Destiny 2 is in the midst of its yearly Festival of the Lost event, acting as a Halloween celebration for the game. Festiv?ities run through November 19, adding event-specific content and rewards for its duration. While Festival of the Lost hasn't dramatically changed since it swapped the Haunted Forest for H?aunted Lost Sectors four years ago, 2024's event does alter a few things with an aim to make the Halloween celebration more accessible.

Festival of the Lost is an event that dates back to the original Destiny. The Festival has seen its share of changes over the years, but the general gameplay loop still revolves around collecting Candy as? a currency. Currently, Candy is used in tandem with Eerie Engrams to purchase rewards from the e?vent coordinator, Eva Levante. That said, some of the best rewards featured throughout Festival of the Lost can only be earned by participating in the event. And even better rewards are available if Guardians are willing to shell out for some microtransactions.

How to start Festival of the Lost

Festival of the Lost has no content or entry requirements; the event is free to all Destiny 2 players. Eva Levante has taken up residence at the ce?nter of The Tower, and a visit to her is all ne?eded to start getting spooky in-game. Eva will task players with an event introductory Quest called "Classic Carving." 

Classic Carving will teach players what Festival of the Lost offers and how to participate. By completing the Quest, Guardians will earn a Masquerader's helmet, and that's required to earn Candy. New Masquerader's helms can be obtained via Eva or Haunted Lost Sectors. While the default look is Master Rahool, players can change the appearance? to any other mask earned across previous Festival of the Lost events.

The Classic Carving Quest will eventually instruct players to enter a Haunted Lost Sector. These are the main activity offerings for Festi?val of the Lost, and an Expert difficulty becomes available after completing Classic Carving. At the end of the Questline, Eva will reward players with a decent roll of the Arcane Embrace shotgun, the newest Festival of the Lost weapon.

Festival of the Lost Event Card

The F?estival of the Lost Event Card is a collection of Triumph-like challenges with unique rewards. Players can optionally pay to upgrade the Event Card, unlocking additional themed cosmetics. The Event Card is accessible from the Quests tab in the Director or directly via Eva Levante. Event ??Card challenges aren't required to earn the Festival of the Lost Title, Ghost Writer, but some objectives can overlap.

The rewards earned throu?gh Event Card challenges are one side to the earnable loot for Festival of the Lost, with weapons, Fest?ival masks, Sparrows, and various currencies available alongside the optional upgraded Event Card rewards. 

Haunted Lost Sectors

Haunted Lost Sectors aren't ?new to Festival of the Lost, but the process of completing them has changed a bit. In years past, players would need to complete other activities to earn Spectral Pages, which would then get converted into Manifested Pages after a successful Haunted Lost Sector. Now, Spectral Pages are out of the picture, and Guardians can earn Manifested Pages directly by completing Haunted Lost Sectors or other activities while wearing their Masquerader's helm.

The number of Manifested Pages earned in a Haunted Lost Sector depends on the group's performance. The activity places green summoning circles throughout the Lost Sector. When players stand in the circles long enough, a Headless One miniboss spawns and must be? eliminated. A Lost Sector boss will appear after 10 Headless Ones are slain or after enough time has passed. It shields itself at 50% health, and players must defeat more Headless Ones that drop shield-destroying pumpkin bombs. If players finish the Haunted Lost Sector with more than 10 Headless Ones eliminated, they'll receive the maximum amount of Manifested Pages.

Manifested Pages are spent in The Tower at the Book of the Forgotten. This is a collection of shor?t little lore entries with spooky undertones. There are f?our Volumes of Tales of the Forgotten. The older entries only cost one Manifested Page, while the latest Volume four can run up to nine Pages per entry.

Guardians can earn high-stat rolls of the Masquerader's helm from running Haunted Lost Sectors, and Expert Haunted Lost Sectors will reward a Masquerader's helm with a better chance at favorable distribution of the high-stat roll. Of course, the regular Haunted Lost Sectors have matchmaking, while the Expert version does not. As mentioned before, players cannot attempt an Expert Haunted Lost Sector until after they've compl?eted the Classic Carving Quest. This similarly applies to alternate characters.

Festival of the Lost: Eva's loot

Eva Levante has a few new treats for 2024's Festival of the Lost. In addition to the usual Grab Bags and Festival of the Lost weapons, targeted Exotic armor ??makes a return from 2023's event. Alongside tradi?tional Exotics, each Class' Exotic Class item is also available from Eva throughout 2024's Festival of the Lost.

How to earn the Festival of the Lost Memento

Like last year, earning a Festival of the Lost Memento has a bit of a hidden process a?round it. Players must complete three secret objectives to gain the Twilight Triumph, rewarding the Memento when it's claimed from the Triumph menu. Each task involves a Festival ??of the Lost mask unlocked from 2024's Event Card; some are more involved than others. That said, once you know what to do, each objective can be completed quickly. The Twilight Triumph tasks are as follows:

1. Complete the Hocus Focusing challenge on the Event Card and equip the rewarded Tower Staff Mask Ornament. Talk to Eva at The Tower; she'll offer The Mystery of the Missing Bags Quest. Talk to Saint-14 to resolve the Quest.
2. Complete the Heads Will Roll challenge on the Event Card and equip the rewarded Cursed Thrall Mask Ornament. With the mask equipped, Guardians must get 100 kills with explosive weapons.
3. Complete the Candy Corner challenge on the Event Card and equip the rewarded Finalized Ghost Mask Ornament. Guardians must get 50 sword kills in Expert Haunted Lost Sectors with the mask equipped.

Once all three objectives are complete, players can claim the secret Triumph and earn a guaranteed Festival of the Lost Memento. The Triumph will also reward the Spectral Cara?pace Emblem. After that one, players can continue to earn additional Festival of the Lost Mementos by focusing Eerie Engrams with Eva Levante.

Eververse Festival of the Lost cosmetics

The Festival of the Lost Event Card and Eva rewards represent the unique event swag that can be earned through participation, but the Eververse Store has plenty of additional options for cold, hard cash. Guardians can purchase additional mask Ornaments, Emotes, Finishers, Ghost flair, and even full Halloween costume transmogs. These?? offerings are available for Silver (real money) for the most part, though each year's Halloween costume is also available for Bright Dust.

The post Destiny 2: Festival of the Lost 2024 event guide appeared first on Destructoid.

There's a hidden Quest tucked away into Destiny 2's Festival of the Lost Halloween event this year. And while it's nothing that will reward players with a secret Exotic mission or a new weapon, it's a cut?e little romp that adds a little extra flavor to the four-year-old celebration. However, this Quest isn't outwardly advertised within the game. It takes a little curiosity, or the right know-how, to start the task, and the same goes for completing it.

The Festival of the Lost is Destiny 2's yearly Halloween celebration. While the event has had its share of surprises in the past, nowadays, variety comes in the form of new costume cosmetics each year. But this year, there's a bit of a surprise during ;Festival of the Lost. It's nothing as b?ig as the Xenophage Exotic that was introduced during a Festival of the Lost past, but i?t's still a good bit of fun to get Guardians into the spirit of the season.

How to begin The Mystery of the Missing Bags

Before players can start the hidden Quest, The Mystery of the Missing Bags, there are a few things that players must complete first. The most important prerequisite is for players to complete the introductory Festival of the Lost Quest from Eva Levante: Classic Carving. This simple Quest will teach players the ins and outs of?? the event, gifting them a Masquerader's Hood Halloween mask and introducing the Haunted Lost Sectors.

Once Classic Carving is complete, players will gain access to the Festival of the Lost event card. It contains a set of event-specific Triumphs that contain a variety of rewards. The next thing Guardians need to do before they can obtain The Mystery of?? the Missing Bags Q??uest is complete the Hocus Focusing Triumph on the event card. All that's required is for players to head to Eva and focus an Eerie Engram. It doesn't matter what the Engram is focused into, so long as its spent. Once the Triumph is complete, it will reward players with the Tower Staff Mask Ornament.

The Ornament can be used to modify the appearance of the Masquerader's Hood, and hilariously enough, it makes the mask look a bit like Jotaro Kujo from Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure. With the Ornament set and the Masquerader's Hood equipped, Guardians can pay a visit to Eva Levante in The Tower for a surprise bit?? of dialogue and the start of The Mystery of the Missing Bags Quest.

How to complete The Mystery of the Missing Bags

There isn't much to this hidden Festival of the Lost Quest. All that's required of players is a visit to the nearby Saint-14 in The Tower's Hangar. Saint will have his own? bit of dialogue to add an extra bit of flair to the quick ordeal, and then he'll hand over a reward. Guardians will receive a Confiscated Grab Bag from the Exo. The rewards from the Grab Bag seem to range from just Glimmer to gear, with no apparent predictabili??ty.

While the quick little mask Quest can be completed&nbs??p;just as quickly as it can be started, it's worth noting tha?t there are other mask Ornaments available through the Festival of the Lost event card. It very well may be that this won't be the last time during the spooky season where Guardians don a mask to uncover some hidden surprises.

The post Destiny 2: How to start and ?complete The Mystery of the Missing Bags during Festival of the Lost appeared first on Destructoid.

If Destiny 2 players have ever felt like the odds were stacked against them when trying to earn a specific weapon roll, they might not be too far from the truth. The Destiny 2 community has come together to amass data that seems to point towards something going on with how Perks are distributed on weapons. While Bungie has responded and d??ebunked previous questions about individual Perk weighting, it seems the studio found something worth looking int??o after recent player data suggested it's Perk combinations that might be weighted, not individual Perks themselves.

When players earn a weapon in Destiny 2, most of the time, that weapon drops with a random combination of Perks and weapon attachments. While crafting weapons allows players to sidestep lady luck, not every weapon can be Shaped. That's the case with the new arsenal of weapons from the Vesper's Host Dungeon, and that's where players started paying closer attention t?o what rolls were ?dropping on weapons.

The conspiracy theory holds water

Some players started to notice that it felt impossible to get the considered god roll of Envious Arsenal and Bait and Switch on the new VS Chill Inhibitor grenade launcher from Vesper's Host. As the weapons from the Dungeon aren't craftable, it's just a matter of running the encounters until the player??s are graced with the roll. But even then, the VS C?hill Inhibitor god roll seemed exceedingly rare, so, the community brought the matter to Bungie's attention.

Bungie, having heard and responded to various drop rate worries over the years, responded as it normally does. In a seemingly now-removed post on X, Bungie noted, "Hey all, we had a conversation with our Sandbox folks ??this morning about this. There is no perk weighting active for any legendary weapon perks in Destiny 2."

Of course, the Destiny 2 community being what it is, some players didn't take Bungie's answer as definitive. Amassing data from across the community, players like @T1Vendetta and @kneewoah ran extensive testing to research weapon Perk distribution. According to the data, Bungie was technically correct. There is no apparent favoritism for any given Perks on weapons.&nbs?p;T??hat said, with two Perks on weapons, there seems to be something going on with how the Perks are paired.

Imagine the available pool of Perks on a weapon as two side-by-side columns of options in a fixed arrangement. While the first Perk (the left column) is truly random, after that Perk is chosen, the game has preferences on what comes next. Again, imagining those two columns, weapons prefer a set of Perks that are "close" to each other. The column perspective is important because, as tools that pull directly from the Destiny 2 API like light.gg show, that's how the game itself organizes and refe??rences these ??????????????????????????Perks.

Bungie acknowledges something is wrong

With all of the data pointing to Perk pairing not working as Bungie thought it did, and with the conversation and discourse spilling out online, the studio had to take another look under the game's hood. On October 24, Bungie posted on X, saying, "While we have conf??irmed that there is no intentional perk weighting on weapons within our content setup, we are now investigating a potential issue within our code for how RNG perks are generated." Bungie went on to than?k the community for pursuing the suspected issue and amassing the quantity of data that it had.

The next day, Bungie was back on social media with news surrounding the investigation. "After investigation, we can confirm an iss?ue has been found in our code where some random perk combinations are harder to earn per legendary weapon perk set," Bungie noted. "In some cases, desirable perk combinations are a bit easier to earn as well. While we inspected our content and confirmed each perk is weighted equally, an issue in perk pool RNG is the culprit here. Our team ?has quickly identified a potential solution to the issue, and we are rapidly working to validate the fix."

As of October 28, Bungie communicated its progress once again on X, explaining that it is planning to address the issue during an update on November 5. The studio again thanked the community for the part it played in identifying the issue, and promised some kind of a greater community thank you in the future. Right now, however, Bungie made a new Emblem available for all players. Players can redeem the free goodie at Bungie's website by using the code VHT-6A7-3MM.

A perfect storm

Players might not have realized something was off if there hadn't been a perfect storm of a situation that created the awareness. First off, the VS Chill Inhibitor, with its god roll, is one of the best weapons currently in the game, especially with the new Artifact Mods for Episode: Revenant. This&nbs??p;created initial demand for the weapon, which? got players hunting for it.

Often, the weapons players want are craftable, so the chase for a weapon extends only as long as it takes players to earn enough red-bordered "blueprint" weapons. Without ?crafting as an option for VS Chill Inhibitor, players became painfully aware of how difficult it was to earn the weapon with the desired roll. 

