NetEase has unveiled Season of Providence, the third season of Destiny: Rising. The update launches after maintenance on December 30, 2025, and runs through March 25, 2026.
This season delivers a reimagined version of the classic Crota's End raid, an all-new tower defense mode called Bulwark Ops, and a late-January addition called Operation Cordon. Players will also receive Kabr, the Resolute as a free Mythic character through seasonal events.
The Nine Bring a Prophecy
Season of Providence builds its narrative around a warning from The Nine. When Ikora entered the Ascendant Realm, players glimpsed a familiar threat: Crota, Son of Oryx.
The Nine have witnessed events across alternate realities from Destiny 1 and Destiny 2. They've brought Wolf and their allies a prophecy. If the Lightbearers can survive an illusory Crota's End, they might stand a chance when the real Crota eventually arrives.
This framing explains Crota's early appearance in the Destiny: Rising timeline. Wolf and their allies haven't faced the Hive at this scale before, and the simulation serves as preparation for what's coming.
Crota's End Arrives January 3rd
The six-player raid launches on January 3rd as a new Gauntlet Ops activity. Fireteams will descend into the Moon, push through the Abyss, cross the bridge, defeat the Deathsinger Ir Yût, and confront Crota in the Oversoul Throne.
New multi-layer challenge mechanics promise a fresh experience even for Destiny veterans. The developers have adapted controls for touchscreen play while preserving the oppressive atmosphere of facing a Hive god's spawn.
Two Difficulty Modes at Launch
Normal Mode offers the best entry point for players new to this content. It's designed for learning mechanics and experiencing the raid's flow without punishing difficulty.
Challenge Mode targets veteran fireteams looking to test their coordination and skill. A limited-time event called "Another Calamity" will run alongside the raid launch, offering dynamic emblems and exclusive rewards for those who conquer this harder version.
Raid Loot
Crota's End drops the Exotic Scout Rifle Symmetry as its marquee reward. Players earn it by accumulating score through stage clears and weekly challenges.
The Mythic weapon pool includes Oversoul Edict (Pulse Rifle), Ir Yût's Fang (Scout Rifle), Ir Yût's Song (Machine Gun), and Swordbreaker (Shotgun). Additional rewards include a dynamic emblem and an exclusive Exotic Ghost Shell.
Each stage offers one free reward attempt that doesn't cost Pinnacle Energy. This count is shared between Crota's End and Another Calamity. Players also have a chance at Exotic Mods when claiming base rewards.
World First Race Prizes
The first fireteam to clear Challenge Mode earns voting rights for upcoming Crota-style Ornaments. They'll pick which character receives the ornaments from three groups:
- Group 1: Wolf, Jaren, Ning Fei, Helhest
- Group 2: Kabr, Jolder, Finnala, Maru
- Group 3: Ikora, Attal, Rossi-11, Tan-2, Estela
The chosen character's ornaments will later go on sale server-wide. World First winners receive all three groups' ornaments for free.
Hidden Easter Egg
The developers have added a hidden trigger during the Crota fight that references memorable moments from franchise history. They've teased that players will enjoy discovering it, but warned that attempting to use it to cheese the boss won't work anymore. This likely nods to the infamous Destiny 1 network exploit that kept Crota permanently vulnerable.
Bulwark Ops: Tower Defense
Season of Providence introduces Bulwark Ops, a tower defense mode where players protect Warmind bunkers from enemy waves.
Lord Saladin has discovered bunkers near Veridia, and a familiar face has come calling. Adelaide Meyrin (the human identity of the eventual Ada-1) approaches Radegast with a deal. She'll help the Iron Lords if they grant her access to the Red Sea Rift Warmind bunker's secrets. The problem: extraterrestrial forces are also trying to breach these locations.
Game Modes
Solo Mode requires clearing 9 stages to unlock Endless Mode. Three-Player Mode puts fireteams through 5 waves of enemy attacks. Endless Mode (available solo or co-op) ramps up difficulty with increasingly powerful waves.
