Destiny 2: Starter Pack is a Confusing and Frustrating Addition

As Bungie gears up to release Destiny 2: Season of the Wish, a new purchasable item called Destiny 2: Starter Pack was added.

This pack includes harmless things like an Exotic ship, sparrow, and Ghost shell to start your adventure off in style. However, this pack also includes three Exotic weapons generously described as “Destiny 2‘s finest,” and a small set of materials.

While the idea of including exotics is nothing new, as a couple Twitch Prime bundles included one and Forsaken has Forsaken Ciphers, Bungie’s choice of weapons is rather confusing.

Both Traveler’s Chosen, and Ruinous Effigy are situational guns. They work well in specific builds, or certain fights, though they’re not something I would suggest to a newcomer. The same can’t be said about the third weapon, Sleeper Simulant, which is at least a weapon that is still frequently used.

Part of what makes this choice so odd is all three of these weapons can be purchased from the Monument to Lost Lights in the Tower. For this reason it would make more sense to simply give three Exotic Ciphers, though I assume Bungie considers that as a step too far. Still, something like Witherhoard, or Leviathan’s Breath would make a lot more sense for a newcomer.

Weapons aside, a number of players have expressed concerns about the included materials. This pack includes 125,000 Glimmer, 50 Enhancement Cores, 5 Enhancement Prisms, and 1 coveted Ascendant Shard. In the grand scheme of things you could get this in a Grandmaster strike or two.

This point gets rather murky, since this isn’t a new practice per se. Destiny 2: Lightfall Annual Pass edition comes with Rahool’s Secret Stash, which is ironically better than anything included here. Not only does it include better materials, there is an Exotic Cipher that can be used to pick any Monument to Lost Lights exotics you have access to. The premium Season Pass also includes more material rewards for those who finish it.

In the end I am not exactly sure who this pack was created for. The included weapons are okay, or at most good, but Monument to Lost Lights exotics have never been easier to obtain thanks to exotic quests offering significant progress. I can fully understand people being apprehensive about including materials, not that it’s uncharted territory, though it sides more on the principle side than problematic. I can’t even say it’s a good price as similar ship, sparrow, and Ghost bundles are priced under $14.99.