tech with a harsher, more experimental edge. We wanted its updated perks to support players who use it proactively, whether that means building into utility, crowd pressure, or general-purpose combat.

Distorted Destinations

Patrolling the System

Over the past few years, Destiny 2 has focused more attention on structured campaigns, exciting playlists, and challenging cooperative activities. This has led to Patrol mode feeling left behind; without strong rewards or a clear reason to return, many players have had little incentive to explore the wilds of Sol. To remind Guardians of the allure of wandering these worlds, we're introducing a new feature on seven destinations: Distortions.

Distortions

Every hour, a different destination becomes the focus of Distortions. The sky tears open, reality distorts, and corruption spreads. While distorted, the planet's enemies are empowered and more fearsome.

Distortions are our new enhancement to Patrol mode. They're a celebration of all the things that are already there, plus a small injection of new things to do and new rewards to discover. Our main goal with this feature was to support what we call the “public loop”, the connected areas that players patrol where they can encounter other Guardians and work together on shared goals.

We've leaned into all the fun little things that are already there, then added a little twist.

Every enemy will become distorted too, making them tougher, more aggressive, and a little more dangerous. Distortions won't massively change the low-stress nature of Patrol but you may occasionally find an encounter that tests the skills of even veteran Guardians. You'll also discover some familiar challenges in new places and some strange signals leading to hidden rewards.

Speaking of rewards, we're making Distortions uniquely rewarding by providing a new weapon set players can earn in these new events and, to balance the increased challenge of Distorted enemies, you'll see higher gear tiers awarded from playing public events.

Excited to check out Distortions? Look for the telltale red glow and keep an eye on the timer telling you when a new planet will be targeted.

Overhauling the Portal

Since the release of The Edge of Fate, we've heard your feedback on the Portal loud and clear. Portal, the tab, is gone. However, we didn't want to remove quick access to Destiny playlists and content. While players can navigate the Director for numerous activities, we still wanted a “portal” of sorts to quickly find the content you want to play when you want it. We've refactored scoring, difficulty, and customization quite a bit to further address feedback around the system - more on that in a later section.

Portal activities, bonus engrams, bonus focuses, and the Seasonal Hub are still accessible. The portal ops categories are built into the director itself. In the Director screenshot above you'll see a row of familiar icons at the bottom of the screen. They are the doorway to Portal-like sub-screens, allowing you to still access and configure the activities you'd like to play.

You may have noticed in our Director preview that there are a few returning icons in that row at the bottom. Yes, Gambit will now have a Portal category updated with scoring, and raids and dungeons will have an easy access point on the front of the Director. Dungeon Ops will be retired, and this space will simply be a space to quickly find and play full raid and dungeon content.

We also wanted to bring back more of Destiny's legacy and the following will be available in Monument of Triumph:

• New Fireteam Ops
  • Heist Battlegrounds: Mars
  • The Disgraced
  • The Lightblade
  • The Scarlet Keep
  • The Corrupted
  • The Lake of Shadows
• New Pinnacle Ops
  • Operation: Seraph's Shield
  • Zero Hour
• New Arena Ops
  • Override (On a 4-week map rotation)

Difficulty and Reward Updates

Portal Ops activities are getting a difficulty overhaul in Monument of Triumph. The overarching theme is less math, more playing Destiny.

Right now, difficulty, rewards, and progression are too intertwined. Plus, a bunch of variables are tossed on top (Power, armor, and the rewards pass score bonuses) that required far too much planning and thought before players could just dive in and play. During development, we've simplified it, playtested a bunch, and simplified it even more to address player feedback.

So, when we say we've made the system simpler, what do we mean? Now when you select a difficulty you will always hit a default reward rank which will result in a default reward tier without adding any modifiers. The table below helps illustrate what reward tier to expect from each difficulty and reward rank.

Note: For Crucible modes, Grade A and higher will yield Tier 5 loot drops.

But what is the role of modifiers now? In this simplified world, mods exist to allow higher scores to be reached without stepping up the difficulty level, to offset the cost of any selected boons, and to provide an additional, completely optional challenge.

If you want to earn Tier 4 gear but don't want to face Champions, play at Expert and add some mods. Don't want to deal with the tougher, more aggressive combatants at Grandmaster but still want to earn an S-grade rank? Play at Master with a few mods of your choice and you'll get those Tier 5 rewards. Every difficulty can have enough mods applied to bump you up one reward rank and reward tier.

