Destiny 2 is right here, kicking off a brand new chapter of Activision’s wildly in style shared-world shooter. Lots has occurred within the universe of Destiny for the reason that authentic recreation launched, together with expansions, massive and small, which add to the story, and numerous tweaks to the shape and performance of the sport’s basic components. So a lot has occurred, in actual fact, {that a} reminder is perhaps to ensure that anybody questioning what’s occurring in Destiny lately.
The newest growth, Beyond Light, is definitely the eleventh chapter within the Destiny saga, relying on the way you rely. Developer Bungie launched Destiny in September 2014, adopted by 4 main expansions: The Dark Below, House of Wolves, The Taken King, and Rise of Iron. Destiny 2 kicked off the sequence’ second arc a number of years again and has already seen a number of expansions to progress the storyline even additional.
The Destiny sequence has taken some flak through the years relating to the accessibility (or relatively, inaccessibility) of its deep, layered mythology. Much of the primary recreation’s detailed lore was stashed outdoors of the sport within the “Grimoire,” an internet site gamers might entry in the event that they wished to dig into the sport’s mythology.
Though Destiny 2 has rectified this concern, the sequence story is a protracted, winding story set in a huge universe. Even throughout the recreation itself, rather a lot has occurred: Whether you began taking part in on day one or plan to decide up the journey for the primary with Destiny 2, chances are high you can use a refresher course on the world of Destiny in case you are planning to leap again in.
The story to this point

A protracted, very long time in the past, humanity encountered a mysterious alien entity often known as the Traveler. An amazing, floating sphere, the Traveler helped humanity usher in its Golden Age, sharing the information that permit people discover the galaxy, colonize far-off planets, and develop the type of expertise that permit us evolve quickly as a species.
All good issues come to an finish, although, and the Traveler was finally adopted by its enemy, the equally mysterious and completely harmful entity often known as the Darkness. Things went dangerous rapidly, and after the Traveler seemingly sacrificed itself to drive off the Darkness, there was valuable little left of the human species. Various alien races started to maneuver in for the kill, colonizing former human settlements and making humanity’s continued existence unsure at greatest. Everyone refers back to the finish of the Golden Age as “the Collapse.”
Fortunately (for humanity), the Traveler had taken one final motion earlier than expending its energies. After warding off the Darkness, the Traveler dispersed its life drive – known as “Light” – within the type of small, seemingly sentient “ghosts” that sought out the best, deceased defenders of humanity and reanimated them as “Guardians.”
They have been tasked with defending humanity and the stays of the Traveler. The base of operations for Guardians is “the City,” the final remaining stronghold for humanity, positioned someplace on Earth within the shadow of the Traveler, which is now a floating, lifeless sphere. the Traveler apparently isn’t useless, however has been dormant for hundreds of years.
In the preliminary Destiny storyline, gamers – within the position of Guardians – fought to re-establish humanity’s foothold on key outposts on Earth and different planets, whereas investigating rumors of recent alien races and the potential for yet one more menace from the Darkness. Over the course of that first story arc, the Guardians battle the alien armies of the Fallen, the Hive, and the Cabal, whereas coping with the android-like Vex, recovering a bit of the Traveler, and extinguishing an entity with ties to the Darkness.
Along with their very own solo adventures, Guardians joined forces to discover the Vault of Glass, the sport’s first team-based “raid” exercise, which finally pits them in opposition to an enormous, time-manipulating Vex chief named Atheon. This raid on the Vex stronghold was the end result of the sport’s first chapter, which additionally featured the introduction of a mysterious stranger who appeared to know extra in regards to the future than she was letting on.
But wait, there’s extra…

In the sport’s first growth, The Dark Below, the Guardians investigated the re-emergence of Crota, a robust “Hive Prince” summoned from one other dimension.
You be taught of the Hive’s plot to deliver Crota into this world from Eris Morn, a former Guardian who’s the one survivor of an earlier, failed mission to cease the Hive’s ritual. Your actions within the authentic recreation not directly resulted in Eris being free of the Hive’s underground lair on the moon, and regardless of being horrifically affected by her expertise each mentally and bodily, she serves because the resident skilled on the Hive.
