Some Guardians have a ritual before new Destiny 2 content drops, and we’re no different: We have a preparation checklist for each season, and we’re using ours this time to keep track of what to do before The Final Shape.
New content launches such as seasons generally bring a lot of moving parts, and expansions have an even wider scope. Because of that, it never hurts to be prepared to enjoy the new activities when they launch, instead of having to worry about vault space or resource scarcity.
Our Final Shape checklist is our way of setting goals, finding loose ends, and taking care of other minor elements that may help us when the expansion drops. Here’s the best things to do before The Final Shape.
Pre-Final Shape checklist: What you should do before Destiny 2‘s next expansion
Here is a checklist of what we’ve done with new seasons and expansions we’ve played. This checklist isn’t final, and we’ll update this list once we have more information about what’s coming in The Final Shape.
Clean your vault
If you don’t part with your beloved gear, cleaning your vault is one of the most important steps before a new expansion. Even though Bungie is giving guardians some (much-needed) 100 vault slots with The Final Shape, deep-cleaning your vault lets you start the expansion without worrying about where to save the new drops, and it’s been a staple addition to our checklist ahead of new content drops for years.
We routinely clear up around 50 to 100 slots ahead of a season, which makes it easier to stock up on new weapons and rolls. We recommend using Destinyrecipes’ vault-cleaning tool, which has helped us clear out hundreds of slots in the past few years.
Stack bounties
Stacking bounties is a popular practice for players in the build-up to a season or expansion. Generally, it consists of completing bounties but not turning them in until the new content comes. That way, you’ll get a bunch of experience from those small objectives.
In our experience, stacking bounties on all three characters has given us around 20 season levels consistently, which is good to get the ball rolling in the new season. It’s particularly true with the next expansion due to its prompt raid release date, and it’s on our running list of things to do before The Final Shape and other seasons/expansions.
Get the Superblack shader and the “Shiny” BRAVE Arsenal weapons
Although Onslaught is staying, a lot of elements from Into the Light will disappear or change sources with The Final Shape. The Hall of Champions will go into the Destiny Content Vault, taking with it new copies of limited-edition weapons and Arcite 99-40’s quests.
The Superblack shader will still be available normally during Into the Light, but its drop source will change with the new expansion. By the studio’s own admission, “the best time to grab these rewards is before The Final Shape, while they have a deterministic path.”
Complete the seasonal stories and farm seasonal weapons
The story arcs for the Lightfall seasons are bound to disappear after The Final Shape. They are essential to situating for the upcoming story beats (why did Crow go into the Portal, after all?), which should play a big role in the next expansion.
Seasonal activities are slated for the same fate. The weapons and armor from those seasons will probably be relocated to different areas, potentially including the Exotic mission rotator. Acquiring Lightfall seasonal weapons will be much harder after The Final Shape, so take advantage of the guaranteed Deepsights to obtain whichever you’re missing.
Farm weapons you need before The Final Shape
The Final Shape is the biggest standoff against the Witness we’ve had so far, so it’s best to be prepared. Farm the best weapons you can have in your arsenal before the season ends so you can clear the campaign more easily, especially on Legend difficulty.
Complete all Exotic quests
The Exotic quests this year have brought a handful of craftable Exotics like Wish-Keeper and Vexcalibur, and it’s probably better to get them done and crafted before the expansion. While they’re most likely staying within Year Seven, they’re bound to enter the time-gated Exotic mission rotator. It’s easier to complete those missions while they’re available every week.
