Destiny 2 season 23 start time countdown – Season of The Wish dungeon, gameplay changes, armor, story, and more

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Destiny 2 season 23 is right around the corner. With the Season of The Witch coming to a close, Bungie Studios’ space-faring FPS prepares to enter the next chapter of the Light and Darkness saga following Lightfall. But what can you expect from Season of The Wish?

Here, we’re going to cover everything we know about Destiny 2 Season 23 Season of the Wish. From its start time and end time to its potential story and its content, we’ll break down the last season of the Light and Darkness saga before the Final Shape release date arrives.

Destiny 2 Season of The Wish start time

Destiny 2’s 23rd season, Season of the Wish will begin on Tuesday November 28 after 6 PM GMT/ 10 AM EST/ 1 PM PST. This will be just following the weekly reset as usual. This is going by the current end-date for the Season of the Witch, but no delays are currently expected. There will however likely be server bottlenecks as there always are when a new season launches, so expect that it may take a little while to actually get into the game.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time: A screenshot of the Season of The Witch season pass.
Image by VideoGamer

Destiny 2 Season of The Wish end time

While we can’t be certain, it looks like Season of The Wish is set to be one of the longest seasons in Destiny 2’s history. Due to the postponement of the original Final Shape release date in February, season 23 is expected to span the extended gap of the delay. If this does end up being the case, we’re in for a seven month long season, with the end time coming at a weekly reset at some point in June 2024.

Did you know?

Season of The Wish will be the penultimate season for Destiny 2. Following The Final Shape and its accompanying season, Bungie plans to move the game onto an episode-based system, transitioning from its current seasonal model.

Season of The Wish story – The narrative leadup to Final Shape

We’re still waiting to hear more details on much of the season, but thanks to the most recent developments in-game, we do now have a good idea of where the story is headed. If you haven’t yet completed the fourth and final secret puzzle in the Imbaru Engine activity and want to experience things spoiler-free, we’d recommend going to do that and then returning to read this section later.

Following the temporary defeat of Xivu Arath and the completion of the last Imbaru Engine puzzle, Guardians discovered Savathun’s greatest secret yet – the Witch Queen’s Heirloom, a living Ahamkara Egg. Alongside this, we found imprinted on Savathun’s own wings the remaining pattern for the 15th Wish, the rumoured and lost last wish.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time: An Ahamkara Egg, alive, but in storage.
Image by VideoGamer

Wish Dragons and the Last Wish

That might already be a bit of an overload for those not up to speed with the lore of the Dreaming City, so let’s clarify some things quickly. The Ahamkara, or Wish Dragons, are a species of celestial dragon-like creatures that work like genies – they can grant the wishes of mortals, but always misinterpret the wish and grant it in unexpected and often dangerous ways. Because of the devastating paracasaul nature of the beings, the Vanguard, hundreds of years before our Guardian was resurrected, carried out a genocidal purge of the species called The Great Hunt. The Awoken Queen, Mara Sov, found and secretly raised what was believed to be the last Ahamkara during this time, Riven of a Thousand Voices. We’d then battle and defeat a partially Taken Riven during the Last Wish raid.

In that raid is a secret area containing a series of interactable panels, called the Wish Wall. There are 14 ‘Wishes’ Guardians can input here with the correct patterns, but there was long rumoured to be a 15th wish, as yet ungranted or unspoken.

Destiny 2 season 23 release date and start time: A Guardian stands before the gates of the Dreaming City in Last Wish, opening the path to Riven.
Image by VideoGamer

Wish Dragons and the Last Wish in the Season 23 story

This is where these two story elements come into play. The Ahamkara egg in Savathun and now our possession is believed to be a surviving egg from Riven’s clutch. The implication appears to be that the secret to getting through the portal in the side of the traveller lies with the 15th wish. Either the 15th wish gives us the answer, or the wish itself is the answer. Given the Vanguard’s history with the Ahamkara and with Riven however, it is likely that this will be no easy matter.

We expect that the story for Season of The Wish is going to focus around hatching the Ahamkara egg and discovering the 15th wish, and that our progress therein will be the key to finally getting through the portal into the Heart of the Traveller and pursuing the Witness.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time - Season of The Wish, story, armor, weapons, and more: The new promotional image from Bungie for Season of The Wish.
Image by Bungie Studios

Season 23 trailer – A first look at what we can expect

With just a short time left until the season begins, Bungie have released a brief teaser trailer for Season of the Wish. Though there’s not a whole lot we can glean from under 19 seconds of footage, we do have a few interesting shots.

