This Week at Bungie - 8/4/2022

This week at Bungie, we're prepping for our big Showcase event later this month, detailed in an earlier TWAB. We're also working with the community for a nifty new Exotic, detailing what's next for Iron Banner in Season 18, announcing Rift coming back to regular Crucible, and giving one last call for that glowy glamour goodness with the Solstice event that's nearing its end.

As we've already mentioned, we're not going to be dropping any major news between now and the August 23 Showcase, but that doesn't mean we don't have anything to chat about. For this week, we're keeping things a little lighter, so let's start with what ol' Saladin (oh, excuse me, I mean Valus Forge) has up his sleeves for us with Iron Banner returning next Season.

Ready for this week's TWAB? Let's get into it.

Iron Banner 4-1-1

More Iron Banner is on the way next Season, this time sans Rift. To talk about more about what's on the horizon, we've got Principal Designer Alan Blaine here to dive a little deeper into what's next in Iron Banner and Crucible realms. Take it away, Alan!

Alan Blaine: Hi everyone. Now that Iron Banner is officially wrapped for Season of the Haunted, let's talk about what we've learned, as well as plans for the next Season and the future!

First up, we're adding the ability to gild the Iron Lord Seal with the next batch of matches in Valus Forge's honor.

As for what else is new in Season 18, let's talk about streaks. When we started working on Season 18's Iron Banner, well before we launched Rift, we knew we wanted to come back to something more familiar after a Season of objective-based gameplay. Some of you have been asking to play Clash in Iron Banner for a while, so we decided to start there. With that aside, we still needed that Iron Banner twist—the thing that makes it feel unique.

The core vision started with a conversation that sounded like, "What if when you went on kill streaks, Saladin shouted, 'He's on fire!' and you lit on fire? And maybe when you got a kill, he shouted, 'BOOMSHAKALAKA!'." And from that chaotic conversation, Eruption was born.

What is Eruption? Eruption is Clash with energy boosts based on kill streaks. It was affectionately called Streak Mayhem internally before we gave it a real name. During Eruption, killing your opponents scores one point and a normal amount of energy. After that, when you get your second elimination in a row without dying (assists count too!), you become "Surging."

• You start lightly glowing.
• Kills start generating 10% Super energy and 20% grenade, melee, and class energy.
• You score 3 points per kill.

When you get your fifth kill without dying, then you become "Primed."

• You begin glowing brightly!
• Your team goes on the Hunt.
  • Everyone on the team gains 5%Super and 10% grenade, melee, and class energy.
• You now gain 12% Super and 5% grenade, melee, and class energy per kill.
• You score 3 points per kill.

Sounds great, right? So, who wouldn't want to be Primed? Well...

• You also have a 15-second timer on you.
  • If the timer reaches 0, you erupt.
    • Erupting kills you, which resets your streak and ends the Hunt.
  • Getting a kill resets the Eruptions timer back to 15 seconds.
• You are then marked for both teams, so everyone can see right where you are.
• The other team gets 3 points for killing you.
  • Choices.
• More than one player can be Primed at a time.

We are excited to get Eruption into everyone's hands, and we hope it continues to illustrate our desire to bring new and unique experiences to the Crucible and Iron Banner. One of the things we learned with Rift in this current Season is if we have a brand-new mode (like the most recent iteration of Rift), introducing it to everyone in a high-focus environment first highlights inevitable issues that any multiplayer game has. Instead, we are going to be moving forward with the Zone Control plan, introducing it as low-pressure Crucible Labs first to make sure it performs as intended in a real-world setting. Then, and only then, do we bring the new mode to Iron Banner, albeit with a unique twist.

We will definitely come back to Control and Rift for Iron Banner in the future but expect a familiar mode with a unique experience in Season 19. In the meantime, let's talk Rift.

Think Rift, But Make It Crucible

Rift won't be in Iron Banner for Season 18, but that doesn't mean this mode is gone forever. Most of you will be happy to hear that Rift will now have more standard overtime rules. For those who may not know what exactly that means, overtime is that added time put on the clock to give teams a shot at breaking any tie that may be in place. It also gives us Titans a fair shake to just go ham with those fiery hammers and hope for the best (just being honest).

Alan is back with even more details about what players can expect, including lessons learned from the rebirth of Iron Banner.

Alan Blaine: Season of the Haunted ushered in a new era of Iron Banner, starting with Rift. While the first week had a rocky start, by the end, many players were starting to develop new tactics and strategies for the mode, and the weekend games were some of the closest and well-played. Then the second week rolled around, and we fixed (most of) the bugs and everyone had a great time, right?

We all know that change can be hard—especially unexpected change. Communicating changes that we don't know will work out, communicating future plans when there's no hard date, and balancing between opposing player bases all contribute to the complexity of the PvP-verse in Destiny 2, but this is the wonderful conundrum we are committed to. For now, this is what we're happy to share with players, and we think a lot of this information is going to be exciting for many of you.

Time for some fun data: 1.5 million players played at least one match of Rift, and over 300k of you managed to reset your rank (and 150k reset it twice!). We definitely hit a few people just right—one player reset their rank 17 times last Season (in only 55 hours in-game!), and another played over 133 hours of Rift during Season 17.

