Starting March 28

Bungie's first livestream detailing the upcoming Destiny event Age of Triumph happened today, and in it the studio showed off its newest record book. It measures in at 13 pages, dwarfing the previous record books. (Rise of Iron's record book was only five pages.) Included in that book is a page rewarding players who have been playing throughout Destiny's life, a page for completing story missions, a page for running strikes, a page for competitive multiplayer in the Crucible, a page for tackling raids, a page for collecting cosmetic items, a page for pledging allegiance to the various factions?, a page for the highest level PvP in Trials of Osiris, and one page for each of the three main classes.

The goal behind the newest record book is to reward individual players depending on what they get out of Destiny. Some people may have never completed a raid, but have spent countless hours exploring the worlds in search of secrets. Some people may count Trials of Osiris as the most important part of the Destiny experience, whil??e others may put more emphasis on owning everything there i??s to own.

Those who complete a significant portion (but not all, Bungie stressed) of the book will have the opportunity to buy a personalized T-shirt to commemorate the experience, similar to what the studio did with it's Year Two Moments of Triumph.

The other big news out of today's stream is that all four of the raids (Vault of Glass, Crota's End, King's Fall, and Wrath of the Machine) will be brought up to current light levels. A common complaint throughout Destiny's life span has been that when new content was brought in, old content was made obsolete and while players could still go back and play the classic stuff, there was no extrinsi?c benefit to doing so.

Starting at the end of this month with Crota's End, all four raids will eventually have a 390 light level option, with the ability to drop gear up to level 400. The light level cap will not be raised with Age of Triumph. Each week, a new raid will be featured and by the end of April every raid will have a 390 version. However, ?the only way to get exclusive new ornaments for the new raid armor pieces will be through the featured raid.

Additionally, new challenge modes will be added to parts of raids that didn't originally have them. When a raid is the weekly featured raid, all challenge modes for?? that raid will be active.

Finally, the raid designers hinted that the old raids have been tweaked in subtle ways to improve the experience and to surprise hardened veterans. The example given was that the Oracle encounter in Vault of Glass has been shortened slightly. More subst?antial changes have been made to Crota's End (widely r??egarded as the weakest of the four raids), but no explicit details were given.

Next week Bungie will run a livestream on the daily and weekly activities, which will now include Prison of Elders and the featured raid. The following week Bungie will talk about the next sandbox update, playing with the Crucible meta. The week after that, Age of Triumph releases on March 28, and it will be the last live event for Destiny before Destiny 2 drops this fall.

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Uh, okay

Destiny has been in a rut for sometime. Nearly everyone I know has called it quits again after farming the Wrath of the Machine challenges, and the Winter update, while a nice gesture, essentially amounts to an extra Strike and a new scoreboard. So what else do we have to look forward to until Destiny 2 hits? Not a whole lot, apparently.

Bungie explains that it will not be hosting a Crimson Days Valentine's event this year, because it's "too busy" working on something else for an upcoming update in the spring. I won't miss Crimson as it was crudely copied and pasted on and billed as content in an effort to sell microtransactions -- like most events -- but the game needs something to keep people interested before spring/summer.

With all of the millions that Destiny earned since launch you'd think they'd be able to hire more hands, but this has been the Bungie way. Maybe it shifted a lot of folks to Destiny 2, where the real long term plans lie? If so, that will only solidify Destiny's original release as a beta/proving ground.

This Week At Bungie – 01/19/2017 [Bungie.net]

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The Dawning

In December of 2015, Bungie shook its loot-shooter Destiny up with Sparrow Racing League (SRL), a three-week event that had Guardians? hanging up their weapons for a bit to careen their hoverbikes down a couple of treacherous courses.

It was a fun little free activity, if a bit shallow. It featured only two courses, one each on Venus and Mars. There were a few short quests attached to it and so?me cosmetic gear, but not much else. Another common complaint with the event was that it offered nothing for players who don't care about racing.

The Dawning seeks to address both of those issues. SRL is coming back for three weeks again, with two new tracks (one on Earth and one on Mercury), doubling the total number of tracks. For those who would rather stick to shooting aliens in their stupid alien faces, The Dawning is also debuting Strike Scoring, which brings an arcade scoring system to Destiny??'s beefier missions, almost in the same way it updated 2015's Prison of Elders with the Challenge of the Elders in 20??16.

