Destiny 2 Final Shape release date, trailers, story, gameplay and more

The Destiny 2 Final Shape release date is now on every Destiny fan’s mind. The expansion is set to end the Light and Darkness saga, which has guided fans of Bungie’s space-faring looter shooter for a whole decade. With the Season of The Witch now begun and a roadmap to the next major adventure ahead, it’s time to dive into everything we know so far about what to expect from The Final Shape.

Here, we’re going to cover the Destiny 2 Final Shape release date, as well as the trailers we’ve seen so far, what we know of the story, and all the new content and big gameplay changes that we currently know the DLC will bring. You’ll need to be ready for it when we get there though, so make sure you’re caught up on the current best PvE weapons and best PvP weapons you can pick up in the game right now.

Destiny 2 Final Shape launch date

The Final Shape DLC expansion for Destiny 2 is currently set to release on February 27, 2024. This will see it release approximately one year after Lightfall, the standard distance between major DLC expansions for Destiny 2. Final Shape is set to be the last major expansion for Destiny 2, with the game moving to an Episodes system rather than seasonal system afterwards.

Given the important nature of the DLC, it’s not impossible that this date could change should development encounter delays. However with Lightfall serving as something of a controversial filler expansion to give the studio more time to focus on the Final Shape, major changes to the current timeline seem unlikely.

Final Shape platforms

The Final Shape will be available to all standard platforms that you can currently play Destiny 2 on. This means it’ll be available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC via Epic Games and Steam. It’ll launch on the same day and at the same time across all platforms, so no player risks being at a disadvantage.

Final Shape price and pre-order

You’ll be able to buy the Destiny 2 Final Shape expansion for £41.99/$53, or £83.99/$106 if you’re buying it with the annual pass bundle. These are the pre-purchase prices of course, but given they’re in-line with much of Bungie’s previous expansion pricing schemes, so they likely also reflect the prices on launch.

There’s also a Collector’s Edition which will be available for purchase. This edition will come with an interactable model of The Tower as its main set piece. It’s not yet clear how much the Collector’s Edition will cost.

Final Shape trailers and showcase

Following the Destiny 2 2023 showcase, we’ve come away with quite a lot of new insight into what to expect from the Final Shape expansion.

The first teaser we got came during the 2023 Playstation Showcase. This was the trailer that showed a seemingly resurrected Cayde-6 returning with the expansion. It also teased the 2023 showcase.

The showcase itself was a several hour experience. The first hour saw previous trailers from the beginning of Destiny to the end of Season of The Deep, which guided players along the 10 year journey that the game and community have taken. The following hour was the showcase proper, giving us a glimpse into what to expect from the last DLC for Destiny 2. Following this, the remaining time saw developers and guest stars discuss the showcase and answer questions in the post-showcase wrapup.

Following the showcase, a cut down trailer for the Final Shape expansion specifically was released, condensing everything important into a few minutes.

We can likely expect more trailers in the future. A noticeable absence from the showcase was mention of a new subclass, the third and final expected Darkness power to mirror the three powers of the Light. It’s highly likely that we’ll see this subclass on display in a similar fashion to later Lightfall trailers.

Final Shape story

It goes without saying that we don’t yet have a fully formed picture of the story for Final Shape. Season 22 is new, and there are two more seasons following it that could radically change the story. That said, there are some story beats we know are going to be reserved for the Final Shape itself.

The Final Shape will focus on the last confrontation with the Witness, inside the Pale Heart of The Traveler. With its goal now in sight, the Witness has constructed something of a monolith within the Traveller. From here it battles to shape the Pale Heart, altering reality around it, and wrest control of the Light.

Guardians will begin the Final Shape after finally breaching the portal on the side of the Traveller that was created at the end of the Lightfall campaign. From here, you’ll journey alongside the Vanguard, including Zavala, Ikora and Cayde-6 to traverse the Pale Heart, reach the Witness, and put an end to its plans before it can destroy the universe and remake it in its own image.

Final Shape exotics

Exotics are one of the most anticipated content additions of any season or expansion, and it’s just the same for the Final Shape. So far, we know of a few exotic weapons coming to the game with the DLC, though we haven’t heard anything yet on armour.

Tesselation is the headliner; a new exotic fusion rifle, inspired in design by the pyramid ship architecture. This rifle will adapt to whatever current subclass you have equipped, making it the first time you’ll be able to run a Strand or Stasis weapon in the energy weapon slot. It’ll also be able to absorb a player’s grenade and fire it out of the weapon as a single, high damage shot. It’s not yet clear which of these will be the intrinsic exotic trait and which will be a unique perk.

