Bungie is overhauling some of Destiny 2’s most persistent pain points with the launch of the Renegades expansion. Following player feedback, the developer is walking back its aggressive power grind philosophy and delivering highly-requested quality-of-life features in Update 9.5.0, set for December 2.
Most notably, our vaults are finally getting a massive upgrade. Capacity will be increased to 1000 slots, giving veteran players much-needed breathing room for their collections of god-roll weapons and high-stat armor. This is a change the community has been requesting for years.
A Focus on Quality of Life
Beyond the vault space, Bungie is making another significant change that impacts build crafting and fashion. Exotic Armor Ornaments will now be universally applicable in PvE activities. This means you can apply any ornament you own to an exotic armor piece, regardless of which specific exotic it was designed for. It's a huge win for customizing your Guardian's look without compromising your build.
These changes arrive with Update 9.5.0 on December 2, with a follow-up hotfix, 9.5.0.1, scheduled for December 9 to address any initial bugs and provide further tuning.
The Ritual Loop and Seasonal Events Return
The weekly grind is also getting a shake-up. Bungie is reintroducing a more structured weekly ritual loop with two key activities: Vanguard Alerts and Arena Ops. Vanguard Alerts are described as having a Grandmaster Nightfall vibe, suggesting a high-level challenge for endgame players. Arena Ops will cycle through popular past activities, including Ketchcrash, giving players a varied and rewarding reason to log in each week.
Bungie also laid out a content calendar for the coming months:
- The Dawning: Returns for three weeks in December.
- Arms Week: A new or returning event scheduled for January.
- Guardian Games: The class-based competition is back in March.
- Call to Arms: A mid-season event will take place in April.
What does this mean for the Power grind?
Bungie has explicitly acknowledged that the vision for a heavy power grind, introduced in earlier updates, wasn't resonating with players. The new approach for Renegades is an 'organic Power catch-up' system. While details are still emerging, the goal is to make reaching the Power cap feel less like a second job and more like a natural part of playing the game's core activities. This is a significant shift in design philosophy, moving away from forced grinding and toward rewarding play.