Unlike SRL 2015, this year's activities will be available after the event ends, via the recently added private matches in Rise of Iron.

The Dawning will be free (with cosmetic microtransactions) to owners of Rise of Iron. Guardians with The Taken King but not Rise of Iron will still get to?? race Sparrows, but only on the original two tracks.

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Everyone has to be on point

That's all she wrote for Destiny's Wrath of the Machine raid challenges, at least for now. All that's on the docket going forward until Destiny 2 (?) is Vosik ?and Aksis, the latter of which debuted this week.

The kicker is that it's actually a challenge this time around. Unbeknownst to a lot of players out there, the Aksis phase t??wo fight had a hidden mechanic -- select people who were not on the same side as the boss, and thus, were not slamming him, have the chance to slam the plate that the Servitors end their journey at, to grant the entire team instant supers.

As you can imagine th??is requires a lot of communication, beyond what the Aksis encounter already needed. And it's wonderful.

Here's some straight-forward instructions on how to complete the challenge. Players will have to get a supercharge (by slamming the plate) first, then slam Aksis three times in each round to have it count. If someone fails to get a supercharge once on any given teleport, it's a failure. If you don't?? slam him and retreat to the pillars, it's?? a failure. If you teleport him to the middle for the finale before getting a full round of three supercharges and three slams, it's a failure. Keep all of these parameters in mind (or better yet, keep a checkpoint for the boss on another character) before you attempt to finish it.

Naturally, pick-up-groups (PUGs) are going to have a lot of issues with this. Not only do you have to communicate that the supercharge is out, but you also have to communicate empowerments and slams on top of that. I was able to complete it yesterday, but everyone in my group was at least 398 and had completed the hard mode raid 15 times or more. If you really want to finish it, you'll need to know the mechanics inside and out (and occasionally shot-call or make a clutch play??) and pay attention.

The best strategy I've found is to have every side facing the plate when he's about to teleport, and just use your headset to feel out of Aksis is behind you. If he is, jump, turn, and slam after the supercharge notification on-screen or via voicechat (I typically get on his back right a?way and simply wait). If he isn't, you're already facing the supercharge platform and ca?n get there readily while the Aksis side player is jumping up.

Another recommendation I've heard is to stay on the plates and face Aksis, that way you can run up and slam him immediately (since everyone is already on their plates), which is absolutely viable. Yet, the slammers will need to be very quick, an?d the middle empowered player cannot stand on the plate, as they risk getting killed outright by Aksis teleporting on them (this is the only plate he directly ports to). So either way, everyone needs to pay attention, especially since everyone could potentially be required to swap to the middle.

If this sounds?? like an alien language to you, I hop??e you're enjoying the raid as-is. For everyone else, consider giving this challenge a shot on hard mode with people you trust -- it's a lot of fun.

The post Destiny’s Aksis challenge, for once, feels like an actual challenge appeared first on Destructoid.

It's easy

Bungie kind of snuck up on us with the challenge mode for Wrath of the Machine (it's still running for King's Fall by the way, if you care, like clockwork), a mystery task that you can complete on normal or hard for extra rewards. Well, it was a mystery for two hours after its launch until Reddit figured it out.

The gist is that you'll need to take the bombs that fall after a Vosik damage phase, have two players take one bomb each, then split up and seal both blast doors with each bomb. Rinse and repeat on the second damage phase, then kill him on the third (you can use the bombs for damage at that point). Note that you need to kill him in three runs, as you are required to bomb four doors in total, otherwise you won't clear the challenge. If you're still struggling on normal you might not have the firepower to take him out in three runs, but most hard mode groups should have the arsenal required to pull it off (and may even need to hold bac??k on the second damage phase).

In fact, this is the strategy my group employed anyway day one of the normal raid going in blind, as we erro??neously thought we had to go in two seperate rooms (a glitch killed part ?of our group after we poured into the same sealed room, leading us to believe we had to split up), and we thought we had to use the bombs to seal the door before we figured out we could just shoot at the panel.

You'll get an extra challenge chest containing a Siva armor ornament, boots, the challenge emblem, and a random special or heavy. Good luck! All signs point to a challenge fo??r Aksis phase two next.

The post If you run Destiny’s Wrath of the Machine on Hard, you might as well do the Vosik challenge appeared first on Destructoid.

