The full update can be found at Bungie.net
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Hard Mode for Crota’s End is going through the final few stages of deployment. It’s almost ready. As soon as we have a concrete date to share, we’ll set it in stone so you can assemble your crew for that first run, or so you can find the time to tune into the streams and vicariously witness the madness and make note of the new and necessary strategy updates.
We’re not going to spoil any hard mode surprises here. You’ll need to learn a new trick or two, but given your past performances, we’re pretty sure plenty of you will find a way to come out on top and earn some shiny new trophies to take with you on your next adventure.
In the meantime, we’ve prepped a separate patch, which will be ready for deployment as early as next Tuesday, January 13th. Below is a preview of changes being made to Crota’s End and a little bit of a love tap for the Vault of Glass.
Crota’s End – Updates
- The existing Pit treasure chest reward moved to killing Ir Yut, the Deathsinger. She has a chance to drop Exotic weapons and armor, class pieces, and Radiant materials.
- The Pit treasure chest will now only contain Radiant Materials.
Pit Encounter
- Removed the physics impulse caused by exploding lanterns.
Bridge Encounter
- Players will now be required to cross the bridge in order to complete the bridge encounter.
- Players will now be required to wait for the bridge to be completed prior to crossing with the sword.
Deathsinger Encounter
- Fixed a rare case where the Shriekers would not spawn, preventing players from reaching the Deathsinger.
Crota Encounter
- Two Swordbearers will no longer spawn at the same time at the outset of the encounter.
- Crota will now recover from his kneeling state after a player quits.
- Fixed a bug that allowed players to remove the “Presence of Crota” using a Radiance Warlock’s Fireborn ability.
- Fixed a bug that made the Oversoul appear destroyed to some players in a Fireteam when it was actually still active.
Vault of Glass – Updates
- Exotic weapon drops in the Vault of Glass are now Level 32 (max Attack 331).
Getting Swole in the Crucible
- Asylum, The Anomaly, and The Burning Shrine maps will be added to existing Clash and Control playlist rotation.
- Iron Banner will return, with updated rewards, running from January 13th through January 19th.
Full and final details for Raid, Crucible, and Iron Banner updates will be provided as patch notes next week.
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Guns, Guns, Guns!
Our chief resident researcher at Bungie, Dr. Bunson Honeydew, is one of the select few people at the studio who has access to the billions of rows of data that comprise the historical legacy you’ve imprinted onto Destiny. This week, he shared with us the popularity of Primary, Special, and Heavy Weapons that Guardians, Level 20 and above, equipped most over the last fourteen days.
Here’s a note from the man himself to help put the full selection of Destiny’s arsenal into perspective.
Weapon use in Destiny is pretty diverse and follows a very fat ‘long tail’ distribution. The guns on these lists are indeed awesome but a lot of players are finding that other, more obscure weapons better fit their tactical needs or their personal play styles. Besides, punching all of the aliens in the face is obviously the correct way to play Destiny anyway.