To little surprise, it looks like Mara Sov will be a highlight for this season. That makes a lot of sense considering we’ll seemingly be returning to both the Wish Wall and the Dreaming City to unlock the secrets of the final wish. But what else awaits us? Will we be facing down Ahamkara’s directly? Could we somehow see Riven return in some capacity from the grave? Will the second Ahamkara egg in Mara’s possession, inert and corrupted by Taken energy, finally be coming back into play? Only time will tell.

Footage taken by Bungie Studios

Season 23 Dungeon release date, details, and what we know so far

We’ve got a new dungeon arriving with Season 23 too. Warlord’s Ruin will be out on December 1, and if you want a full breakdown, we’ve covered everything we know about it and what to expect in a dedicated guide.

Season 23 armor – What new designs are coming?

While we’ve yet to get a hands-on look at it, we have gotten some glimpses at the new seasonal armor sets that we can expect to see. Thanks to a promotional image from Bungie announcing the season title, we’ve got a look at the Titan, Warlock, and Hunter sets.

They boast a rather elegant design which takes some clear inspiration from the Dreaming City, while remaining fairly unique due to their integration of dragon-esque features. There will be at least one set for each Destiny 2 class, though it’s possible that we’ll see more due to the extended length of the season.

Destiny 2 x Witcher collaboration – and the new armor coming with it

Season 23 is also set to be the debut for Bungie’s latest collaboration – this time with The Witcher franchise. In a small scale crossover, Season of the Wish will include a new set of armor for each class inspired by Geralt of Rivia. These sets aim to lean in heavily to the gothic medieval aesthetic of the Witcher’s universe, and are sure to be immensely popular among fashion enthusiasts.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time: A promotional image for the Destiny 2 X Witcher collaboration, showcasing the armor sets for all three classes.
Image by Bungie Studios

Season 23 weapons – New, leaving, and returning armaments

Thanks to the most recent This Week In Destiny (TWID) blog post, we’ve gotten a look at a few of the new, leaving, and returning armaments in Season 23. We currently know of several playlist weapon changes, as well as the new ritual weapon.

Destiny 2 season 23 ritual weapon

The new Season 23 ritual weapon is Chivalric Fire, a Void Caster sword. It’s got access to some solid perk combos, including Repulsor Brace and Destabilizing Rounds, or Relentless Strikes and Attrition Orbs, for example. That last perk is also the blade’s origin trait, and it allows the weapon to generate Orbs of Power on successive strikes against a target.

We don’t have any other specific details on the weapon as of yet, but being a ritual weapon, it can be claimed from any ritual activity, that being Vanguard Ops, Crucible, and Gambit.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time - Season of The Wish, story, armor, weapons, and more: The Chivalric Fire ritual weapon, in a Gambit shader.
Image by Bungie Studios

Destiny 2 new, returning, and leaving weapons

A number of playlists are seeing their loot pools mixed up a bit, including Trials of Osiris, Iron Banner, and the weekly Nightfall Strikes. As well as this, we’ve got a whole slate of Dreaming City gear returning, and of course brand new seasonal weapons, too. We’ve put the activity hilights below, but if you’re looking for a full breakdown of all Season of the Wish weapons, we’ve got you covered in another guide.

Trials

  • Departing weapons: The Immortal Strand SMG, Astral Horizon Arc shotgun.
  • Returning weapons: Eye of Sol Kinetic adaptive frame sniper rifle.
  • New weapons: Incisor Strand adaptive frame trace rifle.

Iron Banner

  • Departing weapons: Dark Decider Arc auto rifle, Gunnora’s Axe Arc shotgun.
  • Riiswalker Kinetic lightweight frame shotgun.
  • Lethal Abundance Strand high impact frame auto rifle.

Nightfalls

  • Departing weapons: Buzzard Arc sidearm, The Swarm Arc machine gun.
  • Returning weapons: Uzume RR4 Arc adaptive frame sniper rifle.
  • New weapons: Undercurrent Arc wave-frame breach loaded grenade launcher.
Destiny 2 season 23 start time - Season of The Wish, story, armor, weapons, and more: The Swarm Arc machine gun.
Image by VideoGamer

Returning exotic – Dragon’s Breath

There’s one more special weapon returning in Season of The Wish – Dragon’s Breath. Destiny 1 veterans will remember this exotic rocket launcher fondly; it’s return is likely to evoke the same tears of joy as Randal the Vandal’s did back when Grasp of Avarice released.

The Dragon’s Breath exotic rocket launcher will be returning with some work done to it though. Here’s what we know so far.