Additionally, while reward tier will now cap at Grandmaster with Tier 5 and S rank, it didn't feel right to remove Ultimate difficulty from the game. So, we're leaving Ultimate in for Guardians who enjoy playing at the highest challenge level possible: the S+ rank will exist purely for bragging rights!

“So how will matchmaking work then?”

We're also updating how matchmaking and customization work around Portal activities. We want the system to stay approachable while also providing variety.

In matchmade versions of Portal activities:

• Activities will include fewer modifiers than what players have previously encountered.
• Will grant rewards and rank for the selected difficulty.

Revive token counts are also getting updated across Fireteam, Pinnacle, and Arena Ops. We've heard your feedback about how revive tokens feel in Arena Ops, and as a result we're removing them on all difficulties. This should make joining activities in progress and navigating the chaos of six-player content a smoother experience. For Fireteam Ops and Pinnacle Ops, Grandmaster difficulty will now start with seven revive tokens, while Ultimate will start with five. Our goal here was to create a little more breathing room in the revive token economy while still preserving the level of challenge players expect from these difficulty tiers.

Adding Variety to Loot

As we were making updates to how loot is earned throughout the Portal, we also took this opportunity to expand loot variety. The following Portal Ops activities will feature exclusive weapon reward pools and an armor collection with a unique set bonus:

• Crucible Ops (General)
• Crucible Ops (Competitive) - Additional Exclusive Pool
• Trials of Osiris
• Iron Banner
• Gambit
• Sparrow Racing League (SRL)

Solo Ops and Fireteam Ops will each have a unique weapons rewards pool and share a new Armor Collection with a set bonus. Arena Ops and Pinnacle Ops will also each have a unique weapon pool and share a new Armor Collection, with an additional pool for Onslaught (more details on that below). Additionally, Arena Ops weapons will have Holofoil variants – we hope you enjoy discovering them as a little surprise!

Onslaught, Contest of Elders, and The Coil

We're also making big changes to Onslaught and “Crawls”, our name for activities with escalating difficulty during gameplay. After reading feedback and looking at the data, we weren't happy with the amount of play these activities were getting. We're taking some big swings to make all these activities more enjoyable and rewarding for your time.

• Onslaught
  • We've increased the scrap you earn from sources by over 40%, allowing you to max defenses at each location.
  • We've removed revive tokens from this mode entirely.
  • We've reintroduced the difficulty curve. Now, the first ten waves will be easier than the difficulty you selected, with the next ten waves increasing in difficulty and the final ten waves increasing in difficulty to match the difficulty selected.
    • For example, Grandmaster Onslaught's first ten waves will feel somewhat like Expert difficulty, the second ten waves will feel closer to Master difficulty and the final ten waves will feel on par with Grandmaster difficulty that you've come to expect.
  • We've reintroduced the full Brave Arsenal from Into the Light, with tiers, into the Onslaught reward pool that drop at the end of every 10 waves in addition to the Pinnacle Ops reward pool drops.
• Contest of Elders
  • We've reduced the number of paths in a single run from four to three.
  • We've reintroduced the difficulty curve. Now, the first path will be easier than the difficulty you selected with the next path increasing in difficulty and the final path further increasing in difficulty to match the difficulty selected.
    • For example, Grandmaster Contest of Elders' first path will feel somewhat like Expert difficulty, the second path will feel closer to Master difficulty, and the final path will feel on par with the Grandmaster difficulty that you've come to expect.
  • We've added World Pool rewards into the Contest of Elders reward pool that drop at the end of every pathway in addition to pinnacle ops reward pool drops.
• The Coil
  • We've reintroduced the difficulty curve. Now, the first path will be easier than the difficulty you selected, with the next path increasing in difficulty and the final path increasing in difficulty to match the difficulty selected.
• For example, Grandmaster Coil's first path will feel somewhat like Advanced difficulty, the second path will feel closer to Expert difficulty, the third path will feel closer to Master difficulty, and the final path will feel on par with Grandmaster difficulty that you've come to expect.
  • We've added World Pool rewards into The Coil reward pool that drop at the end of every pathway in addition to the pinnacle ops reward pool drops.

Elevating Gambit

For some time now, players have felt our core activity rotation has been lacking a very special PvEvP activity that was introduced in Forsaken. We agree. In Monument of Triumph, Gambit gets a clearer home in the Director through the Gambit Ops. Our focus is on better placement, stronger reward support, and a more legible reward structure, while keeping the core activity familiar for players who already know how Gambit works.