The community was also able to expose some flaws in the mode. We've already had a number of fixes go live in Rift, like making it so games ended properly if a Spark was dunked late, or that the Spark could always be picked up. We also made a few tuning changes, such as when we added a 3-score Mercy rule, as well as when we dropped the base mode time to 8 minutes.

The number of matches that fully went to time dropped by 10 percent, and we went from having no Mercy criteria to 1/3 of matches ending in Mercy (at 3-0 or 4-1).

One of my favorite things about the new era of Iron Banner is the new rules we are going to be bringing in each Season. While Rift won't be in Iron Banner next Season, it will be in a weekly rotator in the Crucible:

• Available to play Week 1, 8, and 14, as well as a Private Match.
  • Private Match is where you can play any map you want, even the unbalanced/asymmetrical maps.
• Alongside the more standard overtime rules, we also expect Multispark to return in a future Season.
• AFK protections have been updated to utilize Rift-specific events.
• Later this Season: We fixed a bug that didn't allow you to always immediately dunk the Spark if you picked it up too close to the Rift.

For future Seasons:

• Explorations with 3v3 Rift.
  • Allows use of smaller maps like Wormhaven.
  • May also allow us to use slightly asymmetrical maps like Burnout.
• Fixing scenarios where one team can play keep away with the Spark longer than intended.
• Lessening the black screen time after scores.
• Further measures to discourage overt kill-farming.

New Exotic Weapon Ornament? Aw, You Shouldn't Have

We talk a lot about Destiny 2 fashion, but the threads of style aren't limited to armor. What's a good look without the appropriate accessories, am I right? We're excited about the new weapons and other gear on the way, but we think it's time for a few more familiar pieces of equipment to get a makeover. Even better? We want you to decide which ornaments become a reality. Even better than that? The designs behind the proposed ornaments will be created by an artist from our community of Destiny 2 players that are pure magic when it comes to bringing the game into the real world through art.

So, how does this work? First off, we are leaving it up to you in the community to pick which Exotic gets a community-created ornament. We have three options for you to vote on in an email we will send out starting on August 16:

• Arbalest
      
• Sweet Business
      
• Rat King
      

Once that spiffy Exotic has been selected, we will be working with the chosen community artist as we help them create three different weapon ornament concepts. Once we have three that are viable to be made into ornaments, we will have another community vote so that you all can pick your personal favorite. The winner will be approved to be made into a weapon ornament in the game, and then bam: new look, new you.

Here is a quick look at the full process:

• Community votes on which Exotic to pick through email starting on August 16.
• Community artist creates three weapon ornament concepts for the winning Exotic.
• Community votes to pick their favorite weapon ornament concept.
• Winning weapon ornament goes into production and is released in-game as early as Season 21.

This will be the first community-created item that makes it into the game, and we are really excited to see how it plays out. We have picked an artist out, so please don't feel the need to start any campaigns on whom we should pick. We also aren't asking them to do this work for free and will be paying them just like when we work with other external concept artists.

We want to make sure we give our artist plenty of time to work on their concepts, so it will be several months until we reveal who they are and unveil their work for the next round of voting.

Once we have picked the concept that's ready to go into production, it's going to take a bit to go through our content pipeline, so we want to set some expectations up front that you shouldn't expect to see the finalized design in Destiny 2 until Season 21. We know... that is a long way out, but we're glad you get to be along for the ride on this one and an important part of that process.

Community-created and community-voted, we can't wait to see what you all decide.

Last Call to Praise the Sun, Arms Up!

This is just your friendly community manager reminder that this year's Solstice event is coming to a close. This means you've got just a few more day to get in there and grab those goods, or just roast some s'mores over in Bonfire Bash to finish out any last-minute Event Challenges.

One more heads-up! Don't forget that Event Challenges and Event Tickets expire at the end of Solstice and the Event Card itself will be removed. Get that Kindling, sparklify that armor, and scope out the Event Card upgrade if you feel like getting super fancy. Or not, totally up to you. Just please make sure you go say "Hi" to Devrim over in the EDZ. I hear he's a great help when knocking out some of those specific Challenges when out for Patrol or running a Public Event or two.

Player Support Report

Dear Darkness, please block out the sun. Love, DPS

And we're back with our ever-stunning, ever-kickass Player Support team to give us the rundown of what's coming down the pipeline regarding the current and immediate state of Destiny 2. This includes some Solstice tweaking, another reminder that the event is ending (Hey, we want to make sure you know, life gets busy!), and more behind the decision to disable in-game text chat. So, without further ado, let's get this show on the road!

This is their report.

Known Issues List | Help Forums | Bungie Help Twitter

SOLSTICE EVENT CARD EXPIRING SOON

Solstice ends soon! Players have until the weekly reset next Tuesday, August 9, to claim their Solstice Event Card rewards, spend their Event Tickets, and unlock the Flamekeeper title and Seal.

FLAMEKEEPER TITLE AND SEAL

Many players were able to claim Flamekeeper early due to a bug where gilded Triumphs unlocked before all the regular Triumphs had been completed. Players who unlocked Flamekeeper using the gilded Triumphs but did not complete the regular Triumphs will have this title and Seal relock next Tuesday.

