The next Destiny 2 expansion is called The Witch Queen, and as the name implies, players will finally face the eponymous villain, the terrible Savathûn herself. In case you need reminding who she is, she’s the middle sister to Xivu Arath, God of War, and Oryx, the Taken King. They are the chief gods of the Hive species, who originally made a deal with the Worm gods on Fundament.
Hive gods have their own ‘cyst universes’ within the Ascendant Realm, otherwise known as Throne Worlds – a realm in which they have absolute power. That’s where the Guardians are headed to confront The Witch Queen, and she’s got plenty up her sleeve, including Hive Guardians who have the power to wield the Light.
The Witch Queen expansion releases alongside Season 16 and marks the conclusion of Season 15, in which we’ve been working alongside Mara Sov to remove Savathûn’s worm – the source of her power, at her own request. By the time the release date arrives, we’ll know whether Savathûn – the queen of lies, mind you – really intends to renounce her pact with the Worm gods. Here’s everything we know about The Witch Queen expansion in Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 The Witch Queen release date
The Witch Queen release date is February 22, 2022. Originally, the expansion was intended to launch in 2021, but delays have pushed it back to early next year. This means that the current season is a particularly long one. There will be four seasons to accompany The Witch Queen.
The Witch Queen new locations
The expansion takes place in Savathûn’s Throne World, her own private universe in which she reigns supreme. From PCGamer’s interview with Destiny 2 director Joe Blackburn, we’ve learned that the Throne World will feature three zones: a crashed pyramid ship in a murky swamp, Savathûn’s giant ornate castle, and a bubble that is a blend of the two.
The Witch Queen new enemies
In the expansion, we will fight against The Witch Queen’s Hive Guardians who can wield the Light. This ability is usually granted by the Traveler, so where exactly did Savathûn get the Light from? Maybe things are different in Savathûn’s Throne World, or maybe she’s worked out a way to steal it – she did drain Light from Guardians in the Savathûn’s Song strike back in vanilla. The gameplay trailer above calls upon us to ‘survive the truth’ and ‘take back the light’, but at present, the true nature of this ability is a mystery.
According to Joe Blackburn, we should “think of [the Hive Guardians] like Wyverns—which are big, tough, meaty, mechs. Every time you see a Hive Guardian, we want it to change the way you play.”
Speaking to Polygon, Joe explains that when you’re facing these Hive Guardians, “We want it to feel like you’re fighting you”. These Hive Guardians can use Supers and resurrect, just like players.
The Witch Queen new features and content
Instead of giving us another new Darkness subclass, Bungie is gradually overhauling all the Light subclasses to use the same system as Stasis, allowing you to customise your build more. This rework begins in Season 16 with Void subclasses.
Related: Our guide to all the Destiny 2 classes
We’re also getting a new weapon archetype, the Glaive – a part melee, part ranged weapon, which can generate a shield. A Destiny 2 weapon crafting system is also on the way – which we’ll use to craft the Glaive.
If you’re looking for a substantial challenge, The Witch Queen adds a legendary difficulty campaign mode, buffing enemies and restricting respawns.
Bungie also announced that a new raid or dungeon will arrive every three months, so we could see more classic raids returning to the game, along the lines of the updated Vault of Glass . Until then, check out this week’s Timelost weapon and today’s Legendary Lost Sector.
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