Jun 28, 2018 - dmg04

This week at Bungie, the factions are vying for your pledge.







Destiny 2. Dead Orbit took the win by a fair margin for the first Faction Rallies event of Season 3. We’ve seen a sizable amount of passion for Future War Cult in the last few weeks, and we’re eager to see if the community can make Lakshmi-2 proud with the first FWC win of





Destiny 2 Update 1.2.1 due to vendor Before you ask—direct purchase for Faction Armor was removed withUpdate 1.2.1 due to vendor constraints . We’re planning to bring this option back for Dead Orbit, New Monarchy, and Future War Cult in Update 1.2.3, prior to the final Faction Rallies event of Season 3. Direct purchase will also be restored for Iron Banner in this update. We’re continuing to collect feedback throughout each event, so make sure to sound off in the Feedback forum with your thoughts on Renown, rewards, and anything factions related!





After Expo Report





After months of anticipation behind the scenes, E3 has become a fond memory. Last week, we took some time to let the dust settle and come back to our senses. Looking back on the events of the show, we’re sincerely grateful for the warm reception we got in Los Angeles—and not just because of the sunshine. It’s always a rush when millions of people find out what we’ve been working on. It’s even better when they get to play for themselves. Here are some thoughts from our Away Team of official spokespersons who were on hand to answer questions on behalf of everyone who is working to bring Forsaken to life.





Matt Tieger, Game Director, High Moon Studios After so many months of hard work, E3 is a glorious mix of relief and terror. The death of Cayde is a huge moment in the Destiny universe, and revealing that to the world was nerve-racking. I get a sense that the community is incredibly motivated to explore the Tangled Shore and avenge the death of their friend. As a game developer, what more could you ask for?

Steve Cotton, Game Director, Bungie Forsaken story begins. So, it was amazing for us to see the response right after. Between the questions of why and how, one thing was clear—there was going to be consequence in this world of immortal heroes, and this was going to sting. To see how quickly Uldren was elevated to every Guardian’s most hated enemy and how everyone’s plans for revenge solidified almost instantly was inspiring. Some people at the show got to play some of the first mission of the game, and we talked to them after. There were strong feelings while they played, but their plans to exact revenge only got more creative… more personal. In the end, the show was an incredible journey of conflicting emotions and now I am left with an uneasiness every time I visit the tower. Cayde is right there and I just want to warn him I think it’s fair to say that everyone on the team was both incredibly excited and a little bit anxious to reveal to the world how ourstory begins. So, it was amazing for us to see the response right after. Between the questions of why and how, one thing was clear—there was going to be consequence in this world of immortal heroes, and this was going to sting. To see how quickly Uldren was elevated to every Guardian’s most hated enemy and how everyone’s plans for revenge solidified almost instantly was inspiring. Some people at the show got to play some of the first mission of the game, and we talked to them after. There were strong feelings while they played, but their plans to exact revenge only got more creative… more personal. In the end, the show was an incredible journey of conflicting emotions and now I am left with an uneasiness every time I visit the tower. Cayde is right there and I just want to warn him .

Scott Taylor, Project Lead, Bungie It was incredible to share Forsaken with the fans and let them get their hands on Gambit. The teams at Bungie and HMS have been developing Forsaken with the goal of reinforcing the hobby, and the reaction we got at E3 meant so much to all of us. There’s a lot more to reveal this summer, including details on Collections, Triumphs, and the major sandbox changes we’ve got planned. Everyone is working hard to put the finishing touches on the experience. Closing is one of my favorite phases of any project, and it’s a blast to see the game grow and evolve every day. We can’t wait to play it with all of you.

Lars Bakken, Design Lead, Bungie So, at E3, we lifted the lid on [REDACTED], finally unveiling Gambit to the world. I cannot express how overwhelmed we were by the positive sentiment around our new activity. Special thanks to all the people who stood in line—you are the true heroes. If you didn’t know, GuardianCon is the next stop on the hype train to play Gambit before September. Remember to keep a look out for those invaders!





