This week at Bungie, we exposed vulnerabilities in the Vex Network.
It’s been another jam-packed week of Season of the Splicer content. Guardians have infiltrated deeper into the Vex Network through the new Expunge mission and a new Override six-player activity is now available on Tangled Shore. Get in there and help Mithrax stop this endless night!
Over the weekend, the Vault of Glass raid opened up for the first time in Destiny 2. Fireteams of Guardians have started diving down into its depths, to be greeted with familiar feelings and new twists. Here is a quick teaser if you still haven’t stepped inside yourself.
There were some initial worries that a new bug may allow players to once again yeet to defeat Atheon. However, some additional testing showed that he has adapted over the years and is not as easy to persuade off of ledges. We’ll continue to keep an eye on things.
Speaking of keeping an eye on things, we got the pleasure of watching along as the World First race raged on over the weekend. It’s always exciting getting to watch fireteams face off against new raid content. If you missed it, go dig up a VOD from your favorite creator or check out the replay of Broman and Reck following the race with their Raid Day Tailgate. They did an awesome job!
Make sure you visit Bungie.net to read the whole TWAB for a interview with the VOG World First fireteam and an important update on Stasis.
This week at Bungie, we crack open the Vault of Glass.
We’re a little over a week into Season of the Splicer. Things have been a little crazy, so to speak. The Vex have cast the Last City into an endless night, and the Vanguard need your help. We’ve found our first clues on Europa thanks to the aid of Mithrax, but have more networks to crash. Now, Guardians are flying to the Moon for another crack at the code.
As you take on the Vex and their simulations, fresh loot has been up for grabs. Gridskipper and Chroma Rush have been ripping the Vex to shreds in Override. Lord Saladin has some new tools of destruction for you to earn in the Iron Banner. Hung Jury is up to bat as a Nightfall reward this week, and we’ve already seen numerous Guardians exploding their foes with Firefly rolls.
It’s been a fun start, but we have more on the way, and it’s almost time to crack open the Vault of Glass.
Season of the Splicer went live this week. Killer robots channeled their inner Mr. Burns and blotted out the Sun over the Last City. Now, Guardians are strapping on power gloves and teaming up with tech-master Eliksni to fight in the shade. It’s a tale as old as time.
We had some Honeydew errors early on, but our team of experts buckled down to commune with our servers and fix the issues so you could get back to playing. Our deepest apologies to anyone who had their gameplay delayed. Check out the Player Support Report below for the latest on any ongoing issues we are tracking.
Despite some hiccups, the Season is in full swing now! Here is a quick look at everything the new Season Pass has to offer.
This week at Bungie, Season of the Splicer was revealed!
If you’re the type of player that wants to go into a fresh Season of Destiny content with no knowledge of what’s to come, hopefully you’ve been living under a rock for the last two days. One of those old-fashioned rocks that don't have internet access. If you haven’t seen the trailer or any news about our upcoming Season, this is your final SPOILER WARNING.
Alright, still here? Cool. That means you’ve thrown caution to the wind and want to know more about the new Season before it’s out. Before we go on, watch the trailer. Doesn’t matter if you already have. Watch it again. We all need a little more neon in our lives.
Vex? Endless night? Mithrax? Baby Eliksni? Yeah. This is going to be a wild Season. Things will kick off with a bang, followed by activities, rewards, and more. We shared the Vault of Glass launch date last week, and now you can see everything from Iron Banner to the new 6-player offensive: Override.
The Vex have plunged the Last City into an endless night, threatening the safety once found beneath the watchful presence of the Traveler. It is here, bathed in perpetual moonlight, that Ikora reveals the identity of an unlikely ally that may hold the keys to triumphing over this attack.
Allies Bound by Light
Mithrax, Kell of the House of Light, leads a small group of Eliksni who wish to be closer to the Traveler. As a Sacred Splicer, he possesses the knowledge needed to combat the Vex technology that ensnares the Last City. There is a bond of Light shared here… will it be enough?