Integration into the Portal means Gambit Ops will have its own tiered reward pool with a new armor set, armor set bonus, and reprised weapons, as well as Bonus Drops and Bonus Focus.

Tiered rewards are driven by activity scoring, and for Gambit, score is driven by team progress through Gambit's major phases: banking motes, summoning the Primeval, and defeating the Primeval - with additional bonus score coming from Gambit Rank. Rewards are rooted in team effort rather than individual stat chasing, and a team that reaches the Primeval phase will earn S grade and Tier 5 gear, so getting to the final phase of the match is materially rewarded.

Let's be honest: few things in Destiny feel better than banking a pile of motes or saving the game with a last-minute Invasion. To keep the playlist healthy, Gambit needs strength in its rewards, and that meant looking at the playlist's identity from multiple angles: a reworked Origin trait to match Gambit's unique rhythm, the return of many iconic Gambit weapons, and refreshed perk pools that give players real reasons to dive back in. Our resident Gambit lovers on the Sandbox Team took a deep pass on the weapons you've been asking for and made sure to give them some fun rolls. Here are two quick examples.

REWORKED Origin Trait – Gun and Run

Defeating targets builds stacks of Gun and Run for a short duration. Sprinting for a short time consumes a stack to partially reload this weapons' magazine from reserves; on Bows, this briefly improves draw speed.

Return to the Dark Age

Our sample from Gambit is Spare Rations, now updated to be a Stasis Lightweight Hand Cannon.

We wanted Spare Rations to remain a sharp, responsive dueling weapon while broadening what players could chase on it. Its new pool offers a healthy spread of PvP and PvE options, from classic Hand Cannon consistency pieces to payoff perks that give it real flexibility outside of straight duels.

We're also bringing back 21% Delirium, now with a full random roll perk pool, while keeping its original static roll as a possible outcome.

The goal here was to turn 21% Delirium into a deeper chase weapon without losing the version players remember. Its refreshed pool opens up new ways to build around sustained fire, reload loops, and damage ramp, while still leaving room for the classic roll that defined it the first time around.

Crucible Playlist Rotations

In Monument of Triumph, Crucible playlist offerings are moving to a more predictable cadence, and all PvP offerings are receiving loot refreshes to offer new weapons, armor sets, and cosmetics. First, let's start with our main PvP events: Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris:

• Iron Banner now returns every four weeks.
  • Control remains a constant offering and is replaced by Iron Banner Control during Iron Banner weeks, with one additional Iron Banner mode available each time Iron Banner is live.
• Trials of Osiris will continue to run every weekend* from Friday through Tuesday
  • *Trials will not be available during Iron Banner weeks to help keep Guardians focused.

Trials is also undergoing changes to featured map and weapon rotations. Instead of a single curated featured map each weekend, the mode can now vary from week to week. Some weeks may feature a singular map, while others can feature up to three. Check back each Friday to see which arenas you'll be challenged on. Featured weapons are also moving away from a single weekly focus and now drop from a featured weapon pool instead. We will have more details on the map and weapon pools in an upcoming TWID.

As for our broader PvP offering, featured 6v6 modes continue to rotate weekly, while featured small-team modes rotate daily until Trials takes over for the weekend. Rumble also remains permanently available.

This update also expands the small-team lineup, with Heavy Metal added into the 3v3 rotation alongside the new 4v4 Arena Collision - a new modifier mode built around more deliberate weapons-first combat. Private Match access has also been moved under Crucible Ops / Portal, where players can also find Heavy Metal, and more new Crucible modifiers like Arena.

We'll have more information on Crucible rewards, Crucible modifiers, and more next week when we talk more about sandbox tuning. Until then, let's turn our focus to some vehicular mayhem.

Heavier and More Metallic

Heavy Metal is back on a permanent rotation in the Crucible Ops with some fun updates!

If you've played Heavy Metal before, you know the fantasy: climb into a massive vehicle, roll onto the battlefield, and turn the other team into scrap. This time, there's a new option joining the lineup with the Cabal Behemoth, alongside the Drake and Brig.

We've also added a new vehicle selection screen so players can choose which vehicle they want to bring into a match before it begins. That means Heavy Metal is no longer just one fixed matchup and gives players more freedom in how they want to play.

