Destiny 2’s Witch Queen expansion treats weapon upgrades like golf clubs

polygon.com:

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, the game’s most-hyped expansion since Forsakenin 2018, is only two weeks away. On Tuesday, Bungie debuted what’s sure to be its final preview of the add-on, a 13-minute video detailing The Witch Queen’s new campaign and Void 3.0 subclass rework. But weapon crafting, Origin perks, and general customization are going to be the real star of the show in Destiny2’s upcoming expansion.

In a preview session hosted by Bungie, we were shown a crafting session, and went on a guided, hands-off tour of the second mission of The Witch Queen. We also spoke to Destiny2 game director Joe Blackburn and project lead Blake Battle.

After walking my preview group through a campaign mission in Savathun’s Throneworld, Blackburn and the Bungie team took us to Mars. This wasn’t the open-world Mars I remembered from Destiny or Destiny 2. Instead it was a small landing zone, an Enclave social space with NPC Guardians, an It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia-esque mystery board, and a secret.

Down the stairs from the Enclave rests the Relic, a place where I and my Destiny Fireteam members will be spending many hours over the next few years. The Relic is a sort of “sci-fi 3D printer,” a place to build and customize weapons in a way Guardians have never been able to before.

Pulling up the menu, the interface looks slick. Players can choose “shape” to craft new weapons or “reshape” them, altering the perks on something they’ve built before. Crafting starts rather limited, with players only having access to a few perks, “pattern” blueprints, and customizations, like frames. By playing Destiny 2, their repertoire will expand.

Weapon crafting in Destiny 2 isn’t just about building something powerful for a moment, it’s about