Destiny: Rise of Iron Announced

The newest expansion to Bungie’s space epic promises more of everything.

It’s finally here. The official Bungie release for the newest Destiny add-on, Rise of Iron, is coming out 9.20.2016. Bungie confirmed that it is exclusively available for PS4 and Xbox One consoles, even though all other expansions have been available for PS3 and Xbox360.

We will be seeing two new map areas with this update. The new PvE area called the Plaguelands is an addition to the Cosmodrome, that has been tainted by a technological plague called SIVA. Strongly patrolled by the new enemy, the Splicers, it will be interesting to see how Bungie has integrated this area to be cohesive yet seperate from the rest of the Cosmodrome. The second area, Felwinter Peak, the fortress of the old Iron Lords, will be a third social gathering place; similar to the Tower and the Reef, where you must complete the first campaign mission in order to unlock it. While a mission being required in order to unlock this area sounds awesome in theory, I do hope that we will not have to start going to three different places in order to get everything we need to start actually playing every time we log in.

The newest enemy type, Fallen Devils (aka Splicers) are members of the Fallen that have been corrupted by SIVA. The Fallen have always been interested in machinery, and augmented themselves in machine hybrids, trying to become Machine Gods. These new enemies will be a fusion of metal and flesh, Dregs becoming peg legged pirates, Kells with giant cannons for arms, “Death Zambonis” and tons more we haven’t seen yet. As interesting as these enemies will look, due to SIVA they will have special attributes different from their normal Fallen counterparts. Personally, after laughing at peg legged Dregs the first time I saw them, I am excited to see the new ways they think.

Of course, like usual, nothing specific is disclosed about the new raid, however the main premise will be to stop a plague from spreading out and engulfing the world. Per Bungie, “Hidden in the Cosmodrome lies the true source of the SIVA outbreak, guarded by the most zealous and powerful Fallen Devil Splicers. Six Guardians will plumb the depths to stop the threat at its source. Should they emerge victorious, they will return to the surface wielding powerful new weapons and armor forged from SIVA itself.” Hopefully this raid will stick with the raids in the past, especially the big final boss like Oryx, and require all six players work together to beat it.

While the people at Bungie are keeping quiet about most things right now, a lot of the new gear and weapons haven’t been hidden from us. New armor from the raid, Iron Banner, Trials of Osiris, and Iron Lord gear will be dropped. We will get new exotics, both weapons and gear. Also, we will again be getting a new light level cap, but only news on the light cap is it will be a “significant” increase. Being at 335 now, I am hoping to get up close to if not above 400.

The most exciting new weapon, well, old weapon they are bringing back with a bang is the Gjallarhorn. If you pre-order Rise of Iron, you will immediately receive the Iron Gjallarhorn in black and silver. No worries if you don’t pre-order though, you will still be able to get the Gjallarhorn during a specific in-game quest. This quest will end with you forging your own Gjallarhorn using armor from fallen Iron Lords. I have already pre-ordered mine, however I do hope that even though I know I am guaranteed it, I would like to be able to do the quest to forge it in black and silver myself instead of having it just be given to me.

A new relic weapon will be available during game as well. Like the Scorch Cannon before it, the so far unnamed flaming battle axe will be available for use during certain missions at certain times. In the trailer, you see Lord Saladin waving it around, and I am so excited to be able to kill some Splicers with it.

Well, that’s all for now folks. Keep checking back for more updates! Also, Bungie, if you’re reading this, please make a super where I can have a wolf that kills people!