Yes, Destiny 2’s Seraph Is Already Its Best Season Of 2022

Inspired by a proclamation from DestinyTrackerI will chime in here with my first post-Christmas article to say that yes, I do agree with the statement that Destiny 2’s Season of the Seraph is the best season of 2022, even though we are only three weeks in.

Yes, that’s not very long, and of course, things will slow down by week 8-10 as they do every season, but three weeks is long enough to see really all the major pieces of a season, its central activity, its storyline and in this case, both a dungeon and exotic quest (the dungeon being sold separately, but I am no longer bothering to separate them out from their respective seasons, given that they are directly linked to the theme and story).

So, why is Seraph better than its rivals, Risen, Haunted and Plunder? (incidentally, that’s the order I’d rank them after Seraph). Well, let’s get into it:

The Loot Is Good – From heavy glaives to four burst pulse rifles to three burst linear fusions, this is the best selection of new seasonal loot I’ve seen in quite a while, plus the return of IKELOS weapons with supercharged perks and new origin traits. The seasonal weapons rival Risen and the IKELOS weapons rival Haunted’s Opulence reprisals. Plus, we have all the new Tex Mechanica dungeon weapons, and a new, hugely customizable exotic in Revision Zero.

Heist Battlegrounds Are Good – The +5 difficulty makes this the first meaningfully challenging seasonal activity in eons, a harbinger of difficulty levels to come next year. Even if that means a few struggling blueberries, it has created for a much more engaging activity where loadouts matter and you can’t just steamroll through with your eyes closed in blue gear.

The Grind Is Not Bad – The grind for weapon patterns this season, one of the main objectives of any season, has been lessened. There are way, way, way more sources of Deepsight weapons than there have been the last few seasons, and if you use those sources properly, even a grind for all 10 craftable weapons this season should not take longer than all past seasons by a good margin. I only have a few patterns left at the end of week three here, and my only real limiting factor has been Umbral Engrams themselves.

Operation Seraph’s Shield is Good – This is a great exotic mission, both soloable or a challenge on Legend with a team. It’s full of puzzles, interesting combat encounters, lots of secrets that will require multiple runs as the weeks go on. It may not top the all-timers, Presage, Zero Hour, etc. but it’s a very, very good new type of mission, one the game has been lacking all year, and I hope it does not evaporate in two month’s time.

The Dawning Is Good – Hell, even The Dawning is good this season, the holiday event that actually serves a real purpose, from 3x crafted weapon progress to an actual way to farm its specific event drops for once. Snowballs are everywhere and make activities more fun. Bungie really learned a lot of lessons from past events here, and I’ve had shockingly, zero complaints about the event this year.

The Dungeon Is Good – Count the dungeon as part of these season, don’t count it, whatever. It’s here, and it’s good, both in terms of its structure and encounter design, which makes it a quicker farm than past dungeons, and also its loot, from its cowboy gear to its Tex Mechanica weapons. And there are no absurdly frustrating bugs to deal with on the level of Duality bells.

The Story Is (Probably) Good – This is where it’s a bit too early to tell, but needless to say, I am excited we have gotten to return to Rasputin, Ana, Elsie and Clovis Bray, all characters that have been neglected for two years since Beyond Light. But we’ll have to see how things progress over time. I also like what they’re doing with Eramis, who I was not expected to see pop up here again after last season, but I think we may be pulling her to our side at the end of all this.

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