Bungie held a second stream showcasing Destiny 2‘s upcoming Into the Light update on March 26.
During the weapons-centric presentation, the studio showed off the Hall of Champions, a new social and reward zone coming to the game. While players hoping for a return of the OG Tower from the first Destiny may feel some sense of disappointment, Bungie showed off how the Hall of Champions offers more benefits than the old Tower ever did.
Into the Light is a content update for Destiny 2, which will be released on April 9. In a tease for the update, Bungie showed art depicting Guardians defending the Last City against a horde of enemies. In particular, the backdrop seemingly depicted the original Destiny tower repaired. As it was attacked, damaged, and abandoned at the start of Destiny 2, getting the actual Tower back has been a sore spot for fans.
Bungie’s first Into the Light livestream introduced the horde-like Onslaught mode. The second stream showed that the Tower is, in fact, not returning for Into the Light. Instead, Destiny 2 is getting a new social space called the Hall of Champions, where Guardians can access Lord Shaxx’s Brave Arsenal.
What is the Hall of Champions?
The Hall of Champions is a new non-combat zone that Bungie describes, saying, “Shaxx has carved out a little bit of the backstage of the Tower.” Passing through strewn-about relics and doodads from Destiny‘s history, Guardians navigate what looks like the Tower’s tucked-away storage rooms. After passing through a few bulkheads, players will arrive in the Hall proper, spacious, and decked out in red and gold.
The Hall of Champions is kind of like a combination of Xur’s Treasure Hoard from the 30th Anniversary Pack and the now-sunset Tribute Hall from the Forsaken expansion. The ample area is full of chests and interactable holograms, each with different functions. The sets of chests in the center are for the three Class armor sets. Two chests toward the back of the Hall let Guardians trade the new Trophies currency for Brave Arsenal weapons and offer a quick means for new players to gear up.
Those last two chests are also positioned near the two vendors in the Hall of Champions, Lord Shaxx and Arcite 99-40. Both offer bounties, but Shaxx has reputation rewards, while Arcite has Brave Arsenal weapon quests. On top of the chests and vendors, Guardians will notice several holograms of Shaxx. These are for Attunement, a new feature that makes one Brave Arsenal weapon more likely to appear at a time.
While it doesn’t look like Guardians will return to the Tower before The Final Shape, the Hall of Champions offers its own unique draw. In the spirit of waging a defense against The Witness, this new operation base provides much more function than the Tower’s nostalgic form ever did.
