Destiny 2 recently held a livestream detailing major upcoming system changes, but the focus wasn’t on the new expansion itself. Instead, players got a confusing first look at a new “New Gear” system that’s already sparking concern and frustration. This change is designed to make you rethink how you use your hard-earned weapons and armor, potentially pushing you towards grinding for the latest items.
Contents
The core idea revolves around giving temporary power boosts to gear introduced in recent game updates. This could significantly impact your favorite builds and how you approach challenges.
Destiny 2 logo against a space background, representing the game's theme.
What is This ‘New Gear’ System?
Bungie is introducing “New Gear” as a special designation for weapons and armor earned from the latest episodes or seasons. This “New Gear” interacts with an upcoming “Tier” system to provide temporary performance benefits. The system aims to encourage the use of current content gear, but its implementation seems complicated.
Armor Changes
With the new system, using sets of “New Gear” armor will grant a stacking damage resistance bonus. This bonus increases as you acquire higher “Tiers” of this new armor. Reaching Tier 5 with a full set of “New Gear” armor could give you a significant 15% damage reduction. Lower tiers provide smaller bonuses. Crucially, your existing, non-“New Gear” armor sets will offer no such bonus.
The confusing part is that these bonuses are temporary. After a set period – possibly six months, though the exact duration seems unclear – the “New Gear” status and its associated bonuses will expire. This means players would need to grind for the next wave of “New Gear” armor sets to maintain that damage resistance, constantly chasing the latest tier while also managing complex stat builds. Many players see this less as a bonus for using new gear and more as a penalty for sticking with their current favorite sets.
Weapon Changes
The weapon side of the “New Gear” system is similar but perhaps even more complex. “New Gear” weapons will receive a stacking damage bonus, potentially up to 10% at Tier 5. Like armor, this means non-“New Gear” weapons would likely be at a flat disadvantage compared to the latest items.
While some compare this to the temporary seasonal damage boosts from the Artifact system, the key difference seems to be the narrow focus almost exclusively on the latest gear, rather than offering options across different weapon types. This could lead to confusing situations where a weapon you earned earlier might have a “god roll” (ideal stats) but perform worse than a lower-tier “New Gear” weapon simply because of the temporary bonus. Once the “New Gear” status expires, the old “god roll” weapon might become better again.
Why Players Are Upset (and Confused)
The reaction from the player base has been largely negative and centered around confusion. Even long-time players are struggling to fully grasp how these tiers, bonuses, and expirations will interact, contradicting the idea that these new systems are supposed to be more accessible.
The primary complaints stem from the perception that this system is designed primarily to extend the grind. Players feel like they will be forced onto a treadmill of constantly acquiring new gear to stay competitive, making their currently powerful or favorite items feel less valuable over time. It feels like fixing problems that didn’t necessarily exist (like the recent weapon system) or offering overly complicated solutions to perceived issues (like needing more reasons to grind armor beyond cosmetics).
The ultimate impact of the “New Gear” system remains to be seen, but the initial presentation has left many players feeling wary about the future of Destiny 2 and the value of their existing gear collections. It’s a system that could face significant changes once it goes live, given the community’s strong initial reaction.
