The latest expansion packs draws near from Destiny

Fans on the Xbox and PlayStation platform get their hands on House Of Wolves later this month and will have two new endgame activities to try out instead of a new raid.

The latest blog from the studio has given a recap on the latest reveal on crucible event, Prison of Elders, where teams of three players can take on waves of increasingly difficult enemies to earn destiny power leveling legendary and exotic rewards.

Higher difficulty challenges are available and will include even greater rewards for those Guardians ready to test themselves. The Trials of Osiris meanwhile introduces a weekly 3v3 elimination event that tracks your team’s wins and losses.

The more wins your team accumulates in each Passage, the greater your rewards, which include Osiris-themed, endgame gear. Bungie have spent a lot of time focussing on the worth of the two new activities and look set to continue on that trend until May 19.

 

“Respect your elders, they say. The cold, hard fact is that they won’t always respect you back,” the latest Bungie blog opens with.

“That’s what we learned yesterday during the Prison of Elders reveal. Three Guardians who had never played Destiny together took on one of the most challenging activities that you’ll experience in House of Wolves.

“The results were amazing. Our enemies cowered in fear as we swept each cell clean. We emerged victorious to enjoy a shower of riches. “Okay, we got our asses kicked. Think you can do better in the new endgame? You’re invited to go serve your own sentence after May 19th.”

Servers Down: Login, Iron Banner Not Loading And Other Issues Reporte

It seems like Destiny servers are currently down on all platforms and players are experiencing some nasty issues related to it. As per the details coming out from Destiny players on Reddit, Destiny servers are down on all platforms (PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360). Here are some of the complaints from Destiny players on Reddit  in a thread titled as “[Misc] servers down”:

“Got newt first, then caterpillar. IB wouldn’t load at all, and the daily heroic worked for about 5 minutes then kicked me. 

I am able to login,but can’t get into Iron Banner. Just stays at the 1/12 screen forever. Oh well…. Will try some patrol bounties.

PS4, keep trying to do the Daily and get caterpillar’d instead. EDIT: Every time it happens 4-5 minutes after starting the mission, almost like clockwork. Same in the Tower and everywhere else. I literally cannot be in an activity for more than 5 minutes without being kicked.

I’m getting the entire zoo. Tried switching to Skirmish. Got through one match, then the next one only loading two for each team before kicking us. Que just sits and spins forever, resulting in more zoo tours. Cosmo patrol kicked me after a minute.

Let me know when you want me to play again, Bungie.

Edit: PSN here, and yes, everything else is working and streaming perfectly. I’ve never seen Destiny act like this (this severely) before. Something on their end is wrong.”

Bungie has not yet issued any update or acknowledgement on this sudden downtime of Destiny servers. We have contacted our sources at Bungie for some official words on it, so stay tuned to Gamepur as we will update this post as soon as we get to hear something from them.

Tell us in the comment section below: What issue you guys are experiencing what Destiny right now? do mention the platform.

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.

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 show new challenges burn it all down this week

It’s that wonderful time when Bungie’s regular offering of high-reward Weekly Heroic and Nightfall Strike missions are rebooted (along with any raid progress made in the previous week), giving everyone a fresh chance at scoring some of the game’s sweetest and rarest loot.

Are you new to Destiny? Don’t know what any of this means? Good news! There’s a Destiny wiki that’s packed with information. Click on through for details on what Strikes are, and howNightfall differs from Weekly Heroic challenges.

Taste the rainbow! Destiny fans can’t ask for much more from their weekly challenge reset. There are shorter Strikes than Winter’s Run, which concludes with a knockdown brawl against a towering Archon Priest, but the three-way burn makes everything more fun. Here’s a rundown of this week’s modifiers:

Nightfall

  • Epic – This is a standard Nightfall modifier. It just means there are more enemies to fight, and a greater number of Majors (the yellow health bar dudes) on the field.
  • Nightfall – Another standard Nightfall modifier. This one boots the entire Fireteam back to orbit if everyone is downed inside one of the revive-only respawn Darkness Zones.
  • Arc Burn – Big damage boost for all weapons that deal Arc damage (blue electricity symbol).
  • Solar Burn – Big damage boost for all weapons that deal Solar damage (orange fireball symbol).
  • Void Burn – Big damage boost for all weapons that deal Arc damage (purple swirly symbol).

Weekly Heroic

  • Heroic
  • Void Burn

“Rainbow burn” is a term that Destiny fans use to apply to the rarely appearing Nightfall challenge that has the Arc, Solar and Void Burns attached to it. Where most Nightfall and Weekly Heroic modifiers are designed to make the going tougher, burns are a double-edged situation.

On the one hand, using a weapon bolstered by the specified element — in this week’s case, any of the three — comes with a massive damage boost. On the other, enemies can inflict that much more harm on you when their mode of attack aligns with the burn. So when there’s a rainbow burn, you’re taking a whole lot more damage from virtually everything, but you’re giving as good as you get.

Obviously, this is the week to bring along any of the raid primary weapons that you’ve picked up, since those are the only primaries that apply elemental damage. The Word of Crota hand cannon and/or the Atheon’s Epilogue auto rifle are good picks for Winter’s Run due to the abundance of void-shielded Minotaur enemies. Arc damage is also handy for the final showdown, so dust off the ol’ Fatebringer hand cannon, too.