Over the course of The Dark Below, your Guardian thwarts the Hive’s makes an attempt to deliver Crota into this dimension, culminating within the Crota’s End raid, which has you descend into the depths of the Hive’s lair with a group of fellow Guardians on a mission to remove the menace posed by Crota. After a climactic battle, your group destroys Crota utilizing his personal sword in opposition to him.
Meanwhile…

In House of Wolves, the second growth to the Destiny universe, the Guardians quell a rebel staged by a gaggle of Fallen who had beforehand served Queen Mara Sov of the Awoken. The Awoken are a species of blue-skinned human descendants whose genetics have been altered throughout The Traveler’s battle with The Darkness generations in the past, and now stay in a far nook of the galaxy often known as The Reef.
The rebel is led by Skolas, the chief of the Fallen sect often known as the “House of Wolves,” who makes an attempt to make use of Vex expertise to create a military composed of his strongest allies from varied timelines. Your Guardian finally thwarts Skolas’ plan, and fingers him over to the Awoken Queen to imprison within the fortified “Prison of Elders.” Things don’t keep quiet for lengthy, although, and Skolas begins to construct a military throughout the jail. Your Guardian is then tasked with going into the jail with a three-person group to place a everlasting finish to Skolas.
So what about that Taken King man?

Remember Crota? Well, it seems the Hive Prince has a father – and he wasn’t joyful in regards to the Guardians killing his son.
The third growth, The Taken King, launched a brand new main menace to the world of Destiny: the Hive’s god-king Oryx. It additionally launched a wholly new species of alien often known as The Taken. The storyline has your Guardian investigating the return of Oryx, who travels by the universe in an enormous ship often known as The Dreadnaught. He instructions the Taken, a military composed of twisted variations of creatures from our dimension, tainted by his affect and given unusual new powers.
After a failed assault on the Dreadnaught by the Awoken — an assault that prices them the lives of each Queen Mara Sov and her brother, Prince Uldren Sov — the Guardians are pressured to take care of the menace posed by Oryx and his military.
In order to face this horrible new menace, your Guardian embarks on a quest to unlock new powers that provide you with an edge in your battle in opposition to Oryx and his minions. Equipped with these new powers — the solar-based Sunbreaker class for Titans, the arc-based Stormcaller class for Warlocks, and the void-based Nightstalker class for Hunters — you’re taking the battle to Oryx himself on his Dreadnaught, the place you handle to not solely infiltrate his lair, however seemingly kill him.
You quickly found that eliminating Oryx isn’t that simple, nevertheless, and your Guardian is pressured to move again to the Dreadnaught in one other six-person group to take down Oryx as soon as and for all within the King’s Fall raid. The raid culminates together with your group blasting the Hive’s god-king into deep area, bringing an finish (you hope) to the reign of Oryx.
Fighting off a techno-plague
In Rise of Iron, the ultimate growth for Destiny, your Guardian discovers that sinister issues have been afoot on Earth whilst you have been busy saving the galaxy from Oryx.
Back on Earth, one of many teams of Fallen referred to as the House of Devils managed to encounter a harmful expertise locked away years earlier. That tech is named SIVA, and it’s referred to within the recreation as a “techno-plague.” It’s primarily nanomachines, a swarm of microscopic robots that may have an effect on matter on the molecular degree.
When they aren’t attempting to kill you, the Fallen worship expertise and use it to change themselves, so SIVA is a foul combine with these guys. They go loopy with the stuff, modifying their our bodies and releasing it on Earth, the place SIVA even begins to reshape components of the panorama. Years earlier, a number of the earliest Guardians revived by the Traveler went rogue and tried to subjugate what remained of the world. The Iron Lords, a gaggle of highly effective however flawed Guardians who predated the Vanguard, banned collectively to combat them.
