Destiny 2Bungie has announced that Umbral Engrams and Prismatic Recaster will return from season 11 in season 13 in this week’s blog post. This is good news, as it has made one of the best outings in the recent past.
Unlike most legendary Engrams in Destiny 2, which decrypts in random gear over which you have no control, Umbral Engrams in the Prismatic Recaster (a strange barrel of supple space magic) can be ‘refocused’ into specific pieces of equipment that are likely to have more benefits or stats. There are still a few RNGs involved, but that’s far from being the driving force behind the grind. On top of that, the guns in which Umbral Engrams could decipher were pretty good. The whole progression system was so popular, Bungie plans to bring it back, but with additional capabilities.
“The Prismatic Recaster returns as a kiosk with the ability to turn Umbral Engrams into Focused Umbral Engrams, which contain a smaller outdoor table,” the studio writes. “Because Umbral Engrams is here to stay, the new Recaster will have different pages for each season, and you can focus programs on the season of your choice.”
It’s part of Bungie’s new commitment to reduce seasonal “FOMO” (fear of missing out) and ensure that the new missions and activities added every few months stay in place throughout the year instead of disappearing once the new season begins. Season of the Hunt’s Wrathborn Hunts and corresponding story tests, for example, will continue until the end of the latest game Out of the light expansion. Umbral Engrams and the Recaster meanwhile offer a new way to get targeted loot from previous seasons without being completely under the grace of RNG. It’s really cool to see.
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At the same time, like all Destiny 2, this news cuts multiple ways. Am I excited that one of the game’s better outdoor mechanics will return? Natural. Do I want to work on upgrading the Recaster again beforehand to get a better chance of unlocking the exact gear I want? God no. It remains to be seen what loot Umbral Engrams will contain next season, and what will be involved in the redesign of the new Recaster, but I’m skeptical that it will not feel like I’m repeating the tasks I’ve already finished. And of course, about all of this, the spectacle of sunset is giving all the loot you get Destiny 2 an expiration date.
The other big news this week is that Bungie is adding a new series of titles to the game that will have the players honing effectively and the core titles – Flawless, Conqueror, Unbroken, Dredgen – that they have already completed, have a “prestige” again. If you do, a gilded edge will be added. At the end of the season, however, these boundaries will disappear and the players will be encouraged to present new challenges to achieve a super cool status again next season. I’ve never been very invested in titles and triumphs, but have always admired those who still have, and the nice little badges that appear on screen when you examine the build of a player who has one.
However, it is the permanence that makes them so special, and the addition of a gilded performance that is repaired every few months feels just like another symptom of Destiny 2 becoming too seasonally focused. Like biking bike content in and out, and sunset under sunset, some aspects of the game are starting to feel more like a gear race than ever before, and I’m not for that. But at least Umbrals Engrams is back.