Purple Ball Has Been “Reborn,” Now in a Different Color

Over on the official Bungie site, the studio announced a HUGE change to Destiny, and that’s the big ball you see in the Tower.

Yep, the Destiny purple ball isn’t as purple now. Here’s what Bungie Technical Artist Nate Hawbaker had to say regarding this game-changing, er, change:

The Purple Ball has been reborn – shinier, more metal, but just as purple in spirit…It has captured the hearts and minds of so many Guardians who visit the Tower in search of their combat wares. We sought to honor their playful rituals by infusing it with the magic that players have clearly assigned to the second most important sphere in the game.

Now, before anyone says it, yes, Bungie is being sarcastic, so don’t spew hate how they seem to be making a big deal out of nothing with the color change.

Here’s what the ball looks like now in case you’re interested:

As for what’s due next after Destiny update 1.1.2, Bungie says update 1.2.0 is the next “destination,” and included in it is the House of Wolves expansion, but it will “impact the experience of every player” regardless if they get the DLC or not.

Have you noticed the ball’s color change? What do you want Bungie to change in the Tower next?

Two Social Spaces Unearthed By Data Miners

Destiny data miners have dug their way into Update 1.1.2 and unearthed plans for two new social spaces.

 This information became available thanks to Reddit user ShdwFlm. It was already covered previously on IGN that the new expansion, House of Wolves, would have a new social space in the Reef. That social space now has a name: Queen’s Bay. At Queen’s Bay you will collect Reef bounties and get involved with the new The Prison of Elders and Trials of Osiris activities.

Along with this was discovered an entirely new social space called Halls of Amentet. This requires experience in Trials of Osiris and it could potentially be a small, three-player social hub.

 A new strike called The Shadow Thief takes place on the moon. This mission requires players to board the Ketch of a mercenary named Taniks-Syn to eliminate him and his strike force. Also brought up to the surface was three new story missions, three new quests, and one new raid where Guardian Fireteams will fight against the solar system’s deadliest enemies in The Prison of Elders.

House of Wolves will include three new player versus player maps: The Timekeeper, Thieves’ Den, and Widow’s Court. However, the data miners found a reference to two more called Black Shield and MM Test Factory. Black Shield will be set at Firebase Thuri on Phobos, one of Mars’ moons. MM Test Factory is described as being for testing purposes only.

Lastly, an Exotic class ship schematic called Manus Celer Dei has been unveiled among the 46 new ship schematics.

Destiny Share Can Benefit From ‘House of Wolves’ Ditching Its Raid

Yesterday, Bungie announced something we were all expecting, a May release date for Destiny’s House of Wolves DLC, and something no one was, that the new expansion would not contain another Raid.

 

Rather than introducing another complex, six-man activity, Bungie instead revealed a few details about another type of mission called the “Prison of Elders.” They describe it as “a new cooperative end game activity focused on variety, replayability, and skill.”

They refer to it as a “battle arena,” which many fans have taken to mean that Prison of Elders is some sort of co-operative Horde Mode type activity where players (in groups of three, not six) will work together to survive waves of enemies. Though Bungie says in the statement they are working on a new Raid to be released later this year (which jives with a timeline anticipating a big new content drop in the fall), House of Wolves will not have one.

 

The community seems pretty stunned by the decision, given that the Raid has always been the ultimate endgame of Destiny content, both in the original game, and now recently in the first DLC, Crota’s End. Without more details about what the Prison of Elders will contain, it can be hard to tell if the decision is a wise one, but obviously many fans are making up their minds already that this is a very bad thing.

I’m not so sure, and I think once again the most engaged, vocal fans about an issue like this are forgetting the true make-up of the Destiny playerbase.

House Of Wolves DLC Will Be ‘Intense’ And Dark Days Ahead For Guardians

Some news for you Guardians still amongst us that are surely beginning to feel a little bit bored waiting on the House of Wolves to drop. Kirsten Potter, Voice Over Actress that worked on Destiny power leveling, has taken to Twitter to both inform and disappoint. She said, “Just recorded some cool stuff with Team Bungie. House of Wolves shaping up to be pretty intense. There are dark days ahead, Guardian!”

This of course points towards the DLC still not being quite complete. Which is a bit of a kick in the teeth especially given the fact that the release date is right around the corner. However, it will surely be interesting to see what these “dark days” will be, especially if the Queen of the Reef is warning you about them.

 

Now might be a good time to grind out some better armour, just to be on the safe side. Destiny is now available on the PS3, Ps4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and hopefully one day on the PC. For more on Destiny check out our hub page here.

Bungie weekly update detailing the fate of PVP changes from Destiny

While Bungie still is not ready to reveal a release date for the next major Destiny update, the studio has shed light on yet another noteworthy change coming to the game’s competitive mode. If you have upgrade trouble, you can find destiny power leveling.

According to the developer’s weekly update, ammo within the Crucible is getting a few modifications in order to change the the general flow of PVP matches. As such, Special ammunition will be a “more precious resource,” as Bungie seeks to create a more balanced landscape for those playing against one another online.

Limiting high-damage weapons and clearly defining the role of Heavy ammo within the shared-world shooter’s PVP is a major goal of the studio as well, undoubtedly altering the way gamers will have to approach online battles.

For more on Destiny, you can read all about the forthcoming changes that were revealed last week.