HELM_upgrade.exe
A new chamber overlooking the loading bay has been completed. It is here that the Vanguard will harness new Splicer tech and plan their response to the Vex incursion.
Expunge
Each week, Guardians will uncover new vulnerabilities within the Vex Network and use Splicer Keys to infiltrate and collapse it from within.
Free Vault of Glass Raid
Stored away, deep in the Vault of Glass on Venus is Atheon, Time’s Conflux. No one knows what this Vex is. Guardians must access the Vault, navigate the fractures in space and time, and terminate Atheon before it can become an unstoppable threat.
Armor Synthesis
Guardians will recover Braytech secrets from Europa that allow the building of a device known as the Loom. Once operational, Ada-1 will safeguard the Loom within the Tower, granting Guardians the ability to create Synthweave. Synthweave unlocks the power to turn almost any piece of armor into a Universal Ornament.
Armaments
00110111. Over 30 new and reprised Legendary weapons to crash the Vex Network with. Find the perfect weapon, the perfect roll, and bring an end to this endless night.
Star-Eater Scales
Allows Hunters to feast upon Orbs of Power, charging their Super more quickly and making it more potent.
The Path of Burning Steps
Titan armor that converts Solar eliminations into increased weapon damage and makes them more difficult to lock down with Stasis.
Boots of the Assembler
Condenses a Warlock rifts’ healing or empowering energy into projectiles that seek out their allies to bless them with noble benefits.
Season Pass
Gear, XP, rewards! Get the Season Pass and instantly unlock the new Exotic Stasis Sidearm. Also get XP boosts that speed up Seasonal ranks and reward track unlocks.
Season of the Chosen is starting to wind down and we are preparing to transition into Season of [Redacted]. While things are winding down, many of you are still on the path to finishing your Seasonal Challenges. While some activities have come and gone, there’s still ample time for you to complete Challenges that require longer time commitments. Nightfalls have double rewards this week for those on the hunt for sweet Legendary rolls. Next week, double Infamy will help many of you finish up the “In it for Infamy” Challenge. Guardians can now complete the final Seasonal Challenge week. As part of Bungie Rewards, you can redeem the free Thrill of the Chase emblem as you complete the Master of All Triumph.
This week at Bungie, Ada-1 is prepping for Armor Synthesis.
There’s quite a bit going on this week. The Guardian Games have begun! Hunters, Titans, and Warlocks throughout the system have begun competing for gold placement each day of the Games. A few of us here at the studio have pledged to help Warlocks as they attempt to prevent a sweeping win by Titans for the second year in a row. Hunters are already showing promise with some early wins. Maybe they learned from last year that they’ll need to compete for more than a single day to win the trophy. Who will take the win? Only time will tell!
[Editor's Note: Hunters will prevail!] [Editor’s Editor’s Note: You misspelled “Titans”] [DMG’s Note: Warlocks may actually have a chance this year. Calm down everyone. Let’s get back to the TWAB.]
If you’re looking for an additional challenge during the Games, the final Grandmaster Nightfalls required for the Gilded Conqueror title are now available. If you’ve been procrastinating a bit, all featured strikes of the Season are available at Grandmaster difficulty.
Before we move on to some juicy details about Armor Synthesis, we want to give a quick Public Service Announcement about the future of Nightfall weapons. Next Season, three new Legendary weapons will be added to Nightfall rotation, which will also receive Adept treatment when Grandmasters become available. As such, Palindrome, Shadow Price, and The S.W.A.R.M. will be taking a hiatus for the first half of the Season. When they return, all three will be available as potential post-game rewards when completing Nightfalls on featured weeks.
So, if you’re looking to farm some Palindromes, this week will be your last chance to do so for a bit until they return! Stay tuned for a future TWAB where we show off next Season’s hotness, coming soon to a Nightfall near you.
