Destiny 2’s Season of the Deep has captivated players with an epic storyline, exciting new activities, powerful weapons, and much more. As one of the most content-rich seasons ever, there is a lot to unpack about Season of the Deep. This comprehensive guide will provide everything you need to know about Destiny 2’s Season of the Deep, from story recaps to the best new exotics.
Overview of Season of the Deep
Season of the Deep launched on August 23, 2022, shortly after the release of the Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion. It represents Season 22 in Destiny 2’s ongoing storyline. With the defeat of Savathun, the Witness has set its eyes on claiming the Traveler and bringing about the end of the Light.
The season brings Guardians up against the ancient power of the Darkness and the Pyramids in the system. It also continues the overarching plot thread of Eris Morn learning to wield both Light and Darkness in the coming battle.
Some of the major themes and activities offered in Season of the Deep include:
- Deepening the connection between Savathun, Mara Sov, and the arrival of Neomuna in Lightfall
- Eris Morn’s journey in understanding the Darkness
- Challenging new seasonal activity, Ketchcrash
- Return of King’s Fall raid
- New seasonal vendor in the H.E.L.M., Star Chart
- Debut of Arc 3.0 subclass tuning
- Powerful new seasonal weapons to earn
Overall, Season of the Deep adds a wealth of new story content, gear to earn, and challenges for players to take on. It represents Destiny 2’s continued shift into darker themes as the battle with the Pyramids comes to a head.
Season of the Deep Story Recap
Season of the Deep picks up shortly after the climactic events of The Witch Queen expansion. With Savathun permanently killed, the Lucent Brood Hive have been left without their leader. Aboard Savathun’s commandeered ship, now known as the Derelict, Hive Guardian Fynch has been helping Mara Sov connect with the Darkness to gain new power.
As the season begins, Mara conducts a ritual to make contact with the Pyramids on Neptune. This connects her consciousness with that of the Witness itself. The Witness shows Mara a vision of Neomuna, the hidden city on Neptune. It offers this knowledge in exchange for Mara bringing the Traveler to it.
Upon awakening, Mara realizes that Savathun had set in motion a complex scheme even in death. By passing on her secrets of the Deep to Mara, Savathun has triggered the awakening of Neomuna ahead of schedule. This disruption throws some of the Witness’ carefully laid plans out of balance.
With the Traveler’s eventual arrival in Neomuna confirmed Mara begins making preparations to open the way. This sets up Neomuna as the looming next destination in Destiny 2’s story after Lightfall.
On Mars, the Warmind Rasputin detects that the Witness has pulled back much of its fleet from the system. The Pyramids above Mars depart, signaling an eerie calm before the true storm.
In the coming weeks, Eris Morn makes her own journey in communing with both the Light and Darkness. With the aid of Drifter, Eris unlocks Stasis powers granted by the Pyramid on Europa. She also begins tutoring under Ikora Rey to sharpen her Light abilities. By wielding both in balance, Eris seeks the power to stand against the encroaching threat.
As the season progresses, rising Nightmare activity draws Eris back to the Moon. Within the Pyramid vessel, she receives a vision of Neomuna and a warning. The Witness stirs, and soon all will be brought to an end. With Destiny 2’s next expansion Lightfall, that end may be closer than Guardians would hope.
New Seasonal Activity – Ketchcrash
The core seasonal activity for Season of the Deep is Ketchcrash, a six-player matchmade activity. Ketchcrash takes place aboard Fallen Ketches near the Tangled Shore.
Squads of Guardians team up to take down Fallen crews led by Dockmaster Varruhk. As players defeat enemies and sabotage the Ketch, they deposit Ether into collection units. Depositing Ether progresses to an Ether Engine overload, culminating in the Ketch crashing down.
Completing Ketchcrash activities awards Treasure Coordinates. These coordinates unlock chests aboard the H.E.L.M., containing seasonal weapons, armor, and Umbral Engrams. With higher difficulties and modifiers, Ketchcrash offers plenty of replayability.
The Ketchcrash activity showcases Destiny 2’s excellent FPS gameplay in challenging horde-style encounters. It’s an enjoyable evolution of previous seasonal activities like Astral Alignment and PsiOps Battlegrounds. Blasting through waves of Fallen to down boss enemies never gets old.
As players accumulate more Treasurer Coordinates, they can take on Ketchcrash at higher difficulties. The Master Ketchcrash playlist offers the greatest challenges – and rewards.
The Return of King’s Fall Raid
Veteran Destiny players received a welcome surprise with Season of the Deep – the return of the iconic King’s Fall raid from Destiny 1. Oryx, the Taken King’s dreadnaught now hovers near Saturn, inviting Guardians to venture into its depths once more.
King’s Fall’s reprisal remains faithful to the original, with stunning new visuals and sound design. Guardians must still overcome tense encounters like the Warpriest and Golgoroth before confronting Oryx himself.
