Everything leaving Destiny 2 with Lightfall

(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2’s highly anticipated Lightfall expansion is less than a month away, and when it kicks off on February 28, it will introduce players to the brand new Neomuna location on Neptune, Emperor Calus’ fearsome and Darkness-led Shadow Legion, powerful new Strand subclasses, a fresh campaign, and more. Additionally, the expansion will be accompanied by four seasonal releases throughout Destiny 2 Year 6. These three-month seasons will add extra content to the game, and will also add to Lightfall’s narrative with bite-sized weekly story developments.

However, as many fans of the science fantasy looter shooter already know, the arrival of new expansion and seasonal content means the departure of seasonal content from the previous year. And ahead of the Destiny 2: Lightfall launch day, developer Bungie has outlined exactly what’s leaving the game when it goes live.

Below, you’ll find a full list of everything entering the “Destiny Content Vault,” along with information about the few activities that will remain playable in Destiny 2 in the Lightfall era.

What is the Destiny Content Vault?

Put simply, the Destiny Content Vault is where Bungie stores retired pieces of Destiny 2 content when they’re removed from the game in order to make room for new locations, activities, quests, and vendors. Though the developers still have the content on-hand with the DCV, it’s not accessible by players. Bungie says the DCV was introduced to help “create a sustainable ecosystem where the world can continue to evolve in exciting ways,” as the constant addition of new content without the retirement of old activities has resulted in serious technical problems in the past.

In August 2022, Bungie announced that it would no longer vault expansion-based content. However, most seasonal content from expansion years will still be retired after a new expansion begins.

Content placed in the DCV has the potential to return in the future, and may be altered in some way. A good example of this is the Derelict Leviathan, which was a version of the Leviathan ship from Destiny 2 Year 1 that was updated with Season of the Haunted’s theme and activities.

Destiny 2: What’s staying when Lightfall launches?

While the vast majority of Destiny 2 Year 5’s content is going into the DCV when Lightfall arrives, not all of it is. Bungie has confirmed that the following Year 5 seasonal activities will be added to the Vanguard Ops playlist with the launch of the new expansion:

• PsiOps Battlegrounds
• Heist Battlegrounds

These activities will likely be changed to award Vanguard-specific loot rather than gear from the seasons they were added in (Risen and Seraph), but are expected to remain identical otherwise.

Destinations

These destinations will no longer be available to visit with Lightfall’s launch:

• H.E.L.M. Wing for the Crown of Sorrow
• H.E.L.M. Wing for the Rasputin Exo Frame
• Psisorium
• Warmind Launch Facility
• Derelict Leviathan
• Last City: Eliksni Quarter

In the future, some of these locations could return with new environmental details, vendors, and activities at them. The H.E.L.M.’s wings and its Psisorium will likely be repurposed for Destiny 2 Year 6’s seasons, as it’s a hub space for the game’s seasonal vendors.

Campaigns and seasonal narratives

The following campaigns and seasonal storylines will be removed with the arrival of Lightfall:

• Season of the Risen
• Season of the Haunted
• Season of Plunder
• Season of the Seraph

While players won’t be able to access and play through these seasonal narratives post-Lightfall, they can still be played now if you own the Deluxe Edition of Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Season of the Seraph is the current season, so you could buy its Season Pass to access its story that way).

We expect that Bungie will update the Timeline section of the in-game Director menu with the major story beats and character developments from these seasons. This will give players that never played through these seasons an opportunity to catch up on the narratives between The Witch Queen and Lightfall.

Activities

These activities will no longer be playable once Destiny 2: Lightfall is added to the game:

• Nightmare Containment
• Ketchcrash
• Expeditions
• Hideouts
  • The Brute
  • The Sharpshooter
  • The Blademasters
  • The Beast Tamer
  • The Bully
  • The Coward
  • The Scrapworker
  • The Lucent Brood
• Sever Missions
  • Shame
  • Reconciliation
  • Grief
  • Forgiveness
  • Rage
  • Resolve
• Vox Obscura
• Operation: Seraph’s Shield
• Operation Missions
  • Operation: Diocles
  • Operation: Archimedes
  • Operation: Son of Saturn
  • Operation: Sancus

The seasonal gear from these activities will likely return in Destiny 2’s future, as currently, you can purchase retired seasonal armor sets from Ada-1 on The Tower. Additionally, the vendor Xur typically sells retired seasonal Legendary weapons in addition to his usual stock of Exotic armor pieces.

Exotic quests

Once Lightfall arrives, these Exotic quests will no longer be completable due to the removal of relevant locations, activities, and vendors. As such, they will be removed from player inventories. Bungie notes that weapons associated with these quests may be earnable in-game through alternative means, such as the Monument to Lost Lights vendor on The Tower.

Vendors

Lastly, these are all the vendors that will depart Destiny 2 with Lightfall’s launch:

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.