This week at Bungie, we are celebrating World First, talking raid stats, and showing off a new weapon rotation for Trials and Iron Banner.
Guardians have been diving into The Witch Queen and Season of the Risen and discovering a wealth of new story content and lore to dig into that makes us cry. Despite some server issues and a few hiccups in-game, the latest step of the ever-evolving story of Destiny has been a wild one, but we are far from done when it comes to making it even better. From the Seasonal quest continuing towards its own conclusion to a new hotfix going live today full of bug fixes, there are a lot of reasons to dive in. Because of that, we wanted to talk about some of the different weapons coming to Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner, returning maps making their way downtown (er, to the Crucible), and talk about what issues have been addressed (link to patch notes) and what’s still on the docket.
But first? Art.
Off to the Races
Minor spoilers ahead if you haven’t got a chance to play the raid yet. The final encounter introduces a new challenge, the likes of which Guardians have never seen before. He’s very good at yeeting people off the map, I’m speaking from experience here, and the world got to see it in real-time as players from all around the globe raced to be the World First team to clear Vow of the Disciple. We saw a record number of players attempting their blind runs, diving head-first into the fray without a guide or clear path in sight. To say that those that participated did an incredible job is a massive understatement, but only one team can win. A huge congratulations to Clan Elysium on their well-deserved win, taking the crown three short minutes ahead of the competition.
Saltagreppo, Slap, Kyros, Moople, Quazz, and Cruz banded together and strategized, shot, dodged, dunked, and solved their way to victory – one kick to the face at a time. And you know what? It paid off! Congratulations again to this amazing team!
Speaking of the new Vow of the Disciple raid, this new raid explores new themes and experiences, including facing off against a boss that makes taking out Guardians look fluidly effortless, beautifully haunting locations to explore, and more than a few secrets hiding within. For those interested, we’ve got a few stats to share from the first 48 hours of a brutally challenging Contest Mode, including record-breaking numbers for Guardian participation!
Vow of the Disciple raid 48-hour stats, let’s break it down:
- Total players that entered the raid: 546,616
- Players that cleared Acquisition: 270,648
- Players that cleared Caretaker: 131,550
- Players that cleared Exhibition: 80,153
- Unique players that cleared the full raid: 32,621
- Total enemy defeats: 1,005,850,547
- Total Guardian deaths: 70,067,705
- Total hours spent in Vow of the Disciple Contest Mode: 4,223,843
For those that may have missed the reason why the 24-hour Contest Mode window was extended, day one started out strong but eventually we saw a plethora of ANTEATER error messages. This made it difficult to complete the raid runs, especially when tension was already high from trying to be the first to win. While we know this did upend some players’ weekend plans to play the raid on non-Contest Mode, we felt it was fair to extend the period since the “normal” version of the raid is always available. Contest Mode, however, is very limited and only exists after the introduction of a raid. Because of this, the team discussed and decided that an extension was the right thing to do. Now that Contest Mode is over, however, raid runs are up for grabs! Good luck out there, Guardians, and don’t forget to bring an Outbreak Perfected to the gunfight. (Source: Dude, just trust me.)
All Is Fair In Trials And Loot
A new Season means a good excuse to add in some new incentives for PvP activities like Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris, so we have added a few new weapons for players to earn. There is also a new shiny Legendary Scout Rifle for players to earn in Trials of Osiris to make PvP dad proud (who wouldn’t want to make Shaxx proud, come on!) alongside a returning favorite Auto Rifle.
Trials of Osiris
Trials of Osiris will be returning this Friday, so let’s check out what’s on the way:
All six weapons in the upcoming Trials pool will have the Alacrity and One Quiet Moment origin traits. Alacrity increases the reload, stability, aim assist, and range when running solo or as the last Guardian standing (which, if you’re like me and not the best PvP player, is a nice bit of help. No shame). One Quiet Moment grants players increased reload speed when not in active combat.
- Scout Rifle (260 RPM Rapid-Fire Frame): Aisha’s Embrace
- Keep an eye out for the oft-requested Triple Tap + Fourth Time’s the Charm combo, as well as some spicy options like Tunnel Vision + Multikill Clip.
- Auto Rifle (Returning, 600 RPM Adaptive Frame)
- This returning classic has had some less popular perks trimmed from its per pools, replaced by new favorites like Heating Up and Focused Fury.
Iron Banner
Iron Banner will return to light those flames next Tuesday, here is what Wolves can look forward to:
All six weapons in this Iron Banner pool will have the Skulking Wolf trait, which activates during the Hunt with enhanced radar and removal from enemy radar when you land those epic final blows with it. All returning Iron Banner weapons will have updated perk pools, including the new perks from the current Season.
- Hand Cannon (180 RPM Precision Frame): Frontier’s Cry
- Has some fun perks, including Steady Hands and Compulsive Reloader, plus Iron Reach to let it exceed the range available to most Precision Hand Cannons.
- Sword (Vortex Frame): Razor’s Edge
- The first Void Vortex Frame Sword in a while, this has some potent perk combinations like Wellspring or Unrelenting combined with Chain Reaction.