October 18

Having made my way through Destiny's Wrath of the Machine raid nine times so far (and completed the Exotic questline), I'm still loving it. There's several ??different ways to approach each fight, and discovering new strategies with my raid crew ??is a treat.

But eventually we're going to want to tackle hard mode, and thankfully Bungie has given us a reasonable unlock date of October 18. Oh, and challenge mode is set to return too, which makes one boss each week even harder in exchange for even more guaranteed loot. The new Light (equipment) cap will be 400 for t??he raid, so you'll want to sidle up as close as possible to 385 before you head in. I'm already saying some prayers for those of you who PUG raids and have to deal with the Aksis empowerment phase on challenge week.

Beyond that, Bungie is also planning "more festivals and races," which is code for "more filler content that you'll enjoy for 30 minutes before quitting." It needs a lot more up its sleeve than that if it wants to retain players until Destiny 2.

This Week at Bungie [Bungie.net]

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Can't wait for Heroic

Raiding is my favorite part of Destiny. It's not even close.

While some folks prefer getting friends together and casually chilling with Strikes or Patrols once a week, I'm firmly in the progression camp. It's partially due to my MMO upbringing that's ingrained in my mind since Ultima Online, but I live for finding new gear, a???nd as it turns out, a lot of people feel the same.

I've had the same crew in Destiny since Vault of Glass (the first raid), and together, we've conquered Crota's End and King's Fall many times on Heroic (hard). Although many are down on Crota (and rightfully so with how glitched it was), each raid has offered something different to the point where they all have a special place in? my heart. Wrath of the Machine is no different.

After four full clears I feel like I have a grip on Wrath, and where it slots into Destiny's raids so far.

Last month, I got pretty worried when Bungie claimed in so many words that Wrath wouldn't be as technical as King's Fall, but as it turns out that's not the case at all. Not only does it have an ARG metagame related to an Exotic questline that's the most complicated eve??nt in the entire game to date, but the raid itself requires a high degree of group synergy, especially with fights like the community dubbed "Zamboni."

As an outdoor encounter (that doesn't feel like it's taking place in a time warp), the Siege Engine encounter plays out like a classic 2D platformer with the "giant wall heading towards you" shtick. After blasting away several pieces to expose its core, your team leaps on top of the monstrosity, then subsequently grab items to repair it to move on to the next part of the raid. The thing is, carrying one of the three giant pieces of the engine gives you an over-encumbered after several seconds, so you'll have to constantly switch off carrying and defending the onslaught of enemies trying to stop you. In true Bungie fashion there's also an exploit for it, but our?? group has opted to not use it b?ecause of how fun it is (and we ban cheeses in general).

That simple idea of carrying tank parts kind of sums up Wrath, and how Bungie was able to inject completely new ways to approach boss fights into the mix. And while I won't spoil the rest, there's plenty of other tactics to pick up on, including bomb throwing (which solicits shouts of "Kobe!" in our raid group), foot racing, and awareness with a side of communication. Plus, the idea of SIVA C??ache Keys, which allow players to open chests after each major encounter for another chance at loot, helps assuage the issue of triple RNG (getting the item, getting the stats you want, and getting the light level you need). SIVA pieces (10 of which can be traded in for a key) which can be used t?o re-roll gear stats do the same, and are a massive upgrade from the Moldering Shards system from King's Fall that only worked on the last boss and were automatically consumed.

As someone who has raided in MMOs for over a decade, the brevity of Destiny's endgame content is a breath o?f fresh air. I'm looking forward ??to tackling it on Heroic, whenever that may arrive.

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TWO HOURS

If game developers create it, it will be conquered: Destiny's new raid Wrath of the Machine has been finished by Clan Redeem two hours after it launched.

Wrath of the Machine launched today at 1PM Eastern today, and at 3PM it became old news, dirt crumbling under the feet of Clan Redeem. I've only played Destiny for only about two hours as well, but my time was spent faffing about making a character instead of setting records and becoming newsworthy. My main exposure to the game has been watching my brother spend tens of hours preparing for raids and screaming when he was killed instantly, so the fact a brand new raid wa??s destroyed so quickly is insane to me.

We have a winner! Congratulations to Clan Redeem on achieving World First for Wrath of the Machine. pic.twitter.com/wy3VsRSMJd

— Bungie (@Bungie) September 23, 2016

Chris reviewed Rise of Iron, Destiny's newest expansion today, saying it's "a weird cookie" but that if he "assesses Destiny right now as a total package, with four expansi?ons under its belt and hundreds of [good] tweaks and patches, it's easier to r??ecommend."

