• Destiny 2 players will be able to dive into a new horde mode from 9th April.
• Players will need to both defend a central point and take the offensive to enemies in Onslaught for rewards that seemingly include reissued weapons.
• Whether this mode along with other content planned for Into the Light will lure players back remains to be seen.

After an inordinate amount of begging from its community, Bungie has decided to add a horde mode to Destiny 2. That mode is called Onslaught and it arrives on 9th April with the new Into the Light content drop.

Bungie’s now iconic looter-shooter has been going through something of a dead phase of late. This is understandable given that the seasonal content for Season of the Wish was exhausted by late January given that the plan had been for the Final Shape to be released a month later. However, a delayed release meant that Bungie had to plug a five-month gap where there was no content and so Into the Light was born.

This release appears to centre around the aforementioned Onslaught which will see fireteams of three entering remodeled Crucible maps to build defenses and dispatch up to 50 waves of enemies. The mode is free to all players and rewards will include reissued weapons including Midnight Coup and Hung Jury SR4. Those are the only weapons we saw for sure with more being shown off next week.

Onslaught will be available in three flavours namely Playlist, Challenge Normal and Challenge Legendary. Both Playlist and Challenge Normal are matchmade while Challenge Legendary requires a pre-made fireteam. The Playlist version will have 10 waves while the Challenge version will have five sets of these waves for a total of 50. During these waves, players will need to defend a central point called an ADU. If the ADU dies, the Onslaught is over, but there is no time limit.

Thankfully the structure can be repaired using orbs dropped by high value enemies. As waves progress bonus objectives will appear that will spawn ammo crates when complete. Dispatching enemies will earn players Scrap which is used to erect defensive turrets, trip minutes and other defensive tools.

As waves progress, the difficulty ramps up and at times players will take the offensive and rush through a Darkness ship to defeat a boss which grants rewards.

The mode looks fun enough for a few rounds but whether it will keep players engaged over the next two months is the question that needs answering.

Since the launch of Lightfall, Destiny 2’s player count has trended downward. Recent controversies including the sudden firing of staff haven’t helped opinions about Destiny and Bungie. In addition, strong releases throughout 2023 and 2024 lured players away.

We’re sure that Bungie is hoping Onslaught, and whatever else is planned for Into the Light, are expected to bring players back but we’re not entirely sure about that. Onslaught looks to be very much about having builds ready to go, something new and returning players won’t have and aside from recycled weapons, we’re not sure veteran players will be engaged for the next two months to keep the player count active.

With all of that having been said, we’re keen to give Onslaught a try because like many others we’ve been waiting for exactly this sort of mode.

Next week Bungie will be showing off the weapons arriving with Into the Light which may generate more hype than this mode has.