Season 18 of Destiny 2 must avoid the crafting issues of Season of the Haunted.

Season of the Haunted was released a month ago, and it followed the beginning of Year 5 with Season of the Risen and The Witch Queen, which was the first time Destiny 2 players were able to use the new crafting system to create the guns they want in the manner of their choosing. Bungie's range of craftable weapons remained restricted to seasonal weaponry and a few of those added with the most recent expansion, despite controversy. There were flaws at launch, namely that Deepsight weaponry did not drop frequently, necessitating weeks of severe grinding to obtain a handful of patterns.

This was fixed in a patch, and Deepsight weaponry became far more accessible, especially considering that some of them required only a handful of red border drops to fully unlock the related patterns, which could require anywhere from two to five Deepsight drops. Destiny 2's Season of the Haunted was introduced with twelve new craftable weapons, a combination of six seasonal guns and six returning Opulent weapons, and all of its patterns require five Deepsight weapons to unlock crafting possibilities. When it comes to crafting, Season of the Haunted should be the source of the knowledge that Bungie should use to avoid certain pitfalls in Season 18.

How Season 18 of Destiny 2 Should Improve Crafting -Because unlocking patterns for craftable weapons is the only way for Destiny 2 players to reliably achieve the rolls they desire and gain access to Enhanced Traits, it's critical not to make all patterns available after obtaining five Deepsight drops. Season of the Risen demonstrated that a more diversified strategy to unlocking patterns was advantageous and even more forgiving when Deepsight rifles dropped infrequently. Season of the Haunted is significantly more dependant on random chance in this regard, and the amount of grinding required to obtain each and every craftable weapon is excessive.

In addition, the exorbitant Opulent Energy requirements to concentrate Umbral Engrams at the H.E.L.M. further complicate matters; whereas the process only cost 9 Risen Energy during the previous Season, it now requires 27 Opulent Energy. In addition, it is now considerably more difficult to obtain Opulent Energy than it was Risen Energy. The primary source is now the Nightmare Containment public event on the derelict Leviathan, with additional drops from Avaricious Treasurers or Sever missions when Bound Presence is used. As a result, Destiny 2's Haunted and Opulent weapons require significantly more time to harvest, yet the likelihood of Deepsight drops remains unchanged.

Destiny 2's Season 18 should also avoid gating craftable weapons in more difficult activities with limited treasure pools, as Season of the Haunted did with the Duality Dungeon Opulent firearms Fixed Odds and The Epicurean. These two weapons complete the collection of six Opulent cannons with the four that can be discovered on board the Leviathan. However, Fixed Odds and The Epicurean cannot be targeted at the H.E.L.M., therefore they can only drop within the Dungeon. Duality is not particularly weapon-friendly, as its drops are disproportionately weighted towards armor components, and Deepsight weapons are already uncommon, so acquiring these two firearms can be extremely difficult.

Overall, Season of the Haunted is successful in a number of ways, but crafting is not one of them. Season 18 can, however, follow up where Bungie left off with Season of the Risen by making the experience less irritating and more accessible to all players, which is still an essential aspect of Destiny 2 at the moment.