Completing challenges within the raid offers Pinnacle tier rewards to continue powering up your Guardian. Clearing the raid also gives players chances to earn new Destiny 2 versions of classic weapons like Smite of Merain and Doom of Chelchis.
The revival of King’s Fall was a hugely nostalgic moment for longtime fans. It offers new players a chance to experience one of Destiny’s seminal raid releases. And its return sets the stage for other iconic Destiny 1 raids to potentially come back in the future as well.
New Exotics in Season of the Deep
With every new season comes exciting new Exotic weapons and armor to earn. Season of the Deep brings a wide selection of powerful new Exotics across all classes and weapon types.
For Hunters, the Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk Exotic chest armor allows their Void abilities to grant invisibility to the wearer and nearby allies. This opens new team support and survivability options. Hunters can also now earn Delicate Tomb, an aggressive Tex Mechanica Exotic Hand Cannon packing extra damage capabilities.
Warlocks gained the Apotheosis Veil Exotic helmet, which boosts Super, melee, and grenade regeneration speed. The Exotic Trace Rifle Ager’s Scepter received an excellent new Catalyst upgrade. And Warlocks can acquire Revision Zero, an Exotic pants armor helping boost allies’ ability regeneration.
Titans netted the Loreley Splendor Exotic Helmet, which grants Restoration when using barricade abilities. They also received Taipan-4FR, the first ever Exotic Linear Fusion Rifle. It boasts perks like Triple Tap and Firing Line for demolition levels of boss damage.
Beyond class Exotics, Season of the Deep added widely usable Exotics like Quicksilver Storm. This Exotic Auto Rifle from Veist can transform into a powerful missile launcher for extra versatility. Exotics like Touch of Malice also returned from the Destiny 1 vault.
There is no shortage of powerful new Exotics to hunt down this season! Many offer brand-new build and loadout options to experience.
Best New Legendary Weapons
Legendary weapons are the bread-and-butter of Destiny loadouts. Season of the Deep came packed with awesome new options across all weapon archetypes. These are some of the most sought-after Legendary weapons to farm for:
Brigand’s Law – This hard-hitting Veist Sidearm can roll with excellent perks like Voltshot, which chains lightning between enemies. Fast firing and high damage make it a lethal close-quarters option.
Unforgiven – The new Crucible Ritual SMG boasts high range and flinching capability. Perks like Rangefinder, Eye of the Storm, and Kill Clip make it very competitive.
No Reprieve – This Slug Shotgun from the new Duality dungeon has perk combinations like Lead from Gold and Opening Shot for fierce DPS potential.
Blood Feud – The Season Pass FR Fusion Rifle can roll with High Impact Reserves, Under Pressure, and other long-range perks to push out the Fusion Rifle range.
Planck’s Stride – This Kinetic Grenade Launcher debuts the exciting Slideshot perk, auto-reloading a portion of the magazine while sliding. Great for high-mobility builds.
No matter your preferred weapon type, Season of the Deep undoubtedly brought new Legendary weapons to chase. The new Deepsight Resonance mechanic allowed players to level up and craft their own personalized god rolls.
Arc 3.0 Changes
Aside from new loot and activities, a highlight of Season of the Deep was the long-awaited overhaul to the Arc Hunter, Titan, and Warlock subclasses. Arc 3.0 refreshes Arc as the third Light elemental subclass to receive the 3.0 treatment, following Void and Solar earlier this year.
Each class gains a new Super variant, plus improvements to their skill trees and abilities. Hunters can unlock the new Tempest Strike melee and Arc Staff Super. Titans get Thruster and Thunderclap. Warlocks benefit from Lightning Surge and Chaos Reach enhancements.
Arc 3.0 electrifies the subclasses with more power and builds diversity. Exotics like Shinobu’s Vow and Armamentarium have greater potency. The rework keeps combat exciting and rewarding for all classes.
Seasonal Artifact – Typhon GL5
As always, a new seasonal Artifact mods players in building craftier loadouts. The Typhon GL5 offers a variety of Anti-Champion and weapon-boosting mods to unlock.
Helpful seasonal mods include:
- Thunderous Retort – Damaging an enemy with Arc damage creates a blinding explosion
- Reactive Pulse – Using your class ability grants an over shield
- Surprise Attack – Damaging enemies with melees or grenades makes them volatile
- Unstoppable Grenade Launcher – Unstoppable mod for all grenade launchers
Between the Artifact and new Exotics, players have plenty of options for tailoring offensive and defensive Guardian builds. Typhon GL5 further empowers Arc 3.0 abilities and synergies.
And Typhon GL5 offers upgraded materials and a new batch of mods to collect for various activities.
H.E.L.M. Star Chart Upgrade
The H.E.L.M. once again serves as the central hub for seasonal activities and vendors. A key addition is the new Star Chart station, allowing players to focus Umbral Engrams into seasonal and world loot pools.
The Star Chart provides more direct control over Umbral Engram decryption. Players can focus engrams towards weapons like Taipan or epic armor sets like Desolate and Wild Hunt.