We’ve also seen some concept art for a new trace rifle. This weapon will be inspired by the Traveller’s lightbeam attack in Lightfall, firing a similar kind of sustained energy blast.

Final Shape gameplay

Amazingly, we actually know a fair bit about what to expect from the Final Shape with regards to gameplay and content. Here’s a list of what we know to expect come the Destiny 2 final shape release date about so far.

• New supers, aspects and abilities
• Returning weapons
• New weapon archetypes
• New subclass
• New area
• New enemies
• Changes to Power Level
• Changes to progression
• New raids

Let’s break down each of these a bit more with what we know so far.

New supers, aspects and abilities

The new supers were proudly shown off by the dev team during the showcase, and deservedly so – they look fantastic. There will be three new supers coming in Final Shape, one for each class, alongside some new abilities and aspects.

Warlocks

Warlocks will receive some new solar powers. A new melee with mutli-split projectiles should make crowd control that much easier, while a sentient phoenix-like grenade will be able to bounce from one target to another, tracking and detonating each time it impacts.

The new solar super for Warlocks is apparently inspired by the Radiance super from Destiny 1. It will grant a buff to you and nearby allies, allowing all solar weapons in your fireteam to apply Scorch to targets on hits, which will greatly boost their damage output. Whether this super has additional benefits isn’t yet known. Lastly the new solar aspect will spawn a Solar Soul, which can target nearby enemies, launching a part of itself out and detonating with a Scorch explosion.

Titans

Titans will be getting some love for their void subclass. We don’t know anything about the new Titan melee or grenade abilities we’re presumably going to get, but the aspect sounds amazing. The new void aspect will allow Titans to consume their grenade and turn it into a front-facing shield. This shield will absorb damage, charging it up. On release, depending on the charge, it’ll release a powerful blast of void energy, destroying anything in its path.

The new titan super, Twilight Arsenal (likely an homage to Twilight Gap), is the first ranged, one-off offensive super for the class in the game. It’ll launch Titans up into the air, where they’ll summon and throw out three large void battle-axes. The void axes will lodge into the ground, pulling enemies in before exploding. The axes themselves will remain afterwards, allowing you and your fireteam to pick them up and wield them for a brief time afterwards.

Hunters

Hunters will be getting the arc treatment. Again, we haven’t gotten any new confirmation on grenade and melee abilities. The showcase did show what looks to be a staff-based arc melee move though. The new Hunter aspect will propel the Hunter upward at a button press, applying the Amplified buff to them and all nearby allies.

For the new Hunter super, players will be able to throw an electrified knife across a distance. On landing, the Hunter will teleport – or blink – to the knife, and perform a powerful 360 degree sweeping arc attack around themselves, harming nearby enemies. This’ll be repeatable three times in one super.

Returning weapons

The Final Shape will bring back yet some more Destiny 1 content to the current game. This is already set to happen with the return of the Crota’s End raid during Season of The Witch. The expansion, meanwhile, will reunite fans with a few favourite guns from the past, albeit with some reworks. Here are the guns we so far know to be coming back.

• Khvostov 7G-0X, an exotic auto rifle.
• Red Death, an exotic pulse rifle.
• Dragonsbreath, an exotic rocket launcher.

Each of these weapons will have some altered functionality, but remain the same at their core.

New weapon archetypes

The Final Shape is seeing some brand new weapon archetypes arriving, too. While Season of the Witch has introduced Warden’s Law back as a new two-shot hand cannon archetype, Final Shape will be going a little more ambitious. We saw in the showcase that the team is working on a new sidearm rocket launcher hybrid archetype. These rocket pistols will fire micro-rockets instead of bullets, which fire far slower, but have limited tracking and AOE damage. This family of guns will share some sidearm and some rocket launcher stats, making them one of the more exotic (pun intended) types of weapon you’ll find out there.

We’re also going to see a support auto rifle archetype. This kind of auto rifle will be able to dish out damage, but also heal allies by shooting them, similar to how the buffs from the Navigator trace rifle currently works.

New subclass

As mentioned, we didn’t see a new subclass during the showcase, and it might be a while before we do. Nevertheless, it is more likely than not that we will see one. Darkness currently has only two subclasses, while Light has 3. The last Darkness subclass, Strand, arrived with the previous Lightfall expansion.

