Destiny 2: Check Out Shadowkeep's New Loot-Crafting System

With only days remaining until the release of the new Shadowkeep expansion, Bungie has absolutely inundated us with details about Destiny 2's changes, its next content season, and more. The video also provides a few close looks at new guns and armor, some exploration of the story we can expect from Year Three, and a glimpse of a new loot-crafting system related to Eris Morn and the Nightmares you'll fight on the moon.

In Bungie's new ViDoc, we get a look at the Lectern of Enchantment, which appears to be the system by which you'll craft your Shadowkeep gear. On the surface, it seems similar to the Chalice of Opulence, the device you use to make weapons and armor in Destiny 2's current content season, the Season of Opulence. With that system, you add various runes you earn by completing in-game activities, which dictates what guns and armor you get when you complete a run of Opulence's major new activity, the Menagerie.

According to the ViDoc, the Lectern will relate to an upcoming Shadowkeep activity, Nightmare Hunt. The Lectern says that you'll earn something called Nightmare Essence from completing these hunts, which you'll then use to craft weapons at the Lectern. It looks like there are other currencies related to the Lectern as well, such as "Phantasmal Fragments," which you'll earn from bounties you can collect from Eris.

Director Luke Smith loosely described the Shadowkeep loot system during the ViDoc. "You're going to build a bunch of cool rewards, and if you don't get rolls you like, you're going to go back to the rune table and you're going to build more," he said. "That's part of being a Shadowkeep player--you're going to build your character your way."

That description seems to suggest that rolls will be randomized, unlike in Menagerie. But it sounds like players might have some control over what loot they chase based on how they use the Lectern. Allowing players to go after particular guns and armor they need, rather than relying on random drops, is something Smith previously suggested Bungie wanted to do more of based on feedback from Year Two.

Looking at the Shadowkeep and Season of the Undying content calendar also gives a few more clues as to how the Lectern might work. The calendar mentions multiple versions of Nightmare Hunt, which roll out over time: "Hero" and "Legend" versions of the activity launch on October 8, and "Master" Nightmare Hunts launch on October 15. That suggests these will operate somewhat like activities such as Reckoning or the Menagerie, where you'll eventually work your way up to harder tiers of Nightmare Hunt to chase better and better rewards.

We already know what to expect to earn for Shadowkeep's various armor drops, but as for its many guns, things are a lot less clear. In the ViDoc, Bungie discusses how the guns warn you when Nightmares are nearby, so it's no stretch to figure the Lectern is how you'll earn them. It seems we might have to wait until October 1 and Shadowkeep's launch to really see how these new systems work, though.