EDIT 11/04/2024: Since this article has been posted, Bungie has released additional information regarding the new UI systems coming in The Final Shape, where they also confirmed that some of the features discussed in this article were just in the test build of Destiny 2. See the bottom of the article for more details, as well as a link to the whole TWAB.
Yesterday in an extended Destiny 2 developer vidoc, Bungie gave us all a much better look at the upcoming The Final Shape expansion for Destiny 2, the climatic final clash between Light and Dark which is set to end the franchise’s first major saga. Safe to save, reception to the developer preview is abuzz with praise and surprise, with much of the community being elated at all of the new reveals: from a new secret subclass to the first brand new enemy race Destiny has seen in years to dual Exotic Class Items, there was plenty to be hyped out, concerns about power creep aside.
However, between all the noise and excitement, one of the best and biggest things coming in The Final Shape appears to have gone under the radar. While it isn’t as outwardly impressive as the Dread or Prismatic, it is a vital update to keep Destiny 2 feeling responsive, especially once we introduce the ability to multi-class. As for what that update is, it appears that The Final Shape will finally be making a big update to the current buff and debuff UI.
Prismatic Subclass
Any current player of Destiny 2 knows that the UI is one of the biggest struggles with the game. It’s not that the UI is poorly designed or unclear but that it is incredibly restrictive when showing what effects your character is under.
In the playable build of Destiny 2, you can only see four effects on the screen at once, despite being able to stack far more than that. With so many different effects and conditions that your Guardian can be blessed or cursed with, these four slots get taken over very quickly. As such, most of the time, you’re often playing with a blindspot, unable to tell whether a specific part of your build is active because the buffs on your screen are being taken up by other information. For builds with many specific timers, this is an infuriating part of playing Destiny.
Current Buff and Debuff UI
Well, with The Final Shape, Bungie seems to be taking steps in the right direction to fix this issue. In the developer gameplay preview, we got to take a peek at the new buff and debuff UI alongside Prismatic and the Dread. While Bungie didn’t directly address or discuss the new UI, it’s already evident how much better this system is.
Now, instead of all of your effects being crammed into the left side of the screen, buffs and debuffs appear in different places. Buffs and effects that are beneficial to your character such as Radiant, Jolt, or Overshields will continue to appear on the left side of the screen where they are right now. Meanwhile, debuffs and negative effects will appear on the right side of the screen. Just separating these two allows you to see up to eight effects at once – four beneficial and four negative – which is already a gigantic improvement.
If that wasn’t all, Bungie appears to have separated weapon buffs from general buffs, as well. Several times in the preview gameplay, whenever the active character activated a perk on their weapons it would appear above their Super bar instead of with the other buffs on the left. For example, the Scientific Method Perk on Tractor Cannon popped up there alongside a timer after the weapon was fired. Other buffs that we saw during the gameplay include Voltshot, Slice, Demolitionist, and several other Exotic Weapon Perks.
New Final Shape UI Placement
In total, this new UI should mean that you’ll be able to see up to ten effects at any one time in Destiny 2. Four will be general buffs and beneficial effects on the left side of the screen, four will be debuffs and negative effects on the right side of the screen, and up to two weapon buffs will shown above the Super bar.
Of course, there’s always room for more improvement. In high-end builds which utilise a ton of different perks and timers, four buffs will likely still be too few, especially with Prismatic allowing you to use multiple elemental keywords at the same time. However, even with this in mind, the new Destiny 2 UI is leaps and bounds better than the one available in the current game. Between this, Prismatic, the Dread, the Pale Heart, and the sick suite of new weapons, The Final Shape is looking better and better by the minute.
Life on the Other Side
EDIT 11/04/2024: In this week’s TWAB, Bungie actually did a small deep dive into the new UI systems coming in The Final Shape. During this, they also revealed that certain Critical information, such as wipe mechanics and role allocation, will appear at the top centre of the screen beneath your health bar. Furthermore, it seems as though debuffs appearing on the right side of the screen is currently just in the developer build of Destiny 2 as there was feedback that having the debuffs in a separate location was dragging players’ eyes to unfamiliar parts of the screen. However, Bungie didn’t rule out adding an additional channel to the right side post The Final Shape based on player feedback.
With this in mind, it seems like, in The Final Shape at least, the most amount of effects we’ll see on the screen at once is eight: four buffs and debuffs in their current location, two weapons oriented effected above the Super bar, and up to two Critical effects below your Guardian’s health bar.
Updated UI Changes From the TWAB
SOURCE: Destiny 2: The Final Shape Developer Gameplay Preview
