Destiny 2 guide: walkthroughs, tips, Exotics and everything else you need today

Destiny 2 is finally here, and just as beautifully baffling as its precursor. Don’t worry, cats; we got what you need.

Our Destiny 2 guide is divided into segments so you can get to what you want, fast. Let’s start off with a quick contents list and then jump right in.

First, we’ll post some general guides on Destiny 2’s systems and a handful of essential tips. Next, we’ll offer detailed class and subclass guides. Scroll a little further, and you’ll find a nice big section on weapons, armour and Exotics, since Destiny is forever a loot game.

Next up we have walkthroughs and other detailed drill-down guides for particular missions and topics. Below that, you’ll find information specific to the PC version of Destiny 2. Finally, we’ll round up some recent feature coverage so you’ve got something to read on the subway or in the office when you can’t actually play Destiny 2. No no, don’t thank us; it’s all part of the service.

General guides

• How to level up fast
  Pretty self-explanatory, this page explains the levelling system, outlining the soft and hard caps, and explaining just what you need to do to make your Guardian as strong as can be. It breaks the journey down into three stages, and provides suggestions for the best activities to pursue at each level. It also offers cautions and warnings to prevent you wasting resources you’ll want when you approach endgame. Things have changed a little since D1, so you might want to check in even if you’re an old hand.

• Activities guide
  This page lists and describes all the different Activities in Destiny 2, which offers a great deal more than a story campaign and PvP modes. Here you’ll find out what all those words like Flashpoint, Challenge and Milestone mean, and why you should bother trying your hand at them. You’ll also discover how and where to unlock each of these Activities, and how to complete them once you can dive on in. Useful clarifications for returning players, and essential explanations for newbies since Destiny 2 kind of never explains anything.

• How to get a Sparrow
  Sick of walking around? Yeah, Bungie’s boasts of making bigger environments sounded really good before you realise you weren’t going to get a Sparrow in the opening few missions. Sparrows are Destiny 2’s mount analogue – a personal vehicle for getting around the landscape before you die of starvation, and you’ll want one much sooner than Bungie intends to hand one over. The good news is, we’ve found a way to pick one up along your journey. Sweet!

• What class should I pick?
  Oh, you just can’t decide! Titans are so strong and tough. Hunters are so dashing. Warlocks are unstoppable rabid kill machines who definitely need a nerf. How could you possibly choose between them? The answer lies in comparing their skills – especially their class abilities and jumps! – but yes, also their outfits. We’ve got advice about which playstyle may suit you,
  based on your past preferences in other games, as well as a rundown of the differences and what sort of powers are waiting for you. We live to serve, soon-to-be Guardians.

• How to unlock new subclasses
  We’ve linked this down below in our class and subclass guide section, but it’s probably something you’ll want to know right off the bat. You start Destiny 2 proper with access to just one subclass, and must unlock the other two within your class as you play through the game. How? Well, that would be telling now, wouldn’t it. Why don’t you click that link. Ooh, the shiny link. Come on, games journos need to eat and make rent, just like everyone else.

Destiny 2 classes and subclasses

All three original classes return in Destiny 2 – Hunter, Warlock and Titan – and each will have three subclass options you can unlock and switch between at will. The three classes and their skill trees have been overhauled. Each of three classes now has a unique class skill shared across all subclasses, which comes in two variants.

• Warlocks can conjure a Rift that continually heal or buff teammates.
• Titans can place Barriers to provide total shelter or tactical cover with ammo.
• Hunters can perform a Dodges that reload their weapon or increase melee energy.

In addition to these class abilities, each of the three Destiny 2 classes has its own style of mobility (jump) ability. Each of the nine subclasses has a unique super ability, grenade choices and two different passive upgrade paths. You can switch between your various abilities at will once you have unlocked them.

There are nine subclasses in Destiny 2 – three for each class. This total includes three brand new subclasses added with Destiny 2, while the remaining six subclasses return from vanilla Destiny and expansion The Taken King.

The new Hunter subclass is called Arkstriker. The super summons a staff of Arc. The new Warlock subclass is Dawnblade. The super summons a sword of Solar. The new Titan subclass is Sentinel. The super summons a Void shield.

Which class should you choose? Well, consult our guide to picking a Destiny 2 class for more information. As for subclasses, you may want to check out our guide to unlocking subclasses in Destiny 2. Oh, and speaking of subclasses, do read on…

We’ve put together detailed guides on every subclass in Destiny 2. These guides list every skill and passive ability, giving you full details so you can plan your build and co-ordinate with your buddies for co-op.

