TL;DR
- Immediately pursue the Grand Overture catalyst quest to maximize progress during core activities
- Collect all available bounties from Tower and HELM before diving into campaign content
- Systematically unlock progression paths through strategic quest completion order
- Expand your grenade arsenal through Ikora’s Void 3.0 offerings
- Reconfigure armor and weapon mods to adapt to the new orb generation system
Mastering your initial hours in Destiny 2’s Witch Queen expansion requires strategic prioritization to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the wealth of new content options available.
Many Guardians experience decision paralysis when confronting the simultaneous launch of both The Witch Queen expansion and Season of the Risen. While numerous rewarding paths exist, focusing on specific foundational activities first will dramatically enhance your overall progression efficiency. We’ve identified five critical priorities that deliver maximum return on your time investment during those crucial first sessions.
Season pass subscribers receive immediate access to the Grand Overture exotic machine gun, a devastating weapon that unleashes missile barrages against enemies. Beyond simply claiming this powerful armament, make visiting Banshee-44 in the Tower an urgent priority. The gunsmith provides the catalyst quest that significantly enhances this weapon’s capabilities. The initial step involves eliminating Cabal combatants using Grand Overture or any Power weapon category firearm. However, the subsequent phase demands extensive participation in Nightfall strikes or Crucible/Gambit matches. Initiating this quest early ensures all your activities in these modes contribute toward catalyst completion simultaneously.
Resist the temptation to charge directly into narrative content without proper preparation. Upon reaching the Enclave and gaining mission selection freedom, your immediate destination should be the Tower for comprehensive bounty collection. Even if you plan to focus primarily on campaign missions, these objectives can be completed alongside your story progression. The experience points awarded accelerate season pass leveling, unlocking valuable XP multipliers that enhance all future gains while speeding artifact mod acquisition. Additionally, visit the HELM for War Table bounties; although optimized for PsiOps Battleground completion, many can be finished during alternative activities.
A common mistake is deferring bounty collection until after substantial campaign progress, resulting in missed optimization opportunities. Advanced players recommend stacking bounties that share objective requirements, such as defeating specific enemy types with elemental damage that aligns with your current loadout. This approach transforms routine activities into multi-objective completions, dramatically improving time efficiency. For deeper loadout strategies, consult our comprehensive Class Guide that details synergistic ability combinations.
The expansion introduces multiple progression systems that activate through specific achievement milestones. After encountering Fynch, advance his questline sufficiently to unlock Throne World bounties, which can be gathered and completed during other tasks. Progressing the Witch Queen narrative to the Hangar initiates the seasonal storyline and grants PsiOps Battleground access, an activity worth incorporating into your weekly ritual rotation. This simultaneously begins a versatile quest progression through diverse activities, including campaign missions. Completing story objectives to access the Relic delivers your initial glaive while enabling Deepsight Resonance weapon collection. These special arms provide essential materials for weapon crafting system engagement, achievable while pursuing preferred content.
Strategic sequencing of these unlocks prevents backtracking and maximizes parallel progression. For instance, delaying the seasonal quest until after several campaign missions may force redundant activity repetition. Instead, intersperse campaign progress with seasonal content activation to ensure all your efforts contribute to multiple objectives simultaneously. Understanding these Complete Guide principles will help you navigate complex progression systems efficiently.
Early campaign introduction to Void 3.0 revolutionizes your Void subclass functionality, adopting the Stasis model with Aspects and Fragments for deeper customization. A significant enhancement involves grenade type decoupling from specific classes, substantially expanding your tactical options. Visit Ikora Rey at the Tower to unlock four additional grenade varieties for minimal Glimmer cost. Depending on your pre-update engagement level, additional customization elements may be available.
Many players overlook that grenade cooldowns vary significantly between types, impacting build effectiveness. Vortex grenades excel at area denial, while scatter grenades provide superior single-target damage. Consider your playstyle when selecting which grenades to prioritize; aggressive players benefit from magnetic grenades’ tracking properties, while strategic Guardians may prefer spike grenades for choke point control. These selections dramatically influence your effectiveness in both Weapons Unlock scenarios and endgame content.
The new season eliminates all previous seasonal mods, including the powerful Particle Deconstruction, creating numerous empty armor slots requiring reconfiguration. While artifact leveling continues to unlock additional mods, several crucial system changes demand attention. Orb of Power generation has been decoupled from individual weapons; instead, new helmet mods automatically available to all players enable weapon-generated orbs. Legendary weapons now support instant, cost-free mod application, encouraging extensive experimentation with different configurations.
The orb generation transition represents a fundamental gameplay shift. Previously, masterworked weapons automatically generated orbs on multi-kills, but now this functionality requires specific helmet mod investment. This change allows greater build flexibility but necessitates strategic mod slot allocation. Savvy players should immediately test various mod combinations without concern for resource expenditure, as the removal of application costs removes traditional experimentation barriers.
Action Checklist
- Claim Grand Overture from season pass and immediately start Banshee-44’s catalyst quest
- Collect all available bounties from Tower vendors and HELM War Table
- Progress Fynch’s questline to unlock Throne World bounties
- Visit Ikora to unlock additional grenade types through Void 3.0 system
- Reconfigure armor mods for new orb generation system and experiment with weapon mods
No reproduction without permission:SeeYouSoon Game Club » 5 Things To Do First In Destiny 2: The Witch Queen And Season 16 Essential first steps and optimization strategies for maximizing your Destiny 2: Witch Queen experience