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SIVA Divas

In the several days since Destiny: Rise of Iron launched,? I've basically been doing nothing but play ?it.

While it's meant to last casual players weeks ?on end, my raid group and I chewed through, and although we still have some SIVA Clusters to ??collect and Exotic questlines to wait for, for the most part, I've seen all of the content on offer.

And even though some of it is a retread, Destiny is just so fun to play that it's hard to notic?e sometimes.

Destiny: Rise of Iron (PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Activision 
Released: September 20, 2016
MSRP: $29.99 (digital) / $59.99 (physical with previous expansions)

The general feel of the DLC is a little more weighty than Taken King even if there's less to do.

The snowcapped areas and the SIVA destroyed structures have a distinctive red and white thematic element that shines above the "more adventures in space" angle that the Taken enemy took, and areas like the Forge are some of the best looking, if not the best, areas in the game. Speaking of the Forge, even if some people haven't been able to experience it to the fullest, Destiny is at its best when you play it in a grou??p -- especially since Bungie h??as gone through great lengths to divide people with small party sizes and a lack of matchmaking on most of the fun activities.

For those of you who aren't aware, Archon's Forge is basically a giant arena mode that occurs in a public space. You can bring a fireteam of two other players along as it takes place on the new Patrol mission, but other random people can join you too if they stumble upon your instance of the game. Yet, you need a team to do it consistently, as you can only queue up a Forge encounter with a SIVA offering item that randomly drops from SIVA enemies -- and you can only carry one of any typ?e at any given moment on each character.

So if you play solo entirely, tough. Odds are you'll get one offering every 30-60 minutes if you play diligently, and you'll have to either wait for randoms that could possibly screw up a Perfected purple Forge encounter (the hardest difficulty, and the most fun), or just not do the Forge at all. It punishes solo play in a way that Court of Oryx never did, since you need a team to do it consistently. As for myself, I've been having a hell of a time with it. I have a network of Destiny players and have been setting up instances w??here we go in with three offerings, ask a random player to invite two of us in, and then go at it with a full party of six people with six offerings.

Since offerings can drop inside the Forge, we've actually had a few non-stop, hour-and-a-half sessions where we just put them in and play. It's what Prison of Elders should have been, and it's a lot more team-based and open than Court of Oryx. That's definitely not going to be the experience of the average "every once in a while lone wolf" Destiny player, but it's an option, and it's a cut above most of the horde ??modes copied and pasted into games these days.

I also see an improvement in terms of Bungie's Strike design. There's a few random elements added in and attempts to innovate like traps and tougher arenas that try to cut down on "cheese" spots where you can hide and shoot from a safe distance. But my main problem with Destiny also arises with two of the three new Strikes -- they're re-used levels we've already seen before. I mean, they're enjoyable, but why not rework all of the Strike?s? The layout is already there. And even if the team just changed a few things and swapped out the models, it would be an excuse to go ??back to legacy content. But for now there's only six relevant Strikes or so, which the player base has just been grinding out over and over.

Another contentious element is the re-introduction of the Gjallarhorn as a "Year 3" weapon. Yes, it's still very good even though everyone can get it from an easy (but well-designed) story quest, and I'm torn. I don't actually have an issue with giving them out like candy. Th?ere was a really weird meta in Year 1 where it created a rift between the haves and have nots, and many groups required potential raiders to have one. If you play a lot and thus randomly pick it up (or had the foresight to grab it from Xur, the Exotic weapon vendor, on week two of the game), you were in. If not, you were on the outs.

The real problem is that it limits weapon diversity, as you can only have one Exotic weapon equipped at a time -- whether it's a primary, secondary, or heavy slot. So in 90% of the endgame areas I've been playing in, people are using it. Just like Year 1, it doesn't necessarily take away from how great of a shooter Destiny is entirely just by virtue of having this weapon available as an option, but I question the decision to make it this good again.

Which leads me to the main event that most people are going to be playing for months on end, Wrath ?of the Machine. I was able to give it a go today, and while I need a little more time to talk about it at length, I am happy with what I've seen so far. All of the raids have been prominently set indoors, so having at leas??t one fight outdoors is a plus, and the SIVA enemies are a little more interesting, both aesthetically and strategically, than the Taken. I'm slightly concerned about the lack of difficulty for several fights, but Hard Mode isn't available yet (we got the final boss).

