Destiny 2: How is the Solo Player Experience (2024)

Even in its fourth year, Destiny 2 continues to be one of the most popular live-service games around. The ongoing Season of the Lost is setting the stage for The Witch Queen expansion. Like every expansion before, The Witch Queen will introduce a ton of stuff, including a new campaign, endgame activities, and more. However, there will also be plenty of unique additions such as a new weapon class and weapon crafting that should entice veterans and newcomers alike.

With The Witch Queen on the horizon, many players may be looking to get back into the grind to prepare for what could be the biggest and most ambitious Destiny 2 expansion yet. While Destiny 2's robust matchmaking system means players seldom indulge in the game's activities alone, Destiny 2 can pan out for solo players with no dedicated fireteam.

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Destiny 2 Solo: Campaign, Lost Sectors, and Seasonal Missions

Bungie has continued to overhaul and balance Destiny 2's various in-game activities since 2017. While some of these fundamental changes were received positively, others were not. One of the biggest issues faced by Destiny 2 players is the overwhelming amount of content, lore, and underlying mechanics it does little to explain. The launch of Beyond Light saw the removal of Destiny 2's first three campaigns: Red War, Curse of Osiris, and Warmind. While players can experience the story and events of these removed campaigns tucked away in Destiny's Content Vault by going through the Timeline in the game's Orbit, it leaves a lot to be desired and makes it harder to follow the broader narrative.

While it may be difficult to grasp the ongoing Destiny 2 storyline, it's easy to get into Destiny 2's gameplay loop. Bungie has bumped the base power level to 1,100, which is the recommended power level to start Destiny 2 DLC campaigns, lost sectors, public events, and vanguard strikes. For solo players, this means instant access to the campaign missions of the Forsaken, Shadowkeep, and Beyond Light expansions. These missions are structured similar to the campaign in traditional single-player games, which means solo players can complete them without aid. Similarly, solo players can complete the lost sectors scattered around Destiny 2's seven planets without any additional aid.

Every Destiny 2 seasons offer unique storylines that progress with the completion of different weekly missions. While seasonal missions are readily available to players of any power level, there is a recommended level for every one. Low-level players can complete six-player activities, though they would need to reach the soft cap power level of that season to finish solo missions comfortably. For instance, the soft cap for the ongoing Season of the Lost is 1,270.

However, this doesn't mean that seasonal missions are impossible for players with a power level of 1,260 or less. Proficient players can solo their way out, though it will be more challenging. Tackling champion enemies solo can be a hassle, especially in Season of Lost where the champion mods implementation is cumbersome. However, this shouldn't gatekeep solo players from playing seasonal content in Destiny 2.

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Destiny 2 Solo: Strikes, Crucibles, Gambit, Raids, and Dungeons

In Destiny 2, co-op is mandatory in the various strike, crucible, raid, and gambit activities. Vanguard strikes are three-player PvE content available to fans of all power levels. Destiny 2's matchmaking means solo players can easily partner with random players. Furthermore, high-level coordination isn't necessary for players to finish a vanguard strike mission.

However, Nightfall strike is where things become tricky for solo players. For starters, the recommended power level for Nightfall strike this season is 1,250. All the three champion types; barrier, overload, and unstoppable; appear in Nightfall strike, in addition to countless other enemies that make it overwhelming to finish without proper strategy and coordination. Skilled solo players equipped with rare mods can still finish Nightfall strikes without efficiently coordinating with teammates, though this is not recommended.

Crucible is the PvP aspect of Destiny 2, and offers plenty of different modes to fiddle around with. Playing crucible is one of the quickest ways to increase season rank and gain powerful or pinnacle gear in Destiny 2, so solo players shouldn't sit out. Solo players have more chances of being successful in 6v6 crucible game modes like Control and Momentum Control. Rumble, in which every player fights for themselves, is inherently solo friendly. However, 3v3 crucible game modes like Survival and Elimination are more grounded PvP experiences in Destiny 2, and a team of solo players may not stand a chance if the opposing team is a group of well-coordinated friends.

Gambit is Destiny 2's PvPvE mode, accessible to players of any power level. This hybrid 4v4 mode is advantageous for solo players, especially in the PvE department, as players have to face only one member of the other team at a given time. This gives a team based on solo players a slight advantage of numbers over well-coordinated, higher power players of the other team.

These are all of the activities that solo players can finish without a dedicated fireteam. Dungeons and raids, although available for base-power players, are challenging endgame activities designed for high-level cooperative players. Raid, Destiny 2's highest difficulty level PvE mode, does not feature matchmaking, meaning players have to form their own fireteam before starting. This makes it impossible for solo players to take part in a raid unless they use the guided method to manually find teammates - which is a cumbersome process of its own.

Overall, Destiny 2 offers a lot of content for solo players. Aside from endgame activities like the raid and dungeons, solo players can breeze through almost everything else.

Destiny 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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