Destiny 2’s new Tome of Want feature is basically the Menagerie’s Chalice, or so I hope

Though I’m not one to harp on the sorry state of a game, I do think Destiny 2 is in a rough patch right now. Thankfully, we’re very close to the release of Episode: Heresy and its fancy new Tome of Want feature is looking mighty♉ promising indeed.

Destiny 2: Episode – Heresy is positioning itself as the nostalgic new take on several beloved elements and features from Destiny‘s past. Not only is the legendary Dreadnaught returning as the featured activity location, but there are murmurs of Oryx himself making a return, somehow. Setting aside convoluted lore, though, the gameplay side of things is plent👍y exciting as well, thanks to the aforementioned Tome of Want, which seems awfully similar to the old Chalice system featured in the Menagerie activity.

Destiny 2: Heresy’s Tome of Want harkens back to Menagerie, but how will it work in practice?

As one of the finest pieces of sunset content Destiny has ever had, the Menagerie is one of those high points that veteran fans will remember fondly for years to come. The Menagerie itself isn’t some unattainable ideal that Bungie’s never reached before: we’ve had much better activities since. In fact, Episode: Heresy‘s own The Nether roguelite Metroidvania mode looks downright excellent. No, the bit that made the Menagerie truly excellent was the Chalice: a unique loot-focusing system that Bungie has refused to return to.

The Chalice was very simple: by slotting in specific runes and/or resources, you could ensure that your next Menagerie loot drop was almost exactly what you wanted it to be. This, combined with the Menagerie’s randomized nature (and a few unique semi-exploits), made this the activity to play whenever you had the time. While we don’t know yet if the Tome of Want will be as rewarding as the Chalice was, it sure as heck sounds fun.

Basically, Destiny 2: Heresy‘s Tome of Want is a baseline seasonal item, and we’ll all unlock it on day one of the release, on February 2. The Tome is a focusing item, leveraging the new Essence of Desire seasonal currency to reliably dish out more-or-less the exact kind of loot players are attempting to target-farm. Expect a bevy of upgrades, optimizations, and optional tweaks for the Tome of Want as you progress through Heresy, but this is all standard fare. So, interesting stuff, but we’ll have to see how it pans out in practice before we start praising it.

For me, it all comes full circle when I think about the Tome of Want. My biggest problem with Destiny has always been uncertainty: how will the next big feature pan out, where might Bungie take the narrative next, and how might the game’s precarious meta be balanced in a few weeks? I don’t think Episode: Heresy will bring about some much-needed certainty into the mix, but I do think this will be much better than the annoying Tonic system was, and that counts for something.