Oh! And one more thing – don’t forget that both the Eternity and Vostok maps have returned. We also have a new map coming up on the horizon but we’re not quite ready to talk about that yet. Patience, young Grasshopper, we’ll be talking about this at a later date.
Player Support Report
Never skip leg day.
It was a busy week here at Bungie and our Player Support Team has been doing everything they can to make sure your jaunts through the Throne World are as smooth as possible. We saw some performance issues, issues with vendors, and a few other bugs. While the work continues to pour through it all, here is what the team has been focusing on:
This is their report.
Hotfix 4.0.0.3
Today, Hotfix 4.0.0.3 was released to the world. Below are some issues that have been resolved with this release:
- Players are no longer blocked from interacting with armor or weapon sockets until the rest of the UI fully loads in.
- Deprecated Weapon Telemetries were still obtainable.
- Glaive mods were unable to be obtained.
- Gambit engram focusing was more expensive than intended.
- Players who did not claim vendor rewards from Fynch were not receiving rewards from multiple completions of the Wellspring.
Ascendant Alloy Update
With Hotfix 4.0.0.3 we resolved an issue causing Rahool to not provide a new Ascendant Alloy for purchase each week if players had already purchased one in a previous week.
To help players catch up on missing purchases, Rahool will offer two bonus Ascendant Alloys for sale for the price of one.
Daylight Savings
Bungie Name Changes
A one-time Bungie Name change is now available for players who wish to update their current Bungie Name. Players can use this change by:
- Logging into Bungie.net.
- Navigating to Profile Settings.
- Under “Identity Settings”, change the “Bungie Name.”
- Click “Save Settings” at the bottom of the page.
Players may only update their Bungie Name one time. Bungie Names must adhere to our Code of Conduct or will be subject to moderation.
Contest Mode and Emblem Extension
Players who have fully completed the Vow of the Disciple raid on Contest Mode during the 24-hour extension window will be granted The Cleaver emblem in-game at a later date. Stay tuned to upcoming TWABs for more details.
Vow of the Disciple Raid Jacket
Known Issues
- The Loreley Splendor Exotic Titan helm consumes ability energy on death.
- Explosive Personality Grenade Launcher has the incorrect rate of fire listed.
- Dreaming Tokens for the Wish Ender quest cannot be dismantled from player inventories.
- Players who create a new character may not receive all subclass quests from Ikora on that character if an existing character has already completed them.
- Players may see -1 unlock availability for Artifact Mod unlocks. This can be resolved by resetting the Artifact.
- The Star Jasmine Exotic Ship and the Hunter’s Resonant Fury Hunter Strides have the same lore tab.
- Vow of the Disciple carries are not properly recorded on stat trackers.
Movies? Movies
Sam: Happy TWABsday, Guardians! This week has been so incredible seeing all of your Raid clears and all of the times you’ve been stomped on. I can’t wait to hop in this weekend and try my luck in this beautiful raid. Today, we are so excited to share with you a gorgeous cinematic showcasing how stunning Savvy’s Throne World is and *raid spoiler alert*, we get to see … well…. go watch. 😉
Movie of the Week: Safe Haven
Movie of the Week: Shiny Shoes
Don’t forget to tag us on Twitter and use the hashtags #MOTW and #AOTW, memes and all!
Let There Be L-… Art!
Hippy: I just want you all to know that it took everything in me not to pull nothing but memes. The new raid boss? He’s beauty, he’s grace – he’ll kick you in the face. But, alas, there were some incredible pieces to choose from, so I showed some restraint. You know what we call that? Growth.
To the art!
Art of the Week:
Art of the Week:
B-b-b-BONUS ROUND:
It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions this month so far, but we have been loving every second of the art, memes, and discussions inspired by what’s new. Keep in mind throughout your adventures that there are a lot of New Lights coming in to see what all the hype is about, let’s help them out and show them the true heart of the Destiny 2 community.
Before we let you go, I did want to highlight one more thing from the Bungie team. Bungie has previously spoken up about the invasion of Ukraine, and to help beyond just words, we have dedicated the proceeds from the first 48 hours of our recent Game2Give charity stream to humanitarian efforts. For those interested in learning more, you can read about what steps are being taken here.
In a blog post published this week (found here), you will see various organizations that are lending help to those that need it. We also shared a first look at the new emblem (pictured below) so that players can use to show support in-game, as well. It’s a completely free way to show our solidarity with players from the affected areas so that they know they are not alone.
“For “Cоняшник,” we humbly tried to exemplify the hope and courage that has been so emblematic of the Ukrainian people during this impossible time. Alongside Ukraine’s coat of arms, impressionistic sunflowers, Ukraine’s national flower, populate the peaceful countryside – a metaphor for hope and our way of expressing solidarity.”
To grab the free emblem, use this code: JVG-VNT-GGG
Until next time, stay kind and keep those new raid memes coming!
“I should go,”
<3 Hippy