This Week in Destiny, we opened more doors (some could call them Portals) into The Edge of Fate's Kepler destination, Armor 3.0, and our brand-new gear tiering system. There's been so much to share lately and today is no different. We'll be chatting more about our goals for the new systems and sharing more details about our updated season pass: the Rewards Pass. Here's the breakdown:
Let's dig in.
This week was all about Armor 3.0, gear tiers, and sandbox. Next week? Let's chat a bit more about Kepler and what's coming with The Edge of Fate.
Join us on Tuesday, July 1 at 10 AM PT for our second The Edge of Fate Developer Livestream. We're planning to give you a glimpse of the campaign, crank up the difficulty with the new world tiers system, and let you see how this and all the other new sandbox changes come together.
We'll also have the dev team on the floor ready to share many details about Power, progression, The Portal, Guardian Ranks, quality of life changes, and more!
Everyone watching our developer stream on the Bungie Twitch channel for at least 15 minutes and with their Bungie account linked will earn the Observer Effect emblem as a Twitch Drop.
If you couldn't attend our first livestream for The Edge of Fate, we've got your back. First up, here's our Developer Insight discussing Kepler, a new destination that's home to the Aionians and the Exiles, the circumstances that have shaped their existence, and the conflict they find themselves in.
Also, new Destination abilities, baby!
Our developers also got to share more information about the new Gear Tiering system, where weapons and armor can gain bonuses the higher the tier, seasonal gear and artifact and how they will interact with each other, plus Armor 3.0.
DEPARTEMT OF EXTERNAL OBSERVATIONS
INCIDENT ARCHIVE ----- ITEM #0881957
CLASSIFICATION ----- ANOMALOUS OBJECT
FILED BY: Audit Agent Perry
DESCRIPTION::
A leather-bound binder, locked by a numeric code: ███. Black. Filled with documentation regarding ██████ space and ████████. The binder is scarred with an unknown residue—like rubberized mold. An addition has been made to the pages within: ████████████████. Otherwise, the binder itself appears to retain its original properties and pages.
-Contains classified information. [Information has been stricken from this audit. Agents may request access directly from Dir. Moffat.]
REPORT:
A DEO binder disappeared from a DEO test site. On 03-2█-19██ an anomalous object was found in the back lot outside DEO site #7, on the ground. It has been confirmed on three separate occasions that this object is, in fact, the very same ██████ binder that the Internal Institute initiated this audit to recover.
There is no missing information, but the DEO cannot assume the information within has not been copied, and the addition to the binder's contents brings up questions of its origin. The I.I. will transfer investigation of this matter to a more appropriate internal department equipped to analyze temporal ████████.
Discover more lore with the Year of Prophecy Collector's Edition now available on the Bungie Store.
Armor 1.0 laid the groundwork; Armor 2.0 built upon it with more perks and flair; and Armor 3.0 adds a whole new layer that will allow more buildcrafting opportunities than ever before. Here to talk about that is our Destiny 2 armor team:
It's been a while since our core armor system received a refresh, hasn't it? Armor 2.0 has been with us since the release of Shadowkeep and has been iterated upon with each release since. From the introduction of Stasis, Aspects, and Fragments, to the release of the Prismatic subclass, it's held strong as the world changed around it.
It's about time we gave it a well-earned refresh.
With the release of The Edge of Fate, any new armor released will use the Armor 3.0 system. Don't worry, the armor rolls you already have won't change - they will just have their stats moved over, 1:1, as described a couple of weeks ago. While this system was featured in the Developer Insight video linked above, here's a quick overview of how things will work.
Think of set bonuses like an Origin Trait for armor; a reflection of that armor's theme that you can fold into the way your build plays.
Set bonuses are perks granted when you equip two and four pieces of armor from the same set. This allows you to either blend two separate sets or to commit to two bonuses from the same set. Each set bonus has been built with both approaches in mind, and we're looking forward to seeing what you creative Guardians manage to put together with these new tools.
The benefits that set bonuses provide cover a pretty wide range of options, from brand-new effects to more familiar tools in a new package. We've included a pair of examples below, and we've got quite a few more in store at launch. So, if you'd prefer something better suited for staying in the fight, or for Crucible dueling, there will be plenty of new toys to pick from.
| Set Name | 2-Piece Perk | 4-Piece Perk |
|---|---|---|
| Aion Renewal | Force Converter: After a final blow with missiles, Rocket Launchers, and Grenade Launchers, sprint for a short time to gain Speed Booster. | Reactive Booster: Once per activation of "Anomalous Servos," sprinting while at critical health, being suspended, or being slowed by a Stasis effect will immediately grant Speed Booster for a short duration. |
| Tecsec | Wrecker: You deal significantly increased Kinetic damage to overshields, combatant shields, and constructs. | Concussive Rounds: Defeating powerful combatants or breaking a combatant shield with Kinetic damage releases a disorienting Kinetic shockwave. |
One of the major focuses for us when redesigning how armor works in The Edge of Fate was clarity. Not only do these changes help newer Guardians acclimate to more complex buildcrafting, but they also help experienced players quickly evaluate individual armor drops and decide what is the best fit for their build. Armor archetypes are a key part of that effort.
