As long-tenured Destiny 2 players will know, the release of a major new DLC also means the arrival of several entirely new currencies, too. Witch Queen doesn't seem to be an exception in this regard, though the fact could potentially be excused, as the new currencies seem to be tied with the weapon crafting system in the first place.Bungie's recent ViDoc showed off a bunch of new features coming to Destiny 2, not least of which was the weapon crafting system. As the showcase offered a demo of the crafting in action, a number of entirely new currencies also popped up along the way. The Destiny 2 Witch Queen ViDoc was loaded to the brim with new information, but the technically inclined viewers quickly spotted at least a few new currencies as crafting went on. Specifically, these are the Neutral and Ruinous Elements, as well as Resonant and Ascendant Alloys. On its own, this piece of information isn't too game-changing, but previous reveals do provide additional context to the list of new currencies.
From what Bungie had previously shown, it would seem that the Element currencies are used specifically to slot-in different perk categories. A recent TWAB blog post went into considerable detail on how weapon crafting will work in Witch Queen, and Elements are extracted by using and leveling up weapons with special types of perks. Damage-dealing perks, for example, should be a source of Ruinous Element, which can then be used to slot-in damage-dealing perks into crafted weapons.
Alloy currencies, however, are a bigger unknown at this time. They could be random drops, rare rewards for bounties or challenges, or even one of the new resources that drop when players dismantle a high-level weapon. It goes without saying that the Destiny 2 weapon crafting economy is mostly a complete unknown at this time, and even then, Bungie is likely to tweak it post-launch to get it working right.
With over a dozen new Foundry Weapons making a return to Destiny 2 with the release of Witch Queen, it's clear that Bungie is banking hard on weapon crafting to be the defining feature of the DLC. The selection of initially craftable weapons won't be overly massive, but it will be more than enough to tweak and expand upon, and with luck, the system will empower players like never before.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series platforms, with the Witch Queen DLC launching on February 22nd.