The Final Shapeis ahem shaping up to be quite the comeback forDestiny 2. In thelatest TWID, Bungie unveiled how Power Levels will be changing in the much-anticipated expansion. While the company is known for using a monkey’s paw, I’m not yet seeing the drawback for these announced changes.
Power Levels in The Final Shape
Fireteam Power
OnceThe Final Shapeis released, when teaming up with other players in a fireteam, a Power Level hierarchy will be instilled. The Guardian with the highest Power Level will become the Power Leader. Every other Guardian on the fireteam will have their Power Level adjusted to five below the Power Leader (if their Power Level isn’t already higher).
This adjustment only affects the difficulty of the activity, so rewards will still drop at the individual fireteam members’ Power Level. Additionally, the Power Leader will receive boosted commendations at the end of an activity. This looks like it will be a great way for New Lights and returning players to pal around with their veteran friends.
Power Level caps in Destiny 2: The Final Shape
Players will be making a significant jump in Power onceThe Final Shapearrives. The current Hard Cap is 1810, so there will be some ground to cover. Completing the campaign on Normal should put players at or near the Soft Cap of 1900 whereas completing it on Legendary will grant an entire set of gear at 1960.
With theraid launching quickly on the heels of the expansion, those who complete the campaign on Legendary will be primed to enter Contest Mode whose level is 1965.
Activity Power Levels
Power Enabled
Power Enabled Activities are where players can really flex their muscles. There are six difficulties, each with a Power Cap. So, you’re able to view the combat difficulty of an activity before launching it and get an idea of how tough it will be for your current Power Level. Have a Guardian at the 2000 cap? Enjoy dunking on the Scorn in a Standard Vanguard Ops run.
Power Disabled
When playing in a Power Disabled Activity, all players will be on the same level. There is no way to overlevel for these activities.
Account-wide Power Level
Beginning inThe Final Shape, players will no longer have to level up each of their characters individually. Instead, all characters will have cross-progression. So, if you main a Titan and beat the Legendary campaign, you can swap to your Warlock and enjoy those 1960 drops. This will save a ton of time and should allow players to start tinkering with other classes now.
Powerful Rewards
Powerful Rewards will now drop from many more sources. Additionally, any piece of gear purchased from a vendor will be no lower than three below your highest possible Power, and items pulled from Collections will be five below that same bar.
Artifact Bonus Power
Bungie didn’t have much in the way of details on how Artifact Power will work. I surmise the studio is balancing Power gained against the length of the new episodic format.
Legacy Gear
Thanks to sunsetting, there were plenty of weapons locked at certain Power Levels. Thanks to the changes with Fireteam Power, it would be possible to sidestep that and roll into an activity with something like a 2000 Felwinter’s Lie. As such, Bungie is removing those limits.
This is likely a moot point for many like myself who have already dismantled those weapons. Fortunately, Bungie is working on reintroducing ways to obtain these weapons. We’ll have to see how this pans out, but I’m excited to see more old favorites return.