The Vanguard has secured a ceasefire with the Cabal Empress Caiatl and humanity enjoys a brief moment of respite. Eager to celebrate Guardians and lift spirits, Zavala sounds the call to competition and the class banners are raised around the Tower. The Guardians Games have returned and glory awaits.
COMPETITION
HEAD OF THE CLASS
Titans dominated the last Guardian Games. Ever since, Hunters and Warlocks have been preparing for the annual challenge of skill, bravery, and resolve. Earn medals from Eva Levante by completing Contender Cards and Triumphs. Each week is a new chance to be recognized as the top class in the Games.
CLOSING CEREMONIES (MAY 7 - 11)
CLAIM THE PODIUM
Each weekly podium ceremony will grant Guardians with distinctive gold, silver, or bronze auras, which will last the rest of the week. The winning class will be recognized at the Guardian Games Closing Ceremonies (May 7-9), complete with resplendent fireworks and a trophy displayed in the Tower all year long.
REWARDS
THE SPOILS OF VICTORY
Winning is its own reward, but equipping a powerful Exotic is even better. Earn the Heir Apparent Exotic Machine Gun and its catalyst, an Exotic Sparrow, plus Legendary class items (one per class), two emblems, and a pair of shaders.
BUNGIE REWARDS
ON TRACK
Show off your Guardian Games 2021 colors with unique items from Bungie Rewards. Unlock the new Exotic Sparrow for a chance to purchase a fresh new Guardian Games track jacket. Participate in the final weekend’s Closing Ceremonies at the Tower to unlock a purchasable gold pin commemorating the winning class.
EVERVERSE
GLOW UP
Represent your class with pride with a new Guardian Games Universal Ornament Set featuring glowing class items! Plus a new weapon ornament for Heir Apparent, sporting Exotic emotes, and more.
Spring is here and competition is in the air. The second annual Guardian Games are kicking off on April 20. The theme of the event returns, pitting the classes against each other in a friendly competition to showcase their skills in combat. Last year, Titans dominated the field for nearly the entire event. Can Warlocks or Hunters bounce back and dethrone those gargantuan punching machines? Time will tell. If you are new to Guardian Games or need a quick refresher, this article is a great place to start. In today's TWAB we'll get into some of the changes for this year’s event. But before we do, let's check out the hype reel.
Last year, we received a lot of feedback on how the overall scoring worked. You can read through this post for a refresher, but the tl;dr is we had class-specific score weighting to account for the difference in class population. We did this to make sure that Hunters didn’t have a huge advantage because of... well, how many Hunters there are. This year, we won’t be doing any initial weighting on the scoring. Everyone’s points will count the same... at the start. How the scoring will work this year. Medals have the following values:
Bronze: 1 Point
Silver: 2 Points
Gold: 5 Points
Platinum: 15 Points
We still have to account for different class population, so this year the class that comes in third place each day gets a permanent 10% bonus on scoring going forward. We’ve tested this new scoring system using last year’s data and a few other data sets and it seems to provide a more competitive Guardian Games where we see different classes winning throughout the event. Hunters will likely win early on because of their population advantage but as the bonuse’s kick in, the competition should tighten up quickly.
Season of the Chosen has entered its second half. You’ve faced the Right of Proving on behalf of the Vanguard. In doing so, you’ve put an end to a growing conflict with Empress Caiatl and her followers. When not preventing wars, you also found time to investigate a distress signal from a ghost ship of sorts in the Presage mission, unraveling the mystery of a missing Guardian and discovering the Dead Man’s Tale Exotic Scout Rifle.
Earlier this week, we spent some time with the development team to talk through the creation of Presage, navigating various inspirations behind the activity and scrutinizing screenshots of their work as it went through development. If you missed the stream, don’t sweat it. You can watch the full replay here! And don’t forget to check out our fresh article covering some behind-the-scenes stories from the team!
Now, we look to the future. We have some fun news about our upcoming Kilts for Kids fundraising event, details on Iron Banner, and a new set of patch notes planned for Season 14, otherwise known as Season of [REDACTED]. Click here for the full TWAB.