Destiny 2 Season 22: Release date, Season 21 end date, Raid leaks, PvP map & all we know so far

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep's end date is coming soon, and while it took a while to get going, its seasonal story culminated in a big reveal for what lies ahead.

Destiny Season 22 is the game's next step on the road to The Final Shape, the game's next expansion - and the culmination of the 'Light and Dark' saga which started with Destiny 1 all the way back in 2014 (although we'd argue it only really got going from Shadowkeep onwards).

Now that Solstice 2023 is over, the next season will take the game through to the Winter, and if the current chapter is anything to go by, there are revelations in store for our Guardians. Here is everything we know about Destiny 2 Season 22 so far, including the release date, start time, Raid and story possibilities, and more.

• This is all in preparation for what is coming next year, Destiny 2 The Final Shape.

Destiny 2 Season 22 release date & Season of the Deep end date

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Purely because we know when Season of the Deep will end, we can say for certain that Destiny 2 Season 22 will begin on August 22 2023. This comes the same day as the Destiny showcase, during which we will learn about what's to come in The Final Shape.

This is quite reminiscent of what happened last year. The Destiny Showcase of 2022 was an event in which we learned significant details about Lightfall, but also where we learned about the Season of Plunder, the season that began the very same day.

It would seem likely then that this situation will repeat, and perhaps we will learn more about the nature of Destiny 2 Season 22 at the showcase event.

Expect some maintenance as Destiny 2 patch 7.2.0 rolls out, but we've got our Destiny 2 Server Status page to keep you informed.

• Get your hands on the Destiny 2 Epochal Integration by following these steps.

What do we know about Destiny 2 Season 22 content?

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Precise details about what we can expect in Season 22 are yet to be revealed, but we can infer some things based on what has come before, what has happened recently, and what we know to be coming in the near future.

For example, we know that Destiny 2 Season 22 will follow the seasonal structure, meaning we will get new seasonal activities, new seasonal gear, and a seasonal story that will develop week to week.

If you've been enjoying Veil Containment in Season of the Deep, there's good news - Veil Containment will continue to offer new story and lore through to Season 23 (seemingly going away with The Final Shape).

In a big boost for PvE players, Vanguard Medals are back, with Bungie saying the active medals will rotate alongside current Surge modifiers so you'll get to constantly show off your best elemental builds.

Additional Battlegrounds will join the Nightfall and Grandmaster Nightfall rotations for both Season 22 and Season 23, too.

Gambit players, rejoice (sort of) - you're getting the Cathedral of Scars ported into Destiny 2, and we'll see Shadow Legion and Lucent Hive added to the PvPvE mode, too.

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Destiny 2 Season 22 Exotic Rotator

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Guardians can also expect an Exotic Mission Rotator, giving them the chance to earn some of the game's best exotic weapons.

Players can unlock Dead Man's Tale in the Presage mission, finish Vox Obscura for Dead Messenger, or attempt Operation: Seraph Shield to get the customisable Revision Zero.

Bungie has also revealed that Presage will kick off the rotator.

Destiny 2 Season 22 Raid

It seems highly likely, at least thanks to a series of leaks, that the returning Raid for Destiny 2 Season 22 will be Crota's End, which originally arrived in the first game's The Dark Below expansion.

Known as a fairly short and, in many ways, simple Raid, many had speculated Crota's End would be converted to a three-player Dungeon, but it appears it'll be joining the current Raid lineup.

Its reappearance would mean Wrath of the Machine, Scourge of the Past, or a return to the Leviathan Raid (s) from early Destiny 2 would miss out, but at least we know when we'll be attempting it.

As confirmed in Bungie's blog on July 27, Destiny 2's next raid will go live on September 1, with Contest Mode enabled for 48 hours.

In case you weren't counting, that means Destiny 2 will offer 9 raids, as Crota's End joins the following:

• Deep Stone Crypt
• Garden of Salvation
• King's Fall
• Last Wish
• Root of Nightmares
• Vault of Glass
• Vow of the Disciple

Destiny 2 Season 22 PvP additions

New map: Multiplex

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Bungie's "State of the Game" post for August 2023 explained that PvP development is dedicated more to overarching systems, as opposed to specific new maps. While noting that bandwidth needs to be taken from elsewhere to develop maps, players can expect a brand new Vex-network-themed PvP map in Destiny 2 Season 22.

