An expansion’s release is generally a time to make some foundational shifts to a game, something that Destiny 2’s The Final Shape appears to be doing with aplomb, as Bungie has outlined several updates to the way power works and its effects on various related gameplay elements.
In a broad strokes sense, character power (aka gear score) will be normalized for certain activities; hitting the power soft cap will require earning only 40 levels instead of 150; power levels will be account-wide, meaning switching from a toon with a high gear score to one with a lower gear score will grant that character rewards that are around the higher character’s power level; and rewards that help move characters from the power soft cap to hard cap can be earned in more activities beyond ritual playlists.
Power is also going to have an affect on grouping, with a mentor-like system known as the power leader system: Groups that form for activities like Nightfalls will automatically name the player with the highest power level the power leader, then normalize those with lower numbers to a power level that’s five levels below that leader, assuming they’re not already higher than that metric. This won’t affect rewards, as any drops will still take into account the unadjusted power level of the players.
Finally, power limits are being removed from legacy gear, letting all equipment, no matter how old, be enhanced to the highest levels possible, effectively ending the “sunsetting” of weapons since upgrading them previously had hard caps. Unfortunately, those who deleted old weapons because they were basically rendered useless as time went on won’t be handed those items back, but Bungie promises to reintroduce sources for players to reacquire most or all of them.