Each Armor 3.0 drop has a randomly selected armor archetype. Each of the six available archetypes are themed around a specific playstyle and determine the two highest stats on each piece of armor. Each piece of armor will also roll with a tertiary (or lowest) stat randomly selected from the remaining four stats.
The primary (highest) and secondary (second highest) stats determined by your Archetype make armor reliably spiky. We've also updated the Armorer Ghost Mods to increase the odds of a specific archetype dropping, to make seeking out the best armor for you easier. Overall, we've found this system makes it much easier to earn armor where its stats are landing where you need them to be, rather than in stats you don't want for your build.
With all the new (and shiny) armor set bonuses to try out, we wanted to make sure that it was easy to try out a new piece of armor. So, we've updated the Masterworking system for any Armor 3.0 drops:
A piece of gear's tier represents its quality and strength compared to other Legendary drops. For example, higher tier weapons can drop with enhanced perks, special weapon mods, and - at Tier 5 - unique visual effects.
For armor, this primarily influences the total stats of each piece of gear. However, Tiers 4 and 5 have a couple extra bonuses: an extra mod energy (going to 11) at Tier 4, and a randomly selected "tuned" stat at Tier 5. Tier 5 armor will also always drop with a perfect stat roll of 30 in its primary stat, 25 in its secondary stat, and 20 in its tertiary stat.
| Tier | Total Stats (Masterworked) | Bonuses |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 52-57 (67-72) | |
| Tier 2 | 58-63 (73-78) | |
| Tier 3 | 64-69 (79-84) | |
| Tier 4 | 70-75 (85-90) | Extra Mod Energy |
| Tier 5 | 75 (90) | Extra Mod Energy, Random Tuned Stat |
Armor with a "tuned" stat has access to a "Tuning" mod slot, allowing you to choose between moving five stats from any other stat to your Tuned stat, or "Balanced Tuning", which increases the armor's three lowest stats by one.
With all these changes, you might think that your current armor just won't cut it anymore, but that is not the case. Legacy gear will still be useful and a great onramp into the new system.
We'll have more information on how to earn higher Gear Tiers, specifics on Weapon Tiers, and more, in an upcoming article.
We also took a look at seasonal gear and refactored it into "New Gear" to provide focus for buildcrafting throughout the game's various activities. New Gear can offer more lethality in PvE content, drop with Seasonal Bonus Power, and receive bonuses from the current Seasonal Artifact. It is easily identifiable with a unique colored-border and icon background so that you'll always be able to find it. Specific weapons will also be considered New Gear.
There will even be an exclusive PvP playlist where players must use New Gear to face off against each other, with the intention being to create a more even playing field for newer players, and to test out builds for those who want to experiment.
New Gear will include a 10% bonus for weapon damage, and a 15% bonus for damage resistance. These bonuses will not apply to PvP or the Contest Mode of the upcoming Raid. We'll have additional information at a later date on how this system works, what gear qualifies, and more.
Long-term, we hope to eventually add support for Exotics to access the benefits of higher tiers using a dedicated system that reflects their nature as a unique centerpiece in your builds. Although this system won't be ready for the Year of Prophecy, we wanted to make sure that Exotic armor could benefit from armor archetypes and the reworked Masterworking system.
While your existing rolls will be converted 1:1 to the new stats, new drops of Exotic Armor will be upgraded to Armor 3.0. This means they will have their stats determined by archetypes, receive the new Masterworking system, and drop with full mod energy by default. While these drops will not have a specific Gear Tier, their stats will roll as if they were Tier 2 (58-63 total stats). Once Masterworked, this should be comparable to all but the very best Armor 2.0 rolls.
To make this transition a little easier, Ada-1 will be offering 20 free focused Exotic armors per account to anyone who has Tower access prior to the release of The Edge of Fate. This special focusing will be available throughout the Year of Prophecy, and will allow you to focus any non-class item exotic from The Final Shape or before with an archetype of your choice, as long as you have it unlocked in Collections.
As for the Exotic class items: they are the only armor from before The Edge of Fate that will be converted fully into the new system. Each one will receive the maximum stats available for an Exotic (30 in the primary stat, 20 in the secondary stat, and 13 in the tertiary stat). To prevent this from massively increasing the number of possible class item rolls, these stats will be assigned based on their rolled perks: the archetype being determined by the left column perk, and the tertiary stat by the right column perk. However, this does mean that they can no longer be upgraded to Artifice Armor, and will lose any existing Artifice mod slot.
