Destiny 2 Season of the Deep: Start time, gear, Dungeon & all we know about Season 21

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep (or Destiny 2 Season 21) is practically here, taking us back to Titan, and even below the sea.

With a new Dungeon, new story content, the return of Titan for the first time since it was vaulted and, of course, new loot, Destiny 2 is gearing up towards the Final Shape in a big way. Lightfall kicked off another year of content, and Destiny 2 Season of the Deep is part two of the year-long schedule.

Here is everything we know so far about Destiny 2 Season of the Deep, including when you can play it and new features coming to the game as part of the update.

• The Destiny 2 Guardian Games 2023 are ongoing until the new season, click here to learn more.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep: Start time

The most important bit of info about the Season of the Deep we can give you is when it will be happening. As always, we will be jumping directly from Season 20 to Season 21, so players needn't worry about a 24-hour downtime or anything like that - although if there are server issues, we'll keep you up to date with our dedicated Destiny 2 server status guide.

Season of the Deep begins on Tuesday, 23 May. This is the same day that the Season of Defiance ends, so you have until then to finish off any seasonal challenges. The new season will go live at the weekly reset, so you can expect to jump on at your usual weekly reset time once you've installed Destiny 2 patch 7.1.0.

As a reminder, that's 6 PM BST/10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT.

Take heed, though, Guardians - you'll likely encounter server queues. Check out our Destiny 2 Server Status page for more. You'll need to install the update to avoid a CAT error, too.

The trailer for the new season is below, teasing the new story, new content and even underwater gameplay.

• Take on the latest raid with ease with our Destiny 2 Root of Nightmares raid walkthrough.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep: New content

As always, a new season means new seasonal content. Season of the Deep will have its own seasonal story quest, which will expand each week as the story is unveiled. This will likely tie into the seasonal battlegrounds, a new game mode tied to the seasonal story.

One new quest has been confirmed way ahead of time. In response to the backlash players had against the lack of answers for questions raised before and during Lightfall, Bungie revealed details about a quest in Season of the Deep. This quest will take us back to Neomuna and apparently will reveal the true nature of the Veil.

This quest will grant players a third Aspect for their Strand subclasses; Threaded Storm (Hunter), Flechette Storm (Titan), and the Wanderer (Warlock). This quest will also award players with a new legendary hand cannon. Wondering what those Strand Aspects do? We've got you covered in our updated Destiny 2 Strand subclass guide.

Finally, Bungie has also confirmed that a new dungeon is coming during Season of the Deep. We have heard some rumours and some leaks about the said dungeon, which seem to confirm the belief that many players already hold about Season of the Deep. The new dungeon will become available at reset time on Friday May 26.

In Bungie's April 14 TWAB, the devs explained that updates are coming to Trials of Osiris passages, and new Flawless Triumph requirements.

Players will also gain access to the new Seasonal Artifact, the NPA Repulsor Regulator (not the catchiest name, Bungie).

Check out our guide to all of the available mods.

Something likely not coming, at least according to leaks, is the overhaul to Destiny 2's Power Level, as seen in the tweet below.

Remember the community voted Ornament for Arbalest? Bungie has confirmed it'll arrive as part of Destiny 2 Season of the Deep.

• Make sure to grab the Destiny 2 Vexcalibur exotic glaive while it is still available.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep: New weapons & weapon changes

It appears that a new Trials of Osiris weapon is arriving in the form of a Glaive, too - the Unexpected Resurgence.

This is based on leaked information, but it appears it'll be an Arc Adaptive Glaive. You can find it, with its perks, here (courtesy of D2Leaks).

We're also expecting a variety of weapons, with a new Origin Trait called "Restoration Ritual". This will reload the weapon and prep an "emergency reload" when it runs out of ammo when Guardians revive enemies or use finishers.

Bungie has also released a blog post covering a series of weapon updates. It's a lengthy read, but there are new Charge Meters coming to Devil's Ruin, Salvation's Grip, and Grand Overture, as well as a new Perk Counter for Quicksilver Storm, Ace of Spades, Lumina, and Traveler's Chosen, among other tweaks.

You'll also FINALLY be able to rotate weapons within your inventory screen, as well as items like ships.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep: Balance changes

According to a recent Bungie blog post, there are some significant changes coming to subclasses, particularly for aspects and supers.

All aspects in the game that only have one fragment slot are getting bumped up to two. This is not a hard and fast rule, it isn't a guarantee there won't be aspects with one fragment slot in the future. Just the currently existing ones will be bumped up to two slots.

Some sweeping changes are being made to supers, particularly focused on roaming supers and how they perform in high-level PvE content. Hunters will see improvements made to Golden Gun, Arc Staff, and Spectral Blades.

Warlocks will get better results from both Voidwalker, both Stormcaller and Winter's Wrath supers. Titans will also see buffs to their Fists of Havoc, Sentinel Shield, Glacial Quake and both Solar supers.

Many fans noticed the roaming supers of the Strand subclasses have been particularly potent, and seemingly this was intentional. Bungie had already noticed the roaming supers lagging behind and used the Strand supers to test the waters. Seeing that they have performed well, Season 21 will be the chance to bring other supers up to similar power levels.

There are new Strand Aspects, too - read our Destiny 2 Strand guide for more.

Destiny 2 Season 21 Dungeon

Good news, folks - after Lightfall added a raid, Destiny 2 Season of the Deep will add a new Dungeon. The 3-player endgame activity will be a new piece of content and is expected to take place under the waves of Titan.

Not much more is yet known about the new dungeon, but we can confirm that it will be added to the game on Friday, May 26.

Destiny 2 Season of the Deep power cap

We're expecting a rework in the coming seasons of power levels, but Season 21 won't increase the power level cap at all - so it'll remain at 1810.

Destiny 2 Season 21 Story Leaks and Rumours

The title, "Season of the Deep", is a pretty big clue to where we are headed during this season. While it has not yet been confirmed by Bungie, it seems clear that Destiny 2 Season 21 will focus on Titan. There have been multiple clues about the Saturn moon, such as the name of the season, and with direct mention made during the Vexcalibur exotic mission.

Potentially confirming this, recent leaks surrounding the new dungeon suggest that it will take place on Titan. At this point, it would be extremely surprising if Destiny 2 Season of the Deep does not bring Titan back to the game, especially with key art suggesting we'll be venturing beneath the waves of the planet.

That is everything we have on Destiny 2 Season of the Deep so far. For more Destiny 2 Season 21 info, check out our rundown of Destiny 2's best PvE weapons.