Tag: Destiny Glimmer

Will Be Improved Before House Of Wolves’ Launch

Destiny’s player-versus-player activities are going to be much more tempting soon. Bungie plans to boost the rewards for Crucible matches prior to the House of Wolves expansion’s debut.

 “Shortly before the hunt for the House of Wolves begins on May 19th, all players will download Update 1.2.0 for Destiny power leveling,” Bungie’s David Dague said in the latest Weekly Update. “It will be another evolution for the experience you know.”

When Update 1.2 goes live, Legendary items will become possible end-of-match rewards in the Crucible. Furthermore, you’ll earn twice the usual Reputation and Marks at the end of a match. The first time you finish a daily feature Crucible activity each day, you’ll get a reward package. The changes should hopefully encourage players to push through a losing battle and stay until the end rather than quitting.

Iron Banner will be undergoing a couple changes as well. Spawn locking, an exploit that allows one team to essentially delay the respawns for their enemies, will be fixed. Furthermore, Iron Banner vendor Lord Saladin will begin selling Etheric Light. This new currency, available at Rank 3 and 5 in Iron Banner, allows players to upgrade any Legendary or Exotic weapon to the new damage cap of 365. It’s a way for players to keep their old favorites relevant even as Bungie adds newer loot in House of Wolves.

Lastly, three maps (“Pantheon,” “Skyshock,” “The Cauldron”) from previous expansion pack The Dark Below will be made available to all players. You’ll encounter them in the rotation for “select playlists” that weren’t announced just yet.

“As always, the full suite of changes will be itemized and scrutinized in the Patch Notes,” Dague said. “We’ll set your expectations for the exact date when all these changes arrive as it draws nearer.”

Destiny’s House of Wolves expansion will bring a number of other big changes for the Crucible. The largest is the new weekend activity Trials of Osiris, designed for teams of three. In Trials, teams will face off against each other in a new Elimination mode. They’ll keep going until they hit nine wins or three losses. A team’s final record during a Trials run will determine what kind of rewards they can purchase from new vendor Brother Vance. In addition to new equipment, Vance will sell consumables that make it easier for players to improve their record. For example, the Favor of Osiris adds a win to the team’s Trials run.

The expansion also enhances the usual Crucible modes with three new maps: “Black Shield,” “Thieves’ Den” and “Widow’s Court.” PS3 and PS4 owners will have exclusive access to a fourth map called “Timekeeper.”

House of Wolves will make some changes to currencies as well. Commendations will no longer be needed for buying Legendaries. You can burn your remaining supply off for bonus Reputation. Players will have  plenty of new currencies to gather, though.

Bungie Accidentally Nerfs Black Hammer And Fix Incoming From Destiny

 Gamers don’t need to go far to know that Destiny is among the most divisive games around; the title’s struggles are well documented. Moreover, no matter what Bungie tries to fix with their new game, it’s often the case that they end up turning yet another gamer off in the process.

Such was the case this month when Destiny released their 1.1.2 update. In it, Bungie included a handful of useful features, including increased vault space and some very important fixes for the game’s raid bosses.

But hidden among those “good” changes was yet another unexpected one. See, Bungie tried to make a change to the Black Hammer sniper rifle in Destiny, but they ended up breaking the gun (slightly) in the process. Today, the developer acknowledged the problem and vowed to fix it.

“Additionally, we are aware that the White Nail perk is not activating when targeting Fallen Walker legs. We apologize for the inconvenience. “

Any high level player should be plenty familiar with the Black Hammer. It’s a Legendary sniper rifle that only drops once a player defeats Crota in the Crota’s End raid on Normal difficulty. What makes Black Hammer truly special is its White Nail upgrade, which replenishes the gun’s 3-bullet clip any time they land 3 consecutive precision hits.

Now, in most cases the White Nail upgrade made Black Hammer a godsend – a high level sniper rifle with a seemingly endless supply of ammo. However, when the gun first launched it had some problems; specifically, the gun’s increased damage against Hive enemies made it so the While Nail upgrade didn’t trigger against them. So, the gun that came from defeating a Hive god, and that was supposed to make the Hive-centric Crota’s End raid easier, was made practically useless against those enemies.