When SIVA was unleashed quickly after the Collapse, the Iron Lords banded collectively to cease it. They weren’t capable of destroy the stuff, in order that they sealed it away underground. Lord Saladin, the Iron Lord who runs the Iron Banner multiplayer occasion, was the one one to flee the battle alive. He created the Iron Banner event to arrange a brand new era of Guardians to combat SIVA in case it ever acquired free once more.
To cease SIVA, the Guardians journey to the Plaguelands on Earth and combat their method into the storage facility the place SIVA was initially sealed. After preventing the corpses of three different Iron Lords reanimated by the virus, gamers destroy the SIVA tomb, taking the remainder of the virus with it. That stops any new SIVA from leaking out or being manufactured, and Saladin declares that the victorious Guardians will function the primary of a brand new era of Iron Lords.
The story concludes with the “Wrath of the Machine” raid, by which gamers have monitor down the SIVA-modified mastermind behind the entire debacle, a Fallen named Aksis. Using SIVA, Aksis has turned himself into an enormous cyborg with spider legs.. Taking out Aksis lastly ends the SIVA menace.
Destiny 2 aka The Red War
Destiny 2 kicks off a brand new battle with the least distinguished of the darkness’ factions, the Cabal. At the sport’s outset, a brand new Cabal military led by the villainous emperor, Dominus Ghaul, invades the Last City on Earth. As the Guardians and Vanguard work on evacuating civilians, Ghaul reveals his true purpose — he assaults the Traveler with a large ship that creates some sort of power barrier round it.
This successfully cuts off the Traveler’s Light from the remainder of the photo voltaic system. Suddenly, Guardians can’t be resurrected from the useless. Without the Light, the Guardians lose their benefit: Ghaul’s military, often known as “the Red Legion,” overwhelms them and takes the City. The participant and his or her Ghost solely barely survive, and handle to slide out of the Cabal-occupied City and into the wilds surrounding it.
While the Guardians are scattered and dying throughout the photo voltaic system, Ghaul captures the Speaker for the Traveler and tortures him to search out out extra in regards to the Traveler, so he would possibly earn its favor. Ghaul’s predominant purpose is to get the Traveler’s Light, the blessing that makes Guardians immortal and offers them their varied superpowers, and use it himself.
Out within the wilds of Earth, the participant stumbles throughout a gaggle of survivors, led by a lady named Hawthorne, who fled the town and are holed up within the woods close to the Shard of the Traveler. The piece broke off centuries in the past when the Darkness first attacked the Traveler in the course of the Collapse. As gamers wander by the woods hoping to outlive, they see a imaginative and prescient from the Traveler that directs them to the Shard. It turns on the market’s nonetheless a number of the Traveler’s Light within the Shard, and touching it restores the Light to the participant. Suddenly, you’re the one immortal Guardian within the system, and it’s as much as you to save lots of the day.
Through the course of Destiny 2, the participant reconnects with the Guardians’ leaders, Zavala, Cayde-6, and Ikora, all of whom try to determine how you can defeat Ghaul in their very own method. Upon seeing {that a} Guardian has regained their mild, the Vanguard trio agrees to reunite and devises a plan to retake the City.
While the participant is working round bringing them collectively, in addition they uncover that Ghaul has an insurance coverage coverage — a sun-killing superweapon referred to as “the Almighty” that may destroy your complete photo voltaic system. As it seems, if the Cabal can’t handle to beat a spot, they annihilate it.
The participant heads to the Almighty and shuts down the weapon, taking away Ghaul’s skill to fireside it if he loses the Last City. That serves as a sign for Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde, together with Hawthorne and the remainder of the Guardians they’ve gathered, to assault the City.
The battle goes effectively for some time, however when the participant will get again to Earth to hitch the combat, they discover that the Vanguard leaders have been harm and might’t go on to take down Ghaul. Using Cayde’s Vex teleporter, the participant zaps over onto Ghaul’s command ship to defeat him as soon as and for all.
