Meet the expansion

[thebb22]

Raid helmet...do want!!

[wittyscorpion]

Can anybody confirm or deny the following:

1) There is yet another PSN exclusive Strike in expansion pack 2;
2) While the Dust Palace strike will be made available on XBL by Fall 2015, Both PSN exclusive expansion pack strikes will NEVER be made available on XBL;

Hopefully these 2 are the last they are going to offer as exclusives. As it stands today everybody suffers due to Console War politics: XBL players can't even play them, while PSN players can't play them as weekly/Nightfall;

[wittyscorpion]

In two weeks, the expansion pack 1 will be released. With that, several dilemmas will appear:

1) Will the new story missions be added the daily mission rotation?
2) Will the new strike mission be added part of the weekly mission rotation?
3) Will Xur sell any expansion pack exotic weapons/amor pieces?

In the past, these 3 content areas have maintained parity across all players, as none of the PS exclusives are part of any of these rotations. Will Bungie continue this parity after expansion pack? If yes, then it would suck...

[malgato]

I remember reading that new content will be added for those that don't buy the expansion. My guess is that that will have a mix in the dailies and bounties. But I suspect that if you don't have the expansion you are going to be sad at missed dailies and bounties.

[wittyscorpion]

FYI: Bungie has confirmed that the new raid will be available on day 1 of the expansion pack launch (12/9), with "normal" at level 30.

[wittyscorpion]

Expansion Pack 1 PS exclusive: blog.us.playstation.com/2014/12/02/destiny-the-dark-below-playstation-exclusive-content-detailed, including a strike and an exotic shotgun.

Also, what are included in the expansion pack:

New story missions that pit you against a Hive god.
New weapons, armor, and gear to further customize your Guardian.
The ability to increase your Light level to 32, and five additional bounty slots.
Three new competitive multiplayer maps: Pantheon, Skyshock, and The Cauldron.
New cooperative Strike: The Will of Crota. Purge a twisted horror from the Cosmodrome.
An additional resident of the Tower: Eris, a resolute survivor of an ill-fated mission.
And a new six-player Raid: Crota’s End. Face him in the deepest dark.

Note: 5 more bounty slots!

[markopolo]

Pee Ess En 4 da win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[markopolo]

Holy $hit



4 barrels!

5 shots!

Full auto!!!

[wittyscorpion]

Too bad it will never be sold by Xur until it is no longer a PS exclusive

[psychlon]

I like its description.

[Dumien]

Shame everyone gets screwed over by exlusives.

[mannon]

Yeah. I'm on PS4, but if I had my vote they would release all the exclusive content to everyone.

Edit: Dumian and Marko are both lovely people. ;3

[markopolo]

It's a shotgun... they suck.

DISCLAIMER: I took out the part about how PSN users have been getting the shaft for years... Dumien isn't overly harsh

[Dumien]

That is the kind of attitude that make exclusive content work. I didn't like it for CoD (Xbox user) and I don't like it with Destiny.

ESPECIALLY when you have an event/item cycle system like Bungie's with a shop and strike playlist that are based off of a shared content list. This sucks for the developer because their cool stuff isn't in rotation/seen by both systems. They basically had to produce content that half their fans get to see. It sucks for the consumer because its like "hey Xur is never gona sell that" "Nightfall is never gonna be that mars strike."

[mannon]

It doesn't help us to screw over XBOne players. I don't care if they get to have the stuff too. I'd rather the content be available to everybody so the strikes could go into the strike playlist and Xur could sell the items, ect. We get screwed too anyway by the exclusives.

Yeah yeah exclusives are a business thing and useful for publishers and blah blah, but they are negative for consumers.

[Dumien]

Oops Marco edited his post and now I sound overly harsh.

[mannon]

;p

[markopolo]

Dec 3, 2014 11:02:38 GMT -5 Dumien said:

Oops Marco edited his post and now I sound overly harsh.

Sorry..... I should looked before I edited... I'll put a disclaimer in the post

[wittyscorpion]

Game informer just published an article with some critical info, we need to have a discussion:

The game informer article is definitely official and needs to be taken seriously: www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/12/03/stare-into-the-dark-below-new-details-on-the-destiny-expansion.aspx

Specifically speaking: the following looks critically important for any bros who are preping for the new Raid:

What’s Old Is New Again – Upgrading Exotics

The recent Destiny patch brought some notable changes to exotic weapons, but next week’s expansion offers some additional big adjustments. Specifically, exotic items will become available for an upgrade to keep them in line with the new top-tier gear.