  • Exotic intrinsic trait: Burn The World. The launcher comes with a buff called Fuel that gradually builds the longer you go without firing it, stacking to a maximum of x5. When fired, this fuel is transferred into the rocket itself. Upon detonation, the rocket will inject that fuel into its target, stacking Scorch and dropping a pool of flame around its feet that’ll Scorch any nearby targets too.
  • Secondary exotic perk: Nearby Ignitions replenish two fuel into Dragon’s Breath. When it reaches maximum fuel capacity, it reloads itself.
  • Exotic Catalyst: Pyromancer. This catalyst increases the passive fuel gain rate for the weapon, and causes defeated enemies to drop Fire Sprites.

Dragon’s Breath should prove to be a deadly weapon, well suited for Boss DPS and dealing swiftly with Powerful Combatants. Though it’ll probably find its best home in PvE content, there’s definitely some clear PvP potential too, depending on the fuel regen rate.

Destiny 2 Season 23 seasonal artifact – What is it, and what are the mods?

Thanks to the latest TWID, we’ve finally seen Season 23’s exotic artifact: The Queensfoil Censer. While we’ll have to wait until the season drops to get our hands on the lore behind this particular trinket, we do know what the mods are going to be. Strap in, this one’s a wild ride.

Tier 1 modsTier 2 modsTier 3 modsTier 4 modsTier 5 mods
Anti-Barrier Sidearms: Sidearms will now penetrate Barrier Champion shields.Flame, Fiber, and Freeze: Combines Solar/Strand and Solar/Stasis siphon mods into one mod.Flint Striker: Solar weapon precision hits and rapid final blows grant Radiant.Unravelling Orbs: Picking up an orb of power grants Unravelling Rounds to Strand weapons.Horde Shuttle: Damaging Unravelled targets with weapons occasionally spawns a Threadling.
Unstoppable Hand Cannons: Hand cannons will now stun Unstoppable Champions.Kindling Trigger: Radiant causes Solar weapons to apply scorch to targets on hit.Torch: While Radiant, deal increased damage to combatants afflicted by Strand or Stasis debuffs.Pillar of Ice: Killing a Frozen combatant spawns Stasis crystals.Hail The Storm: Shattering Frozen targets or Stasis crystals deals increase damage, and broken crystals release damaging ice blasts.
Unstoppable Bow: Bows will now stun Unstoppable Champions.Blast Radius: Rapid final blows with rocket and grenade launchers grants armor charge.Heart of The Flame: Casting your Solar super grants Radiant to nearby allies and increases your super damage for each nearby ally.Revitalising Blast: Damage with Solar abilities Weakens Champions and bosses for a short duration.Rays of Precision: While Radiant, Solar precision kills cause targets to Ignite.
Overload Auto Rifles: Auto rifles will now disrupt Overload Champions.Origin Perk Specialization 1: Improves the benefits of the Sundering, Nano Munitions, and Nanotech Tracer Rockets origin traits. Also overcharges weapons with these traits.Origin Perk Specialisation 2: Improves the benefits of the Unsated Hunger, Noble Deeds, Head Rush, and Dragons Vengeance origin traits. Also overcharges weapons with these traits.Overload Rocket Launchers: Rocket Launchers will now disrupt Overload Champions.Solo Operative: Deal increase damage when you’re the only member of your fireteam.
Overload Pulse Rifles: Pulse rifles will now disrupt Overload Champions.From Whence You Came: Increases ability damage dealt to Taken and Scorn combatants.Wished Into Being. While your super is near full charge, final blows have a chance to spawn orbs of power. Wearing Season of the Wish armor decreases the super amount threshold.Dragon’s Bite: Breaking a combatant’s shield with Stasis or Strand weapons has a chance to Freeze or Suspend that target. The chance is increased by wearing Season of The Wish armor.Argent Ordinance: Firing a Rocket Launcher consumes a stack of armor charge, increasing damage and reload speed until your reload or stow the weapon.
Destiny 2 season 23 start time: An image of the Queensfoil Censure seasonal artifact.
Image by Bungie Studios

Season 23 meta – how are ability and exotic changes going to impact the state of the game?

The new seasonal artifact mods look truly exceptional, but it seems they’ll be balanced out by some controversial changes. If you’re currently running any of the best Warlock builds, best Titan builds, or best Hunter builds, this section will be particularly relevant. For ease of reading, we’ll split this part into three sections: the headline exotic changes, headline ability and subclass changes, and what it all means for the meta going forward.

Season 23 exotic gear changes

Hunters will be seeing some fairly positive changes to a few exotics this season. Shards of Galanor will now grant super energy on Throwing Knife kills, and Celestial Nighthawk will do the same for precision kills. Ophidia Spate will get a stacking damage bonus for knife kills, refreshing on dodge. Stomp-E55 will finally see some love; although their losing their lateral acceleration bonus, they won’t require full ability recharge for the movement buffs and they’ll provide damage resistance while airborne.