Lars said it. E3 was only the start of a new conversation about Destiny. Next stop: Tampa, Florida. We’re packing our bags for some gator wrestling and more Gambit action. Next week, we’ll share the full Away Team active roster along with what we have planned for our time on the GuardianCon mainstage.





Following that, we’ll tell you more about the other stops we have planned for this summer…





Marking Your Calendar

If you reside in the northern hemisphere, summer has officially begun. This one in particular is full of seasonal events. We’ve gotten some feedback from players asking for a bit more of a heads up before things like Faction Rallies or Iron Banner go live. To address this, we’ve cooked up the following image to set expectations for the next few weeks:











We also have an update for the development roadmap planned for early July. Stay tuned.





An Early Preview…









The Crucible team has been hard at work over the last few months, digesting player feedback and tuning the experience. Normally we’d have a Crucible representative jump in to give some commentary on goals, but they’re currently all hands on deck working on the future of the Crucible. Here’s a quick Patch Notes preview for what you can expect to become available when Update 1.2.3 is released on July 17, 2018:





Crucible Playlist Update

Quickplay



Increasing player configuration to 6v6 and updating the playlist description



Removing Supremacy from the pool of available game modes



Control



Updating Control win score to 150





Control Zones will initially be neutral



Clash



Updating Clash win score to 100

Competitive



Bomb Fuse timer in Countdown lowered from 40 seconds to 35 seconds

General

Rumble will become a full-time playlist



Supremacy will be added to the weekly featured playlist, updated to 6v6, and have a win score of 150





Crucible Ranks Update

Players will be able to earn Valor rank from additional playlists:



Competitive



Crucible Labs



Iron Banner



Trials of The Nine

Joining a game in progress will protect your Valor Win Streak for that game



If you lose: No penalties incurred to your Valor Win Streak



If you win: Valor Win Streak increases

Players will be matched using their Glory rank



This means your opponents will be of similar rank to you



The higher you climb, the tougher the opponent

Glory Loss Streaks will be re-tuned to be less punishing over time



Consecutive losses will decrease the Rank Points lost instead of increasing



Streaks will still cap out at 5

All Rank Streaks will no longer reset once they hit their cap







There are many more changes to Destiny 2 coming in July, and we’ll be giving a few more Patch Notes previews leading up to release, providing developer insights and commentary when possible.





Prestigious Affairs





Senior Raid Designer Joe Blackburn set some expectations in Crucible isn’t the only activity getting some love in Update 1.2.3. The raid team is excited to release Prestige difficulty for both the Eater of Worlds and Spire of Stars raid lairs.set some expectations in February , and he's back to flesh out some details on what the experience will be for players taking on the new challenge.





Hey everybody,

In Destiny 2 Update 1.2.3, we will be launching Prestige versions of both Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds raid lairs. Prestige raid lairs use new activity modifiers and a new system of curated loadouts to challenge you in new and exciting ways each week. I wanted to give a quick rundown of what you can expect to get, what you can expect to do, and answer some questions you might have.

What You Get We believe players will be chasing after three different pursuits in the summer Prestige raid lairs. 400 Power Weapons: The only way to get 400 Power armor before Forsaken is by participating in the Summer Solstice event, but the only way to get 400 Power weapons before Forsaken is by completing Prestige Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds. Every time you complete all the encounters in a Prestige raid lair that week, you will be rewarded a 400 Power raid weapon. This can be any raid weapon from Destiny 2 , not just the weapons that drop in that raid lair.



is by participating in the Summer Solstice event, but the only way to get 400 Power weapons before is by completing Prestige Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds. Every time you complete all the encounters in a Prestige raid lair that week, you will be rewarded a 400 Power raid weapon. This can be any raid weapon from , not just the weapons that drop in that raid lair. Raid Armor Ornaments: Each Prestige raid lair has its own set of unique armor ornaments.



Exotic Masterwork Catalyst: Both raid lairs have a Masterwork catalyst that can be found only as a rare drop in the activity.