The final piece in the puzzle is that the god roll for VS Chill Inhibitor is actually one of the rolls that are least likely to drop. Suppose this wasn't the case and that the two Perks in question were "positioned" closer together in Destiny 2's API. In that event, there's a pretty good chance the desired weapon roll would've been ea?sy enough to obtain that the community's suspicion would have likely never been raised. If that were the case, who know??s how long this issue would have remained in the game undetected.

It was only through happenstance that all of these conditions coalesced when they did. However, it's a good thing that it did, as the scenario allowed the community to help Bungie identify and fix something fundamentally flawed on the backend of Destiny 2. While it's not every day that these kinds of conspiracy theories actually hold water, in this case, it's clear Destiny playe?rs aren't afraid of a littl??e extra work to prove their point.

The post A Des?tiny 2 conspiracy theory proves something is up with weapon rolls appeared first on Destructoid.

For Honor is set to receive a crossover event for Halloween, bringing the Destiny universe into the game. At the same time, Destiny 2 players will soon partake in the yearly Festival of the Lost, the in-game Halloween celebration that has remained nearly identical since 2021. And yet, there's been no confirmation as to whether Destiny 2 will see any new content to benefit from the For Honor collab. It's a stark reminder of how Destiny presents itself from the outside looking in.

Bungie is no stranger to partnering with other studios to crossover Destiny to other franchises. This has happened several times in the past, with The Witcher, Mass Effect, Ghostbusters, and even Dungeons & Dragons being recent examples. In most cases, new content enters Destiny 2 to coincide with the collaboration, but this time, Bungie has been oddly quiet about whether this would be the case with this most recent partnership -- especially considering the extent of Destiny's presence in For Honor's Halloween event.

New Guardians rise For Honor

For Halloween, For Honor is getting a Destiny-themed event called Light of the Guardians. It will run from October 24 until November 14, adding enemies based on the Scorn from Destiny in a new mode alongside Destiny-themed cosmetics. The most iconic cosmetics are "The Crucibl?e Lord" Lord Shaxx skin for the Centurion and "The Violet King" Saint-14 skin for Lawbringers??.

The new mode for the crossover event is based on the existing Domination, but it makes a few changes to spice things up. The Scorn have invaded the map, with a ??Baro?n and its retinue taking up residence within the Cathedral map. Players won't have minions to help, so each match is a warzone between the new Scorn and the enemy team.

During the three-week event, players will earn weapons inspired by Destiny, and more are available through the in-game store. That said, players will receive a free event pass for Light of the Guardians, allowing free rewards to be unlocked th?rough participation.

Festival of the Lost is getting tired

While For Honor players are getting an entire Halloween event built around the Destiny franchise, Destiny 2 players are getting the same old Halloween event they've been getting for four years. Of course, it's not as if Destiny 2 and For Honor share development teams, but it's still a little demoralizing to see an admittedly cool Destiny Halloween event appearing...not in Destiny 2.

Festival of the Lost is set to start on October 29, bringing back Haunted Lost Sectors yet again. The event has players enter decorated Lost Sec??tors to fight the unique Headless Ones enemies. All the while, Guardians collect Candy to use as a currency for event rewards. There's nothing specifically wrong with Festival of the Lost itself, but it's basically been unchanged for years.

While some rewards and the yearly Halloween costume cosmetics change, players have been diving into the same Lost Sectors, fighting the same enemies since before The Witness made its first appearance in-game. ??On top of this, the timing for Festival of the Lost feels of??f this year. With the event starting two days before Halloween and running for an assumed two or three weeks, the majority of the celebration is happening after Halloween has already come and gone. 

The timeliness of Festival of the Lost hasn't gone unnoticed by players either, with some taking to platforms like Reddit to voice their frustrat?ion and confusion. One commenter said, "So we get festival of the lost literately 2 days before Halloween. I think that is way too late it looks like I'll be playing other games Halloween events instead."

Bungie acknowledges For Honor crossover

While keeping Festival of the Lost nearly identical to previous years and starting it so late may be questionable, excitement could be rekindled with a snazzy focal point to get players excited about Destiny 2's Halloween event beyond its new wizard costumes. In this sense, bringing some of For Honor to Destiny 2 would make sen??se, but Bungie hasn??'t noted that's in the cards.

Acknowledging the crossover happening in For Honor, Bungie posted, "Knights, Samurai, Vikings, Wu Lin, and Outlanders prepare to upgrade your armory. Equip your favorite warrior with gear delivered straight from The Last City, during the Light of the Guardians Halloween event. Available Oct. 24 to Nov. 14. Dates and content may change." Notably, the studio did not mention that any content would be coming to Destiny 2; instead, Destiny content would be featured in For Honor.

While it's not impossible that For Honor content could come to Destiny 2 later, it would have made sense for Bungie to note that kind of news during this communication if it was official. As it stands, For Honor players can jump into a cool and unique Halloween event based on a more fantastical franchise. For Destiny 2 players, well, once Festival of the Lost actually starts, just keep running those Haunted Lost Sectors, ??I guess.

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Long gone are pit stops to The Tower and other locales with Vault access. Episode: Revenant makes the Destiny 2 Vault available from virtu??ally anywhere and adds in a few other conveniences to boot. Now, Guardians can access their collection of gear at any time and swap things around to their heart's content. The new sy??stem even adds an optional safeguard to protect you from yourself, preventing accidental vaulting with a single button press.

One of Destiny 2's most persistent annoyances has been the Vault system that Guardians use to store their gear. Initially only accessible in a few specific areas, it was the only in-game way players could store unused gear and retrieve stowed weapons or armor. The situation led to the Destiny community's wide adoption of third-party services like DIM or Little Light, offering an easier way t??o manage equipment between characters??.

The Vault is everywhere

Guardians can now access the Vault at any time from the character screen. When viewing your Guardian, players can press W (or up on a controller D-pad) to open the Vault. Th?ere are no limitations to when and where this can be done, so it's even possible to pull an item from the Vault while in combat if players really want. Likewise, the same goes for depositing items into the Vault, especially in the event your inventory is full and you can't pick up new loot.

A long-time annoyance with the previous Vault system was how easy it was to accidentally store away gear you meant to equip. If players entered the character screen from the Vault, anything they'd try to use would instead get sent off to storage. Now, a new UI element in the top left of the character screen reminds players that they're looking at their inventory in "Vault?? Mode." It handily also offers a toggle using the Ctrl key (or L3) that allows players to equip gear from the screen, eliminating the fear of accidental vaulting.

These Vault changes are exactly the kind of self-sufficient quality-of-life updates Destiny 2 needs. It always felt weird that third-party apps and services offered more convenient inventory management than Destiny 2 itself, and it never seemed like an easy pill to swallow for new players introduced to the concept. Hopefully, after the success of these Vault changes, Bungie ??will consider tackling the dwindling total Vault storage or?? make the Postmaster available anywhere next.

The post Destiny 2’s Episode: Revenant breathes fresh life to the game’s Vault system appeared first on Destructoid.

In Destiny 2's Episode: Revenant, creating new Tonics and discovering recipes is a core part of the experience. However, it can seem like progress is stalled after playe?rs make their first few Tonics, as it doesn't appear that any other recipes are known. The solution is more straightforward than it seems, and Guar??dians just need to continue creating Tonics.

Bungie released all of Episode: Revenant's Act 1 content at launch, removing any and all timegates. While the whole of Act 1 is available, players can't continue to progress Fieldwork with Eido until they learn more Tonic recipes. With each Fieldwo?rk Quest obtained, the next will call for even more Tonic recipes to be mastered. Thankfully, discovering new recipes isn't a complicated process; it just requires the time and patience to farm the necessary materials.

Where do Tonic recipes come from?

New Tonic recipes are n??????????????????????????ot found stashed in Raid chests or tucked away in a forgotten Lost Sector; they're instead discovered by continuously crafting the Tonics players already know. Tonics come in four distinct varieties: Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Exotic. 

After crafting enough Uncommon Tonic??s, Guardians will discover a Rare recipe. From there, more Uncommon Tonics can be made to potentially discover additional ?Rare Tonic options or Rare Tonics could be pursued to unlock Legendary recipes. Exotic Tonics are the outlier, as you can't learn a recipe for them. There's a modifiable chance that crafting a Legendary Tonic will reward an Exotic Tonic instead.

How many Tonics must be created before earning a new recipe?

The exact number of Tonics that need to be created before learning the subsequent new recipe is the same between all types of Tonic quality, but players will have to remember what they've already created. It takes five brewed Tonics to learn the next applicable recipe. For example, if you craft five Tonics of Worldly Gear, you'll learn the recipe for either Tonic of Worldly Armor or Ton??ic of Worldly Weaponry. And five more Tonics of Worldly Armor or Weaponry will reveal one of seven Legendary Tonics. After enough new recipes are learned, the Tonic menu will change to make it easier to swap between Tonic?? families.

Of course, the process of crafting a Tonic requires materials itself. Here's a breakdown of the materials and the quantity needed to craft the di?fferent Tonics ??available during Act 1:

The post Destiny 2: How to learn new Episode: Revenant Ton??ic recipes appeared first on Destructoid.

Once Human is prepping for its next scenario, Way of Winter, which will take the Mayflies to Nalcott’s frigid north. To introduce the upcoming location to players, a ne?w NPC sends them on a quest to fetch some orange juice and blueberry juice. Let’s go find some.

Ankh’s juice quest in Once Human

You first need to get the quest cal?led “[Event] Invited to the Snowy Realm�from Ankh in Meyer’s Market in Broken Delta, a level 12 zone. You can find the quest-giving NPC by lookin?g for the glowing guitar icon on the world map. Ankh asks you to bring her 5 Blueberry Juice and 5 Orange Juice, both recipes that you know by default. But to make them, you’ll need to locate blueberries and oranges.

Where to find blueberries and oranges?

• Blueberry bushes - 5182, -5611
• Orange trees - 5855, -5170

An easy way to get an Orange Juice in Once Human is by scrounging in the game’s weekly give??away tab. Hit Esc > Shop Events > Events > Regular Event. You can claim one free Orange Juice every week using your Astral Dewlets currency.

Taking five weeks to complete Ankh's quest isn't viable, considering that Orange Juice decays in 24 hours. Luckily, there’s another quick way to get some oranges to make your own juice. Citrus County (5855, -5170),? a level 4 area, has plenty of orange trees ready for picking. From Meyer’s Market, it’s abo?ut a 1.5 km trek, and along the way, you can stop and grab some blueberries.

Head to 5182, -5611. You’ll find several blueberry bushes along the roadsid??e. There are also one or two blueberry bushes right outside of Meyer’s Market, by the riverbank, though you’ll have to wait for them to respawn to get the amount needed to make five Blueberry Juice items.

After turning in your quest items to Ankh, be sure to sign up for Once Human’s Way of Winter event if you haven’t already. When the ??new scenario launches, you’ll be rewarded with a pink wool hat cosmetic item, perfect for the cold.

The post How to find blueberries and oranges in Once Human appeared first on Destructoid.

After plenty of leaks earlier this year, NetEase and Bungie have finally announced Destiny: Rising, a new shared-world shooter coming to m?obile platforms.

The game will take place decades before the events of Destiny 1 and will center on new and returning characters after The Collapse, an event only shown in the series' deeper lore drops so far, but will take place on?? a fresh timeline, NetEase has explained.

Destiny: Rising brings Bungie's shooter to mobile

For non-Destiny fans, conside??r this as what the prequel trilogy is to the original Star Wars trilogy and you'll be somewhere close, with players working alongside the Iron Lords of Iron Banner fame.

"For over a decade, we have built this universe to contain many unique and wonderful stories, and we are excited to see mobile gamers be able to experience this new take on the Destiny universe fro??????????????????????????m the creative team at NetEase," sa?id Terry Redfield, Creative Lead at Bungie via a press release.

“With?? Destiny: Rising, NetEase Games is honored to partner with Bungie to deliver a Destiny-caliber experience to mobile devices,�said Ethan Wang,? Senior Vice President at NetEase added.

“Destiny is an incredible franchise with a passionate and dedicated global fanbase. As huge fans ourselves, we are humbled and thrilled for the opportunity to bring gamers an action-packed RPG shooter set within the Destiny Universe.�/p>

Destiny: Rising will offer first and third-perso??n combat, and if you're less enthused about using your digits to poke away at your character, controller support is included, too.

Speaking of characters, NetEase is promising multiple playable ones, which is certainly different from Destiny and its sequel which have players creating their own Guardi?ans.

Destiny: Rising also include??s PvE and PvP, with the former including Strikes which have six players (double the main game's three-player Strikes), and new locations including the Red Sea Rift, Jiangshi, and Haven.

From the sounds of things, players will see the formation of the series' iconic Last City, and maybe even the formation of the Vanguard, which for Destiny nerds like me is some pretty exciting stuff - even if it is being cast adrift on a fresh timeline h?as me a tad concerned about how deep it'll delve into Bungie's universe.

Players can pre-register now via the game's official site, with a closed alpha set for November.

The post Destiny: Rising is?? a mobile title that could? be Bungie’s Phantom Menace appeared first on Destructoid.