By this level, Ghaul has tortured the Speaker to demise and managed to make use of expertise to entry the Traveler’s Light. He’s acquired an entire inferiority complicated about not having been chosen on his deserves to obtain the Traveler’s present, and he throws all that anger on the participant, attempting to kill them with their very own superpowers.
The participant manages to defeat Ghaul, and he zaps himself with a lot Light that he turns into what looks like a large immortal Light monster. But that causes the Traveler, which has been dormant for hundreds of years after pushing again the Darkness method again in the course of the Collapse, to instantly get up. It blasts Ghaul, annihilating him, and returns Light to the Guardians throughout the photo voltaic system.
We don’t know but what the reawakening of the Traveler goes to imply for Destiny, but it surely’s undoubtedly a giant deal. There’s additionally a post-credits scene in Destiny 2 that means a brand new menace is on its method; a gaggle of black ships ready dormant outdoors of the galaxy which can be reawakened by the Traveler’s huge surge of power.
Meanwhile, on Mercury
The story doesn’t finish when gamers take down the Cabal and defeat Dominus Ghaul. There’s the “Leviathan” raid, by which gamers encounter former Cabal emperor Calus, whom Ghaul despatched into exile. Exploring Calus’ ship/palace reveals fairly a little bit of the details about the Cabal’s historical past and suggests there’s extra occurring with the aliens than simply what occurs in the primary story.
And then there’s what is going on on Mercury.
The first growth for Destiny 2, dubbed Curse of Osiris, takes gamers to Mercury, a planet that was beforehand off-limits in Destiny, for probably the most half. At some level earlier than the primary Destiny, the planet was taken over by the time-traveling Vex and transformed right into a machine world. This is the hivemind’s common M.O. — We’ve seen it strive the identical factor on Venus in Destiny, and seen what occurs when it succeeds on Nessus in Destiny 2.
While the Vanguard fought the Cabal in Destiny 2‘s main campaign, the Vex have been up to something. Dominus Ghaul’s Red Legion struck main blows in opposition to the Vex on Mars, driving it out of strongholds the Cabal has struggled with for years. But with Ghaul’s demise, the Vex has been capable of regroup.
Ok, right here’s the place issues get bizarre: The Vex has a giant, scary expertise — time journey. The hivemind sends its forces again in time to control timelines always, and might create areas that exist outdoors of time, just like the Vault of Glass.
At the outset of Curse of Osiris, Ikora discovers that the Vex are amassing a military from a number of timelines, pulling robots from each the previous and the longer term in a bid to take over the photo voltaic system.
That data comes from Ikora’s former mentor, Osiris, a determine who looms massive in Destiny’s lore. (You might him from the “Trials of Osiris” multiplayer occasion, which is placed on by his followers). Players had by no means really met Osiris — Until now.
Osiris returns
Osiris is a legendary Guardian who used to serve within the Vanguard — the navy commanders that defend the Last City. (You know them as your quest-givers: Cayde-6, Ikora, and Zavala). In his time, Osiris wasn’t only a warrior and commander, he was additionally a scholar.
Like different members of the Warlock class, he studied the Traveler, its Light, and “the Darkness,” which ostensibly appears to be the title for all of the aliens that wish to conquer and destroy the Traveler and the worlds it protects. Osiris wished to know as a lot in regards to the Darkness as he might discover and used his Vanguard posting to divert assets to search out out about issues just like the Hive, their god Oryx, and the Vex.
Over time, Osiris turned more and more obsessive about these concepts. Eventually, his research undermined the protection of the City, and the Speaker for the Traveler exiled him. Though his research drove him near insanity, we discovered over the course of the sequence that Osiris’ research-and-intelligence-gathering outfit was proper.
He predicted Oryx’s coming lengthy earlier than it really occurred, and warned that the Vex can be an enormous hazard if left unchecked. The Guardians who realized this, and agreed his Osiris’ priorities, often known as the Cult of Osiris, placed on the “Trials,” and attempt to collect different Guardians to work with the exiled chief.
