Destiny 2's Witch Queen expansion perverts your powers by introducing Dark Guardians

Destiny players have gotten used to using their Light and guns to fight the forces of the Darkness, but the new expansion is going to turn that on its head. Revealed earlier in the week, Witch Queen, the next paid adventure in Bungie's shooter-MMO, is going to be giving that Light to the bat-like Hive. Led by Savathun, the titular Witch Queen who's 21 feet tall, the new Hive Guardians now have the same elemental powers you do, and they're more than eager to offer up some payback. Only way to make sure they stay dead? Crush their Hive Ghosts with your bare hands. 

The new expansion will take place in Savathun's Throne World, a new destination that she made in her own image. Described in this week's reveal livestream (below) by creative director James Tsai as an "uncharted wonderland of secrets and lies," it bears the same cathedral-like design of 2019's Shadowkeep. Currently in the game, the Queen recently revealed she's spent months posing as fan favorite NPC Osiris, and is now asking Guardians to help defeat her sister, Xivu Arath, as part of Destiny 2's new seasonal story, dubbed "Season of the Lost." Voiced by Debra Wilson of Star Wars Jedi fame, Savathun's betrayal is inevitable, and "Lost" serves as the official prologue to Queen before it drops in February. 

When Witch Queen releases in February of next year, it'll introduce a new feature to Destiny 2; players will be able to craft weapons, starting with a glaive. The new Energy weapon will let players perform melee combos in first-person and fire projectiles. What you shouldn't expect is a new subclass, as Bungie revealed via their blog this afternoon that there won't be a new Darkness subclass showing up to go along with the icy Stasis power introduced in last year's Beyond Light. The expectation was that two other Dark subclasses would go with Stasis, and while that may be the case eventually, it's not in the cards for Witch or for the entire Year 5 of the game. Instead, the Light subclasses –– Arc (lightning), Solar (fire), and Void (energy) –– will be reworked to add more build variety. 

During their presentation, Bungie went a little further in revealing what's to come in the future for Destiny 2. After Witch and the previously announced Lightfall expansion, the next adventure is called The Final Shape, and has the ominous musical tone typically associated with the Darkness and its Pyramid ships. This is described as the "final chapter" of what Bungie is calling the Light and Darkness saga that's been the story of the franchise since Destiny launched in 2014. Is it the end of Destiny 2? No, and as narrative director Adam Grantham says, Shape is more like the "transformative moment for Destiny 2's future." Exactly what that means, we'll simply have to wait for... well, the future. 

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen arrives on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on Feb. 22.