Summary
When it first came out alongside Act 1, Heresy was praised as a great Episode, and possibly the best of the threeDestiny 2has ever had. It’s only natural then that many things were riding on Heresy Act 2’s shoulders, especially with Bungie launching it alongside the2025 version ofDestiny 2’s Guardian Gamesand more story missions and episodic content, like the Court of Blades activity. Some issues on launch are still lingering in the first week of Act 2, but the new release further highlights the need for one missing feature that players have been vocal about for quite some time - one that Frontiers shouldn’t leave behind.
Destiny 2will undergo massive changes with Frontiers, starting with its model moving away from yearly expansions to shifting the way armor currently works. Heresy is also moving some pieces inDestiny 2’s offering, as it cements Bungie’s decision to make crafting less common while making roguelike elements a bigger part of the gameplay loop. Act 2 introduces not only the Court of Blades activity, but also Rushdown for Guardian Games, all while having a plethora of other available activities in the game. As such,Destiny 2can’t keep avoiding a way for loadouts to also save Artifact perks.
Why Destiny 2 Needs to Add Artifact Mods to Loadouts
Artifact mods inDestiny 2have gradually become an indispensable part of buildcrafting and the seasonal or episodic offering as a whole, as players are pushed to test new perks, builds, and weapons. If this remains a key part of Frontiers, which appears to be the case, then Bungie should find a way for the game’s loadout system to also include a given selection of Artifact mods alongside the saved build. This would dramatically improve the quality of life of running various activities in the game, instead of the current system, which is in a way punishing players for it.
Swapping loadouts is very common within one activity, let alone when players tackle multiple types of content in the game.Destiny 2’s Rushdown boss rush moderequires a certain type of build because players are supposed to deal as much damage as possible against single targets, for example. This will call for some Artifact mods over others to maximize damage since add-clearing is not as needed, but the exact opposite is true for many other activities in the game. That’s just considering PvE, too, with PvP modes requiring other types of builds altogether.
Destiny 2’s Frontiers Can’t Ignore The Need For a Better Loadout System
What follows is that the game desperately needs a way for loadouts to save Artifact mods, not only so that players can save some time when changing the type of content they are running, but also because it minimizes the risk of launching activities with the wrong builds. It can be quite frustrating forDestiny 2’s new Trials of Osiris revampto be played with PvE Artifact perks even when changing builds in a loadout, for example, much like switching the content one is playing from GM Nightfalls to Rushdown with the wrong set of perks.
Sure, this can be prevented by manually changing Artifact mods every time, but it shouldn’t be something players have to do whenever they run a different activity. Instead, the game should be designed in a way where this is made as little frustrating as possible, especially considering thatDestiny 2’s endgameis all about running multiple types of activities instead of spamming one over and over. It’s unclear if Bungie is even planning on Frontiers to make loadouts better and save Artifact perks, but it’s something that the studio should consider moving forward.
