What you need to know
- Destiny 2 developer Bungie is adding a Lightfall Campaign Skip Boost when the Lightfall expansion arrives on February 28. This will let players auto-complete the DLC's campaign and unlock Strand on an alternate character if they've finished it once already.
- This feature addresses the common complaint from Destiny 2's community that playing through campaigns repeatedly on alts is a frustrating and grindy process.
- However, the catch is that each of these boosts are paywalled, meaning that you won't be able to use them for free.
- Reactions to this have been mixed, with most happy that a skip is being added but disappointed that Bungie is charging a for it. Existing Destiny 2 monetization includes the Eververse microtransaction store and a general cost of $100/year for all current expansion, seasonal, and dungeon content.
For years, one of the biggest complaints from Destiny 2's community has been that having to complete each of the game's expansion campaigns on alternate characters is frustratingly tedious. Each of these questlines often take several hours to finish, but since getting through them is usually the only way to get access to certain locations or activities (or in Beyond Light's case, Stasis subclasses), choosing not to play them is detrimental to the progression of your Guardians. Therefore, many have asked for a "campaign skip" that players could use to instantly complete a DLC main story quest on their alts after playing through it once fully.
Ahead of the launch of the game's next expansion, Destiny 2: Lightfall, developer Bungie has announced that it plans to add this very feature for the DLC when Lightfall goes live on February 28. The skip — referred to as a "Lightfall Campaign Skip Boost" — will allow any player who has already finished the Lightfall campaign on one character to auto-complete it and get access to the expansion's new Strand subclasses on other characters. Alt characters will also get a set of high Power Level gear for a head start on leveling, too, provided that your main character has reached the Power Level Soft Cap.
Notably, your alt characters won't get any of the resources, upgrade materials, or gear that they would have earned by playing through the campaign normally. Using the boost won't unlock campaign-based Triumph achievements for these characters, either. Even so, those that won't mind trading those rewards for hours and hours of saved time will likely find the option appealing. Bungie noted that a skip for past campaigns may come at some point, too, though there won't be a way to do so for now.
There's a massive catch, though, and that's that the Lightfall Campaign Skip Boost won't be free. In its blog post, Bungie introduces the skip as a paid boost, confirming that you'll need to spend some real-world money if you want to bypass the DLC's main story questline. The developer didn't reveal the specific cost of the skip, but based on previous character boosts, it's likely that it will cost $10-20 per character to take advantage of.
The reaction to this news has been mixed. Most are happy that a boost like this is being added, but many fans are deeply disappointed that Bungie is monetizing the feature. Since Destiny 2 already has the Eververse microtransaction shop and access to all expansion, seasonal, and dungeon content costs $100 per year, lots of players argue that this should be a free quality-of-life feature rather than a paid one.
Ultimately, this boost is a bittersweet solution for those that struggle to get expansion questlines done on multiple characters. Perhaps Bungie will change its mind in the future in response to fan feedback, but at launch, it looks like skipping Lightfall's campaign will cost you.
Destiny 2: Lightfall is slated to arrive on February 28 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, Windows PCs, and PlayStation systems. The DLC costs $40 and takes them to Neptune and the city of Neomuna, where they'll face off against Emperor Calus and his powerful Shadow Legion. Ahead of its launch, check out our Destiny 2 Lightfall prep guide for an overview of the best ways to get ready for the expansion.
Windows Central's take
The tedious campaign grind on alt characters has always been one of my least favorite things about Destiny 2, so I was initially very excited by the Lightfall Campaign Skip Boost. Sadly, that excitement completely evaporated the second I read that it would cost real-world money.
In a game where players spend $40-50 on annual expansions, $10 on passes for three-month seasons, and $20 for access to two dungeons per year, I think it's ridiculous that Bungie is charging a premium here — especially since Destiny 2's infamous Eververse microtransaction shop is still open for business, too. Did this highly requested quality-of-life feature really need to be monetized when so much of the rest of the game is?
Hopefully Bungie is willing to be flexible here, and will make this feature free in the future. Until then, I won't be using it, and I have a feeling that most other players won't, either.
