An intricate Destiny 2 puzzle in the recently launched Warmind DLC sparked a real-world treasure hunt that ended in upstate New York.
The Destiny series has often provided players with riddles that required more than simply killing their opponents in the game. While Destiny 2 problems are still abundant, the real-world puzzle shows that there is still some good in the first-person shooter sequel.
'Destiny 2' Rasputin's Chamber Puzzle
The Destiny 2 puzzle was discovered shortly after the Warmind DLC was launched when players spotted a mysterious symbol in the bunker of the AI Rasputin.
Gamers took to the Raid Secrets sub-Reddit to work together and figure out the symbol, which looked like a lock surrounded by three keys. They eventually determined the puzzle as a cipher, which was decoded by a Redditor, who goes by the name Randomiser, to unroll the following message:
"thank you for taking the time to piece together this message, friend. the time of our final conflict is drawing closer and you and ana have an important role to play in the events to come. so watch over her, guardian. i would have no life without ana or the exoprogram. i regret that we have become strangers, but we each have a path that we must walk. and, ironically, there never seems to be enough time. tell her, rasputin's first attempt was in the right location, but the wrong moment. look here: 43.549573, -73.544868 - e"
Signed by "e," players figured out that the message was likely left by Elsie Bray, the sister of Ana Bray, and is likely the Stranger from the first Destiny. The message, however, also revealed a pair of numbers, which happened to be the coordinates to a real-world location.
'Destiny 2' Real-Life Treasure
The coordinates lead to Sleeping Beauty Mountain in upstate New York, where Warmind lead developer Vicarious Visions is also located. It was surely not a coincidence, so Redditor I_love_science, who was just in Saratoga county, immediately headed to the spot.
There, the Redditor found real-world treasure in the form of a spear based on the Valkyrie, a weapon that players can find and temporarily wield during some missions and activities in the Warmind expansion. The spear came with a box of gold collectible coins, which came with instructions for people to only take one; a letter of congratulations from Vicarious Visions; and a journal for recording visitors.
What's Next For 'Destiny 2'?
The real-world treasure hunt that Vicarious Visions included in Warmind is an amazing easter egg, but it will take more than that to get players back to Destiny 2.
Activision recently teased that a new Destiny 2 game mode will be launched in the fall and that it will provide a whole new style of gameplay. The publisher, however, declined to provide any specific details about it.
A significant number of Destiny 2 players have walked away from the game due to the lack of meaningful endgame content and an abundance of microtransactions. Warmind's real-world treasure drew the interest of gamers, and hopefully, for Activision, the upcoming new game mode will have more of them dust off their copies of Destiny 2.
