Warmind, the next expansion for Destiny 2, is fast approaching within a couple weeks. There aren’t too many details yet for the upcoming DLC, but we are going to see more on April 24 with a gameplay stream before it’s May 8 release date. While we don’t have details about the next expansion’s new features, Bungie gave us information in their Weekly Update regarding the game’s next Power cap, more specifically, the grind to this cap.
One aspect I noticed when playing Destiny 2 was how easily I was able to bring up my Power Level. The game’s loot system always seemed to provide something slightly better than what I already had, and before I knew it I was reaching the 300 Power Cap very quickly. Now to some, this was an issue as some hardcore Destiny players thought it to be too accessible and not enough of a challenge. Then there are the other players who enjoyed this as they thought the original Destiny’s grind was extremely tedious. It seems that Destiny still hasn’t found that middle ground yet that can appease both casual and hardcore players.
Bungie has stated that there will be a soft cap at 340, with the hard cap coming at around 380 (taking legendary mods out of the equation). For those unfamiliar, a soft cap is an easily attainable level point, and the hard cap is where the grinding really gets underway. It’s not too surprising that getting from 340 to 380 is gonna be a grind, as it should be. However, Bungie has revealed that the climb to 380 will take even longer than one may initially anticipate. The easiest way to level up in Destiny 2 was by farming the public events, which provided a hefty amount of XP and rewards. This may not be the case anymore once Warmind is out.
Senior Designer Daniel Auchenpaugh states, “We’ve made an effort to de-emphasize grinding public events for Exotics and to reduce the impact of clan engrams on endgame progression.”
Their goal for all this they claim is to have players take several weeks to reach the Power cap if they keep participating in weekly events such as Raids and Trials. “Players who don’t participate in any group weekly activities are unlikely to hit the hard cap before the next release; dedicated omnivore players will hit it before players that just play Raids or Trials exclusively,” Auchenpaugh states. Bungie defends this statement by saying that progression will rely on more on the player’s achievements, as weekly Trials and Raids rely the most on skill instead of mindless grinding. This may be where Destiny can find it’s happy medium with casual versus hardcore players.
At this time, we have no idea what surprises or new mechanics await with Warmind. We can only hope that there is enough engaging content to keep players occupied while they grind to 380. I’m sure the biggest selling point will be a brand new raid. We should get some more answers on the April 24 gameplay preview.
Warmind is set to release on May 8.
