Here’s everything that’s changing in Destiny today

Destiny, a video game that I’ve spent the last six months tricking people into believing that it’s actually a good game in an elaborate ruse, is about to change. And in a big way. Whether you’re buying The Taken King expansion or not, the core Destiny experience is about to undergo one extreme makeover, with various nips and tucks that’ll streamline the experience. Some changes are purely cosmetic, others are complete overhauls of core gameplay mechanics.

So here’s a rundown of all the cha-cha-cha-changes headed your way.

Patch size

On old-gen consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, you’re looking at a download of around 10GB. On PS4 and Xbox One, expect a nearly 20GB download for the update.

Questification and Bounties

One of the biggest changes that’ll be present this week will be a retuned quest system. Traditionally, players could pick up bounties at the Tower or the Reef, finish them and head back to the taskmaster to hand the completed task back to earn experience points and rewards.

Now, Destiny is taking the run-around of that process out of the equation, as finished bounties can be redeemed from the player menu. Bounties can also be tracked in your HUD, to keep things simpler. The quest log tab will also show you which faction your quest will influence, as well as the rewards available afterwards.

There’ll also be more quests to tackle as various other Tower and Reef characters give you more tasks to complete. Your Ghost scanner now also reveals active quests, no matter where you are in Destiny. The number of bounties that can be tackled has also increased, with players able to stack up to 16 of them before venturing out.

Experience and levelling up

Bungie’s esoteric levelling-up system in Destiny is getting  big overhaul. With a new level cap of 40, Guardians can grind up using a more traditional experience points system, instead of having to rely on armour light levels to gauge their strength.

Light however will still be a crucial part of the Destiny experience. Light now determines your overall attack power and defense rating in one go, based on your arsenal. Some foes will require you to have a specific Light rating in order to survive any encounters with them, as Destiny simplifies character progression in year two.

The Crucible

With patch 2.0, players will be able to try out the new Taken King PvP maps for a week before the expansion launches. That also includes the new Rift and Mayhem modes.

Rift is capture the flag but with a football twist, while Mayhem is focused on ludicrous kills as Super abilities recharge faster than coffee going through your bladder.There’ll be eight new maps in total for the Crucible, for anyone who purchases The Taken King:

• Cosmodrome Wall, Old Russia – Sector 618 (PlayStation Exclusive)
• The Lost Oasis, Mars – Crossroads
• Cloris Basin, Mercury – Vertigo
• European Dead Zone, Earth – Memento
• Foundling’s Gyre, The Reef – Ghost Ship
• The Last City, Earth – Bannerfall
• City Perimeter, Earth – Frontier
• Hive Fleet, Saturn – Exile

Armsday Events

While Xur may have made Friday the most popular day of the week in Destiny, expect to see an influx of Guardians on Wednesdays. Armsday events see gunsmith Banshee-44 giving players temporary weapons to try out. Complete specific tasks with said weapon and you’ll increase your reputation with the gunsmith and gain access to better gear to purchase from him.

That standing will also translate to unlocking Foundry Orders, giving you better guns to take for a spin every Wednesday.

Legendary Marks

You’ll no longer grind for both Vanguard and Crucible marks in Destiny. Instead, both currencies are being combined into one new form of cash, Legendary marks, that can be earned and used to purchase rare gear. It’s like the Euro of Destiny, only without Greece throwing a spanner into the economy.

Trials of Osiris

Sorry Osiris fans, your favourite weekend event won’t be around for a while. You’ll have to get your 9-win fix in the regular Crucible match modes on offer.

Weapons

Expect the various weapon classes to behave a lot more differently this week. Autorifles will be handy for most situations, hand cannons will see their range shortened and numerous other tweaks will herald the arrival of weapon foundries such as Suros, Omolon, and Hakke. Reddit has a detailed list of the balances here:

Auto Rifles

• Increase base damage
• Start damage falloff closer to the player to emphasize its role as a close to medium range weapon
• Small reduction in base stability. Landing shots at optimal range is unaffected, but repeated precision hits require more weapon control to land consistently
• Boost damage by 10% against AI combatants

Pulse Rifles

• Reduce base damage of the medium RoF by about 2.5%
• PVP: Bursts-to-kill (all precision hits) is 2 or 3, depending on victim’s Armor stat
• Small reduction in base stability. A burst should still land all shots at optimal range, but three precision hits will require more weapon control to land consistently
• Increase magazine size on for all base inventory stats

Scout Rifles

• Increase base damage for medium to high Rate of Fire Scout Rifles
• PVP: Does not affect TTK in PVP on a Guardian with full health
• Increase magazine size for all base inventory stats
• Reduce Final Accuracy when firing from hip
• Fast firing outside of ADS will be less accurate
• Boost damage by 5% against AI combatants

Hand Cannons

• Start damage falloff closer to the player to limit long range lethality
• Small reduction in ADS accuracy, targeted at making long range snap-shooting less reliable
• Reduce final accuracy when firing from hip
• Fast firing from hip is less reliable
• Reduce magazine size for all base inventory stats
• Reduce base Optics (zoom) for all Hand Cannons

Shotguns

• Shotgun perks that enhance lethality at range should be less effective when combined with a high initial Range stat:
• Reduce Shot Package Accuracy buff by 30%
• Rangefinder adds a 5% base Range increase on ADS (was 20%)Reduce Precision Damage multiplier on Shotguns by 10%
• Reduce damage against AI combatants by 10%

Fusion Rifles

• Slow charging, high Impact Fusion Rifles have decreased Range values
• Makes it more difficult to max out Range for these weapons
• Projectile Speed for Fusion Rifles is slightly reduced
• Emphasizes the need to lead a targets outside medium range
• Improve Accuracy for short range Fusion Rifles
• Reduce Accuracy for long range Fusion Rifles

Sniper Rifles

• Final Round on Sniper Rifles buffs precision damage only, not base damage
• This change only affects this perk when combined with Sniper Rifles

Rocket Launchers

• Slight increase in base Blast Radius.
• Grenades and Horseshoes proximity detonation reduced.

Exotics

Bad news Gjally-only groups: Your favourite rocket launcher is getting tweaked to be slightly less of a juggernaut. Pretty much every single Exotic weapon in Destiny is getting rebalanced, with PvP-favourite weapons such as Thorn getting a massive nerfing in the process in order to keep the world of Destiny more balance.

The Last Word, Monte Carlo and a ton more of your favourite yellows won’t be so awe-inspiring as you head into year two of the game. Exotic Weapon Blueprints will also allow you to purchase Year 1 exotics or Year 2 exotics that you previously acquired, for 1 Exotic Shard and 2,500 Glimmer.

Last Updated: September 8, 2015