Turns out, Osiris had been investigating a Vex simulation assemble often known as the Infinite Forest on Mercury, which the time-traveling robots used to check every kind of futures. He headed into the Infinite Forest to attempt to cease Panoptes, the Vex thoughts that ran the place and was utilizing it to direct Vex methods by simulating all potential timelines.
Cornered by the Vex, Osiris despatched his ghost, Sagira, out of the Infinite Forest to contact the Vanguard Ikora for assist in defeating Panoptes. At the top of Curse of Osiris, The Guardian groups up with the exiled Osiris and destroys Panoptes, stopping the Vex from making a future by which their victory was assured.
The Warmind uncovered
Destiny 2‘s upcoming expansion, Warmind, tells an entirely separate story, one that surfaces a lot of lore from the series’ apocalyptic historical past.  Back in the course of the Golden Age, the company often known as Clovis Bray helped colonize the photo voltaic system and created many highly effective applied sciences. The firm was chargeable for the skyscraper often known as the Dust Palace on Mars and helped construct the town of Freehold.
Its researchers have been additionally chargeable for SIVA, because of some unethical science. They additionally helped construct the Warminds, the large protection supercomputers that protected the photo voltaic system previous to The Collapse. Bray constructed the Warminds in a facility referred to as Futurescape on Mars, positioned in a area often known as the Hella Basin.
It appears that the ability would possibly even home the core of the highly effective Warmind Rasputin, which Guardians have interacted with a number of occasions earlier than, in keeping with some new Grimoire card-type entries printed on Bungie.com.
Not a lot is thought about Bray within the current period, however not less than one member of the Bray household, Anastasia, turned a Guardian. She fought at Twilight Gap, an enormous battle on Earth by which the armies of the Fallen practically overtook the Last City earlier than disappearing. It seems Ana did one thing Guardians aren’t speculated to do: She seemed into her previous, from earlier than her first demise. Upon studying her identification, she went to Mars to search out out extra about herself and Clovis Bray.
In addition to no matter secrets and techniques she uncovered, Ana has discovered a Hive military hidden in Mars’ polar ice cap. It seems that the Moon was not the primary place that humanity encountered the Hive. The Hive attacked Mars sooner or later, apparently led by their worm god, Xol, and one of many sons of Oryx, Nokris. There’s not a lot details about Nokris — he was a Hive god that was solid out by Oryx and his ilk. Apparently, they have been all frozen within the ice on Mars … in a area often known as the Hella Basin.
As at all times, the Guardians prevail over Xol and Nokris, saving Rasputin within the course of. The at all times enigmatic Rasputin returns the favor vowing to as soon as once more defend the galaxy, although judging by the next expansions, it doesn’t seem to be he does an excellent job at that job.
Prison Break
In Forsaken, issues get private. The story begins with you and Cayde-6 touring to the Reef to assist Petra Venj cease an enormous jail break. It seems {that a} group of undead Fallen locked within the Prison of Elders have fashioned a brand new race referred to as the Scorn, and somebody determined to allow them to out. While looking for the offender, Cayde-6 is tragically killed by a moody new villain, Uldren Sov.
Uldren Sov an Awoken prince who’s searching for his useless sister, who occurs to be the Reef’s Queen Mara Sov. Uldren believes his sister continues to be alive and speaking with him. His plan to save lots of her? Open a secret Awoken gateway that she claims to be trapped in. 
To support in his mission, Uldren enlists the assistance of Fikrul The Fanatic, a Fallen excessive priest and his group of Scorned Barons. Deadset on avenging Cayde-6, you got down to kill every Baron till you attain Uldren.
In basic Destiny style, issues get a bit unusual right here. Uldren Sov opens the gateway solely to search out that his sister has not been speaking with him. Instead, he had been manipulated by the Voice of Riven, a large Taken area dragon, who swallows Uldren. Whoops.
The participant kills the Voice of Riven, releasing Uldren from his clutches. Uldren’s freedom is finally short-lived as you determine to kill him with Cayde’s personal gun, efficiently avenging your fallen pal.