We want to highlight one specific change we're making to a specific Warlock Exotic chest armor come July 15 that we missed in last week's TWID. For those who aren't too deep in buildcrafting, many Guardians have been leveraging an interesting strategy mid-combat (or boss DPS) with Exotics like Sanguine Alchemy where they swap gear to take advantage of alternate Exotic bonuses that better fit the current point in the encounters flow. This is to maximize their efficiency and output, resulting in pumping out some incredible boss bakes, especially in Ultimatum dungeons. While we fully applaud those throughout the community who want to push the needle as far as it can go, we've found that this is presenting balance issues where it feels mandatory, and we don't feel the main draw of the Exotic should be centered around swap-centric strategies.
Much like the changes to melee stacking in last week's TWID, we want to be able to make Exotics that meaningfully change your gameplay and at current, these types of behavior are constricting how much we can push that bar. The above change is a minor, first step that's targeting one Exotic during our launch window, but we'll be taking a larger approach later this year. When this holistic fix is implemented, we will reexamine this change and see if it's still necessary.
Starting with The Edge of Fate, certain Exotic armor (and weapons) will be specially featured, gaining the same benefits as New Gear, and will change with each expansion and Major Update. At The Edge of Fate's launch, 28 Exotic weapons and 15 Exotic armors for each class will be featured, including all new The Edge of Fate Exotic Weapons and Armor.
But don't worry, even if your favorite isn't on the list, you'll still be able to use it almost everywhere you go.
| Warlock | Hunter | Titan | Weapon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Felwinter's Helm | The Dragon's Shadow | Precious Scars | Dead Man's Tale |
| Fallen Sunstar | Mask of Bakris | Wormgod Caress | Wicked Implement |
| Nothing Manacles | Blight Ranger | Ursa Furiosa | Outbreak Perfected |
| Ballidorse Wrathweavers | Cyrtarachne's Façade | Icefall Mantle | Barrow-Dyad |
| Starfire Protocol | Mask of Fealty | Point-Contact Cannon Brace | Lumina |
| Wings of Sacred Dawn | Khepri's Sting | Pyrogale Gauntlets | Wish-Keeper |
| Mantle of Battle Harmony | Oathkeeper | Wishful Ignorance | New Land Beyond |
| Mataiodoxia | Athrys's Embrace | Crest of Alpha Lupi | Ager's Scepter |
| Rime-coat Raiment | Renewal Grasps | Actium War Rig | The Navigator |
| Geomag Stabilizers | Caliban's Hand | Mk. 44 Stand Asides | Arbalest |
| Promethium Spur | Gifted Conviction | Peregrine Greaves | Centrifuse |
| Boots of the Assembler | Lucky Pants | Phoenix Cradle | Tommy's Matchbook |
| Secant Filaments | Star-Eater Scales | The Path of Burnings Steps | Choir of One |
| Swarmers | Speedloader Slacks | Abeyant Leap | Polaris Lance |
| Eunoia | Moirai | Melas Panoplia | Graviton Lance |
| Eriana's Vow | |||
| Devil's Ruin | |||
| Hierarchy of Needs | |||
| Slayer's Fang | |||
| Lodestar | |||
| Legend of Acrius | |||
| Microcosm | |||
| Winterbite | |||
| Worldline Zero | |||
| Finality's Auger | |||
| Third Iteration | |||
| Graviton Spike | |||
| [REDACTED] |
Stats and abilities go hand-in-hand, so it's only fitting that we share the remaining upcoming ability changes coming in The Edge of Fate. If you recall, we spoke about melee tuning and other various ability changes in last week's TWID, so check out that info.
We spoke about Prismatic's changes a few weeks ago, but to summarize: it's been a bit too hot since release and has made some challenges trivial, so we're reigning it in to be more in line with other subclasses.
Prismatic
Prismatic/Strand
Void
Prismatic
Solar
Prismatic/Strand
Prismatic/Solar
Void
Arc
General
Prismatic
Prismatic/Solar
Solar
Arc
General
All Damage Types
Void
Strand
Stasis
Arc
It's a new era of Destiny 2, and with that comes exciting updates to our seasonal pass model. Much like ye olden times, there will be four Rewards Passes available during the Year of Prophecy. And just like before, the cost for these Rewards Passes is being reduced to 1000 Silver.
But what we're really excited to announce is that every rank reward will be available to earn Day 1 - no more having to wait for a new Act to launch to unlock more ranks. We've adjusted them to feel more rewarding, too.
For one, we've refactored some boosts and added new ones, removing some that were determined to be less than desirable. The new boosts offer comprehensive bonuses that apply to a wide range of content, as opposed to narrowly boosting specific season content.