To keep matches feeling faster and punchier, we've lowered the score needed to win from 50 to 40. It's a small change, but one aimed at making the mode feel snappier without losing the vehicle combat chaos that makes Heavy Metal what it is.

Heavy Metal is also getting a brand-new map: Nightfall Station. If that name sounds familiar, it should: the space is adapted from the wreckage of this vessel from the Renegades campaign, now reworked into a Heavy Metal battlefield built for vehicle combat.

Overall, these updates are focused on giving players more variety from match to match, tightening up the pacing, and making sure each vehicle feels like a viable choice when they drop into the mode.

We're excited for players to jump back in, try out the new lineup, and see which vehicle fits them best the next time Heavy Metal rolls around.

The Return of Sparrow Racing League

The long awaited and frequently requested Sparrow Racing League (SRL) is returning to Destiny 2! This isn't just SRL coming back as you remember it, though. We've brought the mode forward with a set of updates aimed at making races feel faster, livelier, and a bit more chaotic from lap to lap.

Ghost returns as your SRL announcer along with Shaxx. There's nothing more motivating than Shaxx screaming at you to push for first place after your opponent just took you on the inside of a turn on Mercury.

Skimmers are joining the fun, allowing you to choose between a Sparrow or a Skimmer before hopping into a three-lap race against five other players. Players won't have access to rail grinds or manual jumping as a Skimmer or be able to use destabilizers for rolls or flips as a Sparrow - in fact, we've done a ton of work under the hood to make sure that using either vehicle in SRL feels equally advantageous to players.

Speaking of under the hood, we've also updated SRL to support those photo-finish moments at the end of a race. Close finishes can now properly assess ties, which means when two racers hit the line at nearly the same time, the results screen can better reflect that outcome. We know the mantra “if you're not first, you're last” but our goal with SRL is to bring the chaos and friendly competition to the forefront and so tying means you both get equally great rewards.

A couple of new mechanics have been added to SRL. Rocket Boost rewards racers who nail their timing of hitting the gas just before the race begins, giving them an early burst out of the gate. Trick Boosts are just what they sound like: land a trick successfully and you'll get a boost. On PC, Sparrow and Skimmer tricks can also be remapped the same way emotes can and we've updated the UI to support that.

All four of the original SRL maps are returning, and we've got a brand-new map called Quantum Circuit located in the realm of the Nine! Avoid the Taken and enemies of the past while racing on this wild and intense ribbon road. Additionally, speed boost pads have been added to specific shortcut paths on all maps to offset any gates missed; a change that we think will make taking riskier or tougher shortcuts more rewarding and viable.

Finally, we've done some tuning on gate sizes, vehicle speeds, and rubberbanding to keep the pack together while still rewarding strong racing lines, smart shortcuts, and well-timed boosts.

We're excited for players to get their hands on all of these updates and hear the brand-new SRL music tracks when Sparrow Racing League goes live next month.

SRL Rewards

Alongside SRL's return as an activity, you'll also be able to earn weapons and armor rewards. If you've gotta go fast then these will feel right at home in your arsenal. The perks found on these weapons have speed and movement in mind, such as Eager Edge, Desperado, or Perpetual Motion.

While we want to keep the weapons and their perk pools under wraps, we will share an early look at the origin trait and armor set bonuses:

• Featherweight (Origin): Final blows with weapons that have the Featherweight Origin Trait grant increased movement speed while equipped.
• Revving Up (2-piece): Fast movement builds up a charge that gradually increases your health regeneration speed. Once you are Fully Revved, sprinting grants Speed Booster.
• Dielectric Drift (4-piece): Sliding while Speed Booster is active jolts combatants in front of you.

And for players looking for a little more style with their speed, SRL will also bring plenty of earnable rewards worth chasing. This includes brand-new SRL racing Sparrows and a Skimmer as well as SRL armor ornaments, returning racing Sparrows, and SRL shaders from Destiny 1 plus returning Sparrow Horns from Destiny 1 that also work with Skimmers (and can be previewed in menus), new and returning SRL emblems, and more.

Whether you're racing for the win, completing SRL triumphs, or just showing up for the chaos, there will be plenty of ways to earn gear and accessories that let you look the part.

Join us tomorrow as we turn our focus to the weapons sandbox, raid and dungeon updates, Tower vendor attunement, and more in our second Dev Insights article and TWID.