Let's talk about This Week at Bungie - July 16, 2020

Bungie has only just revealed that Beyond Light would be receiving a two month delay to further polish the experience and now the company’s weekly blog post is live. It’s definitely a bit awkward having to deliver that kind of bad news and then follow up with a high-spirited community message. There are a few little tidbits in July 16’s This Week at Bungie, but they’re quite juicy, so let’s talk about it.

Beyond Light delayed

Right out the gate, Bungie acknowledges the delay to Destiny 2’s third major expansion, Beyond Light. With a new release date of November 10, that places Destiny 2: Beyond Light right smack in the middle of one of the busiest months in gaming. We’ve got Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077, and two new consoles coming out around that time.

What this also means is that Season of Arrivals will be going for two months longer than originally planned. The new Season of Arrivals roadmap now includes an event that was scheduled to begin during Beyond Light, Festival of the Lost.

For those that were worried about finishing Moments of Triumph in time, this has been extended to November 10.

To further help bridge this gap between Season of Arrivals and Beyond Light, Bungie will be activating some Valor and Infamy increases as well as a third, currently unknown, boost. Perhaps it’s Glory? That would certainly help anyone chasing pinnacle weapons like The Recluse or The Mountaintop. But this is just wild speculation.

Nightfall: The Ordeal Grandmaster difficulty

Players have also been waiting with baited breath of the time the Grandmaster Nightfall difficulty unlocks. This represents a new level of challenge for those chasing resources and end-game gear. Bungie has given players a look at what kind of rewards they can expect from this brutal Power requirement:

• Increase Masterwork material drops for Grandmaster Nightfall difficulty.
• Grandmaster completion at Platinum, Gold, and Silver levels now have higher chances of dropping an Exotic armor item.
• Grandmaster completion at Platinum level now guarantees one Ascendant Shard (with a small chance at one additional), and four Enhancement Prisms (with a moderate chance at 1-2 additional).
• Grandmaster completion at Gold level now guarantees two Enhancement Prisms (with a moderate chance at two additional).
• Grandmaster completion at Silver level now has a small chance at two Enhancement Prisms.

Those that manage to complete it at a Platinum level will be greatly rewarded for their efforts. Walking away with an Ascendant Shard, Enhancement Prisms, as well as Exotic armor is going to make this extremely appealing.

Grandmaster difficulty will be live on July 21, on reset. The closer to max Power you are, the easier this will be.

Broken Contender’s Shell

This Week at Bungie also highlighted a very cheeky farming method some players were utilizing. With the announcement that some old raids would have their weekly loot lockouts removed, essentially allowing players to complete encounters multiple times for gear drops, some players recognized a great farming method. It all centred on the Contender’s Shell.

This Exotic Ghost Shell drops from the Leviathan and Eater of Worlds and has the perk, Seeker of Brilliance. This gives Leviathan encounters a chance to drop Bright Engrams. The chance is increased each time no Bright Engrams are dropped.

All this is to say players were farming quick encounters to get tons of Bright Engrams – which reward items from Eververse.

Not only are Bright Engrams usually doled out sparingly, they also reward gear that can be purchased with real money. Breaking down these items nets Legendary Shards and Glimmer, too. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it's clearly not working as Bungie intended and it's simply too effective in its current form.

For now, this perk has been disabled until a reasonable fix can be implemented.

This week’s TWAB also mentioned some of the bug fixes included in a recent patch and some ongoing problems Bungie is investigating. Players can also expect more information to surface about Beyond Light now that Bungie has a bit more breathing room between now and its release this November. Make sure you check out the Shacknews Destiny 2 guide for a metric tonne of helpful articles.

Sam Chandler

Guides Editor

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as a Guides Editor. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler