Ultimate Destiny 2 Witch Queen Prep Guide: Tips, Tricks And Everything You Need To Know

There is little over one week left until the Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion launches. Chances are high that if you are a player who wants to be at the new power level cap on Raid Day, you have already been hoarding bounties and materials for weeks. However, how can you prepare for the new expansion if you are a casual player, new or returning player, do not have a ton of time to spare, or simply do not want to hoard multiple copies of that one sparrow that is making its way around the Internet just to store some extra Glimmer? Here is our last minute prep guide for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen.

Clean Out Your Vault

The recent Destiny 2: The Witch Queen ViDoc confirmed that we will be getting at least fifty new weapons in the upcoming expansion and season. Every weapon that is new or returning to Witch Queen will have a unique “Origin Trait” which is determined by the source it comes from. For example, weapons that drop from Nightfall weapons will roll with the “Stunning Recovery” trait in which “stunning a Champion partially refills your magazine, triggers health regeneration, and improves recovery for a short duration.”

We are certain there will also be plenty of weapons to farm and craft in the following seasons. To our knowledge, Bungie is not increasing Vault space. If there was ever a time to spring clean your Vault, now is the time. Here are our top tips on cleaning out your Vault.

• Delete Exotic Weapons with a low Power Level as you can always pull these weapons from your Collections later. They will be receiving a power bump in the new expansion anyway. We would recommend deleting Exotic Weapons with a Power Level of 1300 or below as it is doubtful you have used this weapon in several seasons.
• Delete Ghosts, Ships, and Sparrows you are not using. Like the Exotic Weapons, these can always be pulled from your Collections.
• Delete the weapons that have been “sunset” unless you have a sentimental reason for keeping them or love using them in activities like Crucible.
• Delete weapons you never use or never “tested.” If you have not used that solar sidearm by now, you realistically are probably not going to. There will be plenty of new toys to play with in the new expansion.
• Be critical of the armor you are keeping. For example, unless you have a very specific build in mind, it is unlikely that a Warlock needs super high mobility on an armor piece.
• Do not be afraid to delete “God Rolls” or popular weapons. It does not matter if other people enjoy a weapon or perk if you do not personally like it.

Finish up Seasonal Challenges, Triumphs, Seasonal Activities, and Tangled Shore Activities

All Bounties, Missions, and Quests from the Tangled Shore, the Forsaken campaign, Season of the Hunt, Season of the Chosen, Season of the Splicer, Season of the Lost, and Seasonal Challenges will no longer be available once the Witch Queen expansion launches. If you have not finished the seasonal storylines or Forsaken campaign, now is the time to do so. The Astral Alignment and Shattered Realm activities are currently rotating on a daily basis to provide ample opportunity to complete the Seasonal of the Lost storyline and any related Triumphs.

You will also want to claim any mods from the War Table, Splicer Servitor, and Wayfinder's Compass. This will be your last opportunity to specifically focus Umbral Engrams to receive seasonal weapons from the Season of the Chosen, Season of the Splicer, Season of the Lost or to complete Wrathborn Hunts to farm for Season of the Hunt weapons. Umbral Engrams will still exist in the upcoming expansion, but you will want to use some of them up now if there is a specific seasonal weapon from the past year you have been eyeing.

This will be your last week to be able to complete the Hawkmoon and Dead Man’s Tale missions. These are the only two Exotic Weapons in the game that are randomly rolled. Xûr will have a set roll of both these weapons each week in the new expansion, but they will come at a high cost. Players will need to pay one Ascendant Shard, one Exotic Cipher, 125,000 Glimmer, and 200 Legendary Shards for one of these weapons. We would highly recommend playing both of these missions this week if you want to avoid Xûr’s prices later. Both of the missions are also just genuinely fun to experience.

Farm Nightfall Strikes and Iron Banner

The Lake of Shadows Nightfall is available this week. This is the easiest Nightfall in the game, regardless of whether you want to take it easy at “Adept” or take on a harder challenge with “Grandmaster.” We recommend farming this Nightfall for two reasons. First, the Nightfall weapons this week are the Legendary Scout Rifle Hung Jury and the Legendary Rocket Launcher The Hothead. The Hothead is not going anywhere, but Hung Jury will be leaving the Ritual Rewards pool once the new expansion starts. This is your last opportunity (for now) to get Hung Jury. This would be a good weapon option for next season as we know that there will be an Anti-Barrier Scout Rifle mod.

Second, Nightfalls are a great place to farm for materials. Higher level Nightfalls can drop Enhancement Prisms and other materials, while Master and Grandmaster Nightfalls can drop Ascendant Shards. We would recommend farming this Nightfall for materials, especially if you have a fireteam that can handle Master and Grandmaster Nightfalls.

This will be the last Iron Banner of the season and your last chance to attempt to get the Legendary Submachine Gun Multimach CCX, Legendary Pulse Rifle Timeworn Spire, Legendary Scout Rifle Guiding Sight, and Legendary Hand Cannon Steady Hand. Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee you will get these weapons, but they are worth a shot if you enjoy Iron Banner. We would particularly suggest keeping an eye out for a good roll on Multimach CCX.

Visit Banshee-44

Gunsmith materials are disappearing from the game as Banshee-44 will be getting a rework similar to Zavala, Shaxx, and the Drifter. This is a case of “use them or lose them.” Turn in your Gunsmith materials before the new expansion. 

Stock Up On Materials

We do not know the exact role that materials will play in The Witch Queen expansion. We do know that based on the recent ViDoc that there will be a plethora of new materials needed to craft weapons. Nevertheless, it cannot hurt to have a few extra materials on hand.

We would recommend particularly focusing on having a decent stack of Upgrade Modules, Legendary Shards, Enhancement Cores, Enhancement Prisms, and Ascendant Shards. There are multiple ways to obtain these items, but the simplest method would be to purchase them. These kinds of items can be purchased from Vendors such as the Spider (whose role as a vendor will be taken over by Master Rahool in the new expansion), Banshee-44, and Ada-1.

Claim Rewards

Make sure to claim any and all rewards from Zavala, Shaxx, Drifter, and Saint 14. This is not only a good way to get some materials, but these rewards will disappear once the season ends. We would recommend that this be the last thing you do before shutting down the game to ensure that you are not missing any rewards.

Destiny 2 Down Times and Maintenance

Destiny 2 will need to be brought offline before the Witch Queen can officially launch. You should therefore keep these times in mind:

• February 21, 10 PM ET: Destiny 2 is brought offline.
• February 22, 12 AM ET: Pre-load for Hotfix 4.0.0.1 will be available on all platforms.
• February 22, 12 PM ET: Destiny 2 will be brought back online. Hotfix 4.0.0.1 will be playable on all platforms and regions.
• February 22, 1 PM ET: Destiny 2 maintenance is scheduled to complete.

Make sure you complete anything you want to complete before February 21st at 10pm ET.

Update 2/21/22, 9:18PM - Will you be prepping for the Witch Queen? Let us know in the comments below and of course check our our live video tutorial that we just loaded up here!