Whew there is a ton of news after the live stream from Bungie today showing off some of the new content so let’s hop right into it but be sure to remember this is the first of three streams Bungie will be doing leading up to the big April update.
First, let’s go over just some of the general changes we know so far. Variks will be our primary quest giver in the update and as far as we know it will focus on the Reef and the Prison of Elders. A bunch of new missions, quest lines, and bounties will be added including a Taken update to the Winter’s Run strike that puts it in the Heroic playlist and a new strike called Blighted Chalice in which you go into Hellmouth to take down Malok, both of the strikes will feature new strike specific loot. Also, Eververse will be expanding to the Reef with new items but we won’t know what she has till the next stream. Kings Fall won’t be leaving either as normal mode will drop 320 gear and hard mode will drop 330 gear. Last but definitely not least is that the light level cap will increase to 335 so let the grind begin.
What exactly will we be grinding you ask? Well, our grind takes place in the new Prison of Elders with two new variations and a whole new ranking system. The first variation is a lower light level version that allows you to run it as many times as you want a week no keys necessary and can drop up to 320 gear. It also has a 50% chance to be a Taken version and has a bonus for the first time you run it every week.
The second variation is where you go when you are 320 light. In this version you must purchase a pass for 100 glimmer and have 3 friends geared for battle. This version is called Challenge of the Elders and in this mode you and your friends earn shared points by killing enemies and other actions. This is where the pass comes in as it keeps track of the points you earned in that match and points you have earned throughout the week and if you hit either of the score goals Variks will reward you with loot that can be 335 light. This mode also comes with 3 weekly modifiers that will change up the way you play and give you opportunities to earn more points. Keep in mind there is no chest in the end of this version but there are end screen rewards.
We will wait till next week to cover rewards since they are devoting a live stream to it but if you kept your eyes open while watching you may have seen a few including a sword, new shaders, and some badass weapons and armor.
I am a longtime fan of Destiny and to see the content drought finally end is really exciting and I can’t wait to try out the new Prison of Elders. I am also excited to see that Kings Fall is staying since it allows us to have multiple paths to new end game content. What do you think? Do you think Destiny is going in the right direction with this update or do you think it needs a bit more? I highly recommend you watch the live stream here as it goes way more in depth than I can.
Noel was a regular ICXM contributor in 2016, publishing 83 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the run-up to Xbox One S and Project Scorpio, plus the broader Windows 10 gaming push.