We got a quick peek at the finishing move system that’s on its way to Destiny 2 in the Bungie ViDoc about the Shadowkeep expansion coming in September. Now, Bungie has explained a bit more about how this system is going to work. It turns out it’s customizable, with one part style and one function. Bungie says it thinks of them as ‘combat emotes.’
In an interview with Polygon, Destiny general manager Mark Noseworthy and director Luke Smith said finishing moves are equippable flourishes that you can use to dramatically finish off an enemy once its health has dropped to a certain level – a bit like the glory kills from Doom 2016.
These coup de grace moves have several looks for each class, with Hunters, Titans, and Warlocks all having specific finishers. These, Polygon suggests, will likely be either earned through the game, or purchased through the Eververse, more or less the way emotes work now.
Indeed, Noseworthy even went so far as to say the team “thought of it as combat emotes,” and they look exciting in the trailer.
But finishing moves will also come with a risk/reward factor. Triggering the animation will make your guardian vulnerable for a short window, but pulling it off can have benefits for your team. Smith suggested one effect might be generating ammo for your fireteam, as an example.
Those effects will be determined by mods that you slot into a piece of your armor, Bungie explained, which means that you’ll be able to pick both the finisher you want to equip and the effect it has separately. In other words, you’ll pick the animation you think is coolest and pair it up with the combat effect that’s most helpful.
More Destiny 2: How to earn the Last Word exotic handcannon
Polygon notes the system is currently still in development, and there are even changes to it planned for after Shadowkeep launches September 17. Smith and Noseworthy said down the road, they’d like to be able to let players equip multiple finishing moves and have them randomized, so that you don’t know which finisher you’ll pull out until it triggers.