by Patsy Anderson on Dec 01, 2014
Today Bungie (hey guys, can we stop calling the website bnet? We already have a bnet, thanks) released an update to its hit hybrid, Destiny, exciting players by the truckload. Something tells me that today's patch will make people happier than your average weekly patch for Destiny. In a nutshell, Destiny now has Exotics, easier farming, more chances for Legendary Engrams, and plenty other fun to get the masses ready for The Dark Below. Not sure what The Dark Below is? Well, if you're playing Destiny, it's kind of the next big thing (trademark pending) to happen in the game. Just a few short days away on December 9, Destiny's latest DLC – a new expansion entitled The Dark Below – will be available to players.
The Dark Below can currently be pre-ordered for Destiny, which will bring a level cap increase to 32, a new 6-man raid, three new story missions and other quests, three new maps for the Crucible for competitive arenas to battle players in, a new co-op strike, and Hive lore. There's also a Hellmouth on the moon, which I can only hope will be something like Buffy in Space. Maybe a little Once More, With Feeling from a Guardian's perspective? I hope there's a Josh Sweden running around this dystopian future right now, waiting for a chance to shine. The Dark Below will be Destiny's very first expansion, which looks to be running about $35 USD (and also includes the second expansion, as well) at select retailers.
Expand your Destiny adventure with a wealth of weapons, armor, and gear earned in new story quests and missions, three new competitive multiplayer arenas, and a new Strike and Raid. Beneath the surface of the Moon, a long-forgotten enemy stirs. Survive the true depths of the Hellmouth, and stop its dark army from invading Earth.
In order to be prepared for The Dark Below, now is your chance to work on farming Exotics over the next week. This now includes Exotic weapon buffs, which Bungie states that they “hope these weapons challenge the way players think about their loadouts.” Ascendant Materials are no longer necessary to upgrade, but Exotic Shards are. These shards can be obtained by either dismantling unwanted Exotics or by purchasing them from Xur for 7 Strange Coins. As an outsider looking in, though, I must say that my favorite line from the patch notes is this one:
Super Good Advice
Stability increased
Don't worry, we're not all clueless newbs around here. A few of the folks on the TTH staff play and write about Destiny often. I'm sure at least Boomjack will be writing about Destiny a bunch in the weeks to come. If you don't want to head over to the official site for today's notes, they are copied below for convenience. Are you playing Destiny? Will you be purchasing the first expansion?
Today's patch includes the long-awaited arrival of Exotics weapon buffs, additional acquisition paths for destination upgrade materials, along with additional changes to exotic gear node upgrading in preparation for the soon-to-be-released expansion, The Dark Below. We're also correcting issues induced by our more recent update to the Raid.
Exotic Weapons are designed to look, feel, and sound overpowered. At the same time, they are not supposed to break the balance of the game. We hope these weapons challenge the way players think about their loadouts. Exotics will be a constant work in-progress!
In preparation for the Dark Below, Exotic Armor and Weapons no longer require Ascendant Materials to upgrade
The final upgrade node of all Exotic Gear will require an Exotic Shard Exotic Shards can be obtained by one of the following means: Dismantling unwanted Exotics Purchased from Xur for 7 Strange Coins Exotics now start at a higher base Attack value and have a narrowed upgrade range to compensate