Another element I got to spend a lot of time with is PVP, known as the "Crucible." Now, Rise of Iron doesn't really add a whole lot in this department outside of some new maps and another mode (basically Kill Confirmed in Call of Duty), but I'm starting to come around to the idea of PVPing regularly. That's not merely because of the introduction of private matches in a bid to become the next eSport. There's just so many great maps to choose from, and I feel like Bungie has started to get its bearings on deciding what Destiny PVP actual??ly?? means. This is the type of incremental change I don't mind.

Destiny: Rise of Iron is a weird cookie. Bungie clearly put its live team in charge on this one, as there's nowhere near the amount of completely new-feeling stuff packed in as there was in Taken King -- and with so many people getting winded, a step that big was really needed. Yet, if I assess Destiny right now as a total package, with four expansions u??nder its belt and hundreds of [good] tweaks and patches, it's easier to recommend.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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SIVA Divas

Four expansions later, Destiny is a better game than it was at launch.

I fell short of claiming "it's come a long way," because a lot of the core issues with Bungie's philosophy have persisted throughout the game's now two-year history. Some of those problems still pop up in the new Rise of Iron ??;expansion, but as a standalone release that rests on the laurels of two years of updates and patches, it's growing on me.

Destiny: Rise of Iron (PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Activision 
Released: September 20, 2016
MSRP: $29.99 (digital) / $59.99 (physical with previous expansions)

Bungie has stated from the get-go that Iron won't be as meaty as Taken King (which was $40 compared to Iron's $30), and it's pretty clear from the story content that this claim is accurate. Whereas Oryx took you on a fairly lengthy journey (by Destiny standards), you can expect to clear out&n??bsp;Lord Saladin's tasks (which includes the new Gjallarhorn questline) in several hours, and there aren't any substantial mechanical changes like new subclasses.

The campaign will lead you through the snowy Felwinter Peak and the roughed-up Plaguelands, both of which are part of the Earth biome. And it's here that I encountered my first big Bungie red flag -- re-used content. Part of one mission will take you through the first launch quest, something a previous expansion has already done (to greater effect). The new enemy, SIVA (self-replicating nanotechnology), manifests itself inside of Fallen enemies -- an existing faction that launched with the game. The models are slightly different and they pack a few new abilities to deal with, but it's basically the same deal as the Taken and the Hive from Taken King. I like the Fallen just fine, but this is their second DLC appearance at this?? point.

While Felwinter is a nice little social hub zone that's far more intriguing than the one included in House of Wolves (you can really see the Souls inspiration here in the shrine), the Plaguelands consists of roughly half familiar content mixed with completely new assets. The first time I saw the giant forges that dot the SIVA-ridden bits of the new area, I was actually taken aback by the amount of effort that went into designing them. It looks pretty amazing, almost like a moving piece of concept art -- no doubt a bonus of not having to program for the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms anymore (they were ditched entirely as of Rise of Iron).

But that was after Sparrowing through familiar territory, with landscapes that are essentially a mix of Earth and Venus. When Bungie gives us something we haven't seen before, it aims to impress, but Destiny can't escape the pitfall of re-using old stuff, even this far down the line. It's a hard feeling to shake and it colors the entire DLC with a weird sense of anxiety. The same goes for the three one new strike (dungeon), and?? the two re-purposed l?egacy strikes (Sepiks Prime and Phogoth). 

I can't help but be charmed by the parts that do work, though -- so much so that I'm more forgiving of the aforementioned stumbles. The forge, the new zone/activity that operates as a combination of Prison of Elders and the Court of Oryx, is better than both. As a giant arena it hosts both a seamless horde-like mode and a boss-rush pit in one, and allows the greatest number of Guardians (read: more than three, which is what 90% of the game's PVE activities are limited to) to participate. On higher difficulties, it feels like an all-out slugfest, with new arcade-like hammer power-ups to pick up and plenty of opport??unities to throw your weight around and save a run. It's arguably the best single thing Bungie has created outside of raids.