 Luckily, it wasn’t too long before Destiny fixed the problem simply by turning the Hive damage off. At the very least it made the sniper rifle more useful. That is, before the latest Destiny update hit.

With said update, Bungie was hoping to nerf a specific part of the Black Hammer’s White Nail upgrade that let ‘Immune’ damage count as precision hits. In essence, players could hit a precision shot and then put two shots into an immune target and still refill their ammo. This was a particularly useful trick with the Fallen Walker, whose massive legs double as precision spots and immune spots depending on whether the Destiny tank is vulnerable or not. It was basically an exploit that Bungie wanted to get rid off.

By doing that, however, Bungie ended up making it so the Walker’s legs no longer counted as precision spots for the Black Hammer either. As a result, any player using the Black Hammer against the tank saw no White Nail perk and ran out of ammo quickly.

There’s no word from Bungie as far as when a fix for the problem might arrive, but the good news is they are aware and looking into it. The bad news is that this isn’t the first time Bungie has tried to change something in Destiny and broken something else in the process.

 For that matter, why they even needed to address such a small issue when so many other problems are left unchecked is just one of the reasons many deride Bungie and Destiny. They focus on taking away from players more than giving to them. That will hopefully change when the House of Wolves DLC hits on May 19th, bringing with it a new social space and cooperative experience called Prison of Elders. At least we hope…

Did you notice this problem with the Black Hammer sniper rifle? Are there any issues like this that Bungie needs to fix in Destiny ASAP?

Destiny: New Crucible Maps/Trials of Osiris and Elimination Mode

Last week, Bungie revealed details about The Reef, Destiny power leveling new social space in the upcoming House of Wolves expansion. As part of this week’s continuation of coverage, the developer discussed additions coming to Destiny’s PvP during a livestream presentation today. GameSpot went hands-on with the content last week and here’s the full rundown on what to expect.

One big point of contention for House of Wolves when it was announced was the lack of a new raid. But one thing that Bungie will be adding to help ease the pain of that omission will be The Trials of Osiris. This new end-game PvP activity will run every week from Friday to Tuesday. Trials of Osiris will be based on a new 3v3 mode called Elimination where two teams of three face off in a deathmatch. You’ll be able to revive your teammates in this mode, and the first team to win five rounds wins the match. In order to help players focus their strategies, there will only be one map available per week.

 In order to enter the Trials of Osiris you will need a Trials Passage. You’ll be able to earn some by accepting quests that involve talking to NPCs on the Reef. But after that’s completed, Trials Passages will cost 100 Glimmer each. In addition to earning you admittance into Osiris, the Trials Passage tracks your wins and losses. Once you lose three times, that specific Trials Passage is done and you can turn it in. Your package rewards are based on the total number of wins you accumulate.

Here are the rewards in Trials of Osiris:

  • Two to three wins — A blue package that can contain Motes of Light, Passage Coins, and other items
  • Five wins — Ability to purchase the weekly armor
  • Six wins — A legendary package
  • Seven wins — Ability to purchase the weekly weapon
  • Eight wins — Ability to buy a legendary package (Bungie did not disclose the packages rewards, but they did mention that it will not contain Exotics or Trials of Osiris armor)

The rewards are cumulative. So, for example, if you garner seven wins, you’ll be able to purchase the weekly weapon and you’ll also earn every lesser reward.

If you start off poorly or if you just want to begin a fresh card with a new team, you can discard your Trials Passage at any time. Brother Vance sells consumables that will help you get more wins and negate some losses. These items cost Passage Coins that you will receive as rewards from the Crucible and other places. Passage Coins are a new currency coming to the game that can be used to buy consumables from Trials of Osiris NPC Brother Vance.

Trials of Osiris will contain two sets of armor. The better set will be gated through Crucible wins, whereas the other set will be randomly dropped after matches.

As a sidenote, you’ll want to make sure to do Iron Banner when its available, because at Rank 3 and Rank 5 you can earn an Etheric Light to Ascend your gear.

