Destiny 2 reveals Lightfall raid release date ahead of launch
Here’s when you’ll be able to jump into the latest of Destiny 2’s pinnacle endgame PvE activities.
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What you need to know
Destiny 2’s next major expansion, Lightfall, is only about a month away. Like previous DLCs, a new cooperative six-man raid will become available to players shortly after it arrives on February 28, challenging them to complete difficult and complex PvE encounters for exclusive top-tier weapons and bragging rights.
We don’t know anything about the theme of the raid or who we’ll be fighting yet (Emperor Calus or some other ally to the Witness are solid guesses), but ahead of Lightfall’s arrival, Bungiehasrevealed the release date for this raid in a newThis Week at Bungie blog post. Notably, the raid will launch on March 10, 2023, at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET. This will give players about a week and a half to prepare for the raid once the expansion becomes available, during which time they’ll need to play through its campaign, earn pieces of Powerful Gear, and put together theirbest Destiny 2 builds.
Lightfall’s raid, like the reprised version of theKing’s Fall raidbefore it, is launching on a Friday instead of Destiny 2’s traditional raid release day of Saturday. This is most likely because of an issue that occurred with The Witch Queen’s Vow of the Disciple raid, in which most Bungie employees were out of the office during its Saturday launch and were unable to address disruptive technical issues for several hours. While moving the release date to a weekday does make it harder for fans with rigid work schedules to jump into the raid right away, the studio’s developers will be on standby to address any problems with its rollout as quickly as possible.
Once the raid goes live, the officialDestiny 2Raid Race will begin. Each player in the first fireteam to complete each encounter without cheats or exploits will receive a unique World’s First raid belt that celebrates their accomplishment. Additionally, all players that manage to defeat the raid in the first 24 hours it’s available will earn a special emblem.
Keep in mind that raids are more difficult to complete on day one than they are afterwards, as Contest Mode — a modifier that caps each player’s Power Level at 20 numbers below each encounter — is active during this time. With Contest Mode on, enemies hit harder and are more resilient than normal, while players are squishier and do reduced damage. A great way to improve your chances at success will be to take advantage ofLightfall’s improved buildcrafting systems, which will even the odds in combat.
Destiny 2: Lightfallis almost here, and it looks like it’s going to be one of the best Destiny 2 expansions yet between the gorgeous neon-soaked city of Neomuna, Emperor Calus' fearsome Shadow Legion, the new Strand subclass, a new raid, plenty of new gear, and more.Lightfall preordersare available now if you’d like to reserve your copy of the DLC ahead of its launch on February 28, 2023.
Destiny 2: Lightfall
The upcoming Lightfall expansion takes players to the neon-soaked city of Neomuna on Neptune and pits them against the fearsome Shadow Legion — all while the threat of Darkness pyramids, The Witness, and his new disciple Emperor Calus looms overhead.
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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
