Destiny 2: Warmind Expansion details revealed
Bungie revealed their Warmind Expansion DLC for MMO Shooter Destiny 2 which arrives on May 8th, with an hour long stream dedicated to the new DLC.
Destiny 2 isn't ready to give up the fight yet, as new content is coming soon to the game with the Warmind Expansion arriving on May 8th - alongside an update that will be free to all players and tweak a number of things including weapon changes. Last night we got our first glimpse at the DLC as the developers hosted an hour long livestream event over on their Twitch Channel to give us an idea of what we can expect with the expansion as well as the update when they launch. The Warmind Expansion will be the second DLC for the Season Pass and takes players back to Mars, as they explore the frozen ice caps to uncover the past.
New Public Event Hive Escalation Protocol
One of the biggest new features coming in the Warmind Expansion will be the new type of Public Event known as "Escalation Protocol" which can be triggered by players at any time (after completing the Warmind's Story Campaign or by joining someone else's). When you trigger one of these new public events it will summon waves of the new enemy of the DLC - the Hive, and you'll have a limited time in order to clear them.
There will be 7 waves in total for you to beat, with reward chests spawning for those who manage to reach waves 3 and 5. If a player makes it to the end and gets to the seventh wave then you'll be treated to a special boss (from a selection of 5 different bosses). Kill them to earn extra loot, some bosses will even drop loot that is specific to them and will be rotated on a weekly basis to make sure you'll be able to fight the boss of your choice on a particular week. All enemies taking part in the event will also drop a new item known as "Armory Codes" which can be used to summon a powerful temporary weapon known as "The Valkyrie" that works as both a melee and ranged weapon.
PVP changes coming soon to Destiny 2
We'll finally get a chance to play in private matches as they arrive with the next update, not only that but we'll also see a number of changes to the Crucible including two forms of progression for PVP players: Glory Rank and Valor Rank. Each of these will give players a chance to earn rewards by participating in matches and levelling up their PVP Ranks. Valor Rank will build up after completing PVP matches, and if you win you'll earn more. Glory Rank will be tied to the competitive playlist for Destiny 2 and Glory will be won or lost depending on the outcome of a match. There's also streak bonuses for either losing or winning in a row. By levelling up these Ranks you'll be able to get new rewards to show off your skills in PVP.
The Third Season of Destiny 2 also introduces a new pulse rifle known as "Redrix's Claymore" which according to Bungie will come equipped with the Outlaw perk and a brand new perk called Desperado that grants an increased rate of fire whenever the player reloads while Outlaw is active.
Meet New Hero Ana Bray
While the developers didn't go too much into detail about the new Hero Ana Bray, it was revealed that we'll meet her in the Warmind Expansion and that she'll play a role in the story as she will be the vendor for all our needs in the new location Hellas Basin. In the cinematic we were given a look at her facing off against a new type of enemy, the "Frozen Hive" as she went toe to toe with the fearsome creatures. It's not the first time players have been to Mars and we previously visited the planet in the original Destiny. This time we're visiting an entirely new location in search of the birthplace of Rasputin, one of the Warmind who was created during the Golden Age and is a powerful AI that players have never met.
Exotics and Weapon changes
The Bungie weapon experts Jon Weisnewski and Josh Hamrick were on hand to give us a look at some of the changes coming to weapons with a focus on Exotic weapons in particular. They want to go back to the original concept they had for Exotics with the established weapons that had come before. Going forward they will be stronger, better, faster and more exotic than ever before. Most of the current Exotics will be getting slight tweaks to make them react better and bring them in line with the vision for the game. One example is the Fighting Lion, which has received more ammo and tweaked the damage output to give it a bigger "kick". Another is the Graviton Lance that will be changed to fire two rounds per shot instead of three, as well as enhancements to the weapon handling and time to kill. Both of these weapons are favourites among the developers who are looking forward to the update when it arrives alongside the Warmind Expansion.
It was also revealed that the community felt a few weapons in Destiny 1 were unbalanced, and the developers are looking to bring back a sense of "overpowered" with certain weapons going forward. A few underperforming exotics should be getting improvements to make them feel worthy of being exotics such as Sturm and Drang. There are still a number of things we have yet to find out about the Warmind DLC, but players won't have long to wait as it arrives on May 8th.