Another new addition, the record book, is more like a streamlined Moment of Triumph menu. Now you can earn in-game achievements for more than just cosmetic upgrades, as each goal will move you closer to picking up a new piece of gear or a bag of goodies. And since it spans the main story, patrols, the raid, and PVP, anyone can feasibly unlock most of the book with any activity of their choice. The added cherry on top -- it grants you gear for all three classes, so you don't need to grind it out on your other two alts. What this does is not only explain some of the more esoteric things that only hardcore redditors will care to uncover, like how many Exotic weapon quests there are (four), but it also pushes players towards things they may not have even cared about. Several MMOs have adapted this strategy lately (including the new World of Warcraft expansion), and it's brilliant.

I need more time with PVP, the Nightfalls, and the Wrath of the Machine raid (which is dropping this Friday) before I can offer a full verdict, but so far Destiny: Rise of Iron feels hefty enough to warrant the upgrade if you're still blasting Fallen and H?ive alike. If you've sworn off, you probably don't need to come back.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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320,000 and counting

[Update: After two hours things have been smoother, though there are still scattered? reports (myself included) of being dropped from the game and connection issues. The worst seems to be over, however.]

The Destiny: Rise of Iron expansion rolled out thi?s morning at 5AM ET.

Well, it was supposed to at least, before it was hit by hundreds of thousands of players attempting to get in at once, resulting in crashes. A few people I know were able to circumvent the bottleneck by staying logged in from earlier this morning, which allowed them to o?btain their new rewards from the Postmaster, but then they were promptly kicked and placed into a qu??eue.

A queue, mind, that's over 200,000 strong, and also has its own set of disconnect??s. Just a few moments ago I was roughly 500th in line and ready to go un??til I was kicked and placed at the back. Several folks have gotten in, but for now, I wouldn't call out of work until all this dust has settled.

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Splendor 2.6

This past week streamer Mr_ Amplified discovered something odd in Destiny, and what seems to be a new ARG game.

Earning the buff called "Splendor 2.6," a glittery aura appeared above their avatar's head -- an alteration that can't be removed even after restarting your PS4 or logging out. It's a clear nod to the new enemy of the Rise of Iron expansion, the SIVA, a self-replicating technology that wouldn't be out of place in a Metal Gear Solid storyline.

With under a week until the new expansion, anything is possible (you can track the progress of the event here), though nothing will likely top the vanilla WoW epidemic ARG, which is still studied in scholarly circles to this day. As a reminder though, make sure you complete your Year 2 Moments of Triumph before the deadline!

Splendor 2.6 perk? [reddit]

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Become an Iron Lord

Before there were Guardians, there were Iron Lords. I'm more of an Irony Lord myself, but I appreciate any culture that keeps cute huskies around. Destiny: Rise of Iron is out next week, September 20, and brings with it, "a new cinematic story campaign, new weapons and armor, a new Raid, new and remastered co-operative Strikes, a ne??w social space, and more."

Remember, Da??rren and Kyle are always looking for more people to entrap with this video game.

The post Here’s a trailer for Destiny’s Rise of Iron, out next week appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been nearly two years, so it's late as hell

GameCentral had the chance to catch up to Bungie's world design lead Steve Cotton to chat about Destiny, and among other Rise of Iron related material, they discussed the prosp?ect of raid matchmaking -- something fans have been clamoring for since the first raid, Vault of Glass, debuted back in 2014.

Cotton states Bungie is "absolutely thinking about [it]," and is starting to fulfill requests with modes like private matches for PVP. But when pressed, he does say it's been "thinking about [raid matchmaking] a lot," hinting that it could come eventually. Of course, that means we could never see the feature at all, or we'll have to wait until Destiny 2 for it.

Here's the thing though -- why didn't Bungie do this ages ago? I mean, after the team moved onto Crota (the second raid), all it had to do was allow matchmaking for at least the normal, if not hard options for Vault of Glass. Done! That way it can maintain the "you must be this hardcore to ride this ride" mentality for progression content, but allow players with tighter schedules to at least see the raids.

Destiny has made many strides since its shaky debut, but?? Bungie still has a ways to go until it understands the many concepts it's borrowed from M??MOs.

Destiny: Rise Of ??Iron hands-on preview and interview [Metro UK]

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'It's about smashing shit into other shit'

Destiny players have gone through three raids now. Crota's End is generally considered the weakest, but there's ongoing debate about which is better between the first raid, Vault of Glass, and the most recent one, King's Fall.

One thing there isn't much debate about is how King's Fall is the most technically demanding of the three raids. Each party member has a job and if any one messes up, the penalty ranges from making the encounters more difficult to literally impossible. A single sli??p off a torn dimension platform can wipe a 15-minute attempt to kill Oryx, for instance.

