Destiny 2 is about to launch another pair of weapons as rewards for Onslaught, the Into the Light activity that serves as the closest thing Destiny has gotten to a true horde mode since launch. After a couple weeks of playing now, I would argue it’s one of the best activities that has been in the game since Menagerie, albeit they also had a great activity in the form of The Coil this very season, though I ran out of reasons to run it.
I know the gold standard of Destiny 2 PvE content being added is new strikes. We will always get new raids and dungeons, guaranteed, but new strikes? Those have been few and far between, and far less are added than they used to.
But I will make the bold declaration that I think strikes are a bit overrated at this point in Destiny’s lifespan, especially what we’ve been getting lately with Battlegrounds fashioned into both playlist strikes and Nightfalls, and I would rather there be continued investment into building out Onslaught, rather than more one-off, 10-15 minute strikes to run. Here’s what I’d like to see:
- More maps – Yes, you could do a few more Crucible maps or maybe some patrols spaces (Mothyards sucks though), but obviously I would like to see some original maps designed specifically for an activity like this.
- Different Enemy Factions – We have Hive and Fallen, so obviously it would be cool to have Cabal, Vex or Scorn versions of 50 wave enemies as well (no Taken, screw the Taken). Also, we have a whole new enemy race coming with The Final Shape, the Dread, so we could get them in there as well.
- Expanding Defenses – The defenses we have now are a decent start for ADU protection, but I think they could be expanded with more options or better functionality over time. Just making Shaxx clones every run gets a bit old.
- More Rewards – Obviously you can’t have the same 12 weapons being doled out forever, so this could be a good way to reintroduce classic weapons that people want to see return over time, a reason to come back and re-engage with the mode after new content is added. I can think of another dozen guns off the top of my head easily that could make a return (Breachlight! I’m begging you!). This could theoretically even happen without new maps or defense or factions at all, the bare minimum for expansion. It would still make me play it.
Sadly, I don’t have a ton of faith that this is going to happen. I think Onslaught is amazing in general and especially given how short a timeline Bungie had to make it, but it’s also a free activity, and Bungie does not tend to invest in free activities all that much (insert meme of Gambit as a skeleton under water). I remember saying close to identical things about Dares of Eternity, that I would like to see it expanded with new rewards, new “games” over time, but that never happened (well, the rewards bit did, but not a terribly compelling way).
I think Onslaught is too good to be ignored post-Final Shape. Not being content vaulted is not enough, and I would argue it’s a more compelling thing to invest in that new strikes or battlegrounds given how fun it is to play, and if you want GM-level difficulty, you can keep upping that too past Legend. I hope this happens, but I would be amazed if it did.
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