The Dark Below Crucible maps will become free for everyone once House of Wolves releases on May 19. A Bungie representative at the preview event said, “All the Dark Below maps are going into the regular playlist for everybody. If you just have Destiny with no expansion packs, you’ll be able to play.”

The four new Crucible maps coming to the expansion are all small- to medium-sized maps with no vehicles. However, only three of the maps will come to both Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

  • Thieves Den — Fallen hideout located on Venus. It has a broken down walker, a docked ship, and multiple caves to run through.
  • Widow’s Court — An asymmetrical map with both long lines of sight and tight interiors. Set in a European Dead Zone on Earth.
  • Black Shield — A decommissioned Firebase believed to be used by the Cabal on Mars as a war base.

The only PlayStation exclusive for House of Wolves will be a Crucible map called Time Keeper. Focused around a mysterious, clockwork-like structure on Mars built by the Vex, this map has the most verticality and the most open space to run around in.

To encourage all players to spend more time in the Crucible on Xbox One and PS4, Bungie is going to increase the rewards you get for participating in the mode:

  • Earn double Marks
  • Earn double reputation
  • Increased number of Engrams rewarded after each match
  • Completing the daily Crucible missions will net you a reward pack containing Motes of Light, Passage Coins, or other items

On May 6 we’ll have more information about the upcoming PvE additions for House of Wolves when Bungie hosts its final livestream prior to the expansion’s release. House of Wolves will cost $20 as standalone content, but it’s also included with Destiny’s $35 Expansion Pass.

New Weapons Upgrade Mechanics and Social Space Revealed From Destiny

“Destiny” game developer, Bungie, has revealed more details about its upcoming DLC “House of Wolves.” The upcoming DLC pack promises something that will “change the way the game is played” according to a report in Tech Times.

The report says that the coming expansion back is supposedly “built around players who have already conquered the game” and this is further confirmed by a recent announcement by Bungie about the game’s new Social Space called The Queen’s Bay.

A screen grab from the video game Destiny. Activision Blizzard Inc intends to spend 0 million developing and promoting Destiny, potentially breaking industry records as it seeks to build the sci-fi role-playing videogame into its next multibillion-dollar franchise.

The Queen’s Bay is located within the Reef where most of the action will take place in the new DLC pack. This Social Space however is not just available for those who have the expansion pack but is also available for other players who want to access it. It is however considered the player hub for the “House of Wolves” expansion.

It is manned by a character named Petra, who is the new Bounty Tracker and Story Agent. She acts as the player’s main contact in the area and assigns new Story Quests and hands out bounties for “House of Wolves.”

According to the report, the Queen’s Bay is also populated with shops who have new gear, weapons, shaders and ship schematics. It was not mentioned how players can access these however. The good news is even if players are at the Queen’s Bay, they can still have access to the facilities in the Tower, namely the Cryptarch, Vault and Bounty Trackers.

Part of the expansion pack’s new feature is that ability of the Tower’s gunsmith to re-forge weapons, giving players a chance to make the perfect weapon. This however comes with a price every time you have the gunsmith re-forge your weapon.

The report also cited other details shared by Bungie, such as raising the Light level cap increase to 34 such that players will be able to access all the game’s new Social Spaces without the expansion or Season pass. One last detail confirmed was the new “Prison of Elders” mode which is not simply a “simpler tower defense-style co-op mode” which will change on a week-to-week basis.

Bungie intends to reveal additional details this week. The “House of Wolves” expansion pack will be released on May 19.

New stores opening at USA from Destiny

Syracuse, N.Y. — Lots of tenants are shifting spots at Destiny USA and a few new stores are set to open.

Here’s an update:

On the new tenant front, work is coming along on Nordstrom Rack. Rack, Nordstrom’s off-price unit, is set to take up a huge chunk of space on the first level of Destiny’s expansion section.

The barricades for the 33,000-square-foot store extend almost the entire length of one side of the corridor just off the Canyon. The retailer is swallowing up space once occupied by Tod’s, which has closed, and Puma, along with some previously vacant space.

