This week at Bungie was surprisingly beefy, as it gives us our first look of Season of the Deep, plus what to expect from exotic focusing, deepsight activation, and other quality of life improvements.
The header image is our first look at what to expect from Season of the Deep. Bungie notes we can expect our first look on May 23, at 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST.
Bungie revealed the long awaited cost associated with exotic focusing. This comes in three different tiers, with each costing more than the last. On the basic level is just decrypting, which can give any unlocked exotic armor at no cost. Focusing tier 1 lets you select different pools based off expansions, and in Red Wars case slot, for one Ascendant Shard, 30,000 Glimmer, and an exotic engram. The final tier lets you select a specific piece for three Ascendant Shards, 60,000 Glimmer, one exotic engram, and an exotic cypher. The post also notes you must own the expansion, along with previously acquired the exotic, to focus.
Several will likely be disappointed with the deepsight activation progress. Players will only get six activations for the first season, with three behind the free and three behind the paid pass. For all the details about that, and the economy changes can be found below.
DEEPSIGHT ACTIVATION AND CRAFTING ECONOMY CHANGES
In Season 21, we will be adding the ability to electively activate Deepsight on weapon instances to obtain pattern progress. This capability will be accessible through a new mod slot in the weapon details screen for eligible weapons.
- To perform a Deepsight activation on a weapon, you will need a new Deepsight Harmonizer currency. Non-raid weapons will cost 1 Harmonizer, while raid weapons will require 15 Spoils of Conquest in addition to the 1 Harmonizer cost.
- This Deepsight Harmonizer currency can be obtained from Season pass rank rewards, 3 in the free ranks and another 3 in the paid. This will be the sole source of this currency for the initial rollout of the feature. Additionally, only one Harmonizer can be stored in the inventory at any time—this currency does not stack.
- Not all weapon instances will be compatible with Deepsight activation:
- You will be prevented from activating Deepsight for a weapon that has already had its pattern unlocked.
- Weapons that previously had Deepsight will be ineligible. You cannot activate Deepsight on a weapon instance which had originally been acquired with Deepsight, nor can you activate Deepsight multiple times on a single weapon instance.
- Weapon instances purchased from raid vendors will be ineligible, however weapons purchased from Xûr and the Gunsmith will support Deepsight activation.
Crafting costs will also see a change in Season 21:
Bungie
- Legendary Shard costs will be removed from all crafting components. Glimmer and Enhancement Core costs will remain untouched.
- Enhanced weapon costs are based on weapon Masterwork costs, and thus will still require Legendary Shards as we are not yet modifying the weapon Masterwork economy in Season 21.
As previously confirmed, older raids will get the same exotic rate boost we saw in the most recent dungeons, and Root of Nightmares. An exact amount was not given, but challenges and “complications” will see an increase of one, master will also get an increase of one or two depending on the activity, and going flawless will increase it by three.
The post also confirmed the long hated Finest Matterweave and Rainmaker items will no longer appear in the future. They will be replaced by one Enchantment Core, and 3,000 Glimmer respectively. Bungie also confirmed existing instances of them can be dismantled for these new rewards as well. Just don’t do it before the changes are live.
While this covers the main aspects, there are also a number of changes coming to Trials, Prime rewards, three new Strand elements that can be found in the blog post.
