Published on: Feb 26, 2015 @ 16:05
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Mobile Vaults Available
If you can read these words, you’re one click away from the Destiny Companion. When you’re on the go, Bungie.net and the Destiny Mobile Application work together to keep you connected to your stable of Guardians, to your trusted allies, and to us.
Today, we’ve updated both versions (Web and Mobile) with a new feature we’ve been excited to share with you: Mobile Vault management.
To learn more about how your Companion is growing to better serve your needs, I talked to Engineering Lead Chris Gossett. His team is always working on new features to enhance your online gaming experience.
Hey, Chris! What’s the goal of this new wonderful new toy you’ve given us to play with?
Chris: One of the primary goals for the Destiny Companion is to help you prepare for battle. If you use your Vault to share items between multiple characters, we felt that this is a must-have feature to get you ready to play.
Here are a few scenarios in which we think you’ll find this handy:
- You and your buddies are finally all online at the same time about to tackle the Nightfall. That one player in your Fireteam realizes there’s a Solar Burn this week, and wants to retrieve their Ice Breaker from another character.
- You’re on the bus and want to manage gear between a couple characters. Use the app to move stuff around and jump right into the action as soon as you get home.
- Oops, you’re halfway through the Daily Story Mission and realize you need that Fusion Rifle with Void. No worries, it’s just a couple clicks away.
- You’re standing in front of Xûr and you’re two coins short. Your Hunter just completed the Weekly Heroic Strike and he has the extra coinage you need. Tap, Tap, Purchase.
- You just unlocked that upgrade node and need just one more Shard… you get the idea.
Where did you get the idea? You didn’t steal it from the community, did you?
Chris: We read a lot of reviews and feedback. Allowing transfer of gear to/from your vault has been one of the most requested features. Plus, as players of the game, we’re pretty excited about vaulting from the Companion.
Can you give us a tutorial for how it works?
Chris: On www.bungie.net, Android phone, or iOS device, go to an item in your inventory and bring up the item detail screen. There are two options available (Equip and Move to Vault). Remember, Equip from Companion works only when you’re not playing Destiny in a combat space. With Vault transfer, there is no such restriction. You can interact with your vault whenever or wherever – even in combat.
Hit Move to Vault to transfer an item to your vault. Conversely, when viewing an item in your Vault there’s a button that says Take from Vault. Doing so will move the item to the character currently in focus on the app. If you’re transferring an item that has a quantity (like materials) you’ll get a prompt that asks “How many?” If you just need a couple, there’s no need to take the whole stack. Just get what you need.
We’re used to viewing the Vault from the Tower Map. Is this what we’re looking for?
Chris: Nope. Interacting with the Vault there doesn’t provide item management. It’s simply a list of what’s currently in your Vault. We’ll alleviate that confusion in a future release. To manage items, use the Vault tab and screen in accessed via the Legend.
While Vaults just got easier to use, we know that there’s still a lot of chatter out there about how your Vaults can still grow and improve in the future.
We hear you, and we’ll talk soon about other ways in which we can continue to update and improve the Destiny experience.
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Inferno Inbound
If the Crucible is no place for mercy, it’s also no place for complacency. We have a team of designers who love to keep you fighting for honor, glory, and the chance for some loot. One of them is Leif Johansen.
As a Senior Designer, he’s one player on a team that is always striving to give you new ways to clash with other Guardians for control of the battle.
He’s here to tell us about their newest creation: Inferno playlists.
Leif: Inferno is a game mode coming to the Crucible on March 3rd.
We’re starting with Inferno Control, a PVP experience that’s more about basic gunplay and achieving more with less. PvP modes should give you the opportunity to flex new gameplay muscles you didn’t know you had.
What’s the most important change you’re making?
Leif: We’re removing the Tracker that warns you of nearby opponents. We’re hoping this change will provoke players to rely even more on certain skills like map knowledge, teamwork, good positioning, successfully flanking opponents, using jumps to set up ambushes, catching audio cues like footsteps, and using friendly nameplate UI as clues toward enemy position.
Lack of Tracker should also indirectly reduce the effectiveness of Supers and Heavies, and make the mode more about basic gunplay.
Here are some of the changes that will make that a reality:
- Players have no “radar” in the top left corner of their HUD
- We’ve removed as many scoring events as possible
- The mode is much more about getting kills and playing the core objective
- Without the Tracker, players are much more vulnerable when interacting with objectives because it gives away their position
- Speeding up capture time keeps the risk/reward for trying to capture an objective more fair
- There’s only one set of Heavy crates per match and dead players don’t drop purple bricks
- With no Tracker, it’s much easier to flank an aggressive opponent that’s pushing for kills because they have Heavy
- Expect players to play more conservatively with Heavy ammo to try and get more bang for buck out of it
Where can we expect all of this happen?
Leif: Inferno uses a mix of old and new maps, but we’ve pulled out a few maps that are so big that players may struggle to find fights.
Here’s what you’ll find in the rotation:
- The Anomaly
- Firebase Delphi
- Twilight Gap
- Rusted Lands
- Shores of Time
- Blind Watch
- Asylum
- The Burning Shrine
- The Cauldron
- Pantheon
Inferno Control will be active in your Director for one week, to return in rotation with other playlists you know. The Crucible heats up on March 3rd. You have until then to practice flying blind.
To kick off the festivities, a few of our most aggressive players are forming a dream team for a Bungie Bounty. They’re practiced up on the new rules, and most of us refuse to enter matchmaking with them, so this promises to be anything but a cake walk.
And remember what Leif said: Check your corners, Guardians.
There have been a lot of changes to the way you fight, the weapons you use, and how they all find balance in the chaotic sandbox where they live. Tomorrow, some of the Designers behind those updates will visit the Bungie.net forum and chat with you about their process. Should be fun.