We don’t yet know what this subclass will look like, although a lot of speculation seems to converge on the idea of it being coloured red, which would certainly be cool to see. We also don’t know how it could work. Will it be tied to the Veil like Strand was? Will it be something completely separate and unimagined? We’ll update you here once this changes nearer the Destiny 2 Final Shape release date, though.

New area

As we’ve seen, the main new area coming with Final Shape will be the inside of the Traveller itself, also called the Pale Heart of The Traveller. Interestingly, this area won’t follow the generally circular design of previous destinations like Neomuna, the EDZ, or Nessus. Instead, it’ll be linear. This will make it the first linear destination in the game. The reason for this is that the end point will be the monolithic spire constructed by the Witness.

As players traverse the landscape, they’ll see radical change. To begin, the landscape will actually be shaped by Guardians and their experiences. The Tower from Destiny 1 will return as a feature point of interest, now overgrown by the nurturing garden powers of the Traveller. Other features, architecture, and formations will be familiar, showcasing different parts of the journey across ten years.

As players close in on the domain the Witness has corrupted however, things will change. The landscape and features will become abstract, unfamiliar and barren. Parts will be deconstructed or warped. Even the ground will be pulled apart in places.

This should all make for a rather unique design overall, but we’ll have to wait and see how it unfolds before we can be certain.

New enemies

Alongside the new destination, we’ll be seeing some new enemies too. We currently don’t know the whole threat layout of the Pale Heart of The Traveller. Given the area is a reflection of our experiences, we might encounter everything from Hive, Fallen and Red Legion to the Witch Queen and the Taken King. However closer to the Witness’ influence, players will encounter a new variant of Darkness disciple – the Subjugator. Similar to the Tormentors we saw arrive in Lightfall, Subjugators are direct thralls of the Witness. These enemies are a bit more dangerous though, as they can wield Darkness subclasses, including Stasis and Strand. They might even be able to wield the rumoured third subclass that could be arriving with Final Shape. Either way, they’re going to represent some particularly tough – and potentially annoying – new combatants.

Changes to power level mechanics

The power level mechanics are largely agreed to be in need of some fine-tuning in Destiny 2, and it seems like the Final Shape will deliver. Come launch, more activities will have locked power levels, while the remaining activities – like Nightfalls, will be rebalanced to better reflect the challenge they’re meant to represent.

The devs are also planning on adding in a new fireteam power level system. When in a fireteam, the highest power level player will be used as a benchmark. The remaining fireteam members will have their power level increased, to more closely match their friend.

Changes to progression

There are some changes coming to progression as well once we hit the Destiny 2 Final Shape release date. The changes to power level will be part of this, but we’re not yet certain what the other on-the-ground alterations will be. It’s likely that we’re going to see engrams, focusing and pinnacles get another overhaul though, as they did with the Season of The Deep.

In more general progression however, we know that the approach to storytelling will change post-Final Shape. The seasons will be replaced with Episodes, with three Episodes a year. Each episode will have three Acts, which will each last 6 weeks. This might also mean a general acceleration to progression systems, but we can’t be sure. The first year following Final Shape will be for the episodes Echoes, Revenant and Heresy.

New Raids

Raids are a mainstay of Destiny 2 endgame content, and they’re likely not going anywhere any time too soon. We know that the Final Shape will have a new raid coming with it, just like Root of Nightmares for Lightfall.

From what we’ve heard at the showcase, the new raid will be the final true narrative conclusion to the Light and Dark saga. While the campaign will aim to wrap up the story in a meaningful way, the last showdown against the Witness will take place in the raid itself. The dev team are aiming to therefore make the Final Shape raid the toughest one yet, requiring true dedication and skill to master.

That covers everything we know so far about the Destiny 2 Final Shape release date, story, gameplay and more. Make sure you’re ready for the experience by checking out our advice on the best Hunter builds, best Titan builds, and best Warlock builds for the current meta.

Will Destiny 2 end after Final Shape?

Destiny 2 will continue after Final Shape. The Final Shape will be the last expansion and chapter in the Light and Darkness saga. After this, Destiny 2 will continue, moving to an Episodes model rather than Seasonal.

Is there going to be a Destiny 3?

At the moment, there are no known plans for a Destiny 3. With Destiny 2 set to continue on after Final Shape, a third Destiny game might be a long way off.

Will Final Shape be good?

After the controversial reception of Lightfall, there’s a lot of pressure on Final Shape to perform. The dev team have acknowledged this, promising a strong and fulfilling narrative for the final expansion.