Here’s how it works. Upgrading exotic weapons and armor is completed by interacting with the weekend vendor, Xur. When he arrives every Friday morning, he will now have a new option to upgrade one of your equipped exotic items. Each week, he’ll offer some (but not all) exotic items as being available to upgrade.

You’ll need three things. First, you need to own the original version of that exotic item, and turn it in to exchange for the upgraded version. It doesn’t matter if this old version of the item is brand new or fully upgraded. To complete the upgrade, you’ll also need to turn in an exotic shard. This recently introduced new material is available for purchase for seven strange coins from Xur, or by breaking down another existing exotic item in your inventory. Finally, each exotic upgrade costs a hefty dose of cash – around 7000 glimmer as of my playthrough of the expansion in mid-November. After turning all three of these things into Xur, he’ll hand you a brand new version of your item with a higher defense or attack value cap.

It’s important to note that this process resets the upgrades on your exotic item, but you’ll now have a new higher damage or defense cap to work towards – so you’ll need to decide if you’d rather keep your fully upgraded old version of a weapon or armor piece, or start over. With that said, the process of upgrading exotic items is now faster, and does not require ascendant materials. Instead, the last slot requires one additional exotic shard, as revealed in Monday’s patch.

With these changes in mind, players eager to start upgrading their exotics should be looking to save up glimmer this week, and also have enough strange coins on hand to purchase the requisite exotic shards.

Given this new feature, exotic items are ultimately far more valuable and important than standard legendary items. Where your older purple legendary items are left behind with the expansion, this change ensures that exotic items carry forward into the new content, and remain as powerful (and hopefully moreso) than new expansion-tier legendary items. It’s also important to note that these upgradeable exotics are available to all Destiny players once the expansion launches, not just the players who purchase The Dark Below. However, only owners of The Dark Below can get new exotics that launch with the DLC.

Discuss!

[wittyscorpion]

There are several key things from this:

1) Don't bother upgrade your exotic weapons unless they are the big 3 (Vex Mythoclast / Ice Breaker / Gjallarhorn, and maybe Suros Regime) that you need to take to the new Raid;
2) Farm glimmers and glimmer-rewarding consumables will be a new thing, especially on days when Xur is at the tower;
3) Save your glimmer-rewarding consumables for a rainy day instead of cashing them in as soon as you get them;
3) Legendary weapons, including VoG Raid ones, will become obsolete, so don't get (too) attached to them;
4) Don't dismantle exotic weapons unless you have too many of them (> 3 copies of the same one). Apparently exotics will NEVER become obsolete;

[Dumien]

Ohohoh. My third mythoclast I got recently has no upgrades on it! I won't be wasting materials if it is available for upgrade.

The VoG weapons were going to become obsolete anyways because of the Hive disruptor bonus on all new raid weapons.

[hebbnh]

Deej already responded to one of the comments on reddit stating that there's lot of misunderstandings/misinformation being thrown around. I'd wait for official word from Bungie on some of this stuff before panicking too much. In the meantime? Start farming glimmer!

[wittyscorpion]

Info on the legendary/raid-loot front looks very interesting too (highlighted in gold):

To encourage players to embrace initial upgrades even as they wait for raid drops, ascendant materials are now used primarily to upgrade non-raid legendary gear. Raid gear is instead upgraded with radiant shards and energy, which are acquired in the Crota’s End raid. To put it another way, the raid has its own internally consistent upgrade economy.

In addition, if you don’t get the specific energy or shards you’re hoping for, Eris Morn offers an exchange, allowing you to trade in one for the other. Another way to get radiant shards and radiant energy is to break down unwanted items acquired in the raid.

Perhaps most importantly, the loot raid drops for Crota’s End have been refined from what we experienced in the Vault of Glass. Specifically, the game will pay closer attention to the drops you’ve already had, as well as how long it’s been since you get a “fun” drop (as opposed to just materials). While there’s still a significant component of randomness, Bungie strongly implied to me that players should have a more consistent reward experience with the raid than what has been experienced in Vault of Glass when the Crota’s End raid launches on day one of the expansion.

