Fresh ‘Destiny 2’ Controversies Erupt Over Content Locked Behind DLC

The sting from previous controversies is still fresh for many in the Destiny 2 community, but new issues with the Curse of Osiris DLC appear to have opened some fresh wounds.

The original Destiny was frequently criticized for not bringing Raid content forward with each DLC and expansion release. Bungie has corrected that issue with Destiny 2 but has created an all-new problem for itself by locking out content for those who were waiting to purchase Curse of Osiris or generally on the fence.

The release of Curse of Osiris increased the Power Level requirements of end-game content like the Raids and the Nightfall Strike. The recommended Power Level for the Raid and soon-to-be-released Raid Lair is now 300 while Nightfall Strikes are 270. However, the Prestige version of both activities has been bumped all the way up to 330.

If you have not purchased the Curse of Osiris yet and are still playing vanilla Destiny 2, you probably already realize the problem. The Power Level in the base version of the game only goes up to 305, which results in players being locked out of the Prestige Leviathan Raid and all Nightfall Strikes not included in the DLC.

This creates a further issue for vanilla Destiny 2 players as “The Prestige” achievement/trophy can only be earned by completing a Raid or Nightfall at Prestige difficulty. Worse, the Legend of Acrius Exotic Shotgun quest can only be completed in the Prestige Raid.

You can certainly make the argument that there are likely few who care about Prestige difficulty who haven’t purchased Curse of Osiris already. These activities are for the dedicated and hardcore Destiny 2 players.

For example, the Xbox One achievements show only 39.71 percent of gamers have completed a Nightfall, and 15.42 percent have completed the Raid. Only 7.72 percent of all Destiny 2 gamers have unlocked “The Prestige” achievements, and the trophy stats for the PS4 are similar.

Still, this also sets up a long-term problem for Bungie. The Power Level cap is likely to be raised again when the second expansion is released in spring 2018. Raising the recommended Power Level requirements for the standard difficulty Nightfall and Raid above level 300 will ultimately lock vanilla players out of those activities as well. Bungie must find the balance between making sure all original activities are available for vanilla players while keeping all content relevant for those who continue to purchase the expansions.

The same can’t be said for replaying the story missions. Ikora Rey previously offered three “meditations” to replay story missions in the vanilla version of Destiny 2. Now only two meditations from the original campaign are present plus one from the Curse of Osiris campaign.

As it stands, members of the Destiny community on Reddit and in the Bungie forums are livid over the fact standard Destiny 2 content and Achievements are now locked behind DLC. There are even threads explaining how to get a refund for the base Destiny 2 digital release from Microsoft or Sony by claiming the Curse of Osiris expansion breaks the base game.

Bungie has another communication problem with the Destiny community on its hands, and it will be interesting to see how it responds following recent promises of better transparency.

Update: A reader also pointed out the new Heroic Strike playlist is not available to vanilla Destiny 2 players. Bungie appears to be treating this as Curse of Osiris content much like it did with new Strike playlists added with Destiny 1 expansions.

Meanwhile, all of the new Eververse shop content is available to players who did not purchase the first Destiny 2 DLC. The new shaders, armor, ornaments, ships, and sparrows all fall under “Season 2” content and not Curse of Osiris content with the exception of the ornaments for the new Exotic weapons. It is likely this was not properly explained by Bungie after the third DLC livestream event was canceled due to outrage in the game’s community over other issues.