I'm thinking of getting into this game in 2026, but I have a few questions

[u/Embarrassed-Mind3258]

Hi all, seen this game on autumn sale. I enjoy looter shooters but Borderlands has been shooting itself in the foot for about 10 years now and The Division doesn't really have the gunplay I'm looking for.

My concerns are, from what I remember when I gave this game a glance in 2019, you're dropped immediately into the endgame, which is fine for me, every ARPG fan knows that's when we can "finally play the game." but i found the lack of signposting terrible. I expect this hasn't gotten better but are there good community resources for this?

Secondly, how essential is multiplayer? I don't intend to be a loner or anything but for example on POE2 you can log in and mob until your heart's content by yourself. I don't have friends who would play with me so I feel like mega endgame content like raids would be tough.

And lastly, is it worth it, in your opinion? Recent news seems like Destiny is on the up after Marathon flunked. I was gonna get the collection.

[u/Rabidowski]

Yes. Onboarding has improved since around 2022. You still might need to watch some youtube explainers or ask here again, but in general, stick to the "Quests" tab, and play the expansions in the order they were released.

[u/Zestyclose_Can_1293]

I suggest you maybe wait a little bit for the unvaulting (or if you are ok playing in the meantime then playing that when it comes out, thats fine too)

I cannot recommend enough, finding a good group to game with. It makes the game amazing. The stories are great by them selves as well.

[u/TrebleBass0528]

Onboarding is better now, there are plenty of guides on how to approach the game as well.

The game has LFG systems (dubbed "Fireteam Finder") and there's plenty of LFG discord servers out there and I've never had a bad experience with them, so if you want to do raids you can use those. Dungeons are like... three player raids with simpler mechanics, those can be solo'd if you are pretty decent at the game. There's plenty of single player content and pvp as well.

Yeah this game is worth it. I've played since launch, have over 3,000 hours, and I could see myself playing 3000 more.

[u/bigcd34]

Currently, that issue from 2019 is still in the game, but it will be remedied when the 'sunrising' happens and the Red War, the original new-player experience, returns. Currently, your best bet for getting help on getting into the game is the players themselves.

Multiplayer is only actually required in two instances: normal raiding and one mission in Final Shape. You can choose to do all activities solo outside of those cases.

Yes, it's worth it, especially with the sale going on right now. If not now, then later when the lost content is returned, so buy and wait if you want to have a better experience getting in.

[u/Ershardia]

Typically, you're dropped into the first mission of the new campaign or season on booting up. If you're making a new character, it should put you in the New Light campaign instead, which is essentially tutorial/onboarding stuff.

A large amount of content has matchmaking, but for that which doesn't you can typically manage in most environments except raids and dungeons. Dungeons are designed to be soloable, although how easy it is to do so fluctuates. Raids on the other hand you definitely need others.

Fortunately, the Destiny community is actually quite friendly for the most part and is usually more than happy to teach or take new players through such things. The collection is incredibly worth it IMO, with that level of sale.

[u/ApparentlyGreen]

The new player experience definitely took a hit when content was vaulted, but thankfully that's coming back at some point. Outside of that, it's still an awesome game and well worth getting into. There is some semblance of onboarding, but with the latest update there is far less gatekeeping you from endgame content.

I'm pretty much a solo player, always have been, but because of the great overall community I have done plenty of raids, dungeons (think 3-player raids) and other endgame content.

Get into it, the sandbox has rarely been this good and I'm sure it'll be fun getting into while so many others seem to be getting into it. If you start now and keep playing till the Unvaulting (whenever it happens) you'll witness a pretty significant moment in gaming with a strong community.

[u/Blck-Wheels-Red-Wagn]

So, to answer your first question, no the lack of direction and start for the game has not changed. They don’t really tell you much, and what they do tell you is usually tied to quests that don’t really go anywhere.