Looking ahead to 2015, players can expect that new raid primary weapons will only be available through the hard mode of the Crota’s End raid – set for launch in January.

Independent of raid loot, there are some new wrinkles involved in acquiring standard expansion-tier legendary gear. In addition to spending crucible or vanguard marks, buying new purple items now requires that you gain crucible or vanguard commendations. This reward is provided when you hit a new reputation level, and arrives via the postmaster. New legendary gear can be purchased by any Destiny player, regardless of whether you own The Dark Below.

I am mostly excited about the "loot drop" improvements. No more a millionth copy of chatterwhite! Gimme that Gjallarhorn (or the equivalent in the new offerings) instead!

[wittyscorpion]

Last but not the least:

How Bungie Plays Destiny

While it was exciting to dig into Destiny’s first major expansion, one of the most striking aspects of my visit to Bungie involved the conversations I had with the team members. Specifically, Bungie’s approach to playing their own game is surprising; Bungie developers play the game alongside all of us on the retail servers, and don’t cheat to get ahead.

As a result, I was surprised by how many of the developers piped up with their own frustrations at Destiny before I even mentioned them coming from the community. Like the broader game population, several Bungie devs bemoaned the tedious work of farming for destination materials in the launch game. Another spoke about their frustration at waiting for raid boots to drop in the Vault of Glass after weeks of fruitless attempts.

By engaging with Destiny side-by-side with the gaming community, the developers at Bungie are more than aware of the places in which Destiny still struggles. In many cases, I heard from team members about how eager they are to see specific changes go in that will improve the experience.

Given its scope and size, The Dark Below isn’t aiming to reinvent the Destiny experience. However, my time with the game has me excited, as it’s clear that Bungie is paying close attention to its players, and endeavoring to polish the game with each passing week and expansion.

The community response to the new upgrade systems, quest lines, and more are undoubtedly going to shape where Bungie goes from here with Destiny. Based on what I heard during my time at the studio, the developers are listening; they may even be doing so silently right by your side as you play.

I am glad that the Bungie employees are suffering the same frustrations as the rest of the community .

[hebbnh]

Bungie official update has been posted. TL;DR: Yeah, don't bother leveling any exotics until the expansion because you'll just be wasting time and materials. All levelling progression will be reset when upgrading. Super -- I probably wasted 200 materials the past couple days on things that will now have to be relevelled all over again after upgrading. Thanks a Foxtroting lot, Bungie.  I mean, would it really have killed you to give some kind of a warning on that shit?

[wittyscorpion]

Dec 3, 2014 14:46:04 GMT -5 Dumien said:

Ohohoh. My third mythoclast I got recently has no upgrades on it! I won't be wasting materials if it is available for upgrade.

The VoG weapons were going to become obsolete anyways because of the Hive disruptor bonus on all new raid weapons.

I am now glad that I have a second copy of Vex Mythoclast and Patience & Time that are barely upgraded. This way when the upgrade time comes I can upgrade the 2nd copy while still having the first at full power.

[wittyscorpion]

Dec 3, 2014 15:03:52 GMT -5 hebbnh said:

Bungie official update has been posted. TL;DR: Yeah, don't bother leveling any exotics until the expansion because you'll just be wasting time and materials. All levelling progression will be reset when upgrading. Super -- I probably wasted 200 materials the past couple days on things that will now have to be relevelled all over again after upgrading. Thanks a Foxtroting lot, Bungie.  I mean, would it really have killed you to give some kind of a warning on that shit?

At least they told us before we go ahead and waste coins on buying the exotic shards. Other than that: I don't think upgrades are really a big waste any more because XPs are coming in easily, you don't need AS/AE any more, and only 8 destination materials before the last 4 upgrades.

On a related note: I now feel bad about this guy:



Well, not really since he has a lot of duplicates. But it's nice to laugh at the rich once in a while

[markopolo]

So..... what do I do with my maxed our Helm of Dire?

[hebbnh]

Dec 3, 2014 15:13:57 GMT -5 markopolo said:

So..... what do I do with my maxed our Helm of Dire?

Nothing.  Wait until Xur has it available to upgrade.  Then upgrade.

[wittyscorpion]

Bungie has just released all the details you need to know:

www.bungie.net/7_The-Dark-Below-Preview/en/News/News?aid=12442