Destiny 2 outlines The Final Shape’s new weapon enhancement feature, and it’s good stuff

Are you preparing for Destiny 2: The Final Shape? Well, if not, it might be time to do so, as not only is the community seemingly fully on board with Bungie’s next flagship, but there’s a lot of exciting stuff being shown off, like the improved weapon enhancement system.

Indeed, Bungie’s latest This Week in Destiny blog post has gone in-depth on Destiny 2‘s new and improved weapon enhancement feature, and everything suggests it’s going to be a hoot. The gist of it is that all the currently active weapons (i.e. the stuff that’s been issued out after Beyond Light) will have access to an up-to-date version of the masterworking and levelling systems, available via the three-stage enhancement upgrades that unlock as a given weapon is levelled-up. Some of the biggest boons of the new system include the ability to apply a Memento to a non-craftable weapon, for example, though the same functionality will not be available on previously sunset gear.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape adds three stages of weapon enhancement

Broadly, The Final Shape‘s new weapon enhancement system allows you to upgrade most of the game’s available weapons to gain access to enhanced traits, weapon levels, and a Memento socket. A rougher, work-in-progress version of this new system has been available for some time now via the Raid Adept weapons, but the same features (and then some) will be accessible to a wider array of gear with the new DLC.

Here’s how the new weapon enhancement system will work:

• Enhancement Tier 1: replaces a weapon’s Masterwork, unlocks an enhanced intrinsic, leveling, and a Memento socket; Raid Adept weapons can have their perks adjusted via the Martian Relic
• Enhancement Tier 2 (at weapon level 11): upgrades the weapon’s left column trait to its enhanced version
• Enhancement Tier 3 (at weapon level 17): upgrades the weapon’s right column trait to its enhanced version

Further, Bungie has promised that all of the currently available weapons from the following activities will be eligible to acquire enhanced traits in some way, shape, or form:

• Vow of the Disciple (Adepts)
• King’s Fall (Adepts)
• Guardian Games
• Gambit PvPvE
• Crucible PvP (including Competitive, Iron Banner, and Trials of Osiris activities)
• Vanguard PvE (Operations, Nightfalls)
• Prophecy Dungeon

“Unfortunately,” says Bungie’s blog, “due to some technical constraints, there are a handful of weapons instances from before Season 17 that have origin traits and are active drops, but they will not be eligible for weapon enhancement. If a weapon is not actively dropping in these activities and playlists or it’s under the legacy focusing options, it will not be enhance-able when The Final Shape releases.”

It shouldn’t be overly surprising that some of the active weapons will be precluded from the system, given how many different iterations of the weapon enhancement system Destiny 2 has gone through over the years. We don’t yet have a concrete list of the weapons that won’t be eligible for enhancement just yet, but the good news is that Bungie will update them to support the new system “if [they] are reissued and become a part of a playlist’s active drops once again.”

It’s good news all around, then, and it seems that Bungie has successfully turned Destiny 2 around following all the problems that cropped up during the year of Lightfall. It’s an impressive feat, to be sure, and it’ll become even more impressive if Bungie manages to deliver something truly meaningful and engaging with The Final Shape.