Secondly, Premium Track armor rewards have also been reworked so that players will acquire a full set of both PvE and PvP armor, and the Free Track will offer five pieces split between the two sets, allowing players to unlock a partial set bonus for each.
Thirdly, we took a pass at our reward allocation to ensure that we are providing as much value as possible for all players. The allocation of various free rewards has been increased, and players will be able to acquire more cosmetic rewards within the first 100 ranks of the pass compared to prior season passes. With a return to four passes per year, we've reduced the pass ranks down to 110. "Why the extra ten?" you may ask? Well, they're extra special.
While we set out to reduce the overall grind and remove the time-gating introduced during Episodes, we still wanted to preserve some aspects of the aspirational progression and chase rewards that our larger Season Passes provided. These additional ten ranks are packed with valuable rewards for both Free and Premium players, require 500,000 XP each to earn, and can only be acquired through gameplay. While we have ensured that the first 100 ranks provide more value than ever before, we hope that you also enjoy having additional rewards to chase after achieving rank 100.
No, we didn't name this day ourselves - our community did - and we'll have more to share about the Day of Seven soon. As part of our annual celebration of you, the Bungie Foundation team is back to host another iteration of celebratory chaos. As part of their continuing mission to help reduce distress and suffering in children through entertainment, and partner with humanitarian aid organizations in times of natural disaster and crisis, the team is here to talk about Seventh Column Chaos:
Hey there Guardians! Bungie Day is right around the corner, and we can't wait to once again celebrate the chaos, competition and compassion of our Lightkeeper community.
Bungie Day officially kicks off on 7/7 and will run through 7/29 and with it returns the second edition of our Seventh Column Chaos PvP tournament! Sixteen teams made up of Bungie Foundation supporters will sweat it out in the Crucible, battling through chaos modifiers to earn bragging rights and bring glory to their NPC mascots. Will The Sweeper Bot led Dust Bunnies and team captain KleanPlays be champs this year? Or maybe returning winner Dffizzle and Colonel's Revenge will push for the title again. Let's lock in and have some fun for a good cause. Matches begin on 7/7, so stay tuned to the Bungie Foundation social channels for match times!
Of course, with a new campaign comes a fresh wave of rewards to power the work we do together: improving children's health and well-being through our Little Lights program, delivering rapid humanitarian relief, and building inclusive, welcoming communities for all. We're bringing back seven fan-favorite emblems plus an awesome slate of brand-new items so you can rep the Bungie Foundation and push our vital work even farther. We'll have more details to share soon!
Now is a great time to catch up on past content you may have missed. As part of Steam's Summer Sale, our Destiny 2 expansion bundles and packs will be discounted at up to 92% off starting June 26 and ending on July 14.
This will be your last chance to buy The Final Shape + Annual Pass or the Light & Darkness Collection before they are delisted on July 14.
Known Issues List | Help Forums | Destiny 2 Team BlueskyKnown Issues List
- The MMXXIV title is no longer available.
- The Ascension Aspect isn't working with certain armor mods and Exotic armors.
- The Champ Title has lost its gilded status.
- Steps 6 and 9 of the Drowning Labyrinth quest aren't able to be completed by some players.
- Due to this quest being a fix between character-scoped and account-scoped, if you have an alternate character and make progress on the quest, you need to play on that character to get back into the correct research paper level for your main character.
- Sometimes in the Derealize Exotic mission, the Taken relic can drop below the surface during the Vhriisk encounter.
- When tracking Ikora's Drowning Labyrinth quest, completion of certain steps may stop progress on the next steps.
- Memento shaders can be previewed on armor in the Armor Management screen. This is not intended, and Mementos aren't being considered for use on armor.
- Secant Filaments and Spirit of the Filaments can't grant Devour while Facet of Protection is equipped.
How many people would go insane if they pondered the orb of Toland? It's something to think about as you view this art piece of Eris and Toland.
Sometimes Titans just want to tank, and what better way to do that than with a healer by your side, healing you as you enact carnage across the battlefield.
What a week, huh? Yeah, we know it's only Thursday but shew. The train toward The Edge of Fate gets ever closer, and we're happy to have you on board. There's only three weeks left before the next era in Destiny 2 begins, so start making preparations soon (we see you, bounty hoarders).
Reminder: we have another livestream next Tuesday at 10 AM PT - we hope to see you there. For next week's TWID, we'll be diving into Power, progression, the Portal, economy changes, and our plans for Bungie Day.
See you starside,
Destiny 2 Community Team
P.S. We'd like to take this time to celebrate a Kinderguardian out there - he just turned three, so it's a huge milestone in his life! His dad has happily shown him, and photos of him, off in meetings ever since he was born, so we've all been particularly interested in his development these past three years.
Please help us by wishing Kai a happy birthday! Or, as his dad put in his request: ""Happy Birthday" in Word Art."
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