How to Prepare for Destiny 2: The Final Shape

When The Final Shape releases for Destiny 2, there will be some foundational changes to how progression works, among likely hundreds of other changes. I would put money on that. However, until we learn what those changes are, there are still plenty of things to do before The Final Shape release on June 4, 2024.

Five Things to Do to Prepare for Destiny 2: The Final Shape

If you’re new to Destiny 2, especially in the last year or so, you have a lot of content to catch up on. Not only do you have an entire year’s worth of seasonal activities to farm, you also have more than a dozen Raids and Dungeons to attempt, a massive gear collection to fill, and literally hundreds of systems to learn. And that’s all before everything gets upended with The Final Shape drops. However, there are five things you can do regardless of your experience that will make going into the expansion as comfortable as possible.

Complete Into the Light Content

Now that Into the Light is here, you have access to a collection of some of the best Legendary weapons in the game, all easy to farm and even more effective in battle. You can also collect the Gift of the Thunder Gods chest in the Hall of Champions to skip the Power grind altogether, putting yourself immediately at the 1810 Power Cap.

On the flip side of that equation are the Exotic missions that came or are coming with Into the Light. The Whisper and Zero Hour both reward a single incredibly useful Exotic weapon. Whisper of the Worm, from The Whisper (gasp) remains a fantastic DPS Exotic if you don’t have a Gjallarhorn, Dragon’s Breath, or other top-tier damage option.

Zero Hour will bring the Outbreak Perfected Exotic Pulse Rifle back to the fore, and while it’s been long outshone by more specialized Special and Heavy Exotic weapons, I think it remains one of the best Exotic Kinetic weapons in the game. That’s especially true with its Catalyst, and because Outbreak will be craftable, you can make it even better than it was when it was first released all those years ago.

Make a Build with Every Class (or Subclass)

I think Destiny 2 is best played when you have access to all three classes and have multiple builds for each class and subclass. You can invest hundreds of hours crafting and fine-tuning builds in this game, and each class plays differently enough that having more than a few builds will help keep Destiny 2 fresh.

With that in mind, I’d suggest picking the class you like the most and perfecting it as much as you can in the next couple of months. No matter which of the three you choose, dig into them as deeply as you can because if you plan to play The Final Shape, you’ll need to know the ins and outs of that class. The new Transcendence subclass takes features from all five of the currently available subclasses, so you need to know how each works on a basic level to get the most out of the craziness coming in the expansion.

Work On Your Exotic Collection

Beyond the 13 Exotics I believe you absolutely must have in Destiny 2, you’ll still want access to as many others as you can get your hands on. Sure, the Exotic Class Item we’re getting takes an aspect from two other Exotic armor pieces, but I’ve no doubt there will still be Exotic armor from other slots that work better for specific builds.

Owning lots of Exotic weapons also makes buildcrafting easier, as many meta options rely on not only Exotic armor but a weapon as well. More importantly, there are dozens of fun, off-meta Exotic weapons out there. Bungie has shown a willingness to buff or rework underperforming Exotics, and most of these efforts have turned previously useless weapons and armor into some of the best, if sometimes niche, choices in their class.

Complete All Year 6 Seasonal Content

The seasonal stories and activities during the Lightfall year were very hit or miss, quality-wise, but the weapons and gear were not. The only season you can probably skip altogether is the Season of Defiance because not only was the story sub-par but the weapons and gear were almost entirely outclassed by everything that came after. If you’re looking for something to do, it’s not the worst thing Destiny 2 has ever put in front of us.

To access all the rewards, you will need to complete most of the seasonal story quest. Because none of it is time-gated anymore, you can plow through everything in a few hours per season. Actually, farming the best rolls for weapons and armor will take you significantly longer, and you’ll need to balance it against grinding for Into the LiIght-specific gear if you want the shiny, limited-time weapons. If you don’t care as much about the cosmetics, you can always farm the BRAVE Arsenal later when it moves to a standard playlist activity.

Collect Completed Bounties

This last tip is very much up in the air, as I’d wager that Bungie will change how progression and leveling work in The Final Shape. Until noted otherwise, however, one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself at the start of any expansion is a quest inventory full of completed bounties. The reason is simple: a massive boost of XP right at the beginning of your grind.

Having bounties stored up is even more important to get a head start on the Season Pass, should that system survive any updates the game receives. By a few weeks into the new expansion year, that initial boost won’t be as valuable, but if you plan to try out the endgame of The Final Shape — and especially if you want to be one of the first to try the new Raid out — you’ll need every advantage you can lay your hands on.

Bounty farming isn’t the most fun thing you can do in Destiny 2, but if you pair it with the other items on this list, you can essentially do it as you play rather than needing to dedicate time to bounties specifically. Just don’t turn anything in; grab as many weeklies as you can, and make sure your quest log is free of story quests, Exotic quests, or anything that isn’t a bounty.

Those are my best tips for preparing for The Final Shape expansion in Destiny 2. For more content on the game, check out our Destiny 2 guides hub.