Everything you need to know about Destiny 2's free content.
Our Destiny 2 New Light guide explains all the free to play content which will be available, as well as the game’s premium offerings.
Beginning with Shadowkeep’s release and it’s split from Activision, Bungie has made a significant step in making Destiny 2 free to play. For the first time ever, anyone on PS4, Xbox One and PC will be able to become a Guardian at no extra cost and experience all of the year one content – that’s value.
Destiny 2’s free to play offering is called New Light and there’s no power cap and certainly no time limit either. You’ll start from 750 power and have the opportunity to try out all sorts of content, including Raids, Strikes, Public Events and plenty more for nothing. However, if you want to experience the game’s latest content, you’ll need to fork out real world cash for Shadowkeep.
As Destiny 2’s been around for quite a while, we thought we’d put together a guide on all the free content that’s available in New Light. We understand it’s a confusing, daunting world out there for new Guardians, so we hope this guide will make things a little easier to understand.
For a complete breakdown of everything you need to know about Shadowkeep, make sure you check out our Shadowkeep guide hub. What’s more, our Season Pass explained page has you covered if you’ve got any questions concerning Destiny’s new Battle Pass feature!
What is Destiny 2 New Light?
Destiny 2 New Light is a free to play version of Destiny 2 which offers all of the game’s year one content for free. It also offers a few select activities from previous expansions too.
What free to play content is available in New Light?
First off, here’s all of the Year 1 and Year 2 content New Light players will be able to participate in:
- All of Destiny 2’s Year 1 content – including base Destiny 2 Red War campaign, Curse of Osiris and Warmind story missions.
- Every Patrol Space will be available in free roam and all bounties will be open. Even Forsaken’s Dreaming City and Shadowkeep’s Moon can be explored.
- All competitive multiplayer PVP maps and modes.
- All Year 1 Strikes and their Nightfall counterparts. Also vanguard weapons and gear.
- Destiny 2 Year 1 Raids, including the Leviathan, the Eater of Worlds and Spire of Stars. Also all Year 1 Raid weapons and gear.
- Full access to Gambit and Gambit Prime.
- Year 2 content including the Black Armory, The Menagerie and The Reckoning are all available.
Next up, here’s all of the new Shadowkeep additions which New Light players will get for free:
- A brand new intro mission set in the Cosmodrome from Destiny 1.
- The first mission from Shadowkeep.
- The Moon patrol space from Shadowkeep.
- New armour 2.0 system, including all the new mods.
- New Finishers.
- All of the PVP updates arriving with Shadowkeep, including all of the playlist tweaks and rebalances.
- Themed seasonal events, such as the Dawning, Crimson Days and the Festival of the Lost.
- Other PVP events, such as Iron Banner.
- Access to the free tier of the Season Pass (Season of the Undying). This includes all of the free rewards and Seasonal Artifact access too.
What content is not available in New Light?
So, here’s what purchasing the Shadowkeep expansion (you also get the Season Pass for free with your purchase) will net you:
- The Shadowkeep story campaign.
- The new Raid and Dungeons launching later this month.
- Access to the new Vex Offensive activity.
- Exotic quests for Leviathan’s Breath and Divinity.
- Hero, Legend & Master difficulty Nightmare Hunts – a brand new endgame activity.
- Premium Season Pass rewards.
If you’re a New Light player, you also won’t have access to much of the content introduced in the game’s previous major expansion, Forsaken. This means you won’t have the alternate subclass trees and their supers, Exotics, or access to the Dreaming City Raid and Shattered Throne dungeon.
Essentially, a lot of Year 2 content won’t be available unless you purchase Forsaken. If you do end up enjoying Destiny 2’s free content offerings, we’d highly recommend purchasing this expansion as it adds plenty of worthwhile challenges and progression.
That’s it for the first edition of our Destiny 2 New Light guide. We’ll constantly update this page as the game evolves, so stay tuned for all the latest!
