This Week At Bungie - 1/31/2019

This week at Bungie, a hero's weapon made a triumphant return.

The Last Word is back. All owners of the Annual Pass are invited to kick off the Last Draw quest at the Drifter and earn their reward. 

"Yours. Not mine."

Begin The Draw Exotic Quest today and always have the final say. pic.twitter.com/DhrOfcRRIl

— Bungie (@Bungie) January 29, 2019

Many of you have earned this coveted reward, and taken it for a spin in the Crucible. We have been following the conversation and seen a lot of feedback concerning a difference in feel between Destiny 1 and Destiny 2. The team is currently looking into this. 

For those who haven't heard the whispers in Destiny 2, their frequency has been increased. If you're still on the hunt for Whisper of the Worm, head to Io with your fireteam (or solo!) to take on the challenge. The quest is available to all players of Destiny 2. 

The whispers on Io have grown louder.

Ears up, Guardians. pic.twitter.com/QhWWIqUPsA

— Bungie (@Bungie) January 29, 2019

With Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4 in the wild, Supers have been recharged and some weapons have gotten a tuning pass. Make sure to check out the patch notes for a full breakdown of changes. Look through your vault and give some other weapons a spin in the updated sandbox.

Season of the Forge continues on, but Season of the Drifter is quickly approaching. We still have some fun in store for this season, like Crimson Days and an upcoming Bungie Bounty, but we can start glancing toward the horizon for Season 6. Let's dive in.

Getting the Clan Back Together

Since Forsaken launched, we've been gathering feedback concerning clans, their progression, and their rewards. Today, we have Design Lead Steve Dolan and Senior Designer Mark Uyeda back in the hot seats, speaking to what the team has planned!

Steve and Mark: Hey everybody! Steve Dolan and Mark Uyeda here to give you an update on what you can expect for Clan Progression in Season of the Drifter.  

These past two seasons, we tried some new things. During that time we've gathered hard data, heard a ton of feedback (thanks, Cozmo and Dmg!), and now we're going to walk you through what's next.

Whenever we're talking game design, it's always good to discuss the design's goals. In Forsaken, we were trying to create:

• Stronger clans where players can make new friends in Destiny
• Stronger incentives for clans to play with their clanmates 

We feel good about how many of these changes affected large and strong clans, but we've also received a ton of feedback from the community that the Forsaken changes effected smaller and less hardcore clans less positively. These clans feel like they can no longer hit the levels they had in the past. We also heard that there is just too much emphasis on doing daily bounties. As a result of this feedback, we took some of the clan progression mechanics back to the workbench and made changes to improve the experience.

Starting in Season 6:

• We're returning to the Destiny 2 launch system for gaining clan experience. Go play activities in the game and you will earn clan XP and level up your clan.
  • As a result, daily clan bounties are no longer needed, and have been removed from the game.  
• There are now three weekly bounties that require playing with your clanmates to complete.
  • There will always be one PvE, Raid, and PvP weekly bounty from Hawthorne. They reward Legendary gear and a big chunk of clan XP.
• As your clan levels its banner, the rewards you receive from these bounties grow.
  • At rank three, you earn mod components when completing a weekly bounty.
  • At rank four, you earn enhancement cores when completing a weekly bounty.
  • At rank six, your clan will unlock a fourth weekly bounty.

We also wanted to briefly talk about the tier 5 perk for Season 6. The perk reads, "Crucible and Strike catalysts have an increased drop rate when playing with clanmates." For those of you who haven't found all the available catalysts, you'll have a better chance to find the ones you're missing. If you already have them all (lucky you), we plan to release a few more from our Year 1 reserve during Season of the Drifter for you to chase. They won't be released day one of Season 6, but keep your eyes on the patch notes for availability.

We hope these changes will help keep clans of all sizes thriving and chasing after each Season's rewards. As always, we can't wait to hear your feedback.

Cleaning House, Part 2

Last week, we had a preview for how powerful bounties will work from season to season. While we have put effort into preserving items within player inventory, two sources of powerful rewards will change at the end of Season 5, which may result in the loss of rewards if not redeemed.

• Ethereal Keys from the Last Wish raid will have a maximum stack size of five.
  • If you currently have a stockpile, make sure you turn them in before the end of the Season, as any keys over the cap of five will be removed.
• Iron Banner bounties from Season of the Forge will expire and be removed from player inventory.
  • Iron Banner bounties are being refreshed for Season 6 with new objectives, which we will speak to closer to Season of the Drifter!