'Multiplex' is described by Bungie as an asymmetrical map which can cater to multiple modes.

New modifier: Checkmate

Checkmate is a new modifier that will focus on primary weapons, with Special ammo needing to be earned. Player health is increased, and Primary weapon damage is tuned for longer encounters.

The modifier will be available in Crucible Labs from Week 5 to Week 10. It'll start with Control, then Survival, then Rumble in two-week intervals.

New mode: Relic

If you've been missing the Synaptic Spear, the Scythe, and the Aegis, Bungie is bringing them back for a 6v6 mode called Relic where players can charge up to earn a relic.

Expect it in Crucible Labs from Week 1 through 4, then back in Week 11.

New Trials of Osiris armour

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Bungie has only revealed a tease of fresh armour, but players can expect the Titan Armor above for Season 22 of Trials of Osiris.

Matchmaking Improvements

Good news - Bungie is working on matchmaking again in Season 22. 

"We’re modifying our loose skill-based matchmaking settings for Control and Iron Banner," the team explains.

"These new settings will look to improve matchmaking times and experiences for players who find themselves at the upper or lower ends of the skill spectrum, and for those playing in low-population regions or times."

• If you ever fancy a change of pace, there's always time for some Destiny 2 fishing.

Destiny 2 Season 22 weapons and gear

Good news, Guardians - we're getting some more new toys to play with - as well as the returning hand cannon, Warden's Law. It'll be a Nightfall reward, and will form a new archetype.

Bungie has also revealed that the following will drop from activities, and they'll be focusable as soon as the season begins:

• Crucible
  • Unending Tempest - Stasis Submachine Gun
• Strikes
  • Luna Regolith III - Solar Sniper Rifle
• Gambit
  • Qua Xaphan V - Void Machine Gun
• Nightfall
  • Warden's Law – Kinetic Hand Cannon
  • Pre Astyanax IV – Solar Precision Bow
• Iron Banner
  • The Guiding Sight – Strand Scout Rifle
  • Point of the Stag – Arc Bow
• Trials of Osiris
  • Igneous Hammer – Solar Hand Cannon
  • Cataphract GL3 - Strand Heavy Grenade Launcher

The Mercurial Overreach Sniper Rifle will stick around, while Competitive Division players can expect an Aggressive Frame Strand Pulse Rifle.

Bungie has also revealed that Ascendant Shards and Ascendant Alloys will be capped at 30, instead of 10, and Enhancement Prisms will be capped at 100 instead of 50.

The team says this is to remove the risk of losing them at the Postmaster, but as part of the move, they'll no longer go to the Postmaster. That means you'll need to use them or lose them. Bungie says any you've already accrued will still be found in the Postmaster until they're claimed.

• Check out Xur's location today in Destiny 2 here

Destiny 2 Season 22 weapons preview patch notes

The following changes are being made to the weapons sandbox in Season 22:

General

• Fixed bug where using two special weapons granted more heavy ammo than intended
• Changed zoom and damage falloff to reduce massive variance between weapons of the same range, removed damage falloff scaling from zoom and added new ADS scalar to replace it

Weapons

• Hand cannons buff - increased damage 20% to minors (red bars) and 75% to majors (orange bars), increased reload speed across the board, added Heavy Burst and added Warden's Law
• Bows buff - increased projectile velocity at full draw for longer distance shots, reduced minimum time for reload animation to allow for higher reload speeds
• Sidearms nerf - reduced base damage for aggressive frames from 32 to 30
• Pulse Rifles buff - BxR Battler zoom returning to 20
• Swords buff - energy recharges on a short delay after using guard, huge increase to damage resistance when guarding, guard no longer loses energy when taking damage, full power heavy attacks no longer require full energy

