What Goes Away at the End of Year 4

For better or worse, Destiny 2 is defined by its dynamic approach to content. The activities, items, and even mechanics available to you vary immensely depending on when you play it. Each season brings additional weapons, modes, and more. The Destiny Content Vault system unveiled in the Beyond Light expansion has reinforced this approach further by removing many locations and instances from the game. Despite the inevitable criticism this provoked, developers Bungie have held on to this idea. They cite improvements in performance and update speed as arguments in favor of a content rotation. However, it means that you should hurry up if you wish to experience some parts of the game before they’re gone.

The next big vaulting is connected to the Year system. Every Year in Destiny 2 consists of four Seasons and usually lasts for approximately as long as a chronological year. Year 4 began on November 10, 2020 and will end on February 22, 2022 (together with the Season of the Lost). When this happens, a lot of content is going to disappear from the game to make way for new arrivals in Year 5. Although not as drastic as the vaulting at the beginning of the Year, this turnover will still take out a lot of iconic content from the Forsaken expansion and later seasons. Read on to find out what specific content will no longer be available after the current Year wraps up.

Everything Going

The planned removal of the following PvE activities and content has been officially confirmed for a wihle now:

• Story missions from the Forsaken campaign;
• The Tangled Shore destination, with all of its Lost Sectors, public events, patrol missions, and other activities;
• Hallowed Lair and Broodhold Vanguard Strikes;
• Wrathborn Hunts and all related mechanics;
• The Season of the Hunt triumph seal and Warden title;
• Override, Expunge, and Astral Alignment seasonal activities;
• Exotic quests that let you acquire the Adored sniper rifle, Hawkmoon hand cannon, and Dead Man’s Tale pulse rifle.

While not stated directly, it appears that at least one of Tangled Shore’s vendors will be removed with the location. Spider bounties will no longer be available. The Fallen renegade’s currency exchange functionality – which allows players to swap Enhancement Prisms, Glimmer, and other currencies with relative ease – will be transferred to Master Rahool in the Tower. Crow might remain available in some capacity, but he will be moved to Venus. His bounties have already been removed a few seasons ago, and he will obviously no longer be able to offer quests for removed content.

The destination’s removal also means that the unique gear which could be earned there will no longer be available – or, at least, not from that source. Most notably, that means the Scatterhorn armor set. The same goes for Wrathborn Hunts rewards, such as the Corsair’s Wrath linear fusion rifle and the Blast Battue grenade launcher. It is, however, possible that those items will reappear in the Monument to Lost Lights or start to drop from some other source further down the line. The same goes for the weapons that lost their Exotic quests. Even so, it may be more efficient to get them from a known source now rather than look for them in Year 5.

What Will Remain

It’s important to note that not all Year 4 content will be removed. Some of it will remain, albeit possibly in an altered form. For example:

• The Dreaming City destination and all of its associated content will remain, presumably including the Dreaming City triumph seal and Cursebreaker title;
• The Shattered Throne dungeon and the Last Wish raid will stay as well;
• Warden of Nothing and Proving Ground Vanguard Strikes and all existing Battlegrounds will now be united as one matchmade activity available to all players (Vanguard Operations);
• Most of the Year 4 gear will probably persist in some form, especially seeing as sunsetting no longer applies to Legendary weapons issued in Season of the Splicer or later (and never applied to Exotics).

Last Chance

To ease the fear of missing out, the developers will provide an extended opportunity for players to catch up with outgoing content. From December 7 to February 22, the Forsaken campaign will be free for everyone, rather than restricted to expansion owners. Fans will also be able to purchase the Forsaken Pack. The cost of the pack is still unknown, but it will be free to those who already own the expansion. In addition to allowing buyers to explore Last Wish and The Shattered Throne, it will offer a chance to obtain Forsaken-era Exotic weapons. Each pack will come with three Ciphers that could be immediately decrypted into random non-instance-exclusive Exotics, like Ace of Spades or Thorn.

The Destiny Content Vault is not one-way. Content from the original Destiny regularly makes it into the sequel, most notably including the Vault of Glass raid. Activities and weapons from this title are likely to reappear in time as well. That is especially true when they are this popular. However, it may take an unpredictably long time for the departing content to show up again. Whether you are a veteran or a newcomer, the last few months of this season will be the perfect time to experience this celebrated expansion. Go hunting for the Hawkmoon Catalyst or work on upgrading the Cryptolith Lure. If you feel discouraged by the grind on the way to the Forsaken highlights, reach out to us!