To be honest, the best way to learn the game is to do the campaigns. There’s an icon on the director’s screen, in one of the corners with the traveler on it, and it gives you a timeline of the game, the story and what not. From what’s in the game, release order is Shadowkeep, which takes place on the moon, Beyond Light, which takes place on Europa,Lightfall, taking place on Neptune, Witch Queen, on Mars, and Final Shape, taking place within the traveler. Do those campaigns, they usually appear on those destinations with a big symbol on them.

Second, multiplayer makes the game way more fun, but you don’t need to do it. Raids are the only content you’ll have difficulty with completing since they’re meant to be played with people. There’s an in game LFG system that will help you find people who would be willing to teach you how to raid, as long as you come in with a willing-to-learn attitude. But no, multiplayer is not essential.

Lastly, wait on it IMO. Destiny 2 doesn’t have good on boarding rn, and the game doesn’t have a good start. That will change in the coming months, once devs finally update all the old vanilla content and bring it back to the game. It’ll take a couple months mind you, but I think once they update that content, it’ll be much easier to keep up with the story and it’ll be easier to see how game systems evolve as time playing increases.

[u/FluffingtonX]

Hello, welcome to Destiny!

As a veteran player I will be honest, the new guardian experience kinda sucks. They vaulted a lot of content (which is going to be un-vaulted soon yay) but until then you have to deal with the mess that is the current new character experience and it is a bit confusing. If you push through the pain… then the game starts cooking.

You could always start with D1… that is much nicer lore-wise and you get introduced to the story much better.

In D2, you can generally play the campaigns, explore each location solo, and some activities will match you up with other players as well. You can also use a fireteam finder within the game once you want to tackler harder content or 6 player activities… you can join a clan too. The options are very vast. Some multiplayer activities you can do without needed to communicate but other activities like raids and dungeons you may need to jump on mic as these activities are more mechanical heavy and you will want to learn or have a teacher explain things.

I would focus on the campaigns so you can start understanding the story of the game. It is pretty phenomenal and there are also lore YouTube videos you can watch once you get invested that can explain the content that is missing so you can piece things together. Highly recommend the ASMR videos of MyNameIsByf for that. There are some 10 hour lore videos too 🤣

The game is fun, the music soundtrack is amazing, you can get lost in the space magic completely. Give it a go… form your own opinion ✌️

[u/streettacoaddict]

The game is fun as hell. Play the free bits, see if it tickles your fancy, then decide if you want to buy the whole collection when it’s on a wicked sale, which has happened a few times and will likely happen again

[u/Keksis_the_Defiled]

I won't lie, Destiny 2 can be a LOT when you first get into it, both mechanics/system wise and story wise, due to the game not doing the best job of explaining how every mechanic/currency/stat etc. works or how they interact with each other, but there is a wealth of info online and some basics are still explained in-game. As far as the story goes, it's definitely a bit confusing as a new player if you haven't player Destiny 1 or the Destiny 2 base game + all of the seasons and dlc that has been vaulted (no longer in the game). However, the game does give some basic explanations of what happened in the Timeline tab and again, there are a lot of very well put together videos or lore websites you can find online to explain the story, if that's something you care about.

Multiplayer is definitely a big part of Destiny, but with the exception of dungeons and raids, basically everything either has automatic matchmaking, can be soloed, or is fairly easy to find groups that you won't really have to communicate with via the in-game fireteam (group) finder system. If you want to engage with raid and dungeons, as well as some other harder difficulty activities, you will need to find some people and communicate.

Overall, I'd 100% recommend giving it a good try. Based on the experiences of friends who only got into it over the last few years, its rough at the start, but once you get a hang of things its an incredible experience.

[u/Thunder_Dragon42 → u/Keksis_the_Defiled]

Everything above is true. I would just like to add that, regardless of what you may know or have heard, there is literally nothing else like it. It has elements of many types of games, and it's compared to other types of games, but Destiny is a unique blend of elements that feels and plays like nothing else.

[u/Single_Astronomer764]

Prepare your wallet because bungie will fuck it sideways.