Destiny 2 Season of the Deep start time, story details, weapons, and armor

Players are keen to find out more details on the Destiny 2 Season of the Deep start time, now that the Season of Defiance is drawing to a close. As always with new seasons in Bungie’s space-faring FPS game, there are plenty of new story beats to cover and gameplay changes to explore.

While we don’t have all the details right now, what we do know at the moment tells us that Season of the Deep is set to be packed with some seriously interesting narrative, new armour and weapons, a new seasonal artifact, and some welcome rebalancing and gameplay changes, some of which may affect the best PvE weapons. Here’s what you need to know about the Destiny 2 Season 21 release date, story details, and more.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep start time and release date

The Destiny 2 Season of the Deep release date is set for May 23, 2023, following the weekly reset at 10 AM PT/ 6 PM BST. 

Since Lightfall and the Season of Defiance received a mediocre reception, many players will be looking towards season 21 to redeem some of the faults the game has recently been criticised for, and build upon the story in a big way. There will also be a new season pass, introducing more cosmetics, and plenty of weapons and armour.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep story details

The Season of the Deep story probably won’t be fully revealed until the season launches, but we aren’t totally in the dark, either. Following a substantial backlash at Lightfall’s failure to answer the mystery of The Veil and its true nature, Bungie revealed early on that we should expect a mission in season 21 directly aimed at answering this question. Community speculation has stayed high throughout the current season, and anticipation is therefore potent. Whatever the truth may be, expect to find out in Season of the Deep.

More recently, Bungie’s previous weekly update, This Week At Bungie, confirmed what early leaks about the season had hinted at: The return of Titan. Official artwork in the latest TWAB post shows the moon of Saturn with its distinct azure glows. Front and centre is Commander Sloane, also returning this season, and now sporting a Taken appendage. Both disappeared from the game and became vaulted content back at the start of Season of The Hunt, alongside Io, Mercury, and a host of other characters. With the Witness having succeeded in its goal to link with The Veil, Titan’s return and the story therein are bound to play a part in furthering our desperate fight to discover and stop its plans before time runs out. 

In the image’s background we can see a monolithic eye, speculated to be that of a leviathan drifting in the abyssal methane waters of Titan. The lore we’ve learnt prior to this upcoming season also suggests that this creature could be the ‘Enemy of the Witness’ rumoured to exist on Titan. Either way, it’s highly probable that this creature too will play a major role in the upcoming story for Season of the Deep. 

In their most recent TWAB, Bungie linked to their brief teaser trailer for the season. While it doesn’t bring any new information outside of our speculation, it does officially confirm the return of Titan and Sloane.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep weapons and armor

The teaser image keeps the Guardians central, and gives us a good look at what we can expect the new seasonal armour to look like. The oceanic theme retains some reminiscence of Hive armour, and is sure to be welcomed within Destiny’s fashion community.

As always, players will also have a host of new weapons to look forward to. Upon completing the new quest for the new strand aspects, players will be rewarded with a striking new legendary hand cannon. In the most recent TWAB, Bungie also revealed the new ritual weapon for Season of the Deep, Last Rite. This new aggressive-frame kinetic scout rifle will have a host of shiny ornaments, too. Bear in mind we’re unsure which of these will be part of the season pass compared to the free pass or quest rewards.

In addition, Trials of Osiris will receive a new adaptive arc glaive, Unexpected Resurgence, and a new high-impact kinetic pulse rifle, The Messenger. The adept version of the former will become available in Trials from June 9th, and the adept version of the latter from June 16th.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep gameplay details

Season of the Deep will be bringing plenty of gameplay changes, some quality of life, and others more impactful. Alongside this, players can expect to see a few long-anticipated additions to the game:

Firstly we’ll be seeing the addition of three new Aspects, one for each class’s Strand subclass. The best Warlock build will be receiving The Wanderer aspect, granting thrown tangles the power to suspend enemies. Meanwhile, the best Titan build will get the Flechette Storm aspect, allowing a charged melee to knock enemies back or launch projectiles, depending on whether you’re sliding or airborne. Finally, the best Hunter build will be getting Thread Spectre, which will create a Strand decoy to distract enemies.

Secondly we’ll finally be seeing the implementation of exotic engram focusing. This will, if you spend the right amount of materials, allow more control over which exotics you pick up when decrypting engrams, filling in gaps in armouries and streamlining methods for rerolls on exotic gear. With pinnacles set to take a back seat in season 21, many activities will be dropping exotic engrams for focusing instead.

While we don’t know for sure that there will be a new Season of the Deep dungeon coming to Season of the Deep, we are expecting one, and we’ll update this as soon as we have more info.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep balance changes

According to a recent post by Bungie and the last TWAB, we can expect quite a few gameplay tweaks with Season of the Deep. 

Subclasses will receive some welcome buffs, with all Aspects that previously granted one Fragment slot soon to grant two. Additionally, supers will be seeing buffs to the damage resistance and damage dealt within PvE activities. Stasis will also be seeing some rebalancing and a variety of buffs and tweaks to bring it better in line with what Strand and the 3.0 light subclasses can offer. 

The economy will be seeing some changes too, with the Finest Matterweave and Rainmaker consumables being discontinued. The drop rates won’t change, but instead you’ll pick up enhancement cores or glimmer.

In a major departure from previous seasons, Season of the Deep will also see no increase to the maximum power level, with Pinnacle gear continuing to be capped at 1810. 

Trials of Osiris is expected to see a rework to its matchmaking system too, with separate queues for standard and flawless runs being introduced during Season 21.

Lastly, various triumphs within raid badges will be offering better boosts to the drop rates of their associated raid exotics, including Last Wish, Vow of the Disciple, Deep Stone Crypt, Vault of Glass, and King’s Fall.

Now you know everything you need to know about the Destiny 2 Season of the Deep release date, a potential new dungeon, and more, are you caught up with the best PvP weapons to use right now? We also have a guide to all of the Destiny 2 competitive ranks if you fancy becoming the best of the best.

What season is Season of the Deep in Destiny 2?

Season of the Deep is Season 21 in Destiny 2, and is the second season during Lightfall, coming after Season of Defiance.

What weapons and armor are coming in Season of the Deep?

There are three new legendary weapons coming to Destiny 2 with Season of the Deep – Unexpected Resurgence, The Messenger, and an unnamed hand cannon – and three new armour sets.