What You Do Each week, there is a curated weapon suite and a global activity modifier for Spire of Stars and Eater of Worlds. The weapon set and modifier will be the same across both activities. Curated weapon loadouts are based on weapon archetypes. So over the summer, you might see combinations that require you to equip Auto Rifle/Submachine Gun/Sniper Rifle or Scout Rifle/Hand Cannon/Rocket Launchers



Loadouts are not locked inside the Prestige raid lair. You can bring tons of different guns into a raid lair and swap between them at will as long as the gun meets the required curation. For example, if you were doing Spire of Stars and the loadout is [Auto Rifle/Submachine Gun/Sniper Rifle], you might want to use Surous Regime for Val Ca’uor Phase 1, but swap to Ghost Primus for Val Ca’uor Phase 2 so you can equip D.A.R.C.I. for boss damage.

We are shipping three activity modifiers that the raid lairs rotate between. Two of these modifies are brand new and were built from the ground up by the raid team to work in raids. The third is a fan favorite from Destiny 2 : Prism.



: Prism. Each of these modifiers is designed to provide Guardians with advantages over their enemies when they lean into it.



The goal of using these modifiers and loadouts is to change the way you engage with Prestige raiding each week. The first week, the modifier and weapon loadout might synergize really well with strategies and armor exotics you’ve been using for months. Next week, the modifier and weapon loadout might push you to explore the encounter in a different way and use different exotic armors (looking at you Lunafaction).



Questions you might have:

Is anything happening to the Prestige version of the Leviathan raid? Nope! Prestige Leviathan will stay exactly as is, this weapon curation and modifier will only apply to Eater of Worlds and Spire of Stars—but in 1.2.3, it might be worth going back and playing some more Leviathan Prestige to see if Callus has a new way to enhance one of your favorite exotic Shotguns.

Are Prestige raid lairs getting per-encounter changes? Nope! When we originally created the raid lairs, we wanted to focus on making the normal modes of encounters the most complete forms of the experience. We believe these modifiers and loadouts will create more variety in your Prestige gameplay than small, per-encounter changes. We also believe that the mechanical complexity in Destiny 2 raid lairs is very high, and we want to lean more into the moment-to-moment sandbox engagement in Prestige.

How many of the Prestige raid activities will be active each week? All of them! Do you want to play all three prestige raid activities each week on three different classes for maximum Exotic catalyst and 400 Power weapon farming potential? GO FOR IT!

When will the Prestige raid lairs become available? Current plan is for both Prestige raid lairs to be active with modifiers right when the patch goes live. We feel like this is in line with Prestige being a new way to play each week instead of a one-time event, but we are open to feedback on this.





Costs and Collections





The Destiny 2: Forsaken reveal brought a lot to the table on what’s coming in September, but there are many questions surrounding new features that we’ll be tackling leading up to launch. This week, we’re hitting a few of the most frequently asked questions about the upcoming Collections feature. Investment Designer Matt McConnell is here to bring the knowledge.





What items from Year 1 inventory will Collections track? Collections include any weapon, armor piece, Ghost, ship, Sparrow, emblem, or shader available in Year 1 of Destiny 2.

Is there anything I can dismantle before Forsaken launches? If you have an item in your inventory right now, you can safely discard it and retrieve it from Collections in September. This does not include consumables, so hang on to those if they matter to you.

If I dismantled something previously, will it be waiting in my Collections this September? Your Collection will begin with every piece of gear that you were holding in inventory or within your vault upon the launch of Warmind. If you had dismantled an item prior to May 8, it will not be available within your Collections.

What items from Year 2 can be reacquired from Collections? With the addition of random perk rolls to items starting in Year 2, we had to make a tough call for Collections. We investigated numerous options for gear with random perks: fixed Collections perks, buyback limits, reroll mechanics, and many others—but each of these came with issues that impacted the Collections experience in a negative manner. Ultimately, we decided to disable purchase of all Year 2 randomly-rolled Legendary weapons and armor.

We don’t like keeping some items from experiencing the full Collections treatment, so we’re looking at a long-term solve for storing your exact perk rolls in Collections.