Where possible, these pages includes gameplay footage of the subclass in action, so you can see how your chosen Guardian will play in Destiny 2. However, we also have a guide to using Supers effectively in Destiny 2, since once again the game doesn’t really bother to explain how the damn things work.

• Hunter Gunslinger subclass guide
• Hunter Arcstrider subclass guide
• Hunter Nightstalker subclass guide
• Titan Striker subclass guide
• Titan Sentinel subclass guide
• Titan Sunbreaker subclass guide
• Warlock Dawnblade subclass guide
• Warlock Voidwalker subclass guide
• Warlock Stormcaller subclass guide

Destiny 2 Exotics, weapons and armour

The guides in this section are all about equipment, providing both a basic explanation of Destiny 2’s somewhat esoteric weapon system as well as pointing you towards Exotic gear. For many D1 players, collecting a full set of Exotics was their primary goal, and while it’s not the only one worth pursuing, there are definite advantages to having a shiny arsenal to draw on. The details on these pages are the seeds of unstoppable builds; Destiny 2 is an RPG as well as a shooter and a loot roulette, remember.

• Complete weapons guide
  Listen, it’s really not clear in-game what exactly the different between kinetic, energy and power weapons is, but it turns out they have very different uses, and knowing what does best where will really up your game. We sort all that out on this guide page, hopefully in a clear and concise manner, and also talk about the different rarity tiers, upgrading and more. Much of this information also applies to armour, but we know you’re in it for the boomsticks, so.

• Exotic weapons guide
  Ahh, now we’re talking! Collecting Exotics is one of the most fun aspects of Destiny 2’s loot cycle, and there are some really interesting weapons on offer. You can only equip one Exotic weapon at a time, but each one can have a profound impact on how you approach the game and build out your character. This page lists and fully details all the basic Exotics you’ll find in random drops – if you’ve been very good, and RNGesus loves you – and will update as quests unlock and other mysteries are resolved.

• Exotic armour mega list
  Although you’ll find more detailed Exotic armour guide pages just below, this top level overview shows off all the Exotic armour available across all three classes in Destiny 2 – well, the ones available freely at release, at any rate. You can use it as a collection checklist, if you like, or just to have a browse. Looking for a specific class’s Exotics? Just scroll ever so slightly downwards, there’s a clever little Guardian.

• Exotic armour guide: Hunters
  Each class has access to a different set of Exotic armour pieces, and this collection of helmets, gauntlets, chest armour, leg armour and cloaks are all for our nimble, deadly Hunter friends. Embrace the dodge, master the snipe, become one with hipfire dial up your DPS, maximise your speed, track your enemies, go sneaky, go loud, go high, go low … whatever you have in your insomniac little heart, there’s a Hunter Exotic waiting, just for you.

• Exotic armour guide: Titans
  Be big. Be bold. Be brave. Be an Exotic clad Titan. The helmets, gauntlets, chest armour, leg armour and marks in this little catalogue of Exotic death work with the Titan’s strengths in interesting ways. Whether you’re aiming to increase your tankiness to unstoppable force levels, or boost your damage output to make your buddies green with envy. Whether you want to minimise your agility issues, or buff up your natural compatibility with heavy weapons. Oh yes. It’s all here. Enjoy.

• Exotic armour guide: Warlocks
  The official VG247 stance on Warlocks is that they should be nerfed into sand, because they keep beating Brenna up in the Crucible – but bias aside the Warlock class has always been about channeling tricky build synergies in ways that come to life in the hands of skilled players. Exotics? They just make this easier. Choose from helmets, gauntlets, chest armour, leg armour and bonds as you put together something horribly OP that will make everyone else cry “Bungie plz” when ever patch fails to eradicate it.

Walkthroughs

This section is where we’ll gather walkthroughs and guides that don’t fit elsewhere – things players have asked for, things we found tricky and wanted some help with, or just had lying around after the beta and didn’t want to let go of. We hope to update and expand this section with all sorts of detailed information, just as soon as we find anything in Destiny 2 we can’t solve using our good looks and charm alone. It won’t take long, unfortunately.

• Red War Mission 01: Homecoming
  We don’t think you’ll need your hand held through every mission in destiny 2’s story campaign, but if this is your first time playing Destiny 2 then a little guidance may be appreciated. We produced this walkthrough for the beta, in which it appeared, and will scurry around to adapt it for the full game – we certainly don’t expect to have an Exotic weapon handed over in the first mission! Nor to be wandering around at max level immediately afterwards, come to think of it. We were spoiled, and now we must repent.

