Bungie has revealed big rewards for players who haven’t played Destiny 2 in a while and are returning in the upcoming Renegades expansion.
Destiny 2’s Star Wars-themed expansion, Renegades, is just over a month away. Releasing on December 2, 2025, Renegades will add a new activity called Lawless Frontiers, a new social hub, Renegades abilities, and, of course, Star Wars-themed weapons, including the Lightsaber, which is called “Praxic Blade” in the Destiny universe.
Alongside all the new content, Bungie just announced a new system called Orders, which completely replaces the current bounty and seasonal challenge system. Orders are designed to make objectives more flexible and rewarding. Check out our full breakdown of how Orders work in this dedicated article.
But there’s even more good news for those who haven’t logged in recently.
Destiny 2 Renegades’ Returning Player Bonuses Explained
In this week’s This Week in Destiny blog, Bungie revealed a generous set of returning player bonuses for Destiny 2‘s upcoming Renegades expansion. How it works is: if you didn’t sign in or earn 30 ranks during Season 27 (Edge of Fate), you’ll automatically be flagged as a Returner when Renegades launches.
This grants access to the new Returner’s Boon, a set of bonuses that make it easier to progress and earn rewards.
Returner’s Boon
The Returner’s Boon gives a six-month XP boost across all activities in Destiny 2. Completed Order (the new objective system replacing bounties) also grants a Returner’s Gift, up to ten per week and thirty total.
It’s basically a fast track to get back into the flow of things while earning new loot along the way.
Returner’s Gift
Each Returner’s Gift acts as a small reward package for returning players. Bungie says there are 30 total gifts you can earn by completing Orders. Returner’s Gift has a reward pool of 30 unique items. Some of them are: Enhancement materials, Tier 3 and Tier 4 Gear, Exotic Engrams, 1,000 Bright Dust, and an Iridescent Engram that rolls a random Eververse item you don’t own.
Returners can also unlock the Tower Pamphlet emblem as part of the gift.
Returner’s Blessing
Even if you’re not a Returner yourself, you can still get something out of this. If you party up with a returning player who has the Boon active, you’ll automatically receive Returner’s Blessing while you’re with them.
This temporary buff gives:
- Bonus XP
- A chance for a Bonus Portal Engram drops
- A chance for an exclusive emblem drop
- And some auto-completion on Common Orders just by playing with the Returner
All of these bonuses will go live alongside Renegades on December 2, 2025, when the Orders system officially replaces bounties and seasonal challenges.
What do you think about the new returning player bonuses? Will they be enough to bring some of your friends back to Destiny 2? Let us know your thoughts below.
