Destiny 2: Lightfall Will Remove Adept Difficulty, Introduces Surge and Overcharged Weapons

To bring some challenge back to Destiny 2, Bungie is making several changes to the game’s difficulty with the release of Lightfall. The idea is to adjust the difficulty of Legend activities closer to the Legendary Campaign. Master-level experiences should be similar to playing the raid on day one.

Some of the biggest changes include the removal of Adept difficulty. Hero difficulty will be accessible at 1750 Power, the new Soft Cap, while you can attempt Legend and Master difficulties at 1800, the new Power Cap. In Season 20, Hero-level activities require 1770 Power, Legend needs 1830, and Master requires 1840.

Each has Power level disadvantages, from -5 Power levels at Hero difficulty to -25 for Grandmaster Nightfalls. Though Match Game is gone, the damage against mismatched shields is halved throughout the game. Burns have been changed to Surges and Threats. Surges increase elemental damage dealt by 25 percent and will change every season. For instance, the Season of Defiance’s Featured Surge will be Strand, while Solar and Void rotate weekly. Threats increase the incoming elemental damage by 25 percent.

Overcharged weapons are also usable in high-level activities and deal 25 percent more damage. When using a Surging subclass, Kinetic damage is increased by 25 percent. Some examples of Overcharged weapons include weapons set per the activity and those featured as counters against Champions in the Seasonal Artifact. Of course, Overcharged weapons and Surges won’t stack.

Other changes include enemies being harder to stagger and having increased health (except in Master Raids and Dungeons), though the effect is strongest on Powerful enemies. While Lake of Shadows and Arms Dealer are getting new enemies, encounters, objectives and mechanics, Exodus Crash and The Inverted Spire have been “dramatically reduced” in the Vanguard Ops playlist. They also won’t be Nightfalls until “brought to parity.”

Check out the full article for more details on activities receiving Surges, Overcharged weapons, and so on. Destiny 2: Lightfall is out on February 28th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. Its launch trailer premieres at today’s State of Play.