Exotics

• Monte Carlo catalyst - adds bayonet melee attack to Markov Chain, massive melee damage that can be chained into further attacks
• Verglas Curve buff - Whisper of Fissures now generates Hail Barrage stacks
• Le Monarque PvP nerf - reduced damage profile to that of a lightweight bow, reduced damage over time effect but increased poison damage by 50% in PvE
• Vex Mythoclast PvP nerf - reduced RPM from 390 to 360, increased PvE damage to minors and majors by 25%
• Tommy's Matchbook buff - changed Scorch to 15 + 5
• Touch of Malice buff - increased final shot damage in PvE by 25%, reduced self-damage from 10 to 7, will no longer kill the user but keep them at 1HP if they continue firing, improved Touch of Mercy, Ball of Darkness now deals arc damage and stuns unstoppable champions
• Cloudstrike nerf - reduced lethal distance of lightning strike against other players
• Wicket Implement buff - Creeping Attrition timing window increased from 3.5 to 4.5 seconds, can activate Tithing Harvest by destroying Stasis crystals, catalyst now includes Headstone perk

Perks

• Bipod - reduced damage penalty from 40% to 25%
• Envious Assassin - removed time limit for activation
• Under-Over - bonus body damage against players using Woven Mail, increased damage against shields, significantly increased damage against enemies shielded by Dark Cabal overshields or Lucent Moths
• Under Pressure - reduced maximum accuracy scalar from 0.5 to 0.75
• Shoot to Loot - now activates with explosive damage, removed unintended interaction where the perk would grant ammo to overflowed magazines without consuming the ammo brick
• Valiant Charge - deactivates after single swing
• Ambush - fixed issue where the perk deactivated after healing, taking fall damage or being shot by allies
• Explosive Light - fixed a bug where the enhanced perk would grant two stacks on initial orb pickup
• Chill Clip - reduced slow stacks from 60 to 40, Wolfpack Rounds no longer trigger the perk

Crafting

• Increased weapon progression from activity completions and PvP kills, weapon progression that exceeds current level will rollover to next level, can use Glimmer and Enhancement Cores to increase weapon level
• Resonant and Harmonic Alloys will be depreciated, and can be traded in with Rahool for Glimmer
• First Neomuna weekly pinnacle story mission completion will grant guaranteed Neomuna weapon progress, both Neomuna and Throne World vendor engram upgrades will increase drop chance of Deepsight weapons from those locations

Destiny 2 Season 22 Strand Aspects

If you've been zipping around the green ziplines of the Strand subclass, good news - you're about to get more tools to play with.

Bungie is adding three new Aspects in Season 22, with the following arriving:

• Hunter: Whirling Maelstrom
• Titans: Banner of War
• Warlocks: Weavewalk

We'll find out more as we get closer, but be sure to check out our rundown of the early Destiny 2 Season 22 patch notes.

Destiny 2 Quality of Life upgrades in Season 22

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Here's a quick rundown of additional features coming in Season 22:

• All Stasis Aspects and Fragments will be available from Elsie Bray if you've beaten Beyond Light.
• Players can pin 100 of their favorite cosmetic options, including shaders, ornaments, and emotes.
• Transmats will be unlockable, as opposed to consumable.
• Wish-Ender is getting a more straightforward quest.
• Currencies will be moved to Collections.
• Iron Banner challenges will be doubled up for Pinnacle and Reputation modifiers.
• You can rank up in Ritual Activities within matches, so you don't have to wait to get to orbit. Finally!

What do we know about Season 22's story?

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Again, nothing can be confirmed on this front just yet. That said, if Season 22 continues the plot where Season of the Deep left off, we can make an educated guess as to what we might be doing in Destiny 2 Season 22.

If you have not yet finished the story content of Season 21, this might be your time to look away.

At the end of the Season of the Deep Story quest, we learn that the only one who can help us follow the Witness through the portal is the Witch Queen herself. Although we defeated Savathun last year, her Ghost, Immaru, is still very much alive and can bring her back.

The story for Season of the Deep leaves off with the heavy implication that our next goal will be to bring Savathun back, which is likely to be the focus of Season 22. Zavala mentioned that Ikora and Eris would be the ones to handle this, so it is likely that they will be the characters we will interact with the most during Destiny 2 Season 22.

That is everything we currently know about Destiny 2 Season 22. For more, check out our Destiny homepage, or the best weapons for PvP in the game.