Destiny 2 fans just got one of the biggest development updates in recent memory. Joe Blackburn, Assistant Game Director of Destiny 2, gave a comprehensive rundown of the studio's plans for the near future and years ahead. It's safe to say that almost every update listed is what fans had been eager to see implemented. At the end of the article, Blackburn also gave a teaser image of some The Witch Queen armor, which has spawned theories already.
The Witch Queen is the second step in Destiny 2's Darkness trilogy. The studio is more ambitious than ever regarding this expansion's story, and as such, it has chosen to reschedule it to an early 2022 release date. While the delay can be heartbreaking, fans should be happy to hear that Bungie has plans for yet another expansion after Lightfall. Moreover, this will conclude only the first of Destiny's sagas, indicating that there will be much more Destiny content beyond 2023.
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Even though Bungie wants The Witch Queen to remain mysterious for the time being, Joe Blackburn did reveal concept art for "one of the wild armor sets" coming in a year's time. While this is early art and isn't perfectly indicative of the finished product, that did not stop the community from digging into the details.
The source of this set isn't known, but the image file is named "Nova_Gear." In astronomy, nova refers to a star's sudden spike in brightness before degrading back to its original state. With Destiny often concerned with celestial objects, this could be a vague nod at something regarding our Sun, but story details are currently kept hidden from the fanbase.
More interestingly, each Guardian class here is given one of the three alchemical primes. They are, from left to right, mercury, salt, and sulfur. Evidence of this can be found in the writings on the armor, such as NaCl printed on the Titan's shoulders, the chemical formula for common salt. These designations are appropriate as they speak to each class fantasy. For instance, mercury represents the mind in alchemy, and Hunters in Destiny lore are regarded as cunning.
Some fans also believe that each of the three elements can be an analogy for the three Darkness subclasses that Destiny 2 will get. Salt coincides with Stasis as they're both crystalline. Mercury is poisonous and represents the mind, which coincides with Savathun's tendency to poison her victims' minds. Fans have also called out how the concept of alchemical substances mesh well with the idea of a Hive witch.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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Source: Bungie, r/DestinyLore