Episode: Revenant has begun within Destiny 2, and numerous changes to Exotics come with it. The alterations aren't just hitting a couple of weapons or armor but sweeping across many Exotics from both categories and for all Classes. And these Exotics updates are just the tip of the iceberg for what's changing in Destiny 2 for Episode: Revenant.

Bungie shared some of what players could expect ahead of Episode: Revenant through its This Week in Destiny communications and a Twitch preview stream. These offered insights into some significant changes coming in the Episode, from Titans gaining a taunt to be more like MMO tanks to the resurgence of the Inverted Spire Strike and big updates to Onslaught. These Exotic changes come alongside additional Class and ability tuning that shifts the gameplay sandbox from its The Final Shape-launch state.

Exotic weapon changes

Bungie noted that it wanted to focus its Episode: Revenant Exotic weapon sweep on options that have been previously underserved or synergized with the new Artifact Mods. Exotic SMGs start the Episode out strong, with Huckleberry gaining a reload effect on kills and the Kine?tic Tremors Perk on its Catalyst. Tarrabah is also getting some love, mirroring a similar effect to the Riskrunner. It now offers 50% Solar damage resistance in PvE and 15% in PvP while the Ravenous Beast Perk is active.

Exotic grenade launchers are also getting some buffs for both the Special and Heavy ammo variety. Ex Diris is getting a sizable 33% damage increase to direct hits, which should be easier to land with some additional velocity and recoil changes. It also sports more ammo reserves and generates Hive moths more easily via two direct hits instead of only kills. The cooldown between moth generation has also been reduced from four seconds to three seconds. The Fighting Lion is getting a bit of a Void synergistic boost, creating a Volatile explosion on direct hits. Finally, the Prospector is getting a bit of a rework. It's now limited to six shots?? in a mag, and its remote d??etonation effects are now gone, but each shot now creates three high-damage cluster bombs.

Bungie also gave a couple of Exotic shotguns a day in the sun, Chaperone and Duality. Chaperone got a few changes to provide it with some PvE potential, allowing its The Roadborn Perk to trigger after two precision hits. The Roadborn increases handling, range, rate of fire, and precision damage. Bungie's tweaks also add 20 stability and a 25% increase in reload speed. Precision hits will extend The Roadborn, and base ammo reserves have increased. Duality has similarly received buffs ??to make it more usable in PvE, decreasing the number of On Black Wings stacks required to achieve full effects. The stacks will also last longer, shifting from seven to 10 seconds.

Alongside these broader categories, Bungie had a few outlier Exotic weapons that received some changes. The first one is Symmetry, which should be a bit easier to use, with kills also providing a stack of Dynamic Charge to keep its effects rolling. Bad Juju also had some quality-of-life changes to make it easier to use the weapon. The String of Curses buff now lasts longer, from three and a half seconds to five and a half, and the Catalyst now provides a seven-and-a-half-second timer. The magazine size has also increased, going from 27 to 36. Bungie notes that the Bad Juju has "become more haunted than it used to be� Finally, Lumina got a small change, making its hip-fired projectiles behave more like healing shots from Support-frame aut??o rifles.

Alongside? these buffs, one weapon got a bit of a nerf: Choir of One. Bungie noted the new Exotic performed a bit too well in PvE while not providing enough oomph in PvP. As such, Bungie reduced base ammo reserves to 200 from 250 and reduced the total max reserves possible from 384 to 300. The impact damage from Point-Blank projectiles has been reduced by 50%, but it deals 10% more hip-fire damage against players. Choir of One will start with seven shots in Crucible, and ammo pickups reward seven more.

Exotic armor changes

For all of the Exotic weapons that got changed, even more Exotic armor pieces received a tweak. Most of these alterations amount to a buff, especially when considered alongside the slew of Super and ability buffs in Episode: Revenant. However, some previously-dominant ??options have been pared down so that other Exotics can shine.

Warlock

Leaning into the idea of a Stasis-focused Episode, Ballidorse Wrathweavers have seen some tweaks to make it more effective in higher-tier PvE content. Targets frozen by the Shadebinder Super's projectile will now suffer 100% additional Shatter damage regardless of which player causes the Shatter. On top of this, Warlocks can gain a variable amount of Super energy for granting Frost Armor using Frostpulse or Winter's Wrath, depe??nding on how many allies are affected.

Skull of the Dire Ahamkara is getting a small but valuable update, providing Super energy whenever players defeat enemies while Devour is active. Sanguine Alchemy got a rework and now ?acts as the default target-marking Exotic for Warlocks. Players can mark an enemy by damaging them from within a Rift, gaining 10% increased damage against marks. The Exotic also grants a Surge x4 to any weapons matching the damage type of your equipped Super.

The Verity's Brow and Spirit of Verity effect on Exotic Class items is gettin??g a small change to front-load the brunt of the effect. The first stack of the Death Throes buff now provides 40% increased PvE grenade damage and adds 15% with each additional stack. Cenotaph Mask is also getting a minor update, bringing back the visual marker on targets under its effect. Speaker's Sight now has the ability to generate Orbs of Power back in PvP, creating one Orb per six instances of healing in the Crucible. 

On the nerf side of things, Osmiomancy Gloves got a bit of a de??buff. The armor already provided a strong buff to Coldsnap grenades, so Bungie reduced bonus seeker distance and speed by 50%. It still allows the Exotic to generate grenade energy quickly, but Coldsnaps should be less?? of a nuisance in PvP.

Hunter

Starting Hunters off, Lucky Pants is getting a few changes, with some targeted to bring the Exotic into ??line with other options. An e??quipped hand cannon now provides a movement and slide distance bonus, and the bonus to airborne effectiveness now persists whenever a hand cannon is being used. Additionally, the Out of Luck cooldown will only apply when players swap the weapon or time expires after reaching seven stacks in PvE. The maximum hand cannon damage bonus has been reduced from 650% to 400%, but players no longer need to use a hand cannon with a damage type matching their Super.

After removing the previous effect on Young Ahamkara's Spine that refunded grenade energy on grenade hits, the Exo??tic now has a similar version of its original Perk. Hunters gain Tripmine grenade energy from ability hits, granting 33% energ??y in PvE and 8% in PvP. For the Exotic Class item, specifically for the Spirit of Synthoceps Perk, the melee damage bonus has been reduced by 50% when Stylish Executioner and Biotic Enhancements are both active.

Before Episode: Revenant, the Blight Ranger Exotic only had niche functionality to create Orbs of Power in a pinch, but it has been reworked a bit. Players can cancel the Super to Blind and damage nearby enemies, gaining an Arc weapon damage boost. The Super will no longer generate Orbs of Power from reflecting? attacks, directly generating Super energy instead. 

Raiju's Harness lost a lo?t of its functionality to Blight Ranger, so Bungie rebuilt the Exotic to better represent its lore tab. The Exotic now buffs the Gathering Storm Super, summoning a lightning strike on all nearby enemies that Jolts and Amplifies teammates. Hunters can also generate Super energy by defeating Arc-debuffed foes.

Titans

Titans are taking full advantage of their Class changes and the focus on Stasis with Icefall Mantle. The Exotic has been reworked, rewarding a stack of Frost Armor for rapid Stasis kills. Stacks of Frost Armor from any source now heal and the unique Class ability, Icefall Mantle, now grants full Frost Armor stacks, too. The Class ability no longer impedes jumping or sprinting, and it also works when Thruster is equipped. The trade-off is that Icefall Mantle no longer offers a Stasis weapon damage bonus and now re?quires a Stasis Super equipped.

The Cadmus Ridge Lancecap Exotic is also bringing some Stasis-themed love, boosting the effectiveness of a Diamond Lance build. The Exotic no longer requires a Stasis weapon to create Diamond Lances. Titans will make one with any weapon kill whenever they're behind a barricade with a Stasis Super equipped.?? Additionally, any powerful combatants damaged by a Diamond Lance will create three Stasis Crystals.

Ursa Furiosa and the Spirit of the Bear Perk on Exotic Class items are also getting a tweak to support the reworked Unbreakable Aspect. The total amount of Super gained from using Unbreakable in PvE has been inc??reased from 15% to 20%. However, that total is capped at 10% in PvP. On top of this, Spirit of the Horn, Spirit of Alpha Lupi, and Spirit of Hoarfrost now work with the Thruster Class ability on Exotic Class items.

The Thundercrash Super has always benefited from Cuirass of the Falling Star, but Bungie wanted to rework it a bit to provide more benefits beyond increasing Super damage. The Exotic now rewards Super energy whenever Titans get melee kills while Amplified and damage resistance is applied after the impact instead of an overshield. The damage resistance is 50% in PvE and 10% in PvP. To compensate for these other changes, the damage multiplier for the Exotic has reduced from 2x to 1.55x. However, total damage should still be similar to before Episode: Revenant after the Thundercrash buffs.

Bungie wanted to create an Exotic effect for Titans that worked similarly to how Lucky Pants performed for Hunters. As such, the Peacekeepers Exotic has had a bit of a rework, now providing a damage buff when continuously damaging enemi?es with SMGs. Players can amass up to 20 stacks, which becomes 100% increased SMG damage.

Finally, Mast of the Quiet One got a minor tweak. In addition to its previous effects, the Exotic now offers the Devour buff. Players will need a Void-based Super to use this new effect, but it will grant the life-steali??ng buff whenever Titans get kills while a??t critical health.

The post Destiny 2: Every Exotic change for ?Episode?: Revenant appeared first on Destructoid.

In a Developer Livestream on Twitch, Bungie spoke about what Destiny 2 players could expect for content moving into Frontiers, comparing each of the two yearly expansions to the size of the Rise of Iron expansion for the original Destiny. The studio also offered a glimpse at what new content could look like, showing some concept art and ?commenting on gameplay structure.

The Destiny 2 community has found itself in a bit of a predicament since Bungie announced its plans for the future. On the one hand, some rejoiced at the news that the game was continuing not only to receive regular expansions but two expansions a year. On the other hand, others worried that Bungie noted that these expansions would be smaller in size and scale than what players had grown used to. Bungie seemingly took the Episode Revenant livestream as an opportunity to assure fans about the future of Destiny 2, spending a good chunk of the stream talking about Frontiers.

Bungie wants to spread out the spotlight

During the stream, Destiny 2's Assistant Game Director, Robbie Stevens, outlined how future expansions for Destiny 2, starting with Codename: Frontiers, will shift in scale and structure. Instead of a single enormous expansion every 18 months or so, the new approach aims to bring two relatively large expansions annually. Each is noted to have a scope similar to Rise of Iron from the original Destiny.

"Expansions are changing going forward with Codename: Frontiers," Stevens explained. "Our philosophy behind this is moving from one really big, all-consuming tentpole moment that takes all the oxygen in the room, to two big tentpole moments h??appening in each year."

Bungie's plan introduces more frequent content and more replayable and unique experiences. "Each expansion is going to have its own unique version of a campaign and post-game experience that you can dive really deep into beyond the initial playthrough," Stevens elaborated, comparing it to beloved areas like The Dreaming City or The Final Shape's new locale, The Pale Heart. "Making our expansions unique and deeply replayable is a big goal for us, in large part to support all?? the new gear and the new tiering of gear that we're putting into the game."

One of the standout features of this new approach is the non-linear design being touted for upcoming campaigns, particularly with Apollo. Stevens described it as being something of?? a "??Metroidvania-inspired" destination, implying that areas or zones might have layers that aren't immediately accessible. 

"You're going to journey to a Metroidvania-inspired destination. That's our guiding light for how we'r?e creating this new location," Stevens shared. "So, this new destination is going to feature a non-linear campaign that puts you in the driver's seat of exploring its world and its story."

Bungie claims it's not taking its foot off the narrative gas

Bungie also took some time to address some of the community worries that the story would no longer be a centric part of the Destiny experience. In short, the studio maintains that narrative is still a cornerstone of what gives Destiny its identity and that it won't be going away. Narrative Director Alison Lühr??s spoke on the topic??.

Responding to whether Destiny 2's new content structure would allow the same quality of storytelling as it had in the past, Lührs said, "That would be news to me if [the narrative] suddenly vanished." Lührs continued, "Story is Destiny. What makes Destiny Destiny i??s the beating heart of story at its core. That's not going anywhere."

Elaborating a bit, Lührs explained that the new structure allows the narrative in Destiny to go places where it wasn't able to before?. Aside from being able to play with delivery and new themes, Lührs notes that the two yearly expansions will allo?w the game to feel more alive, giving the changes to the universe and its lore a more rapid delivery.

The Narrative Director also noted that Frontiers allows some of the previous pain points within Destiny 2 to fall away. The current narrative dance players often do, where a week's worth of quests amounts to talking to a few NPCs in different locales, wil??l be a thing of the past. 

"Yeah, [that Quest structure] drives us bonkers too," Lührs said. "We believe that everything should be questioned, right? Like, we should be questioning that structure; we should be reinvestigating it. Starting with Revenant and especially when we get to Apollo, we're going to be deliberately shaking it up. By the time we get to Apollo, that loop, that pattern, is more or less gone."