How much will it cost to reacquire items out of Collections? We’re currently working on costs for item acquisition and will have more information at a later date.

We have two main goals when deciding on reacquisition costs: Reacquisition isn’t a currency sink. We aren’t trying to make you spend all of your hard-earned Glimmer. We just want to make sure the items you find out in the world still have value.



Players won’t have to deal with currency conversions. For example, if a shader dismantles into Glimmer, it costs Glimmer to reacquire. If the shader came from Eververse, it will dismantle into Bright Dust, and therefore costs Bright Dust to reacquire. These same goals are true of all Collection items.



Note : A lot of you have been asking about the cost of shaders. We can say that they will have a cost to reacquire from Collections, but there will no longer be a cost to apply shaders to gear. Here’s a quick example: Let’s say you just got that sweet Calus’s Treasured shader to drop from the raid. You’re able to apply it immediately at no cost. If you want that specific shader on all your armor, weapons, Ghost, ship, and Sparrow, you’ll need to pay some Glimmer to reacquire a handful of copies straight out of Collections.

Before we move along—purple and gold looks fantastic on the upcoming Tangled Shore Warlock armor set. You heard it here first.

When reacquiring gear from Collection, what Power level will they be? Collection items will come out close to your current Power level, but will require infusion to be ready for endgame activities. This is a delicate balance of making sure Collections don’t create a leveling exploit, but still providing items that are usable right away in most activities.





If there are things you’re eager to know more about, leave a post in the Destiny 2 forum of Bungie.net, or sound off on social media. We’ll be watching for trending topics, and working to get you up to speed before Forsaken launches.





Iron Resolve

Each day, Destiny Player Support patrols the #Help forum to assist Guardians in need. Whether it be an error code caused by connection issues or an item not appearing properly in game—they’re here to lend a helping hand.





This is their report.





Lupus Visage Last week, we reported an issue where the Lupus Visage ornament for Fighting Lion, featured in the Iron Ornament Bundle, did not properly unlock for some players after it was activated. With this week’s deployment of Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.2.1.2 , this issue is expected to be resolved for all players. Players who previously purchased this ornament should now find it when inspecting Fighting Lion. Players who purchase this bundle in the future will find this ornament in their modifications inventory. Permissions Over the past several months, we have monitored reports from players in Russia who repeatedly encountered the error “Permissions to access online multiplayer have changed or profile signed in elsewhere.” While it's still possible for players to encounter this error through natural causes, we believe the platform issues that caused the elevated number of these errors to be resolved.

For players who see this error in the wild, we suggest that you visit our Help article for troubleshooting information. As always, players who encounter repeated errors codes and do not find resolution by searching help.Bungie.net should report the error to the #Help forums Faction Rallies Known Issues With the launch of this week’s Faction Rallies, we have players reporting that they've kept their allegiance from the last Faction Rallies , even after pledging to a different faction for this one.

While Destiny Player Support is currently investigating this issue, any player encountering issues while pledging to factions should submit a report to the #Help forums . If possible, providing captured video footage or imagery of your issue as it is encountered in game will be helpful in our investigation.





No Intermission









Running out of medals isn’t a requirement to take the crown in Movie of the Week. In anticipation for Prestige raid lairs, we took some time to find a six-player fireteam that has perfected the art of DPS.





Movie of the Week: Flawless Raiders





Honorable Mention: Called Their Shot





If you’re eyeballing the Lens of Fate emblem, make sure to submit your content to the Community Creations page on bungie.net. Don’t forget to include #MOTW in your title!









After two weeks out, it’s great to be back. C o zmo will be out next week with family, but he’s made me promise to uphold his legacy of hiding felines in blog copy. In 14 days, a few of us will be on flights heading toward Tampa to join many of you at GuardianCon. Next week, we’ll have the full roster and some details on what we’ll be doing at the event. Until then, I’ll be spending some time on Titan. Hope to see you out there, even if you’ve pledged to an opposing faction.





Oh, and before I leave, join me in giving a shout out to the following Fireteams who earned the top three Nightfall scores last week!





Cheers,

Dmg04