Wrath of the Machine, the raid on its way in the upcoming expansion Rise of Iron, won't have quite such a focus on nailing the mechanics, instead putting emphasis on?? a player's Light level. In an interview with Game Informer, Bungie's lead raid designer Gavin Irby answers a question about t??he new raid's difficulty:

It’s hard. It’s largely a function of what your light level is versus the raid. King’s Fall has this property of where even if you’re over-leveling the mechanics don’t get easier so it still maintains this high difficulty, which at the time we felt was a virtue because people specifically wanted it a?nd had been asking for it, and I think maybe now the community might be ready for something a little different that they can actually overlevel and get some mastery over.

I'm not so sure I'm feeling it. I know some Guardians complain they don't feel like legends now because King's Fall is still a fair challenge even though we severely outlevel the enemies. It's possible to gain mastery over the raid, but it's the kind of mastery one gains over Spelunky rather than the kind one gains over Final Fantasy; it comes from within rather than from without. With this in mind, I hope Wrath of the Machine doesn't end up feeling trivial once we get close to 400 Light. I wouldn't want to see it meet the same end as Crota.

There are some other fun insights into how Destiny's raids are built, including the idea that Wrath of the Machine is "about smashing shit into other shit." It's worth a read; those interested ?can click below.

Raiders Of The Lost A??r??t - Destiny's Developers Explains [sic] Their Raid Development Process [Game Informer]

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These useless items are now more impactful

Relics, an item slot added in the Destiny: Taken King phase, were a nuisance. Mainly they were just things that held players back from reaching the level cap of 320 back before the April update, with nominal s??tats and bonuses that weren't even n??oticeable. Now Bungie is overhauling the system entirely.

By way of a Game Informer report, the developer is making eight new ?artifacts available to all classes and subclasses, which are heavily connected to the game's lore. Getting one will involve a quest with Tyra Karn, which allows you to pick up one per week, and their abilities are greatly enhanced beyond what we've seen before. Examples given include charming enemy troops with a melee attack, and a full stat increase with two grenades and two melee charges. All of the abilities will be tied into the lore of the character that Artifact represents.

This is sounding more and more like an old school "Mega Man X armor" upgrade which I dig. Hopefully Rise of Iron can build on all of the advancements from Taken King and turn Destiny into the game it was meant to be.

Destiny Artifacts [Game Informer]

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The studio doesn't want to talk about it right now

The future of Destiny is unclear. 

That was my big takeaway from a recent interview with Bungie's Scott Taylor, the executive producer behind the online first-person shooter's forthcoming expansion, Rise of Iron.

"We're still working on what the road map is for Destiny after September 20, (when the add-on drops)" Taylor r??epeatedly told me whenever I attempted t??o ascertain any information regarding how the Bellevue-based studio plans to support its popular title moving forward.

With a Destiny sequel already confirmed for a 2017 release, I was curious about what percentage of Bungie is still devoted to the original game. I asked Taylor about how many people are working on Rise of Iron and if it would be the original game's final expansion. And beyond the new raid, more missions, and a third social space, what sort of support can fans expect out of Destiny post-September? Will we be seei??ng more holiday-themed updates and timed events, like? the Sparrow Racing League?

Ta??ylor remained tight-lipped throughout this barrage of questioning??.

"We're certainly going to be supporting the game," he did say "We're still working on locking down what ?[the road map] loo??ks like and then we'll be excited to share [our plans] with the world."

While Bungie is clearly focused on Rise of Iron (at least outwardly), Taylor was even hesitant to go into great detail about that. He told me the expansion "fits nicely" (in terms of size) between House of Wolves and The Taken King, and recounted a list of what al??????????????????????????l will be included. But when it came down to delving into what, say, the new Crucible mode is exactly, he immediately clammed up.

Bungie promises to reveal more information about Destiny's future in the coming weeks and months, and I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Bungie will talk when it's? good and ready to talk.

The post Bungie cagey about the future of Destiny appeared first on Destructoid.

Now that's dedication

Destiny's forthcoming expansion Rise of Iron has wolves in it, so naturally, when I interviewed the add-on's executive?? producer Scott Taylor, I wanted to know if we'll be able to fig??ht alongside them.

"No," Taylor replied, dashing? my hopes, "I will go ahead and dis??appoint you now."

