Destiny 2 guardians are facing the Witness in The Final Shape, but its villain may not even be the worst pain point. An upcoming Strike could pose a problem at higher-end difficulties, according to a Bungie developer.
“I want this Strike to be the hardest strike we ever made,” Bungie test lead Ada Kos said in a video documentary released today. “I want people to scream and cry over this Strike, and just say, how do I complete this Strike on Grandmaster difficulty?” the seven-time Conqueror developer added.
Each new Destiny 2 expansion year usually brings at least one Strike, which often appears in the higher-difficulty Nightfall pool. These can push the envelope on the difficulty spectrum, as The Glassway and Proving Grounds did early into the year of Beyond Light and The Lightblade with The Witch Queen.
While it’s unlikely that players will overexert themselves with the regular version, its nearly certain appearance in the Nightfall pool may achieve Kos’ goals, especially when scaling up to Master and Grandmaster levels.
New Strikes have also consistently been featured as a Nightfall in the season they were released, and consequently, appeared in the Grandmaster pool. This has been the case for the Glassway, plus the triad of Strikes in season 13, the two Throne World Strikes in season 16, and the Neomuna Strike with Lightfall. Players are bound to encounter the next activity in the pool as well, given that bulletproof track record.
The Final Shape‘s Strike may be memorable—not just for its possible harsh difficulty, but also for potentially unique mechanics.
“Imagine you’re in a narrow hallway. You need to escape it.” Kos said. “Lava is descending. Obstacles coming out of the walls. You made this slide towards the closing door, and… you’re dead. The door just closed right in front of your face.”
Its theme also seems to pair with the fight against the Witness and the Pale Heart’s meaning as a destination. The new mission is “sort of a memory out of the Witness’ history, of its race, and what its buildings may have looked like in the past,” according to senior designer Mikala Little.
The Final Shape‘s next Strike might be an unforgiving Nightfall, especially as players adjust to the plethora of sandbox changes to abilities, Exotics, and weapons. The Prismatic subclass may also help them face the challenge once guardians learn their full potential and get their hands on the new Exotic class items.
The Final Shape is set to be released on June 4, though the servers will go down for maintenance in the daily reset on June 3. Players can dive into the new mission and experience the expansion at 12pm CT on June 4.