Puma moved and is now located in the spot that was home to Hickey Freeman until it closed earlier this year. Rack will be across from a number of Destiny’s high-end outlets including Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo and Brooks Brothers.

It’s set to open this fall.

Construction barricades are still up for Jared The Galleria too. It’ll be right near Rack’s new store on the expansion’s first level. Also coming soon at Destiny is Threads, a men’s and women’s fashion and accessories store that will be located where Envy U and XSRE were on the second level of the expansion.

Via Roma, a menswear retailer, is set to open on the second level of the mall’s older section where Cortefiel was located before it closed. That’s between Ann Taylor and the Apple store. You know Deb, the mall stalwart, is out of business. But its space at Destiny wasn’t empty long. Lane Bryant is moving in temporarily.

Lane Bryant’s old location just down the hall is getting a facelift, which should wrap up by the end of June. The store will open in the temporary space Wednesday. Also on the move is Cooperstown Connection. It’s moving to the former location of Ecko Unltd. on the expansion’s second level. That’s down the hall from its old spot near Chico’s.

And Guitar Outlet moved from the expansion to the former location of Ruum, the childrenswear store, on the first level of Destiny’s older section. No info from the mall yet on plans for the old Cooperstown and Guitar Outlet locations.

Two more: There’s a new retailer, New York Fashions, open in the second-level connector between the mall’s old and new sections on the Lord & Taylor side. And Toys R Us Express is opening soon on the second level of the older section near Banana Republic.

The House of Wolves DLC To Possibly Have New Modifiers

Enraged Cinema is a Twitch streamer that recently made a trip out to Bungie to get his hands on the upcoming House of Wolves for Destiny power leveling. During his hands on session he found out some interesting new information about the game. He said that the House of Wolves DLC expansion that will be arriving next month is going to include a new set of modifiers.

He couldn’t go into the details and specifics of it, but merely mentioning it was enough to throw some people into a frenzy of speculation. Granted nobody has any idea what these modifiers are, but at the moment, the most commonly requested modifier on Destiny’s sub reddit is Kinetic Burn.

Other players seem to want Halo inspired modifiers such as no HUD, given that Bungie embraced Skulls in Halo, the community might recognise and respect these little nods to the past. As usual take this piece of information with a grain of salt unless you hear it from Bungie themselves. Destiny is now available for the PS4, PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. For more information on the game check out our hub page of Destiny here.

Destiny Share Iron Banner Returning On April 28th

Destiny’s Iron Banner event is much loved by the game’s community which is why it’s not surprising to see it return after a brief time out. It has been confirmed today when this PvP event returns next. Fortunately Destiny fans don’t have to wait for too long because they will be able to take part in the Iron Banner event in just a couple of days.

Bungie brings back the Iron Banner PvP event after every few weeks and sure enough the community is always ready for it, rather they’re anxiously waiting for it to return. There’s no doubt in the fact that Destiny fans will be excited to see Iron Banner return next week.

The developer of this popular title confirmed today that Iron Banner will return next week after Destiny’s weekly reset in the coming days. The event was actually supposed to arrive this week but it was delayed due to recent Crucible changes implemented with patch 1.1.2.

All new rules for ammo introduced with patch 1.1.2 will apply to the Iron Banner event as well so do keep that in mind once you’re down to play next week. Iron Banner goes live on April 28th at 10am PST.

Those who are willing to play it should keep in mind that they won’t be able to access it from inside the Crucible menu, rather it will appear on the left side next to featured activities.

Iron Banner Returns Next Week, New Gear Rewards Revealed From Destiny

Destiny’s limited time PvP Iron Banner event will return this coming Tuesday, April 28, developer Bungie has announced as part of the latest Bungie Weekly Update

The event kicks off that day at 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT / 6 PM UK. Bungie explained that it previously expected the Iron Banner to return this week, but changes made to Destiny’s Crucible multiplayer mode through the 1.1.2 update led the developer to push the event back a week.

Bungie also notes that, due to a “navigation bug,” the only way players will be able to access Iron Banner next week is by selecting it through Destiny’s main Director menu, not inside the Crucible mode itself. It will show up there on the left side of the screen as a “Featured” activity.

