The grind of a modern online game is a delicate balance, especially given how players will take every opportunity to bypass that grind as best they can. Destiny 2 has had a reliable, easy way of farming planetary materials ever since the introduction of the Black Armory forges, but it looks like you can say goodbye to that exploit with the impending Shadowkeep release date.
“Failing the first encounter for any Black Armory forge will no longer award planetary destination materials,” the developers say in a preview of the Shadowkeep patch notes available on the official site. They also add a pointed ಠ_ಠ emoji. You know what you did.
Previously, you could infinitely queue up for forge activities while AFK and be guaranteed planetary materials even if you failed. Players thus began to equip bad gear to lower their light levels, at which point the enemies they’d face would be immune to damage. Since Destiny 2 makes matches based on your light level, you’d get partnered with other players using the same trick so you could all fail and farm together without affecting those who are tackling the forges in the legit way.
You can get a detailed breakdown of how the exploit worked in the video below.
There’s less than a week left to get that farming done, if you still want to make use of it.
Shadowkeep brings a new era for Destiny 2 starting on October 1.