Home Gaming Destiny’s first gun is making an exotic comeback in Rise of Iron

Destiny’s first gun is making an exotic comeback in Rise of Iron

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It-will-be-mine-oh-yes

You never forget your first, a feeling that goes double for anyone who really, really thinks way too much about first-person shooters in a way that they describe as being more than just friends with. After all, there’s a certain sense of love and admiration for your first weapon in ay shooter game. Maybe it’s that slick feel of an introductory pistol that gets you through an opening stage or a handy rifle that helped you survive an invasion of Normandy Beach.

But for Destiny players, the first gun you got your hands on was the humble Khvostov. An assault rifle that helped you fend off some Fallen threats, it quickly became the equivalent of a peashooter when Guardians started upgrading to legendary and exotic new weapons. But for many Destiny players, it was also a memento that had earned itself a slot in your vault.

And in Rise of Iron, the Khvostov is making a big comeback. “I think it was very much like, ‘Hey, we need an old weapon that speaks to European design language, pick this reference, use it, make it look broken.’ And then we moved on to designing other things,” art director Shiek Wang said to Game Informer about the origins of the assault rifle. “We really wanted to pay homage to that,” lead designer Ryan Paradis explained over the fan love for the Khvostov.

Let’s tug at the heartstrings a little bit. Let’s give this gun a little bit more fiction and purpose. It’s one of the true military weapons we have in the game that really feels like an assault rifle, so it was kind of neat for us to bring that back.

The new Khvostov will be featured in its own quest, similar to how players got their hands on the Sleeper Simulant last year. In the Plaguelands of Rise of Iron, several parts for it will be scattered around, hidden in random locations and chests or as a reward for completing a challenge in the Archon’s Forge. “We devised that mission to take you back through those original spaces,” Paradis said.

Khvostov

Sure, you’ve seen them a lot since then, but you haven’t gotten Ghost’s perspectives on it. So he’s talking about the time he found you and ‘Remember when we were first here?’ The Khvostov was the everyman’s gun and we still want it to be the everyman’s gun. We want this to be your exotic and really tell the story of the guardian and how far you’ve come.

“We gave it a brand new barrel and made it look really new,” Wang added.

We thought it would be fun to actually swap out the scope, because if you remember the scope was broken. But we also thought it would be fun to have the original one, which is the broken scope that everyone identifies with. So there is a brand new scope and the old scope, and we have those as two different perks. If you want the old scope to be really OG, you can have that, but then the rest of the body looks brand new.

So how does the new Khvostov operate in Rise of Iron? Check out these specs attached to its many skill trees:

Scope

  • Classic Scope – The original Khvostov scope. Optimized for range and stability
  • Modernized Scope – Grants additional zoom and target acquisition

Firing Mode

  • Automatic – Sets firing behavior to fully automatic
  • Burst Fire – Sets firing behavior to burst
  • Semi Auto – Sets firing behavior to semi-automatic with higher muzzle velocity

Frame Options

  • Hammer forged – Improved range and accuracy
  • Rifled Barrel – Increased range; Slower reload
  • Braced Frame – Increased stability; Reduced magazine size

Extras

 

  • Extended Mag – A larger magazine
  • Counterbalance – This weapon has increased stability
  • Rangefinder – Aiming this weapon increases its effective range

RPM

  • 450 RPM – Sets firing behavior to 450 RPM. Grants bonus range
  • 900 RPM – Sets firing behavior to 900 RPM. Grants bonus stability

As that human Picasso painting said in Hot Shots Part Deux, that’s a hell of a gun. The biggest draw comes down to the Khvostov having an entire trio of firing modes, making it the most versatile rifle in Rise of Iron possibly when combined with the other assorted perks. “Most players don’t gravitate towards auto-rifles, so one of the cool features is that node selection for firing,” Paradis explained.

That’s the first time we’ve really fiddled with that, but it kind of makes it a gun for all occasions. We really thought about what the first Khvostov meant to players and tried to reinforce that in this gun. We want you to make this a gun that you’re going to use throughout Destiny. I mean, sure, you’re going to replace it, but this was your first love and it’s going to be another love for you.

It shall be mine, oh yes. It shall be mine.

Last Updated: August 8, 2016

One Comment

  1. I’m looking forward to it. I finally managed to Pre-Order RoI on Xbone…. Well Kinda…. Got an email from Microsoft saying it is pre-ordered and will charge me when the content is available but no “Pre-Order” tile in Games and Apps.

    Reply

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