Titans are a bit more of a mixed bag. Severance Encloser is getting a good buff – the explosion damage and radius are going up, and final blows with it will trigger a second explosion. Peregrine Greaves will now do extra damage and replenish melee energy when damaging some powerful combatants, but the exotic’s effects now require you to be airborne for a brief time before applying. Wormgod Caress’ Burning Fist intrinsic trait is getting reworked, and will operate on a meter that charges up with kills and decays over time. Synthoceps are the headline though. They’ll give a bigger damage bonus to glaives and improve handling and reload speed when surrounded, but offer less bonus damage when surrounded, and will lose their extended melee lunge range.

Warlocks are doing particularly well come Season 23. Ballidorse Wrathweavers will grant Stasis Surge to nearby allies when casting a rift, and the damage bonus will be even higher when casting Winter’s Wrath. Apotheosis Veil will grant Cure to nearby allies on a rift cast. The size and duration of Felwinter’s Helm’s weakening burst will be increasing. Aeon Cult gauntlets are getting a full rework, too.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time: A Hunter wearing St0mpe-E55 exotic boots dodges a shot from a Cabal Phalanx.
Image by VideoGamer

Season 23 ability and subclass changes

Unfortunately for many, Season 23 looks set to bring in a number of nerfs across the board, with several decisions especially impacting Titans and Stasis. First, a lot of survivability buffs are going to get weaker. Woven Mail will reduce incoming damage by 10% less. Restoration will grant weaker healing, and Devour will only grant half healing on a kill unless Feed the Void is equipped.

Sprint and slide melees are getting hit hard too. Going forward, sprint and slide melees won’t be able to be activated after firing your weapon during a slide, a move that’s sure to impact a good number of PvP builds and strategies.

Titan Banner of War is unsurprisingly getting a nerf, and will now require substantially more kills to level up the Banner. The worst hit by far though is Solar Titan builds. The Throwing Hammer, once picked up, will now return melee energy after 1.4 seconds instead of instantly. Sol Invictus is also being hit, with a drop from 20 to 12 seconds for Sunspot durations. Even Well of Radiance and Ward of Dawn for Warlocks aren’t being spared, with the cooldown timers for both rising by 38 seconds.

Then there’s Stasis. A huge number of changes are coming across the board to Stasis, but we’ll summarise what’s important here. Withering Blade, Winter’s Shroud, Shiver Strike, Frostpulse, Penumbral Blast and Glacial Quake are all getting some bug fixes and minor buffs. A number of Fragments are being altered, with some like Whisper of Hedrons losing their -10 Strength penalty, and others like Whisper of Shards losing their +10 Resilience bonus. A few grenade types will be getting small rework buffs too. Beyond this, we’ve had some vague promises of more work to be done on Stasis in the future.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time: A Guardian faces down a room of Hive, several taking damage and restoring the Guardian's health thanks to a Void grenade proccing Devour.
Image by VideoGamer

Season 23 meta landscape

It’s looking like a bit of a mixed bag for Season 23’s meta. On the one hand, a fair few exotics will be getting some tweaks to improve their performance, though we don’t yet know if there will be any major changes to the best legendary weapons and best exotic weapons in-game at the moment. It’s also looking amazing for Solar, Strand, and Stasis builds in regard to seasonal mods.

This is balanced against a lot of nerfs that will affect builds across the board, particularly wounding high-end Solar and Stasis Titan builds. Expect end-game content to become more challenging and, frustratingly, more restrictive with build variety.

To round it off, it seems that the ongoing rocket launcher damage meta is about to become absurdly strong. It’s debatable whether any other heavy weapon class will even be worth running in late-game content this season, with exception to cases that require precision fire like Riven’s eyes.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time: A Guardian fires a Braytech Osprey rocket at a Cabal Centurion.
Image by VideoGamer

Season 23 gameplay changes

Although we don’t yet know what to expect in terms of new seasonal gameplay, we do know a bit about some of the changes coming to current activities and mechanics. Right now, it’s mainly Crucible and PvP we’ve heard about, but we’ll be sure to update this as we learn more.