To The Moon
The Shadowkeep growth takes the story again to the Moon, which returns from the primary Destiny video games. Since you’ve final seen it, the Hive have constructed a large tower on the Moon referred to as The Scarlet Keep, which has brought on some type of disturbance that you simply’re despatched to research.
As it seems, the disturbance is definitely coming from Destiny 1 fan-favorite Eris Morn, who asks you to return discover her. While looking for Eris beneath the Moon’s floor, you uncover a large black pyramid, which has ominously appeared all through Destiny 2’s story. However, you’re unable to enter and as a substitute greeted by three “Nightmare” variations of acquainted villains like Crota.
Luckily, Eris teleports you to security and explains what’s occurring. The pyramid is actually a serious supply of Darkness, which has allowed native Hive to regulate the Nightmares you encountered earlier. Nightmares are precisely what they sound like; your previous fears resurrected by the Darkness. 
That’s the place the Scarlet Keep is available in. The construction was constructed by Hashladûn, daughter of the slain Crota, as a method to harness the pyramid’s Darkness and avenge her father’s demise.
In order to enter the Pyramid, you got down to assemble a selected set of armor that may assist you to bypass its barrier. After killing Nightmare variations of outdated foes like Omnigul to achieve their essences, it’s off to the Scarlet Keep the place you kill Hashladûn and procure a map to a particular Hive artifact.
After recovering the artifact and setting up all of the armor, you lastly achieve entry to the pyramid the place you combat Nightmare variations of Crota, Ghaul, and Fikrul. The prize on the finish of the pyramid? A mysterious artifact, which causes you to have a imaginative and prescient by which you’re confronted by your doppelganger and a military of floating pyramids atop Destiny 1’s Black Garden. Your double waxes poetic, telling you that he’s your “salvation.”
Eris Morn and Ikora Rey interpret this as an indication that the Darkness is poised to deliver a few catastrophic occasion on par with the photo voltaic system’s first collapse. Those fears are rapidly pushed to the aspect, nevertheless, when a military of Vex invade and resurrect the Undying Mind, a large robotic who threatens to destroy the Traveler. 
Going Beyond Light
Picking up on story threads left final season, Beyond Light follows up on the Darkness pyramid ships that appeared. They have been inflicting complete planets to fade, however to make issues worse, the Fallen have been united beneath a brand new Kell named Eramis, who has been granted immense energy from the Darkness. She grants this energy to all of the Fallen beneath her, creating a powerful menace to the Light. Variks, as soon as a follower of Eramis, has realized the risks she poses and lends his support to us in stopping her.
However, even with all of the power now we have, the Darkness is an excessive amount of to beat. That’s when the Exo Stranger makes an fascinating proposition. What in case you wield the powers of the Darkness in opposition to it? She teaches you the methods of controlling the Darkness, granting us a brand new Stasis energy, and divulges that she is definitely from a separate timeline the place Guardians had adopted the facility of the Darkness and have been subsequently corrupted by it. She has come to our timeline to stop that from taking place once more.
Thanks to the brand new talents the Darkness gives, you’ll be able to begin eliminating high-ranking members of Eramis’ military. Many associates are involved about how the Darkness will have an effect on you because it turns into extra highly effective, however it’s the solely weapon you might have in opposition to the Fallen at this level.
Pushed right into a nook, Eramis decides to open a portal on Europa to the Vex, and practically succeeds. You are capable of shut the portal earlier than too many escape, thwarting her plans. It is at this level you be taught the historical past of Eramis and the Fallen. She is set to destroy the Traveler after the Light deserted the Fallen, which have been beforehand often known as the Eliksni. Once the Light left them, their complete race descended into what we all know them as now. Her final purpose is to completely remove the Light and begin a brand new age of Darkness.
In your ultimate confrontation with Eramis, even the Darkness abandons her. Before you may end her off, she turns into frozen in Stasis. We are advised that she is just not useless, nevertheless, and that she is going to in some way return sooner or later. For now, nevertheless, we don’t know the way or in what type that can be.

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