Finally, Bungie announced the special gear you can earn for completing the event. This includes three new helmets, which you can see below.

In other recent Destiny news, Bungie recently announced loads of details about the game’s upcoming House of Wolves expansion. The developer has also outlined changes to the game’s Commendations system.

Destiny: Update Will Remove Vanguard

More specifically, the developer took the game’s complex (some would even call it convoluted) currency and consumable selection and made it even more so.

 And although it’s true that the House of Wolves DLC will add new upgrade materials, consumables, and currencies into the mix, it will also render a few others obsolete. More specifically, the next major Destiny update will do away with Vanguard and Crucible Commendations, clearing the way for more space in players’ vaults.

For those who might be familiar, Commendations was yet another currency added by Destiny’s Dark Below DLC. As players leveled up their Vanguard and Crucible Reputation they would earn a Commendation, which could be used (along with Vanguard Marks or Crucible Marks) to buy new gear or weapons. In fact, many of the DLC gear required Commendations, making the currency pretty important…at first.

Eventually, though, Vanguard and Crucible Commendations lost their utility, as most players either bought all the gear they wanted or found better gear from Xur or Crota’s End. That didn’t stop the Commendations from coming in, mind you, but they just sat there.

However, starting with the next Destiny update, players will finally be able to take their Commendations and trade them in for Vanguard or Crucible Reputation. And any future Reputation levels will no longer deliver Commendations. All players will need to purchase the new gear moving forward is a certain number of Crucible or Vanguard Marks.

While it’s great to see that Bungie is listening to fans and making changes, it’s hard not to wonder why the Commendations were added in the first place. Destiny already puts so many hoops in player’s way that anything extra only takes away from the enjoyment. And even those who buy in to the changes will eventually find that there’s a shelf life for almost every piece of currency. For example, once players acquire every exotic weapon and armor piece from Xur, Strange Coins become practically useless.

 The good news, though, is that Bungie has heard those complaints about upgrade materials loud and clear, and they are adding changes to improve those systems as well. Starting with the House of Wolves, The Speaker will offer an exchange system whereby players can trade their upgrade materials (shards, energy, and Motes of Light) for different types of upgrade materials, or they can simply exchange them for Glimmer.

At the very least these upcoming moves should do well to clean out Destiny players’ vaults, giving them more space for those new consumables like Etheric Light. However, we still can’t help but shake our heads as Bungie goes back and forth, adding features and then removing them.

Are you happy to see that Commendations are being removed from Destiny? Are there any other currencies or upgrade materials you’d like to see go?

Destiny Share The Player Trading System Still on Bungie’s Radar

Will Bungie ever introduce a player trading system for items in Destiny? It’s a question that Bungie is continually asked, including during yesterday’s special livestream for upcoming expansion House of Wolves. Destiny creative director Christopher Barrett responded by saying that, although it’s not a feature he’d personally like to see in Destiny, it’s not been ruled out for sometime down the road.

 Barrett said people have been asking about a Destiny trading system “since the beginning of time.”

“It’s something we’re…there’s downsides to it and there’s upsides,” he explained. Destiny community member Gothalion said a item trading system could diminish the appeal of Destiny’s endgame if players could freely swap items between one another.

Barrett said he agreed. But while he wouldn’t personally like to see player trading in Destiny, he says the team internally at Bungie is divided on the subject, noting that the studio’s “investment designers” continue to explore the possibility.

“The investment designers, there’s a lot of conversations I’m sure that happen about that,” Barrett said. “We’re always considering features like that. Personally, I’d prefer not to have player trading. But you’ll get different opinions across the entire team.”

Destiny publisher Activision does have a history with player trading systems, as the company’s genre-defining MMO World of Warcraft has had such a system for years now.

Would you like to see player trading in Destiny? Let us know in the comments below.

We learned a lot more about Destiny’s new House of Wolves expansion yesterday, and you can see a roundup of the key points here. The expansion itself arrives May 19 for all platforms.