Season 23 PvP changes

A whole bunch has been announced for PvP, with much of it coming in the Season of The Wish. A lot of experimental features from last season’s Crucible Labs will be making a wider debut, such as the Checkmate Control game mode. We’re also going to see some changes to the playlist nodes on the Crucible menu. The new menu will include:

  • A 3v3 quickplay node with Elimination and Showdown rotating game modes. This node will be taken over by Trials on the weekends.
  • 3v3 ranked that blends the rank and skill metrics for better matchmaking.
  • A Sparrow Control mode in the 6v6 unranked node rotation pool. It’ll be available during select weeks of Season 23.
  • A 6v6 quickplay node, consolidating the Party and Relentless nodes into one.
  • A Free For All node.
  • Crucible Labs.
  • Private Lobby.

There’s much more, too. Matchmaking will see some further reworks, aimed at wider skill pools in casual matches, and a greater emphasis on wins and losses over individual performance in competitive scenes. Map spawns will be readjusted across the board to try and combat spawn camping and unfavourable spawn positions, though this is likely to take more than one season.

Destiny 2 season 23 start time - Season of The Wish, story, armor, weapons, and more: The Crucible playlist menu.
Image by VideoGamer

Competitive and Trials changes

Lastly, there’s competitive and Trials changes. Promotion and Relegation series requirements will be leaving for all except the top Adept and Ascendant ranks, making the climb a little easier in lower ranks. Survival and Countdown Rush will be getting some gameplay changes, with the former seeing an increase from 4 to 6 respawn counts, and the latter seeing reduced points to win from 6 to 5, and shorter rounds from 120 seconds to 90 seconds.

Trials rewards are changing too. From Season 23 onwards, win streaks will grant extra rewards when collecting engrams.

  • At 3 wins, Trials Armor
  • At 4 wins, 5 Enhancement Cores
  • At 5 wins, a Trials weapon
  • At 6 wins, 3 Enhancement Prisms

Lastly, competitive playlists will be getting an Engram Focusing system. Based on your rank, you’ll have a certain number of opportunities per week to focus engrams and improve your chances for desired weapons and rolls. This goes from 1 focus per week at Copper to 7 focuses per week at Ascendant.

Destiny 2 season 23 release date and start time: A Guardian speaks with Saint 14 in the hangar.
Image by VideoGamer

Season 23 Legend Lost Sector changes

Legend and Master Lost Sectors are getting a bit of love in Season of the Wish too. New rewards will be available for completing these challenges, specifically new foundry weapons. They’ll be split into four groups rotating daily and contain foundry weapons and new world loot drops the season after those new guns debut. The season following that, they’ll then leave Lost Sector activities and only become available through gunsmith focusing.

The loot drop chances will be dependant on Guardians successfully defeating Champions. Manage to eliminate them all in a run and you’ve got a 70% chance for these weapons to drop on Legend difficulty, and a 100% chance on Master difficulty. Weapons dropped on Master difficulty also have a chance to drop with an additional perk roll in the third or fourth column, making it much easier to chase after those best PvP weapons and best PvE weapons god rolls.

Destiny 2 season 23 release date and start time:  A Guardian fights through waves of enemies in a Lost Sector.
Image by VideoGamer

Season 23 economy changes

As is usual for every season, we’ll be seeing some changes to the economy systems in Destiny 2. The biggest change will be the phasing out of Legendary Shards, which was announced some time ago. It’ll begin in Season of The Wish, with fewer vendors asking for the currency.

Banshee-44 will also be getting a bit of love this coming season, with Gunsmith Engrams gaining focusing options for foundry weapons.

Currently, that’s everything we’ve got for you on Destiny 2 season 23, and when you can expect Season of The Wish to begin. We’ll be sure to update you as we learn more. In the meantime, why not make sure you’re well prepared for the challenges ahead? If you want to check out some suggestions for the best Hunter exotics, best Warlock exotics and best Titan exotics in the game, or need some advice on the best kill farming spots, today’s Legend Lost Sector, or how to get Ascendant shards we’ve got you covered.

Destiny 2 Season 23 FAQ

How long is Destiny 2 season 23?

Season 23 of Destiny 2 is likely to last for 7 months, until the release of The Final Shape expansion.

Will Season 23 be the last season of Destiny 2?

The Last Season will likely be Season 24, which launches with The Final Shape. After this, Destiny 2 is set to transition to an episode structure.

Will rocket launchers still be the damage meta in Destiny 2 Season 23?

Yes, the rocket launcher damage meta is actually set to become even stronger thanks to some of the seasonal mods arriving with Season of The Wish.

About the Author

Finlay Cattanach

Fin is a Guides and Reviews writer for Videogamer.com. He's worked previously with Startmenu, The Loadout, and more. He plays everything from strategy and sandbox titles to FPS and souls-likes.

Destiny 2

  • Platform(s): Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Web, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
  • Genre(s): Action, Adventure, First Person, Massively Multiplayer, Shooter
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