TEXT CHAT UPDATE

Last weekend, an issue was discovered in Destiny 2's text chat where a specific text string could be used to kick players in any activity back to the login screen. As a quick fix, we temporarily disabled text chat until we can fix the issue. Due to the complexity of this issue, we have been investigating the root cause throughout the week. Stay tuned to @BungieHelp on Twitter for updates.

SILVER ASH UPDATE

The issue where players would only receive one Silver Ash regardless of the number of Silver Leaves that were converted has been resolved, and players should now be able to receive the correct amount of Silver Ash per conversion on any of their characters.

KNOWN ISSUES

While we continue investigating various known issues, here is a list of the latest issues that were reported to us in our #Help forum:

• Text Chat has been disabled due to the known issue above. We hope to have a resolution as soon as possible.
• The Eternity Crucible map did not count towards the Flawless Seal's This is the Way Triumph.
• The rally flag sometimes doesn't work in the second encounter of the Wellspring: Defend activity. This can be mitigated by waiting a few moments.
• The Duality introductory quest doesn't count Master completion for the quest's objective.
• The Takes All Kinds weekly Solstice bounty only progresses on Major Taken defeats.
• Players can instantly die when mounting a Sparrow that's parked next to the bonfire.
• Players can sometimes die when transporting to the Nightmare realm in the Duality dungeon.
• Glows on this year's Solstice ornaments have an unintentionally reduced glow.

For a full list of emergent issues in Destiny 2, players can review our Known Issues article. Players who observe other issues should report them to our #Help forum.

A Titan, a Mashup, and... Minecraft Steve?!

Hippy: Movies, we love them, right? We also love a good mashup which is exactly what we got when one player decided to take a shot at recreating the Vow of the Disciple raid in the world of Minecraft. Considering I can't make a four-wall house that looks even remotely like a building, I can't help but to find this impressive. Is it perfect? Nope. Does it need to be? Also, nope. It's just a really cool effort that makes us want to explore in all of our blocky glory!

Movie of the Week: Vow of the Disciple raid meets Minecraft

Sam: Two things: One, I am a Warlock, through and through. Two: I am not a very "puzzle savvy" Warlock. How do I know? Because I did the exact same thing this sweet Titan did, but you're going to have to click on this link to watch it because TikTok is TikTok and we just have to roll with it.

Hippy: Hi, me again. Jumping in on this MOTW train once more to say that you can be your Bottom Dollar (see what we did there, b-because of the weapon... we'll see ourselves out) we're hitting that bonus slot this week! Can you really blame us? Just look at this LEGO perfection! The Enigma Glaive fully LEGO-fied is just too good to pass up:

Movie of the Week Bonus: LEGO Enigma

Think our build of the Enigma is too cool to not give it a shot at either #AOTW or #MOTW, right? 👀#Destiny2 #AOTW #MOTW #Destiny2Art @DestinyTheGame @Bungie @A_dmg04 @DirtyEffinHippy pic.twitter.com/lJjCGVhCwC

— BrickinNick (@BrickinNick) August 1, 2022

8-Bit Dreams Are Made of These, Who Am I to Disa-squee? 

Hippy: I'm going to be honest; Saint-14 and Osiris have my entire heart and soul. I love these two so much, that it's probably a little weird at this point. Anyhoo, we all know that things have been a little strained for Saint as the search continues for his beloved, so we're pretty darn stoked to showcase one art piece that shows the strong, yet weary heart behind the brawn for Saint-14 and the man that played with time itself to save him.

Art of the Week: Just a City Age warrior and his helmet

City Age warrior with helmet, 2022#Destiny2Art #AOTW @A_dmg04 @DirtyEffinHippy pic.twitter.com/ULfaiYudx2

— NINE ✨ (@ninerivens) June 7, 2022

Ivan: This piece touched me with a special tranquility and melancholic vibe. you can feel it in the colors and in the atmosphere. Great work, Bioluminosity!

Art of the Week: A sisterly remembrance

I am reminded of my sisters. Of moments spent by lapping shores, gazing up at infinite stars full of possibilities and wonder.

my first contribution for #SolarEmbraceVol3!#Destiny2Art #DestinyTheGame #AOTW pic.twitter.com/HS5qVSdGja

— worms, my Witness (@bioluminosity) August 2, 2022

B-b-bonus Round Art of the Week: What if Destiny released on GameBoy?

What if Bungie release destiny on Gameboy#Destiny2Art #pixelart #AOTW pic.twitter.com/6CWuxaPjuH

— Kang Wortel 🥕 (@kangkarrot) August 1, 2022

And that's a wrap on another TWAB. We're prepping for an exciting Showcase at the end of the month filled with surprises just waiting to be unveiled. For the immediate future, next week we'll be diving into some more weapon changes, a little more Showcase hype on how to watch and more. Stay tuned, but for now, make sure to be drinking that delicious water, taking care of yourself mentally and physically, and don't let the Darkness in the world dim your Light. Be kind, be you.

Until next time, Guardians.

"I should go,"
<3 Hippy