We will be sending out reminders as we approach the end of Season 5 to redeem these items. For additional information on how powerful bounties between Seasons are changing, make sure to check out last week's TWAB. Stay tuned to @Bungie and @BungieHelp for future announcements.

Fighting for Your Fireteam

Let's say you've been working on some weapon frames from Ada-1 since this week's reset, but are encountering issues when attempting to gain progress. The Player Support team is here for you, collecting reports and potential repro-steps to aid the development team in identifying the issue. You can find them in the #Help forum every day of the week.

This is their report:

Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4

On Tuesday, January 29, we rolled out Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4 to players. The update introduced a slew of fixes to help resolve issues players reported encountering in the game. Below are a few highlights:

• Fixed an issue where the Auto-Loading Holster perk was not reloading the magazine in some circumstances
• Fixed various issues where the Redrix Broadsword quest was not progressing to the pickup step until a player re-entered orbit
• Fixed an issue that prevented Enhancement Cores from being awarded when reaching Legend in Valor and Glory ranks
• Fixed an issue where the Like a Diamond Flawless Triumph was not being rewarded properly
• Fixed an issue where the Fastidious Miser Triumph was not properly unlocking for players
• Fixed an issue there the Veterans of the Hunt emblem was using the wrong art
• Fixed an issue where the Knife Flip emote did not properly loop

Additionally, Black Armory weapon frames, Modulus Reports, and Ballistics Logs have received a round of fixes and changes to resolve issues player were encountering with this content. For the full list of changes and fixes, please see the Update 2.1.4 Patch Notes. 

Please note that Xbox One players downloading Update 2.1.4 may also have to download small updates to previously installed Destiny 2 content. This is to update some of the localization features in previous Destiny 2 content. 

New Known Issues in Season of the Forge

Destiny Player Support remains ever vigilant in the #Help forums, on the lookout for issues as they arise, especially after game updates. 

Compound Ether and Unstable Radiolaria: We have identified an issue preventing Compound Ether from dropping from Fallen for the basic Sniper Rifle frame and Unstable Radiolaria from dropping from Vex for the basic Bow frame. We are investigating deploying a fix for this issue.  

Missing Weapon Frames: We have identified an issue causing weapon frames to go missing from player inventories. We are investigating deploying a fix for this issue.

"The Temptation" in the Draw Quest: Players have reported some confusion over progressing "The Temptation" step for the Draw quest. To make progress on this quest step, a player must defeat other Guardians in the Crucible. Each time the player dies in the Crucible, they will lose some progress towards completion.

"The Conversation" in the Draw Quest: We are investigating player reports that they did not receive the Last Word Exotic after completing "The Conversation" portion of the Draw Quest. Some players encountering this issue have reported that restarting the mission and progressing more slowly resolved the issue.

As always, if you are encountering an issue in Destiny 2, please sound off in the #Help forums where DPS, volunteer moderators, and other players can help answer questions. When reporting a bug in game, providing screenshots, video capture, or steps to reproduce the issue help DPS investigate your report.

They Don't Need No Super Suit

Fantastic work. Outstanding. Phenomenal. These are all things that Lord Shaxx says when overseeing the Crucible, and we find ourselves saying the same about these montages. Highly recommend taking a seat before hitting play, as some of these plays hit hard enough to knock you off your feet.

Winner: RIOT

Runner up: What's Up, Danger?

Whether you've made a sick play, eviscerated a raid boss, or just had a funny moment happen in Destiny 2, make sure to submit your movie to the Creations Page. You may find yourself taking Movie of the Week, and earning the Lens of Fate emblem to show off in-game.

I'm currently running through my Destiny 2 checklist for this weekend. Running some Last Wish and Scourge of the Past raids in search of armor rolls. Oh and can't forget the curse cycle is in full effect, so I'll need to plan a trip to the Dreaming City, too. A solo attempt at Shattered Throne for a sweet emblem, perhaps? I'll more than likely be helping friends in the Crucible at some point on their path to the Last Word. Maybe I'll see you out there.

There's quite a bit to do, not to mention dusting off some weapons and Supers thanks to Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4. For the Hunters out there, Way of the Outlaw is calling. Titans have their Hammers, Warlocks have their Dawnblades... but you have a fan-fire Golden Gun to challenge them. Land those shots. Cause some Mayhem.

Next week, we'll have some information on what to expect in Crimson Days and our upcoming Bungie Bounty. We'll see you then.

Cheers,
Dmg04