30 Towers to Collect
Black Armory Towers drop after each run. The mode features 30 different towers, each with distinct combat capabilities. Different towers perform better on certain terrain types and against specific enemies. Players can upgrade their towers and deploy them strategically to hold defensive positions.
Black Armory Weapons Return
Bulwark Ops rewards include four Black Armory weapons: Threat Level (Shotgun), Tatara Gaze (Sniper Rifle), Stryker's Sure-Hand (Sword), and Bellowing Giant (Rocket Launcher). The mode also drops Bon Voyage Charms, Lumia Leaves, Exotic Infusion Cores, and Occultation Essences.
Kabr, the Resolute Goes Free
The biggest news for F2P players: Kabr, the Resolute is guaranteed free through seasonal events. No gacha luck required.
Kabr has been Wolf's partner since launch. Franchise veterans know his tragic fate in the Vault of Glass, and the community's "Don't go to the Vault of Glass" sentiment resonated with the development team. The Kabr of Destiny: Rising shares a similar soul but may follow a different path.
Operation Cordon: Late January
A third endgame mode arrives toward the end of January. Operation Cordon sends 3-player fireteams deep into the Extremis zone to fight infected Shinkas in a hostile, transformed environment.
Difficulty scales up as teams push further, eventually reaching the infinite Extremis zone where there's no difficulty cap. Players compete for honorary titles by surviving as long as possible.
Before each operation, fireteams select modifiers that increase threat levels but boost score multipliers. Individual players can also pick personal support modifiers tailored to their character.
Battle Pass: Arbalest Headlines
The Season of Providence Battle Pass runs December 30, 2025, through February 12, 2026.
The free track includes the Exotic Linear Fusion Rifle Arbalest. Premium Battle Pass unlocks "Summoning Dance" emote at Rank 20, "No Escape" emote at Rank 30, and the Arbalest Ornament Random Bundle at Rank 50. Premium Plus instantly grants the "Gift Box" transmat effect.
Seasonal Systems
Cycle Modifiers Shift to Arc and Solar
Enemies in The Expanse, Calamity Ops, and Challenge Mode activities now carry Arc and Solar shields. Players should prepare Arc and Solar characters and weapons.
Obsidian Permit Pact
The Season 3 Pact offers two notable buffs. Midnight's Fangs grants +8% damage for 8 seconds when abilities blind targets. Undercurrent provides +15% damage for 8 seconds after inflicting crowd control effects. Pact Points are earned at 1 per 20,000 Team XP.
Season of Providence Engrams
S3 Engrams contain exclusive cosmetics including the "Another Calamity" weapon shader, Arbalest seasonal ornaments, and Providence Decals. Collecting all seasonal items unlocks the "Future Past" emblem and a Homepage Season Sigil.
Weapon Mod Updates
Barathrum and Black Armory foundry perk upgrades have been added to the Exotic scope mods' random perk pool.
Synthesis Crafting
Two new Mythic Weapon Engrams are available through synthesis:
Barathrum Engram contains Oversoul Edict, Ir Yût's Song, Swordbreaker, and Ir Yût's Fang. Bulwark Ops Engram contains Threat Level, Tatara Gaze, Stryker's Sure-Hand, and Bellowing Giant.
Both cost 200 Mythic Weapon Parameters and have a weekly cap of 20 engrams each.
The Traveler's Somniloquy Event
This Pinnacle Energy event runs the entire season. Daily challenges reward Pinnacle Energy, with bonus rewards available through weekend-only challenges on Saturdays and Sundays.
What It All Means
Season of Providence marks what the developers call their first major roadmap milestone. Three new activities, a free Mythic character, returning Black Armory gear, and new progression systems all arrive before the end of December.
Crota's End brings classic raid nostalgia to mobile. Bulwark Ops adds strategic variety with its tower mechanics. Operation Cordon promises endless difficulty scaling for players chasing leaderboard glory. Whether any of these modes stick depends on execution, but the content volume alone signals the team's intent to expand what Destiny: Rising offers.
Season of Providence begins December 30, 2025.