While it was a bit unexpected for Bungie to go all in on addressing feedback and talking about Frontiers, the stream certainly proved insightful. It's clear that Bungie i?s working to do what it can to reestablish player faith. As Lührs said, "The feedback is loud and clear," so l??et's hope Bungie will continue taking it to heart.

The post B??ungie addresses Destiny 2 Frontie??rs worries, sharing concept art and structure plans appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie is gearing up for the launch of Destiny 2's Episode: Revenant, offering players a glimpse at what's to come in a Twitch stream. And while players already knew that the Exotic sniper Icebreaker was returning to the game, the studio announced that Episode: Revenant would also reintroduce a classic Destiny 2 Strike and an opportunity to s??nag a free hoverboard.

Episode: Revenant is set to focus the narrative on the Scorn, undead Eliksni, and their leader Fikrul. Finding the new power of the Echo, Fikrul hopes to remake his Scorn. Bungie noted that it wanted the Episode to have a heav??y-metal vibe, and it doesn't look like it will disappoint on that front. However, an update on the Scorn isn't the only thing the Episode promises. It's reintroducing content players are always asking for: Strikes and hoverboards.

The Inverted Spire is getting a glow-up

Payers who have been with Destiny 2 since its early days may remember the Inverted Spire Strike. It was the original PvE content available during Destiny 2's Beta and was a part of the game until it was deprioritized ahead of Lightfall. In a February 2023 blog post, Bungie outlined ??how it was hoping to revamp the Strike, much like Lake of Shadows or The Arms Dealer. 

Since then, Inverted Spire has remained in the game but hasn't been featured in the Strike playlist or as a Nightfall. Though news has been thin about Inverted Spire since then, it seems the studio is finally ready to deliver a reimagining of the Strike. Toward the end of the Episode: Revenant segment of the ?stream, Bungie teased that Inverted Spire would return in a new ??form for the Episode. 

When asked whether players could expect the same experience they remember from the last time the Strike was featured, Staff Desig?ner Clayton Kisko said, "Nope, we're taking our approach and adjusting all the encounters. And you'll see more Vex than what you are used to." The stream host and Bungie's Senior Social Media Manager, Andy Salisbury, shared, "My compatriot on the social me??dia team, Mitch, showed me through a little bit. The only thing I'll spoil is if you like death lasers, have a great time out there."

Including a few death traps and some added enemy density sounds precisely like the kind of changes old Strike content needs, allowing players to slay out with their new kits while adding?? a few unexpected hazards. Hopefully, those are just scratching the surface of some other significant changes to Inverted Spire, much like other Strike reworks have earned.

Skimmer hoverboards can be earned with Strange Coins

One of the most unexpected and well-received updates Destiny 2 added before The Final Shape was released was Skimmers. The franchise's take on hoverboards were a hit, with the vehicles revolutionizing moment-to-moment transportation. However, as great as Skimmers were, they have only been free to players lucky enough to participate in 2024's Guardian Games.

That's changing in Episode: Revenant, as a Skimmer variant will become purchasable from Xur in The Tower. As Xur primarily deals in the Strange Coins currency, the Skimmer will be no different, so players who want one should start saving up now. The new Skimmer, the Xûrfboard, will cost 97 Strange Coins. Players won't have to wait beyond the Episode: Revenant launc?h to nab their Xûrfboard. If y?ou want one, it will be available as soon as the Episode begins. 

Bungie also teased something else that would be coming later on in Episode: Revenant during Act 2. The studio was coy on specifics, but Salisbury noted that some playable content would arrive "inspired from a fan-favorite activity from Destiny's past." While Salisbury's info is too vague to make definitive claims, my mind immediately goes to Sparrow Racing League. The event was a fondly remembered activity from the original Destiny, where Guardians could race each other atop their Sparrows, Wipeout-style. 

Though Bungie has steered clear of the beloved activity in Destiny 2, I can scarcely think of anything else from Destiny that hasn't already made its way into Destiny 2 that would get players as hyped as Sparrow Racing League. The language was careful to note that it's something "inspired from a fan-favorite activity," so it's? clear that whatever it is, it likely won't be 1:1 with its original incarnation. At any rate, players have a surprise to look forward to i??n Act 2.

The post Destiny 2: Inverted Spire Strike and earnable ??Skimmers due ??to return for Episode: Revenant appeared first on Destructoid.

A new Dungeon is on its way to Destiny 2 to coincide with the release of Episode: Revenant, Vesper's Host. The Dungeon will be released on October 11, alongside a 48-hour World's First race. While this is the first time a Dungeon is getting the formerly Raid-only treatment, Bungie is pulling out all the stops with a Power-restricted Contest Mode enabled.

Though it's usu??ally something only ever done with Raids, Vesper's Host will feature a Contest Mode and race for two days after its launch. Contest Mode juices up the Raid or Dungeon, pitting more powerful combatants against Guardians restricted by limited respawn tokens or enrage mechanics. Players ha??ve 48 hours to race and see which Fireteams can conquer the content.

That said, once the Dungeon race is over, players can tackle the content ??at its intended difficulty. As opposed to waiting the full 48 hours, a Normal difficulty will be available once three teams clear the challenge. Once the two days are up, Contest Mode will no longer be?? an option, and teams won't be able to attempt the feat.

How to participate in the Dungeon race

If players want to join in on the Dungeon race, they'll need to be prepared. Not only will players need a team of reliable and skilled players, but there are also some specific requirements. Notably, interested players will need to own the Dungeon Key for The Final Shape expansion. Beyond that, players will need to complete an as-of-now unreleased Quest titled "Rogue Network," which will be provided by Spider once Episode: Revenant releases.

Of course, guardians will also need to have the appropriate Power to take on Contest Mode. Bungie notes that the required Power to run the Dungeon during the race is 1985. It's certainly no hurdle for players who have continued to play after completing The Final Shape's campaign, but newcomers won't be able&n?bsp;to just jump right in.

Bungie outlined some specific criteria for completion, noting that finish time is recorded when the final chest in the Dungeon is looted. Additionally, qualifying teams must not have any members? who have already completed the Dungeon with another team. The studio also? pointed out that at least one member of the finishing Fireteam must have completed and looted the previous encounters to be considered.

If a Fireteam manages to complete the Dungeon during the 48-hour Contest Mode period, each member will earn a couple of s??pecial rewards. That's a unique Emblem that earns bragging rights, and the Dun??geon's featured Exotic weapon. 

The post Destiny 2: New Vesper’s Host Dungeon releases October 11 appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 players will have the opportunity to once again dress up in-game to celebrate the spooky season, as new cosmetic armor is inbound for Festival of the Lost. This year, players can dust off their wands and brooms, as the theme is witches and wizards. Some classes opted for an evil depiction of the magic-users, while another chose the higher ??ground to prove spellcraft can put to some good.

As we continue to inch closer to Halloween, games are starting to talk about how players can celebrate the spooktacular holiday. In Destiny 2, that's done through the Festival of the Lost event, rounding out to Guardians' and The Tower's version of Halloween. The holiday has seen some notable changes over the years, transforming from the pseudo-horde mode Haunted Forest activity to the current iteration featuring ?Haunted Lost Sectors.

Guardians now spend the Festival of the Lost collecting Candy as a currency and spelunking through Haunted Lost Sectors harboring the mysterious Headless Ones, bone-chilling enemies that only appear this time of year. Players can unlock fun ghost stories throughout the event and use Candy to buy masks, wea?pons, and other goodies like the Festival of the Lost Memento.

Warlocks, the witches and wizards are coming

Last year, Destiny 2 players got some gross-looking bug and?? a?rachnid-themed armor for Festival of the Lost. This year, the theme is taking a step into the eldritch. Warlocks and Hunters are sporting the garb of a malicious spellcaster, while Titans are holding it down Gandalf style to show what good wizards ca?n do. All of the sets look great, with the only downside being that Warlocks would have looked damn good in a set of that? good wizard armor that Titans are rocking.

For Warlocks, the evil wizard set makes Guardians look like an aspiring Chaos cultist Psyker from Warhammer 40,000. The robes look to be mo??stly leather, with tattered and torn edges. The undershirt and pants are tight and black, almost looking like skinny jeans a?nd a body suit. On the chest, pinkish-purple energy emanates from metalwork. Metal is also featured sparingly on the legs and boots, with more creating pointed pauldrons on the shoulder. Potions dangle from the belt, and a crooked and pointed hat sits atop a metal helmet, completing the look.

Hunters sport a similar style, albeit with some notable differences. The class trades tattered robes for more metalwork on their armor, though a damaged cape still adds the right witchy vibes. The pinkish-purple energy is more prominently featured on Hunters, pulsing from front, back, and one shoulder. The wizard hat for Hunters is less crooked and sharp at the tip, but it's affixed with some meta??lwork that adds in some witch hunter accents.

Going against the mold are Titans, which is the only Class sporting the appearance of a benevolent spellcaster. Opposed to the dark leather, tarnished metal, and black linen, Titans radiate brilliance with a blue and gold aesthetic. Titans get something like a cross between a robe and a trenchcoat embellished with golden filigree. Little scrolls dot their belt as gold metal and tassels decorate their shoulders and back. Their hat is the shortest and bears the least curve, making it almost look like a pilgrim's hat, complete wi??th a buckle.

When does the Festival of the Lost start?

Destiny 2's Festival of the Lost is set to kick off toward the end of Act 1 of Episode: Revenant, on October 29. Though Bungie hasn't spec?ified how long the event would run for, there's a pretty good chance it will run through Act 1 of the Episode, which would end after October.

However, even after Festival of the Lost starts, chances are that players will have to shell out a bit extra if they want to dress up for the occasion. While it's possible ??to earn masks from Eva Levante for free, the premium full costumes each year are only sold in the Eververse Store. 

While Bungie has made some Festival of the Lost sets available for Bright Dust (the earnable currency), there's no guarantee that this set will be earnable without spending a bit of real money on Silver. Either way, Tess Everis will likely be the real gatekeeper between you and your new spooky Destiny 2 attire. 

The post Destiny 2’s Festival of the Lost 2024 adds evil and good wizard cosmetics for Episode: Revenant Act 1 appeared first on Destructoid.

October will be a busy month for Elder Scrolls Online players. At the end of the month, PC and Mac players will get access to Update 44, which includes a host of in-game patches. And throughout the month, ESO will see seasonal content as well as the launch of new Gold Coast Experience Scrolls and the continuation of the West W??eald Event. Players can get access to new, Halloween-styled outfits and home décor items that will be suitable for the Witches Festival at the end of the month.

Elder Scrolls Online officially launched more than a decade ago, in April 2014. Despite being more than ten years old, it still amasses more than 200,000 active monthly users, thanks partially ??to Zenimax launching new content updates and regular improvements to the game.

This October sees a lot of action for ESO players who can continue with the Fallen Leaves of West Weald Event that started a?t the end of September. Players can gain access to in-game rewards like new pets and mounts. And throughout the month, new costumes and outfits, like the Grisly Mummy Wrap, will be available. There is also an Explorer’s Celebration Event with XP boost and additional gold gains and, at the end of the month, is the Witches Festival Event which will see players receiving rewards for hunting down monsters and finishing new quests.

On October 28, PC and Mac players will get access to upda??te 44, bringing two-sided Battlegrounds. Update 44 will be available to console players on November 13.

The post Elder Scrolls Onli?ne announces ?October updates including spooky content appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2 players now know that Frontiers is on the horizon?, but new content is coming to the game much sooner than that. Episode: Revenant is due out on Oct??ober 8, and alongside new story content, Guardians are poised to inch their power up even more. Bungie revealed a slew of Super and ability changes, most of which are flat-out buffs.

While Titans are getting some extra love in the form of a Class identity rework, Hunters and W??arlocks won't be completely left ??out of the fun. Bungie typically does a mid-expansion weapon and ability balance update, and it appears Episode: Revenant will kick off the process. Starting things out, Bungie wants to ensure players feel powerful when using their Supers and Class abilities.

Supers and abilities getting an upgrade

Bungie outlined the upcoming changes in a recent This Week in Destiny blog. Every Class is due for at least two of its Supers to get some buffs. Notably, Ti??tans are getting four Supers powered-up, including the already-strong Twilight Arsenal. Bungie also noted that, alongside these tweak??s, Super uptime would increase for Episode: Revenant, with more info to come. On the ability side, Swarm grenades are taking one of the only hits, making the projectiles easier to shoot down and chaining an explosion to others.

Warlock

For Warlocks, Stormtrance, Chaos Reach, ??and Nova Warp are in the spotlight. Stormtrance is already great at taking out groups of weaker enemies, but its durability and the fact that it locked your loadout left something to be desired. Damage resistance is creeping up from 53% to 58%.

Chaos Reach will also benefit from some increased damage res?istance, moving from 45% to 55%. While the Super has some already-incredible damage potential, it wasn't consistently triggering ?Jolt or piercing Sentinal Shields or Barricades. Bungie has addressed both of these issues.

The final Warlock Super getting buffed is Nova Warp, and it, too, will see an increase in damage resistance while active.?? While it's?? a small bump, every bit counts, going from 51% to 58%. The two other buffs will feel like a bigger change, increasing PvE damage by 20% and applying the Volatile debuff regardless of how long an attack is charged for.