• The Inverted Spire (Strike)
  There are a handful of Strikes in Destiny 2 – lengthy missions designed for three-player co-op, with bosses and byzantine encounters along the way. Join the Strike playlist queue and muddle along if you dare, but this guide to The Inverted Spire, the Strike featured in the beta, is a good place to start if you want to know what might be expected of you by those rando blueberries you matchmake with. Knowing the mechanics ahead of time can be a big help, and learning to play through one Strike equips you to work out the others.

Destiny 2 on PC: system requirements and more

Destiny 2 doesn’t arrive on PC until October 24, but in the meantime, our patient Guardian friends have questions that need answering. We’ve included the PC controls for Destiny 2 in the image above, which is a good starting point, but everything else you need to know can be found below.

• Recommended system specs
  Bungie has not yet provided full and final system requirements for Destiny 2 on PC, but we have three good indicators to draw on. First, it gave minimum and recommended specifications for the beta – which looked and ran beautifully even at bottom spec, by the way. Second, we know what kind of equipment Bungie used to run Destiny 2 when it showed off spectacular 4K gameplay footage at the gameplay reveal event. Finally, Bungie gave some “guidance” on what sort of spec you might want to pursue if you plan to upgrade your rig. All of that info is here.

• Overlays, comms and capture
  The Destiny 2 PC client won’t play nicely with various common tools of the trade, so if you’re planning on using third-party apps to chat with your pals, capture footage or measure performance, you should read this page in full. It’s all about preventing cheating, naturally, and not too onerous once you understand what Destiny 2 will and won’t support. The good news is Destiny 2 has some built-in features like an FPS counter to compensate.

• PC settings menu
  Although Bungie has brought in Vicarious Visions to develop the PC version, you’d be forgiven for suspicions that we might get dodgy PC support. That’s been the industry standard for many years now, hasn’t it? Anyway, it looks like Bungie is making a real effort at the very least – just check out the settings menu, as seen in the beta. If the full game lives up to this level of customisation, we’re in for a treat.

• Sign up for Blizzard’s Battle.net
  Destiny 2 won’t be on Steam; you’ll need a Battle.net account to enjoy it on PC. This page explains all about that, and guides you to setting up a Battle.net account, downloading its desktop client, and resigning yourself to accepting Blizzard’s technology in your life. Really, it’s a good thing; Blizzard has established infrastructure Bungie can draw on, and hopefully that Diablo 3 disaster taught everyone a lesson.

Further reading

You made it this far and you still want to click things? Sir, Madam or Other: we salute you. We also regret that you are apparently stuck somewhere you can’t actually play Destiny 2, because if you could, you’d presumably be doing that right now. Never mind! We have plenty of material to keep your mind off things – and our ongoing Destiny coverage will always, always provide more. We will never stop. No really. We won’t. Cease your requests.

• This is not a Destiny 2 review
  It is bloody impossible to review Destiny 2 before release, and anybody who tries it is pulling a swiftie. Here’s what we can tell you, though, based on a lengthy hands-on and a visit with Bungie. That’s something, isn’t it? We’ll have a full review, and a round up of other people’s, as soon as we can.

• Bungie talks Destiny 2’s environments
  A lengthy interview feature with senior environment artist Jason Sussman on how Bungie prioritises player experience in Destiny 2’s landscapes – but still finds time to explore artistic ambitions, push technology, and nod to real world science. Oh, and a non-apology for not giving us a sparrow right off the bat.

• Bungie talks Destiny 2’s storytelling
  We had a chat with senior narrative lead Jason Harris, who had the unenviable job of trying to salvage the reputation of a franchise with notorious storytelling. Did he succeed? Who knows, but certainly Bungie has learned some things along the way.

• 8 pretty random bits of Destiny 2 nerdery
  Send a big Destiny fan to Bungie and let them ask whatever stupid questions pop into their head, and this is the sort of things you get. What happened to everyone’s butt, man? Where’s Eris?
  Which characters are dating? And so on. Thankfully brief.

• Destiny 2’s open world content is pretty shallow
  There were two embargoes, and the first one only let us talk about the stuff that we were disappointed in (but still addicted to, obviously), probably as a result of our own silly buy-in to the hype. Oh well. Anyways, here’s that.

That’s all for now, but we’ll be updating our Destiny 2 guide on the regs as new intel comes in or we receive your questions. Is there anything we’re missing? Anything you’d like to see sooner rather than later? Just let us know.

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