Upgrading the Star Chart via Treasure Coordinates even allows exotic engram focusing. This cuts down tremendously on randomness, helping players target the exact loot they desire.
Between the H.E.L.M. Star Chart and the new crafting system, Destiny 2’s loot game is more player-friendly than ever. You have the tools to seek out the weapons and rolls you want directly now.
Ranking Up the Season Pass
Progressing through the 100 ranks of the Season Pass awards a glut of loot, materials, cosmetics, and new Exotics like Quicksilver Storm.
Rising through ranks distributes seasonal armor, Bright Engrams, Ascendant Shards, upgrade modules, and more. Plus, premium rewards like the Ornament for Revision Zero Exotic armor.
Ketchcrash and weekly Pinnacle rewards offer efficient rank-up sources. Completing seasonal challenges gives big bumps as well.
For those looking to accelerate Season Pass leveling, utilizing shared wisdom and fireteam XP bonuses can help. With solid time investment through the seasonal activities, reaching the cap of rank 100 is very feasible.
Master Difficulties and Gilding
For Destiny 2 veterans seeking the hardest challenges, Season of the Deep also delivered new Master difficulty versions of activities.
Master Ketchcrash enables higher power enemies and Champions in Ketch crashes for beefier fights. Master King’s Fall provides intensely demanding raid encounters for ultimate bragging rights.
And gilding titles for the Fatebreaker and Reaper seals are available. Players can show off their mastery of Vow of the Disciple and King’s Fall raids through gilding triumphs.
Pushing through Master and gilding objectives chase pinnacle rewards while putting your Guardian build and skill to the test. Season of the Deep offers avenues for every skill level to engage with.
Seasonal Lore and Worldbuilding
Destiny 2’s seasonal model continues expanding the universe’s lore and characters through new storyline content. Season of the Deep kept enriching the backgrounds of key figures like Eris Morn, Drifter, and Mara Sov, and the political intrigue between planetary factions.
New Lore Books like Meditations on the Deep, Records of Neomuna, and Dust offer plenty of insights. Eris’ journey to wield both Light and Darkness in balance was a highlight. Drifter teaching Eris to harness Stasis, Ikora mentoring Eris on Void Light, and Eris rejecting the Sword Logic philosophy deepened her motivations.
And the lore continues peeling back the ominous mystique around the Witness, the ancient force behind the Darkness. Records recovered from Neptune and the Golden Age Swarm AI ACL-006 shed more light on the Witness’ origins and limitless power.
Destiny 2’s world expands every season through compelling lore and characters. Season of the Deep moved the overarching narrative around Savathun, Mara Sov, and the Witness forward appreciably leading into Lightfall.
Criticism and Reception
Season of the Deep garnered mostly positive reviews from Destiny 2 players and critics. Bungie’s ability to keep delivering meaty new story content, challenging activities, and powerful gear continues raising Destiny 2’s standard for live service seasons.
Many praised the strong narrative threads connecting The Witch Queen campaign and the coming Lightfall expansion through Eris and Mara Sov’s ongoing character arcs.
Ketchcrash brought dynamic new 6-player seasonal activity mechanics enjoyed by the community. And the return of King’s Fall dazzled veteran raiders eager for more iconic reprised raids.
The breadth of build-defining new Exotics also added fresh ways for players to express themselves through loadouts.
But the season has not been without criticisms. Some players found the power grind excessive in the early season. Others felt Ketchcrash lacked mechanics as engaging as comparable activities like Menagerie or Sundial.
Some felt Season of the Deep didn’t entirely deliver on the potential gravitas of its narrative premise. Leaning into the ominous Pyramid threat could have pushed boundaries even further.
But overall, the community reception to Season of the Deep remained enthusiastic. Bungie continues setting new bars in evolving Destiny 2’s world and gameplay with each bold season.
Conclusion
With Destiny 2 soon entering its 6th year, Bungie’s commitment to expanding the experience with substantive seasons is stronger than ever. Season of the Deep represents one of 2022’s most packed seasons yet in terms of story breadth, new activities, loot pool variety, and build diversity.
The climactic beats driving toward Lightfall set up high stakes for the destiny of heroes like Mara Sov and Eris Morn. Savathun’s long game still resonates, even from beyond the grave. And the oppressive force of The Witness lingers, ever hungry to smother the Traveler’s Light.
Season of the Deep fulfilled Destiny 2’s essence as an evolving universe that connected players deeply to its heroes in between epic releases. It made the world feel alive with purpose and new adventures to undertake.
For newcomers, Destiny 2 has never offered more avenues to experience this fascinating universe of cosmic deities and kingdoms. And veterans continue finding reasons to dive back into the action with each bold new season.
As we gear up for Lightfall and then Final Shape, Season of the Deep primes us for an apocalyptic showdown that will reshape Destiny 2 forever. But the bonds we forge in overcoming the Darkness together will persist eternally.