On top of?? the Super love, Warlocks are also due for a small update to Lightning Surge. As is, it's not a common pick compared to some of the options Prismatic offers. However, Bungie is increasing damage resistance against Titan Barricades by 50%, and a successful cast will now make Warlocks Amplified.

Hunter

Hunters are already a force to be reckoned with between their Golden Gun Super and the Still Hunt Exotic sniper, but they're still getting some buffs to Golden Gun and Spectral Blades. Golden Gun, in particular, is getting a whopping 30% damage increase against regular, elite, and miniboss ene??mies.

While Spectral B?lades hasn't ever really stood out in PvE, Bungie aims to make the Super a bit more usable. Spectral Blades is getting a flat 20% damage increase in PvE and a small boost to damage resistance, going from 47% to 58%.

For abilities, Hunters have a few changes. While most offer some form of a buff, a couple take a hit at Hunters dominanc?e in PvP. First up is Threaded Specter which will now deal a flat 33% more damage in PvE. That comes alongside another welcome change that makes the Prismatic Hailfire Spike grenade more reliable, adding increased tracking and aim assist. 

On the contrary, Combination Blow is finally getting tuned down a bit. The ability currently rewards 80 HP per kill, but it will n?ow restore 40-100 based on the number of stacks. In addition, the regen no longer clears any health or shield stun players are affected by. Thankfully, to offset these changes, the cooldown between triggering the Combination Blow effect has been removed.

Titan

Titans have the most Super changes, but they vary in scope. Kicking things off is a small one?, allowing the Howl of the Storm Aspect to be usable while in the Glacial Quake Super. The Aspect allows Guardians to slide ?into a Stasis wave that freezes enemies and creates Stasis Crystals.

Twilight Arsenal has been performing admirably since Bungie tweaked it following the launch of The Final Shape. That said, the axes it creates are getting a buff, adding an additional 23% damage. This comes alongside another change that makes the thrown axes track targets better than they c??urrently do.

Fists of Havok will see a few updates. Damage resistance is going up from 51% to 58%, and it will be easier to land hits? on enemies. Bungie described that it reworked light attacks to be more consistent, increasing range and vertical target acquisition.

One of the bread and butter Supers for Titans, Thundercrash, is getting a simple but effective change. It will deal an additional 33% base damage from its explosion, making it hit even harder. Of course, the Super changes just scratch the surface of what Titans have in store. Several abilities have been buffed or tweaked to support its Class identity overhaul.

The post Several Destiny 2 Supers and abilities are getting buffed fo??r Episode: Revenant appeared first on Destructoid.

While news has been rolling in about the next big thing in Destiny 2 and how Raid and Dungeon content will appear going forward, Titan players specifically have something to look forward to in the short term. The Class is getting a substantial overhaul as part of an eff??ort to add more identity and playstyle options. The best part is that it'll go live alongside Episode: Revenant on October 8.

Over time, Destiny 2 Titans have found themselves in a bit of a pickle. While the Class can do things that none o??ther can, like a Ward of Dawn dome barrier Super or consume a grenade to create a mobile shield, the game doesn't actively reward defe?nsive play. For Warlocks and Hunters, the Classes have evolved to allow players to eliminate enemies nearly as soon as they appear. 

There's not much incentive to stand around and block damage when you can destroy a room of enemies with a single grenade. As such, this has led to limited builds and playstyles for Titans, just trying to keep up?? with the other Cl??asses. Thankfully, Bungie has some significant changes incoming for Titans.

Titans join the ranks of the MMO tank

In a This Week in Destiny communication, Bungie described how it plans to change up Titans. The studio started by acknowledging that Titans didn't feel like they had a Class identity that competed with what other Classes could do. The first alteration, ar??guably the biggest, is that Titans can taunt enemies like a traditional tank.

Bungie said of the change, "We've heard your cries for more depth to Titan gameplay and more viability in high-tier endgame content, and we agree with you. Titans have so much more to give than mere blunt-force trauma. They're frontliners, damage mitigators, and battlefield commanders. Now, we don't want to take away from or replace what the Titan already has. Instead, we want to find non-??destructive ways to add depth to the Titan's kit."

The taunt ability will work primarily through the Barricade Class ability, though Bungie notes that Unbreakable Shields and Sentinal Shields will also benefit from the effect for mobile taunting. While the studio notes that the taunt will only occur if a player is behind the Barrier, this tweak will allow Titans more control ove??r the flow of the battle, redirecting incoming damage.

To further support these changes, Barricades will take 50% reduced damage from non-bosses, reduce splash damage by 20-60% for Guardians be??hind a Barricade, and grant some damage resistance during the cast animation. Unbreakable is also getting a few alterations, including generating grenade energy from blocking damage and increasing the maximum duration the shield can be active.

Other changes coming to the Titan Class

The ability to taunt isn't the only new toy Titans will have to play with, as a few other abilities and options have also been tweaked. Void Overshields will be more helpful, seeing an increase from 50% to 70% resistance. Stasis Crystals will also be detonatable via a Consecration slam or a Diamond Lance. Additionally, Diamond Lances will apply two stacks of Frost Armor to Titans and nea?rby allies when slammed.

The Knockout Aspect will change to help Titans stay in the action longer, starting health regen immediately. The long-maligned Shiver Strike also gets some love, refunding 80% of melee energy on a missed attack and regening 12.??5% faster. On top of that, a successful blow now adds a Stasis explosive to the foe.

An added bonus is that the Echo of Domineering and Facet of Command Fragments are also seeing some retooling. The cooldown between triggering the effect has been reduced to four seconds from 11. As if the above changes weren't sweet enough, Titans can also live out their slugger fantasies with a 20% increase to unpowered melee damage in PvE and a 5% increase in PvP. The punches also have the chance to?? stun enemies.

While Titans didn't start at the front of the pack when Prismatic hit th??e scene, Bungie is making some big changes to breathe lif?e into the Class. Time will tell how it's all received, but it seems like exactly the right kind of changes to help give the Class more identity. I can't wait to see Titans rushing into battle and soaking the attention and damage from a group of enemies, becoming the unstoppable bastion all Titans should be.

The post Destiny 2 Titans can taunt foes alongside other huge Clas??s changes? coming in Episode: Revenant appeared first on Destructoid.

The Artisan’s Touch is a Crafting Deviation, meaning it hangs out at your base in Once Human and doesn’t accompany y?ou into battle. It’s one of the more useful Deviations because it enables you to craft the All-Purpose Hand. So, let’s get? to tracking it down.

Artisan’s Touch drop locations in Once Human

The Artisan’s Touch can’t be found floating around in interactive Palworld-esque bubbles like many of the other Deviations in the game. Instead, it has a chance to drop as loot after defeating the elite Scorcher or Weather Forecast Deviants in Once Human.

It can take several attempts, in the 8-10 range, before the Artisan’s Touch drops. Rather than traveling around to the different locations, it’s faster to log out of the g?ame (in a safe spot!), wait for a few minutes, and then log back in. The target Deviant will have respawned.

Also, in many of these areas, there are one or two other elite Deviants wandering around, so be wary. Particularly in the Blackfell Fallen Zone, if you venture there too early, t?here’s a high chance to be killed. Lots of mobs are skulking about, many of them hard to spot or aggroing from a distance, so it’s easy to get overrun if you’re not fully paying attention.

Fighting the Scorcher Deviant in Once Human

The Scorcher can cause a lot of damage if you ?let its flame attacks hit you, but the real danger comes when you’ve “killed�it. Its flame head detaches and begins moving independently, so you may wind up fighting both the Scorcher body and its head at the same time. Keep your distance, attack from a height if possible, and you should be okay.

Fighting the Weather Forecast Deviant in Once Human

I died in about five stunned seconds the first time I encountered this creepy elite. It’s one of the cooler enemies in Once Human but has a lot of health and can bring a tough fight. The key is to keep your distance and mow it down, preferably with a stun or DOT weapon, as quickly as possible. It constan??tly floats towards you and, once close enough, summons a storm with projectiles that can wipe you out quickly.

In Evergreen, you can climb onto the roofs of the buildings surrounding the cul de sac where the We??ather Forecast lurks. In Blackfell Fallen Zone, the fight arena is a large rooftop, so you should be able to stay at range.

What is the Artisan’s Touch Deviation used for in Once Human?

The super rare Artisan’s Touch?? Deviation, once set up in a Securement Unit, will begin to produce Multi-Tools. It likes to be near a furnace and needs 10W o??f power for max efficiency. Once you have 40 Multi-Tools and some other mats, you’ll be able to craft an All-Purpose Hand at a Supplies Workbench.

This single-use tool will instantly repair the piece ??of gea??r in your inventory with the lowest durability. It must be an item that you’ve crafted, not one you’ve found.

• 40 Multi-Tools
• 15 Acid
• 40 Stardust Source
• 1 Vanadium Crystal

The post How to get Artisan’s Touch in Once Human appeared first on Destructoid.

Everything coming to Final Fantasy XIV typically makes its debut in FFXIV's Letter from the Producer LIVE streams, providing first looks at upcoming seasonal events, collaborations, or even expansion details. ??A Live Letter broadcast always precedes new patch launches, revealing dates and trailers, and they usually run for quite some time.

If you keep an eye on Final Fantasy XIV's Lodestone feed, you can get the heads up for new streams scheduled. However, we've got the details below on when FFXIV will host its next Live Lette?r, resources for the last ones, and what you can expect.

FFXIV Live Letter schedule, timezones, and countdown

The next FFXIV Letter from the Producer LIVE airs during Tokyo Game Show 2024 on Saturday, September 28 at 10:50 p.m. PDT as part of the Square Enix Lineup.

FFXIV Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXXIII (83) hit our last estimated within September, and debuts as the first event of its kind since the MMO launched its Dawntrail expansion. However, don't assume this date means radio silence from Yoshida and his team until then. Expect Lodestone updates and communication through official social channels detailing hotfixes, patches, and any FFXIV downtime.

• FFXIV Live Letter 83 Timezones: PDT to EST, BST, and more

  • September 28 at 10:50 p.m. PDT
  • September 29 at 12:50 a.m. CDT
  • September 29 at 1:50 a.m. EDT
  • September 29 at 6:50 a.m. BST
  • September 29 at 2:50 p.m. JST

Where to watch the next FFXIV Live Letter

FFXIV Live Letter 83 c??an be viewed on the following channels:

• YouTube
• Niconico
• Twitch

What to expect from FFXIV Live Letter 83

This upcoming Live Letter will only be available in Japanese, but Square Enix should have presentation slides available in English. Regardless of your familiarity, we still know plenty of what to expect from the upcoming livestream as fans can look forward to details around Shade's Triangle, Cosmic ?Explor??ation, the Future's Rewritten Ultimate Raids, MSQ updates, and more.

Catch up on the most recent FFXIV Live Letter (82)

For those keeping track, this is Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXXII (82). During the last broadcast on May 16, director and producer Naoki Yoshida delivered a nearly 5-hour-long presentation on upcoming changes and additions launching with Dawntrail. This i??ncluded details on reworks and updates to all of the MMO's older Jobs, plus peek??s at the two new ones, Viper and Pictomancer.

Yoshida also noted the media tour was quickly approaching at the end of May, and that we'd see more from Dawntrail as those articles and impressions go live �something to hold us over on the road to FFXIV Version 7.0. As for what you can expect at the next Live Letter, we'll likely see a few things like the launch trailer, a closer look at new zones, and more progress?? on the graphics update.

Upcoming FFXIV Live Letter streams

• Letter from the Producer LIVE LXXXIII (83)

Previous FFXIV Live Letters

• Letter from the Producer LIVE LXXXII (82) (June 14, 2024)
• Letter from the Producer LIVE LXXXI (May 16, 2024)

  • Official Digest, recapping benchmark, graphic updates, Dawntrail Jobs

• Letter from the Producer LIVE LXXX (April 12, 2024)
• Letter from the Producer LIVE LXXIX (September 23, 2023)

FFXIV Live Letter language and translation resources

While the streams are created in Japanese, for FFXIV's Letter from the Producer LIVE LXXXI stream, Square? Enix has said that it wil?l feature a live Japanese to English interpreter.

This is common with the Live Letter streams but not guaranteed. For when they don't, or just if you missed the stream, Square Enix releases a digest of? the Live ??Letter on the official forums. These summarize all the information in English.

There's no shortage of talented fan initiatives, either, as the FFXIV subreddit maintains a Discord channel of live interpretations ?in an unofficial capacity. After the stream, fan translators typically round up or clarify those points, too, giving eager players a resource that's typically faster than waiting for the official Lodestone post.

The post When is the next Final Fantasy XIV? Live Letter? Dawntrail updates, patch det??ails appeared first on Destructoid.

Alongside the announcement of Destiny 2's new content structure, players got an extra sprinkle of good news that confirmed a fan-favorite sniper rifle from the original Destiny would soon make the transition to Destiny 2. 

Bungie has confirmed the Ice Breaker is coming as a part of a new Dungeon that's also on the way. However, while details are scarce on the Dungeon itself, Bungie had to comment on Ice Breaker, conside?ring it accidentally became a part of the franchise's 10th Anniversary key art.