While it soun??ds like the wolves will ju??st hang out in the expansion's new social space, that doesn't mean Bungie spared any expense depicting the creatures in as authentic a fashion as possible.

"We actually had some people stay overnight in a wolf sanctuary and record wolves," Taylor added. "The raw sound and footage is really powerful and amazing, so we took a lot of care to represent them properly and with respect. When you see ?and hear them, we hope they make you feel a certain way."

Destiny: Rise of Iron will be available for PlayStation ??4 and Xbox On??e on September 20.

The post Bungie slept with wolves for Destiny appeared first on Destructoid.

Did you ever leave?

Destiny: Rise of Iron is confirmed, and it's $30 on PS4 and Xbox One (sorry last-gen). And given how many copies the game sold, there's a lot of people out there who have Destiny discs spinning in their consoles as we speak, as well as a sizable chunk of folk??s who have them collecting dust. So where do you stand? Are you back in?

As for me, I messaged my group "I'm back in September" after all the details were confirmed. After playing and raiding nearly every week since launch I quit several months ago, when it was clear that the only update on the horizon was a repackaged Prison of Elders dungeon --which was literally my least favorite part of the game back in the House of Wolves expansion.

Rise of Iron seems to be a sizable amount of content, and King's Fall prov??ed that they can really nail raids even so f??ar removed from the game's launch. But we'll see how often they support it, and if they call limited, week long re-skinned events "support" like Bungie has so many times before.

The post Is the new D??estiny expansion enough to bring you ba??ck? appeared first on Destructoid.

Another ad boner, plus Iron Gjallarhorn

Joining yesterday's Watch Dogs 2 advertisement leak, Destiny's upcoming Rise of Iron has had its trailer leaked via a Snapchat ad ahead of Bungie's planned livestream.?? If the video is no longer there it's because someon??e at Activision was woken up with a panicked phone call and worked to get it removed.

If it's still there, you can see some video of the stuff that leaked yesterday: "The usual expansion content like new gear, missions, a raid, and a maximum light level increase are on their way...There's also new Plaguelands zone and a social space alongside new Crucible modes and maps. Perhaps of biggest note is that a new enemy faction is on the way. As long as they're not closer to r??e-skins like the Taken faction was, that's a first."

The one new addition? Destiny's over-powered rocket launcher, Gjallarhorn, is back, rechris??tened Iron Gjallarhorn and painted black.

The post Watch the Destiny: Rise? of Iron leaked trailer while you can appeared first on Destructoid.

Destination speculation!

Early today, Brett brought news of a leak saying that Destiny: Rise of Iron would be releasing September 20. Since pre-E3 has become "Leak Week" (a term I'm going to try really hard to spread [and probably fail]), we now have more information about the contents of said? update.

The usual expansion content like new gear, missions, a raid, and a maximum light level increase are on their way according to this Xbox store page. There's also new Plaguelands zone and a social space alongside new Crucible modes and maps. Perhaps of biggest note is that a new enemy fact?ion is on the way. As long as they're not closer to re-skins like the Taken faction was, that's a first.

Here's where we get to Destination Speculation: this screenshot says that "Rise of Iron launches September 20th, 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One." While this could mean that Bungie is only focusing its efforts on marketing the current gen versions of Destiny's expansion, some are wondering if this will mark the end of updates fo??r the previous generation of consoles. That would streamline Bungie's work. We'll know more during tomorrow's livestream.

The post More details on Destiny’s newest expansion that may bypass last generation appeared first on Destructoid.

Name and date look to be confirmed

We're one day away from Bungie's official reveal of the next (and possibly final) Destiny expansion, but we already know plenty about it. Its rumored name is finally corroborated by the official Destiny site, which outs its release date as well.

It seems as though Destiny's Rise of Iron expansion will launch on September 20, as indicated by this posting on the right-hand side of the front page of Destiny's website. We've taken a screencap in case Activision and/or Bungie wises up and edits it. The listing mentions a trailer, but it currently links through to a video for the Taken King DLC.

Whether the leaks are intentional or not is anyone's guess. Bungie's holding a livestream tomorrow to formally announce the add-on, its release date, and more. That "and more" is probably worth tuning into, as there will surely be some sort of granular details that Destiny fans want to know abou??t. For those who just want the what and when, well, now you have it.

Destiny [Destiny]

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