Bungie’s sci-fi MMO shooter, Destiny, will receive its fourth and final expansion, Rise of Iron, on Sept. 20, 2016. At this week’s Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany, Bungie held a livestream on Twitch where longtime Community Manager Deej was joined by developers Lars Bakken and Steve Cotton for an exciting event that unveiled a huge amount of new details about the content of Rise of Iron.
The livestream opened with a reveal video that showed off new footage of PVE and PVP events, including new missions, strikes, maps, and the new raid. The livestream concluded with two Crucible PVP matches showing off some new maps and a new game mode. So what can players expect in the new Destiny: Rise of Iron expansion?
Crucible Updates
Supremacy Mode
A new multiplayer mode called Supremacy will be launching with Rise of Iron. In this new team-based game type, players will be awarded one point for a kill, and another point for gathering the enemy’s crest. This game mode focuses on team members sticking close together, and holding down choke points across various maps. Bungie confirmed that the first Iron Banner event after the launch of Rise of Iron will feature this new mode.
New Maps
The Crucible will also receive three new maps, Last Exit, Skyline, and Floating Gardens. and the one additional Playstation-exclusive map, Icarus. The first match of the livestream event took place on Floating Gardens, a Vex-themed map found on Venus. Floating Gardens is a small, symmetrical map that’s built around three primary paths.
The second match of the livestream was on the PlayStation-exclusive Icarus map. Icarus is a circular map found on Mercury. Fights take place in the first human-built installation on the planet, and the map features small, constricted hallways in the center along with a more open outer-ring pathway. The map draws a lot of parallels to the map The Anomaly.
Private Matches
Rounding out the improvements to the Crucible are the introduction of Private matches. Private matches give users PVP match customization tools in Destiny. Players can customize the game type, map, time limit, and score limits to create their own match experience. Additionally, players can enable Light Levels (similar to Trials of Osiris or Iron Banner) or disable them. Some maps even include the ability to customize the time of day, or vehicle spawns. Bungie confirmed that players will also be able to launch matches with a single player, so players can freely explore maps. Private Matches will be available to all Destiny players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, regardless of whether they only own the Rise of Iron expansion or not.
Missions and Events
Rise of Iron follows the leader of the Iron Banner, Lord Saladin, and his quest for the redemption of the fallen Iron Lords. Players will embark on new quests that take them to new areas of the Cosmodrome. After the Fallen House of Devils unearth SIVA, a technological plague, The Fallen begin to augment themselves with this new power. This results in new variants of enemies. Guardians must ban together and stop them from overwhelming the last remaining strongholds on Earth.
Strikes
Along with retooled old Strike missions, A new Strike called The Wretched Eye is included in Rise of Iron. This new strike shows players how the Fallen are using SIVA and features an explosive boss fight between a Fallen Captain and an Ogre. The Fallen Captain has removed the eye of the Ogre, attaching it to his gun. Players must take him out while simultaneously avoiding the blind Ogre thrashing about the arena.
Archon’s Forge
A new cooperative area called Archon’s Forge will be available in the Plaguelands. Similar to the Court of Oryx, players will group together and face off against strong, unique enemies as well as hordes of spliced Fallen.
Wraith of the Machine
A new raid, entitled Wraith of the Machine, is included in Rise of Iron. This raid takes place within and around The Wall on the Cosmodrome. Bungie stated the raid will be a claustrophobic mess of tight internal hallways. Players will fight their way to the top of the wall and briefly face off against a huge, ravenous machine. After a brief encounter, they will drop down into caverns. The raid will launch on Sept. 23 — three days after the launch of Rise of Iron.
New Artifacts
New artifacts molded after the legendary Iron Lords will be available for players to equip after completing quests. These artifacts are not class-specific and grant players powerful abilities to be utilized in both PVE and PVP scenarios. The vendor Tyra Karn will stock a new artifact every week, and players must complete various tasks to power the artifacts up. After completing them, players must place the artifacts in front of the statues of the Iron Lords to unlock their full potential.
New Weapons and Armor
As in previous Destiny expansions, Rise of Iron will include brand new weapons and armor. The new armor pieces stylistically feature various animal pelts and hoods, aligning with the winter theme of the expansion. Players can also expect a new raid gear set for Wraith of the Machine, and new versions of Vanguard, Crucible, and Iron Banner gear. All gear will include a new customization slot called Ornaments. This feature allows players to tweak the cosmetic look of their weapons to a further degree, changing their colors or adding/removing specific visuals from the weapon skin.
All gear will include a new customization slot called Ornaments. This feature allows players to tweak the cosmetic look of their weapons to a further degree, changing their colors or adding/removing specific visuals from the weapon skin.
Destiny: Rise of Iron launches on Sept. 20, 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Be sure to check out our expansive Destiny Wiki for more information.