The Ice Breaker was an Exotic sniper rifle from the original Destiny. The weapon was unique in that it would slowly regenerate ammo but could never have more than one?? clip at a time. Ammo pickups also did nothing for the weapon, but kills had a chance to refund ammo and cause enemies to explode -- almost like a?? predecessor to the Firefly Perk.

An upcoming Dungeon delivers Ice Breaker to Destiny 2

On September 9, Bungie made several posts about the future of Destiny and the franchise's 10-year Anniversary. Prominently featured in the key art for the 10th Anniversary is a Titan h??olding Ice Breaker. While most of the post goes without any mention of the weapon, Bungie's communication has one telling line acknowled??ging Ice Breaker.

The studio said, "As you may have already guessed thanks to our key art, a certain Exotic Sniper Rifle, one considered a myth by many at this point, is resurfacing in the upcoming Dungeon. We'll share more info at a later date, but we hope this helped... break the ice."

Destiny 2's Global Community Lead further commented on Ice Breaker's out-of-the-blue appearance, noting that they hadn't expected the weapon would be featured in the art. "Also lol when we got the 1??0??th anniversary art we hadn't considered IceBreaker would beâ€?there! Had a last minute scramble to acknowledge it. Just wait till you get your hands on it via the new dungeon (more details soonâ€?."

There isn't much known about this upcoming Dungeon other than the confirmation that it's coming and seemingly soon. It could very well be that Bungie wasn't ready to fully announce or tease the Dungeon, but the unexpected art direction forced its hand. Either way, it seems that Guardians will have plenty to look forward to in the near future, between a mysterious new Dungeon experience and the rebirth of one of the most unique weapons the original Destiny ever offered.

The post Destiny 2 to get new Dungeon featur??ing returning fan-favorite Exotic sniper appeared first on Destructoid.

The six Securement Silos are a quick and relatively easy way to get loot in Once Human. In the Red Sands zone, you’ll find Securement Silo Theta, ?a level 45 dungeon with a secret area, a puzzle, and an extra boss.

How to reach the puzzle room in Securement Silo Theta

The Silo is filled with th??e standard Deviations you’ll have been mowing down for hours now. After navigating through a few branching corridors that all lead to the same location, you’ll end up in a room with two exits. The one on the left, filled with black sludge and red barrels, leads to the end boss. The doorway to the right, directly in front of where you entered, leads to the optional second boss, so head that way.

In this room, there’s a statue illuminated by a lamp. Hit F to rotate it and warp into the Seepage Zone. Continue down the long tunnel, where you’ll find a ladder at the end that leads to a large room with six statues. In between them, reflected in the water, is one of Once Human's giant Deviations, but it's not actually in the room. You’ll need to solve t??he puzzle to help the boss cross over so you can take it out.

Solving the puzzle in Once Human’s Securement Silo Theta

The solution to the puzzle in Silo Theta is straightforward once you understand what to do. Like the statue at the entrance to the Seepage Zone, these all have “Rotate�prompts. Turn each statue so that it matches its reflection in the water.

This will summon the giant Deviation into the room with you. This boss has a glowing blue bump on one of its legs, clearly a weak point. Shoot the ?lump to stun the creature, then let loose on its bulbous head. That task handled, head back up the ladder and to the statue at the entrance. Rotate it again to return to the real world, where it’s time to take out the main boss in Containment Silo Theta.

The final fight is a little tougher, as this Once Human boss summons adds. Use the pillars for cover and your De??viant to draw aggro.?? A couple of explosive barrels in the room will deal some extra damage to the boss. Now, with everything killed and looted, zone back out into Nalcott with your haul of goodies.

The post How to sol??ve the Securement Silo Theta statue puzzle in Once Human appeared first on Destructoid.

While there's no new base playable races or classes in The War Within, there is an unlockable race you can add to your roster. Sure, the Earthen aren't new to World of Warcraft. However, this particular kind we find have been hidden away from the rest of the world for a few millennia. Now they're ready to join the ranks of both the Ho?rde and Alliance, and this guide will show you how.

What are the requirements for unlocking The Earthen Allied Race?

The key requirement for this new group of playable characters involves a heavy investment into The War Within?'s story. There are four specific elements that needed to get an achiev??????????????????????????ement called "Allied Races: Earthen." Once you have that achievement, the new race is yours.

These achievement e??lements are going to be the main story campaign, as well as specific side quests focusing on the lives of the Earthen race. These?? requirements are:

• The War Within's campaign: Each of the four zones have a specific set of Campaign quests to finish, and a fifth set of quests exists at max level. It's a lot of story content to go through. Fortunately, it's very easy to identify exactly what quests you need to streamline the main storyline as fast as possible.
• Mourning Rise: A side quest chain in The Isle of Dorn starts with a quest titled "Before I depart," and ends with "The Weight of Duty." It's a bummer of a storyline, but it gives a lot of emotional depth to who the Earthen truly are.
• Broken Tools: This set of quests takes place in The Ringing Deeps. You'll be working with Machinist Kittrin on the quest "Discarded and Broken." You'll be through with this once you've completed "Reforged Purpose."
• Merrix and Steelvein: This is a series of quests that starts in Dornogal with "How Scandalous." It ends in the Ringing Deeps with "Bad Business," and is a great look at the political side of Earthen culture.

What are The Earthen's abilities?

Though they look like Dwarves, these new friends are more accurately described as "Living Constructs." They're made of stone and metal, but hav?e plenty of free thoughts and emotion??s. A lot of these traits are reflected in their racial abilities.

• Azerite Surge: An empowered spell attack that is more powerful the longer you hold it. "Draw upon your inner strength. RElease to invoke the power of Azerite on a cone in front of you, dealing Fire damage." Rank 1 deals Fire damage, Rank 2 Heals allies hit by the effect, and Rank 3 deals additional Fire damage to the highest health enemy hit.
• Hyper Productive: Increases Finesse by 2%. That increases your chance of gathering additional materials when gathering. This a particularly strong race if you want a character who gathers materials for your alts or selling on the auction house. They CAN drink potions and flasks for additional benefits and healing.
• Ingest Minerals: You are always considered "Well Fed," because you cannot eat. This means you are unable to use normal food, and will require Mage Food to heal outside of combat. Bandages may still work.
  This ability allows you to instead consume a cut Khaz Algaar gem and change what your Well Fed benefit grants you. Raw gems will not work.

  • Amber = Stamina
  • Emerald = Haste
  • Onyx = Mastery
  • Ruby = Critical Strike
  • Sapphire = Versatility

• Titan-Wrought Frame: Base armor from equipped items is increased by 10%. This obviously benefits Plate wearers the most. Of course, there's something to be said about being a rogue with the best armor bonus.
• Wide-Eyed Wonder: When you gain experience for exploration, gain an additional 200%. This could help with faster leveling in new zones. It seems that you can still use The Warband Guide to Everywhere All At Once toy to uncover the map, but you still get discovery exp for actively being in each location. Still, it's probably easier to keep track of where you've been without it.

As for classes, the Earthen have access to a fai??rly standard set at creation. You can choose from Hunter, Mage, Monk, Pala??din, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, or Warrior. If you're interested in being a Hunter, you'll get a unique starting pet of a Gruffhorn.

What are the Earthen's special features?

The Earthen come with a special starting racial mount, the Slatestone Ramolith. Li?ke all allied rac?e mounts, it's a ground-only mount.

Earthen also have a unique Heritage armor upon reaching Level 50. Only Earthen can wear it, a??nd there's three color tints to choose from. Note: the old restriction that prevented you earning Allied Race Heritage Armor by race/faction changing a character has been removed. If you don't want to level a new character, race changing to Earthen will get you the new heritage armor.

The post How to?? unlock the Earthen Allied Race in World of Warcraft appeared first on Destructoid.

Some recent Destiny rumors have been corroborated by reputable industry sources that allege a mobile entry for the franchise, reportedly called Destiny Rising, is currently being worked on by Chinese developer NetEase. While details on the project remain scarce, prominent insiders lik?e Jeff Grubb have commented on its existence and seemingly confirmed that it's still being worked on.

This news comes in the wake of some turmoil at Bungie. At the end of July, the company had its second round of layoffs within a year, with additional employees getting integrated into Sony. Since then, conversations about the studio's mismanagement have coalesced alongside high-ranking departures and scandals.

Previous reporting from Bloomberg and Forbes indicated that a Destiny mobile game may have been among the projects canceled alongside project Payback. However, more recently, The Game Post reported that notable insider Kurakasis posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying, "Destiny Rising is the title of an unannounced Destiny mobile game being develo?ped by NetEase and Bungie[.] It has not been canceled."

The info was seemingly backed up by another insider, Jeff Grubb, who made a comment about the post on Threads. Grubb wrote, "Yeah, this is real. Not a lot of people from Bungie working on it. It could get announced soon." When pressed for further details in th??e comments, Grubb talked about gameplay, saying, "It's going to be Destiny on mobile?, but with a lot of changes. Hero characters instead of building your own character, for example."

While this new information comes from reputable sources in the industry, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Bungie has not announced Destiny Rising or any Destiny&??nbsp;mobile project in any official capacity, and plans can always change.

The post A NetEase-made Destiny mobile g?ame is allegedly in development appeared first on Destructoid.

Destiny 2's Episode: Echoes starts its final Act today, introducing a slew of new Artifact Perks and weapons. After Act 2 buffed snipers in PvE, Act 3 shows some love to auto rifle??s, with a new Exotic auto rifle also dropping in the Act. And even if auto rifles aren't your thing, the new machine gun, trace rifle, or returning grenade launcher might serve as the highlight of Act 3.

Destiny 2 switched from a seasonal model to an episodic one with the launch of The Final Shape expansion. There are three Acts per Episode, with the first, Echoes, now entering its final Act. Each Act of an Episode adds some story missions alongside episodic activities or events. Episode: Echoes set a pace for new weapons in each Act, with one returning weapon from Destiny's past. Time will?? tell whether that delivery structure? continues through the next two planned Episodes.

New Artifact Perks highlight auto rifles

Five new Artifact Perks are arriving for Act 3 of Episode: Echoes, most of which increase the effectiveness of au??????????????????????????to rifles. The five Perks are spread across the different tiers of the Artifact, offering one new option per column.

In the first column, Overload Auto Rifle makes its return. This Perk allows continuous auto rifle fire stun Overload Champions while adding other benefits. Auto rifles benefiting from the Perk will always be considered as overcharged, reduce enemy ability regen, and limit enemy potential damage. The new second column Artifact Perk is Authorized Mod: Charged Up, lowering the cost of the Charged Up a??rmor mod to 1. Charged Up increases a Guardian's maximum possible stacks of Armor Charge by 1.

Things heat up with the new Artifact Perk in the third column, Sustained Fire, which grants damage resistance after a few uninterrupted seconds of laying into foes with auto rifl??es. This is made all the better by the fourth column Artifact Perk, Targeting Adjuster. Targeting Adjuster has a chance t??o reward bonus weapon damage and automatically reload whenever an enemy is eliminated with an auto rifle. Players can increase their chances by defeating foes while surrounded.

Finally, the fifth column bolsters the new Shock and Awe Artifact Perk. When using an Arc or Prismatic Subclass, Shock and Awe generates a lightning str?ike that damages and Jolts nearby enemies whenever players get an Arc final blow while Amplified. While Shock and Awe sounds pretty good on its own for Arc-leaning Prismatic Guardians, the Perk has some monstrous synergy alongside the other new auto rifle Artifact Perks. All it takes is an Arc auto rifle like Shadow Price or the Exotic Centrifuse to get the best of both worlds.

New and returning weapons

Echoes Act 3 has a group of weapons awaiting Guardians, including one new Exotic auto rifle. The first new weapon for Episode: Echoes is the Speleologist machine gun. This 900 RPM Solar beast uses a Rapid-Fire Frame and can roll with favorite Perks like Heal Clip, Stats for All, Envious Assassin, Incandescent, and Killing Tally. A new Adaptive Frame Void trace rifle called? Chronophage is also inbound, adding a second Void trace rifle option for weapon crafting. Notable Perks for Chronophage include Shoot to Loot, Repulsor Brace, Target Lock, and Destabilizing Rounds.

Tagging along with the two new Echoes weapons is the returning special ammo grenade launcher, Martyr's Retribution. The Solar Wave Frame was an old favorite that's made even better by its updated Perk pool and Intrinsi?c Trait. While it's? not craftable like the new weapons joining this Episode, it does sport some spicy new Perks like Heal Clip, Envious Assassin, Strategist, and Incandescent.

Rounding out the updates to Guardians' arsenal is the addition of a new Exotic auto?? rifle, Choir of One. The weapon is earned after completing the new Exotic mission, Encore: Overture. The Void auto rifle lets players live out their Vex Wyvern fantasies, shooting out slow-moving, splitting, explosive projectiles. Choir of One is also craftable, so it'll only get better over time as it's empowered by completing additional objectives within Encore: Overture.

Between Act 2's solar sniper-buffing Artifact Perks, the new auto rifle-based Perks from Act 3, and some new tools to rip enemies apart, Episode: Echoes means to go out with a bang.

