Bungie’s decision to reintroduce the grind for Pinnacle drops and a power level boost in Episode: Revenant has soured the moods of many fans this week, with many perfectly happy with changes made over the past two expansions to cut back on the early season grind.
A TWID blog post from the Destiny 2 developers outlined plans to increase Power caps and bring back Pinnacle grinding after an adjustment period through Lightfall and The Final Shape. Power level increases for gear were put on pause throughout these two expansions with Fireteam Power helping new players participate in endgame activities earlier than normal. That time’s passing, however, with Bungie forcing players to grind out power levels again in the next episode—and players are pissed.
One player called out Bungie for reintroducing the needless grind, calling the decision a clear attempt to “artificially increase your playtime metrics” and force engagement in Destiny 2 instead of naturally introducing content to players. “Most players would be on board to kill light level, but at the very least don’t revert changes because you think it will increase playtime.”
As it is, many of the game’s activities ignore light levels entirely, while endgame activities include a negative light level coefficient in an effort to increase the difficulty. This, combined with Fireteam Powe (the feature that lets underpowered players jump to the light level of a higher-level guardian) has been welcomed by the vast majority of Destiny 2 players.
But players believe this gameplay loop will be shattered with the forced grind for Pinnacle rewards once again, something that many consider as unfun and unnecessary. “Removing the Pinnacle grind got me to play Destiny 2 more. Now that it’s back, I just don’t even want to play,” one player said, highlighting it took them long enough to level up their other characters to the cap with Fireteam Power.
Pinnacle grinding is an “RNG-based hamster wheel” where you complete activities for a random piece of gear with an increased light level, but it’s entirely possible to earn the higher gear in a slot you’ve already leveled up. With limited Pinnacle item opportunities in a week, doubling up in a slot means you could be set back until reset, putting you behind your peers.
Between this change and the introduction of Contest Mode for the episode’s new dungeon, many guardians are worried Bungie is solely catering to its diehard, hardcore audience instead of keeping things accessible for a casual or new group.
We’ll see the impact this has when Episode: Revenant launches in October.