The post Destiny 2’s Echoes Act 3 adds new Artifact Perks and weapons appeared first on Destructoid.

With the start of every new expansion in World of Warcraft, a breadcrumb quest points you in the direction of the new content, and The War Within is no different. You will need to complete the first breadcrumb quest to head to the new area in which the expansion takes place. Here is how to start The War Within campaign quest in WoW.

How to start The War Within quest in WoW

As long as you are a Level 70 character in World of Warcraft, simply logging in will cause the breadcrumb quest, properly titled The War Within to pop up. If you open your Quest? Log, you? should see the quest at the top under your Campaign quests.

Some players who were logged in to World of Warcraft at the time that The War Within quest went active indicated that they didn't automatically receive the breadcrumb popup notification for the new expansion quest. If you don't automatically receive The War Within quest in WoW, try simply logging out, completely closing World of Warcraft, and then relaunching and logging back in.

Re-logging in seems to fix the bug that causes The War Within campaign quest to not automatically start.

How to complete The War Within quest and reach Isle of Dorn

For the first The War Within quest, you need to head to the sword that's embedded in Azeroth located in Sillithus. It's the same place you started your journey in the Battle for Azeroth expansion. Check your inventory for a scroll that will automatically teleport you to where the quest starts. Head under the sword and speak with Magni to continue The War Within quest and progress through the quest objectives.

After finishing this initial quest, you will head to Dalaran to complete the introduction to The War Within. Upon completing this introduction questline you will end up at The Isle of Dorn and continue your journey in WoW The War Within.

The post How to start The War Within campaign quest in WoW appeared first on Destructoid.

It's the last week of Destiny 2's Solstice event, but even if you haven't participated yet, it's not too late to earn a set of holiday armor. That said, you'll need to spend quite a bit of time farming Alloy. Thankfully, there are ways to speed up the process, allowing players to make the most of the t?ime they dedicate to Solstice.

Solstice has been a returning Destiny 2 holiday event for a few years. Traditionally, the holiday's grand prize is a set of glowing cosmetic armor, often earned by participating in the Solstice activity Bonfire Bash. This year, the holiday is a bit different, requiring players to forge each piece of the Solstice set before repeating the process to make it glow. Alloy is the primary material used to forge and empower each piece, so players will need a heap of it ??before they're done.

How to earn Alloy

After ?players get started with Solstice by visiting Eva Levante in The Tower and completing her introductory quest, they'll have full access to the Solstice Forge? from the Quest tab in the Director. While players can also access the Forge via Eva, a trip to The Tower isn't required every time the tool is needed. The Solstice Forge opens access to a series of Bounties that reward Alloy, and those Bounties serve as the only way to earn Alloy.

Though each Forge Bounty rewards Alloy, the Alloy earned is specific to an armor slot. The Forge Bounties are separated by the type of Alloy they reward, with a category for each armor slot present. Each category offers three random Bounties of varying difficulty and reward potential, with the option to spend Silver Leaves to reroll Bounty options. Players can only take one Bounty per armor slot at any given time, so a bit of plan??ning can?? go a long way.

How to quickly earn Alloy

There are really two methods for farming Alloy fast, but it all depends on whether you have ready access to a Fireteam capable ??of quickly toppling Dungeons or Raids. For those with an active and reliable group of friends, the best bet is to fish for Gold Bounties across all armor slots, ideally all for the same activity. For this to work, players will need ample access to Silver Leaves to reroll Bounty options, and to make the time count; you should take the overall length and encounter difficulty into account for Raid or Dungeon choice.

If everything goes according to plan and you have a set of Gold Bounties for the same activity type, each Dungeon or a coup?le of Raid bosses will net 50 Alloy for each slot. With a bit of luck on your side and optimal execution, the process will only have to be done three times??: twice for the initial Solstice set and then another time around for the glowing appearance.

Alternatively, if players are grinding for Solstice armor alone, the best bet is the Altars of Sorrow on the Moon. The wave-based public event has no shortage of enemies to count toward Green Bounty progress, and each full completion will net players 7-10 Silver Leaves. The strategy isn't unlike the one in place for Gold Bounties, where players want to stack as many of the same type of Bounties for each armor slot. That way, if all of you??r Bounties require Solar kills or to generate Orbs of Power, they'll all complete at roughly the same time.

From there, because you don't need to return to The Tower to access the Forge and more Bounties, it's as simple as grabbing another set of Forge Bounties from the menus before resuming the Altars of Sorrow farm. Each Green Bounty rewards 15 Alloy, so it'll take 10 Bounties per slot or 50 total Bounties ?before you have enough Alloy to complete the glowing Solstice armor set??. That said, each Green Bounty is relatively quick to complete in an area as enemy-dense as the Altars.

Of course, nothing stops players from combining these two strategies as other Fireteam members are on or offline. So, it's possible to make some substantial progress by subbing in a set of Gold Bounties when the opportunity arises. The most important part of the grind is consistency with which Bounties you're grabbing. After all, the last thing ??you want is to ??create more hurdles between you and that shiny new armor.

The post The fastest way to earn Alloy for Destiny 2’s Solstice event appeared first on Destructoid.

In the World of Warcraft: The War Within expansion, every class has three new Hero Talent trees that unlock at Level 71. More specifically, each class specialization can choose between two of those three Hero Talents, creating some unique gameplay opportunities and completely new build options. We've created this WoW The War Within Tier List to rank all of the Hero Talents for all classes in the expansio?n.

The War Within Hero Talents Tier List for all classes

With the World of Warcraft: The War Within expansion, the addition of Hero Talents really changes up each class specialization. Essentially, each spec now has two separate subclasses based on the Hero Talent tree. While some Hero Talents affect build rotations and gameplay, others are mostly cosmetic changes. We've put together a Hero Talents tier list designed specifically around all facets of PvE in The War Within.

The Hero Talents we've put in the S Tier are the strongest overall Hero Talent specializations in The War Within and should have one in each M+ or raid scenario. Classes in the A Tier are solid and should also be used as available, while those in the B Tier may have specific strengths that make them worth bringing. Hero Talents in the C Tier are a bit lacking but should still be able to compete in most content, while those in the D Tier are very under-tuned at the moment and should for the most part be avoided until they receive some buffs. Here is our The War Within Hero Talents Tier List for all classes:

S Tier

• Arcane Mage (Sunfury)
• Augmentation Evoker (Chronowarden)
• Blood Death Knight (Deathbringer)
• Enhancement Shaman (Stormbringer)
• Frost Death Knight (Deathbringer)
• Protection Warrior (Mountain Thane)

A Tier

• Affliction Warlock (Hellcaller)
• Affliction Warlock (Soul Harvester)
• Arcane Mage (Spellslinger)
• Assassination Rogue (Deathstalker)
• Assassination Rogue (Fatebound)
• Augmentation Evoker (Scalecommander)
• Brewmaster Monk (Shado-Pan)
• Elemental Shaman (Stormbringer)
• Feral Druid (Druid of the Claw)
• Fire Mage (Sunfury)
• Frost Death Knight (Rider of the Apocalypse)
• Frost Mage (Spellslinger)
• Fury Warrior (Slayer)
• Guardian Druid (Elune's Chosen)
• Holy Paladin (Herald of the Sun)
• Mistweaver Monk (Conduit of the Celestials)
• Outlaw Rogue (Fatebound)
• Preservation Evoker (Chronowarden)
• Preservation Evoker (Flameshaper)
• Protection Warrior (Colossus)
• Restoration Shaman (Farseer)
• Restoration Shaman (Totemic)
• Retribution Paladin (Templar)
• Subtlety Rogue (Trickster)
• Survival Hunter (Sentinel)
• Unholy Death Knight (Rider of the Apocalypse)
• Vengeance Demon Hunter (Fel-Scarred)
• Windwalker Monk (Conduit of the Celestials)
• Windwalker Monk (Shado-Pan)

B Tier

• Arms Warrior (Colossus)
• Arms Warrior (Slayer)
• Blood Death Knight (San'layn)
• Brewmaster Monk (Master of Harmony)
• Demonology Warlock (Diabolist)
• Demonology Warlock (Soul Harvester)
• Devastation Evoker (Scalecommander)
• Discipline Priest (Voidweaver)
• Elemental Shaman (Farseer)
• Feral Druid (Wildstalker)
• Fury Warrior (Mountain Thane)
• Holy Priest (Oracle)
• Marksmanship Hunter (Sentinel)
• Outlaw Rogue (Trickster)
• Restoration Druid (Keeper of the Grove)
• Subtlety Rogue (Deathstalker)
• Unholy Death Knight (San'layn)
• Vengeance Demon Hunter (Aldrachi Reaver)

C Tier

• Beast Mastery Hunter (Dark Ranger)
• Destruction Warlock (Diabolist)
• Destruction Warlock (Hellcaller)
• Fire Mage (Frostfire)
• Frost Mage (Frostfire)
• Guardian Druid (Druid of the Claw)
• Havoc Demon Hunter (Fel-Scarred)
• Holy Paladin (Lightsmith)
• Holy Priest (Archon)
• Protection Paladin (Lightsmith)
• Restoration Druid (Wildstalker)
• Shadow Priest (Archon)

D Tier

• Balance Druid (Elune's Chosen)
• Balance Druid (Keeper of the Grove)
• Beast Mastery Hunter (Pack Leader)
• Devastation Evoker (Flameshaper)
• Discipline Priest (Oracle)
• Enhancement Shaman (Totemic)
• Havoc Demon Hunter (Aldrachi Reaver)
• Marksmanship Hunter (Dark Ranger)
• Mistweaver Monk (Master of Harmony)
• Protection Paladin (Templar)
• Retribution Paladin (Herald of the Sun)
• Shadow Priest (Voidweaver)
• Survival Hunter (Pack Leader)

Edit: Xal??'atath reminded us about ??Retribution Paladins. Sorry about that!

The post WoW ?The War Within Tier List for all Hero Talents and classes appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been quite a while since I last dove headfirst into World of Warcraft, and the game is quite different now. Yes, you're still creating an Alliance or ?Horde character and leveling them up through the ongoing conflicts on Azeroth and?? beyond; however, several new systems and features drastically change the experience.

Starting or returning to WoW now is easier than before, but some changes might require a bit of time to get used to. This was the case for me, as I haven't spent quality time with the MMO since its Battle for Azeroth expansion.

Like other MMOs on the market, World of Warcraft primarily delivers large and sweeping content updates through expansions. While they traditionally promise a continuation of the ongoing narrative alongside new activities and zones, it's also the perfect time for Blizzard to update or add new features. Sometimes, this is on the smaller side, like the Battle Pets feature, and other times, alterations see changes to longtime features or mechanics. Quite a bit has changed in WoW over the last few years, and, i??n many ways, it's made the game more streamlined for someone like myself, ??juggling several live service games at once.

Warbands

The introduction of Warbands is one of the first significant changes you will encounter after logging in. This includes a redesign of the character select screen, now primarily sho?wing four favorite characters huddled around a campfire. The whole of Warbands exists to ease the experience of playing multiple characters, offering a way to share a bank, cosmetics, and even progression.

Warbands' best features function in the background, retaining Achievement or Quest progress between characters even if they're p?art of different factions. You can still undertake Quests that another character has already completed, but the new system will alert players that it's something they've already done. If you decide to repeat Quest content, it rewards more reputation, which is now also tracked account-wide instead of character-specific.

For those more interested in drip, Warbands also lets you collect cosmetic appearances for all your characters more easily. Previously, you'd generally have to be playing a character that could use a specific pi??ece of gear if you wanted to collect its look. However, now, characters can collect any cosmetic appearance for any gear they've obtained.

All mounts are dragons

One of the prominent features of the Dragonflight expansion?? was Skyriding. This rework to standard flying introduced a more active aerial traversal system, allowing players to glide around at base and use stamina to dash forward or gain altitude. At first, this feature was limited to specific draconic mounts while on the Dragon Isles, but now it is available across all flyers everywhere.

You can still switch back to the original version of flying if?? you'd like, courtesy of a Spellbook toggle. That said, Skyriding does have its advantages. Even if the different flying style doesn't pique your interest, the change allows players to take to the skies much earlier than before. And with Warbands, if any character already has flying available, every character does.

One journey to rule them all

Back in the day, a new or returning WoW player would have to wade through the narrative and locales that came along with every expansion along the way ??to the current expansion. All the while, you'd level so quickly that you were often whisked away to new adventures long before seeing a satisfying conclusion to the content you started. That's no longer the case, as new or returning players are funneled ??into the most current expansion, with XP, challenge, and rewards scaling with level.

While this does mean new players won't take their first steps into Outland or experience the odd joy of farming in Pandaria, it does offer a more streamlined experience. After logging back in, I was offered the option to have some of my characters' Quest Log cleared and to have them deposited in their faction's major city, ready to start the Dragonflight expansion. Of course, this will switch over to The War Within once that launches. Not only does this remove the whirlwind of accepted tasks from across continents, but in the case of someone returning ??t??o the game, it eliminates all of the outdated material.

That's not to say that you can't still enjoy the older expansion content if you want. I?t's still in the game, cleverly folded into the NPC Chromie and the Bronze Dragonflight. A visit to Chromie in either faction's major city a??llows players to "Time Walk" back through a specific expansion, essentially opening those quests and game instancing up as if it were current content. Another option is a newer option called WoW Remix, which allows players to make a new character in an instanced version of the world where an older expansion is set as the main campaign, XP scaling and all. That said, Remix throws a few curveballs with the addition of powerful stat-increasing and ability-imbuing gems and a cloak that gains additional powerful benefits as you level.

It's never been easier to play with friends

Part of the allure of WoW, at least for me, was getting together w??ith a group of friends to knock out some quests or take on a Dungeon. The game has always been built to play with other people, and now it's easier than ever to do so.

Realm worries are a thing of the past, as you can still group up with others on the same faction regardless of server. Beyond just getting together with friends, WoW now ??also sports a feature that lets a group leader sync their quest progress with party members. As if that wasn't nice enough, it's also possible now to play with friends on opposite factions, so long as it's instanced content. While it may not seem like a particularly impressive feat, it blew my mind when I was able to queue up with a Horde buddy while I was playing on my Gnome.

I was a bit nervous about jumping back into WoW, remembering the countless systems, reputation grinds, and sporadic leveling process. However, after spending a little over a week with the current iteration of the game, I feel good about rejoining my friends in Azeroth for The War Within. I'm not shackled to older expansion content, and there's no inconvenience grouping up with others regardless of level. More than anything else, I'm excited that I can get back into WoW withou??t feeling like I'm picking up a part-ti??me job.

The post Returning to Azeroth: How to acclimate to current WoW for The War W?ithin appeared first on Destructoid.

When you start playing Once Human, one of the first problems you'll likely face is figuring out how to repair your rapidly degrading Pickaxe. You can repair your motorcycle??, as? well as weapons and armor, and you can technically use the Pickaxe as a weapon, but can you repair it?

Unfortunately, you can’t repair the Pickaxe in Once Human. It’s one of the more puzzling things about the tool, bes?ides perhaps the fact that it’s called a Pickaxe when it looks like an axe and can be used both to chop down trees and mine ore. However, don’t despair: As you unlock the different skills in your Cradle, you’ll learn to craft stronger Pickaxes that don’t deteriorate as quickly as your scrubby beginner one.

What can you do with your breaking Pickaxes in Once Human?

Don’t use your Pickaxes until they break! That will cause them to vanish from your inventory, lost forever. Instead, use th?em?? right up to the breaking point, then stash them away until you make a trip to town, where you can sell them for a few quick Energy Links. The sturdier Pickaxes are worth more money.

It’s an odd little inconvenience, being unable to repair Pickaxes even though your base is filled with workbenches. Perhaps developer Starry Studio will decide to make the Pickaxe in Once Human repairable eventually. But for now, they’ve probably got other things higher on their priority list, like preparing for the coming server reset.

The post Can you repair the Pickaxe in Once Human? appeared first on Destructoid.

Another summer in Destiny 2, another Solstice holiday event. While the actual content of the event has mostly stayed the same over the last six years, the main prize, a cosmetic set of Solstice armor, has only gotten more convoluted to earn. It's now held b?ehind a bureaucracy of Bounties and confusing upgrade paths, making menu dancing more of the main event than Solstice's longtime featured activity: the, frankly, brain-dead Bonfire Bash.

Solstice first kicked off in the summer of 2018, offering a permanent summer holiday for Destiny 2 to accompany its popular Halloween-themed Festival of the Lost and wintertime Dawning holiday (Guardian Games would first appear in 2020). The event brings Eva Levante back to The Tower to invite players to enter the EAZ, where the holiday activity currently sees Guardians eliminating enemies to grow the biggest bonfire they can. While there are some Solstice-exclusive weapons, the real draw for the holiday is the unique Solstice-themed armor on offer each ??year?. Bungie has experimented in the past with different ways for players to earn the Solstice cosmetics, but this year might be the worst yet.

How did Solstice's armor grind change?

In years past, the Solstice armor itself wasn't hard to earn, but players would spend some time upgrading it to see additional glowing appearances. It didn't require much effort if you just wanted a set of armor and didn't care about how shiny it was. Now, however, players can't even earn a single piece of the new look without engaging in some le?ngthy busy work.

For 2024's Solstice, Guardians must first speak with Eva Levante and complete the event's introdu??ctory quest. This is nothing new, and it is how Solstice usually starts: with a quick explanation of the event's mechanics. Those who have participated in past Solstice events might notice that before we even start the grind toward shinier versions of the event armor, or a set with better stats like 2023, we're grinding to get the armor itself.

Each piece of armor needs to be created in the new Solstice Forge menu. There, players can grab armor slot-specific Bounties to earn Alloy for that piece of armor. Bounties come in three varieties: Silver, Green, and Gold. Silver Bounties are the fastest to complete (example: Defeat enemies) and reward 5 Alloy, Green require a little more planning (Generate Orbs of Power or Subclass-specific kills) and reward 15 Alloy, and Gold requires the most commitment (Complete two Raid encounters) but grant 50 Alloy. Once players earn enough Alloy, t??hey can use it to claim another Bounty from the Forge, requiring a Bonfire Bash?? completion to finally reward the one armor piece. 

Each piece of Solst??ice armor costs 100 Alloy to forge, and each Alloy Bounty costs increasing quantities of Silver Leaves, depending on the variety. Hilariously, though, it doesn't end there. After players earn their Solstice armor, they can opt for the traditional glowing version of the set, which requires another cycle through the same pr??ocess per piece. The key difference is that the glowing armor requires 50 Alloy instead of 100, but that reprieve is offset by the Bounty's requirement to complete another 2-5 Bonfire Bash activities before it pays out.

It's way too complicated to efficiently grind Solstice armor

Complicating matters even more is the system used for Solstice Forge Bounties. The thing is, the Alloy earned from these Bounties is specific to one piece of Solstice armor. This means that if players complete a helmet Bounty, they'll only receive Helmet Alloy. At the same time, you can only ever attempt one Bounty at a time per armor slot. So, players might be incentivized to grab the Bou?nties with the higher payout. Well, even if you're capable of completing a Gold Bounty objective, like a Raid or Dungeon, there's no guarantee one of those Bounties will be available in the Forge. 

The available Bounties appear random, with an option in place where players can spend 5 Silver Leaves (the same cost as a Gold Alloy Bounty) to reroll available Bounties. But, of course, Silver Leaves are the same ??currency needed to obtain the Alloy Bounties themselves. Top it all off with the fact that Bonfire Bash isn't particularly engaging to play and only rewards 5-10 Silver Leaves per run, and players have quite the slog on their han?ds if they're going for Solstice's top prize.

It feels like a??n overcomplicated system designed to force a slow payout or for players to give in to the Eververse Store. For those who want the set and who can't be bothered with the grind, the glowing Solstice set is available for 6000 Bright Dust or $15 in real money.

The post Destiny 2’s Solstice armor grind is somehow worse than years past appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungie, the Destiny 2 studio, has a ghost haunting it. Not a spooky ghoul yellowing "boo" at passersbys, but the spectre of mismanagement. It has repeatedly risen over the years to set the company on its current course, and the studio has acknowledged it. However, after the recent layoffs, more voices are coming ??to the forefront to paint a better p?icture of Bungie's decision quality behind the scenes.

The past week has been a somber one for Bungie, as the Destiny studio announced layoffs and a deeper Sony integration. Following the news, rumors and leaks began to circulate alleging that Destiny 2 content would scale back, which has worried the community at large. While these details may appear drastic following The Final Shape's well-received release, ins??ider reports assert the wri??ting has been on the wall for quite some time.

In Bungie's own words

Bungie flat-out noted in the restructure announcement that mismanagement had led it to its current state, saying, "To realize that ambition, we set up several incubation projects, each seeded with senior development leaders from our existing teams. We eventually realized that this model stretched our talent too thin, too quickly. It also forced our studio support structures to scale to a larger level than we could realistically support, given our two primary products in development â€?nbsp;Destiny and Marathon." 

The quote is interesting, considering Luke Smith (who recently left Bungie) had previously said during the Beyond Light expansion reveal that the reason Bungie didn't want to make a Destiny 3 was because the development would pull too many resources off of Destiny 2, leading to the game to "go dark." Of course, the studio did bring on more staff in the lead-up to and after Sony purchased the studio for $3.6 billion, but ?it seems Bungie might have been a bit overzealous in its hiring, as it notes further in the restructure pos?t.

Adding a bit more context for current affairs, the studio asserted, "Additionally, in 2023, our rapid expansion ran headlong into a broad economic slowdown, a sharp downturn in the games industry, our quality miss with Destiny 2: Lightfall, and the need to give both The Final Shape and Marathon the time needed to ensure both projects deliver at the quality our players expect and deserve. We w??ere overly ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded, and we began running in the red."

History, insiders, and former employees add context

While Bungie acknowledged ??the studio's mismanagement, it did not discuss the delicate details. However, considering the organization's moves over the past few years and what has been revealed by those with insider knowledge, it's easy to see how Bungie ended up where it is today.

The first red flag comes around a year and a half after Luke Smith's comment about not pursuing Destiny 3 when Bungie started hiring to expand Destiny to other media formats. While we never saw anything from this, Forbes' Paul Tassi notes that Bungie put some work into a Destiny animated show for Netflix that was ultimately scrapped. After Sony came into the picture, Bungie announced that it wanted to become a "global multi-media entertainment company" with aims to bring its IPs to "multiple platforms and entertainment mediums." Still, the projects seemingly bore no fruit. That said, the studio was paying salaries to those hired to help consult or produc?e these experiments with TV and film.

The Sony acquisition statement also advertised a hiring call to action, noting that it wanted to expand staff for "Destiny 2 and for all new worlds beyond." Simultaneously, The Washington Post reported on a now-deleted post where Bungie promised employees the Sony acquisition wouldn't lead to layoffs. However, we now have a bit more clarity into this period at the company with Bloomberg's Jason Schreier's coverage of the Bungie layoffs. Schreier notes, "Flush with cash, Bungie hired hundreds of new staff members and pursued myriad incubation projects, including mobile versions of Destiny, remakes of old games and new franchises."

Game File's Stephen Totilo reported on the Bungie layoffs while pointing out another critical piece of the puzzle: that some believe Bungie overvalued itself to Sony. "I think Sony overpaid for Bungie," said one of Totilo's anonymous insider sources. I think Bungie sold things they were just not able to deliver." Unfortunately, the bad times would start in October 2023, when the first layoffs at Bungie occurred, leading to a reported "soul-crushing" environment.

Too many spinning plates

Bungie would officially unveil Marathon in May of 2023, but all indications were that the studio had been working on it secretly for some time before its public announcement. The team was made up of Destiny alums and, specifically, Marathon's Executive Producer Scott Taylor said, "I mean it's been under wraps for so long, but as a team, we've been completely immersed in developing this world behind closed doors at Bungie. Even though there's still a long way to go before release, it's fantastic to be able to open up (even just a little) and share what we've all?? been working on."

However, that's not the only project Bungie had under wraps. A few months after Marathon's announcement, the studio took to social media to advertise that it was hiring for what's become known as "Project Gummy Bears," which Bu?ng??ie describes as, "One of our favorite incubation projects is a team-based action game inspired by several genres in a brand-new, science-fantasy universe. It draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and frog-type games, wrapped up in a lighthearted, comedic world."

There's also the case of Payback, a title set in the Destiny universe initially believed by fans to be Destiny 3. As it turns out, Schreier notes that Payback was not Destiny 3; instead, it was a spin-off that took cues from games like Genshin Impact or Warframe to create a character-based third-person action experience. The project was ultimately canceled a few months before this recent round of layoffs and restructuring, but nonetheless, it had been i??n development alongside everything else Bungie was trying to get off the ground.

While it's not uncommon for studios to branch out as time goes on, Bungie is kind of a special case. Bungie only has one title on the market, Destiny 2, and it's the company's sole money maker. As a free-to-play game, Destiny 2 makes its money from micro-transactions and its live-service content, and, as the studio has noted in the past, pulling too many resources from Destiny 2 would hurt the game. It feels like we're already seeing this play out before our eyes, as The Final Shape's shift from four seasons to three Episodes has initially been met with criticism over time gating and a lack of meaningful stuff to do.

It's baffling to see all these projects in development, most of which seem like industry trend-chasers, with none being the one thing that would appease the customers already at Bungie's door -- a future for Destiny. While the verdict is still out over whether players want a Destiny 3, it does seem odd that Bungie, a company renowned for its PvE FPS gameplay, was putting resources into developing an extraction shooter, a third-person action game, and a MOBA hybrid bef??ore ensuring its golden goose was still laying eggs.

With Bungie's now-reduced size and "Project Gummy Bears" seemingly spinning out to a new studio wholly under Sony, the remaining staff are set to focus on Destiny 2 and Marathon. Even with the team's optimism around the new project, and even if it breaks through to become a success, previous decisions and mismanagement might have created a unwinnable situation for Marathon and Destiny's future.

The post Bungie’s mismanagement is coming back to haunt it appeared first on Destructoid.