Major changes are coming to the Nightfall and Weekly Heroic Strikes in Destiny.
The most notable change is that you’ll no longer be playing the same mission for the Nightfall and the Weekly Heroic. During our Bungie visit, the team explained that in an effort to reduce repetitiveness, they’ve decided to change it up. However, there is still a chance that you could be locked out of one of the weekly activities if you didn’t purchase the DLC, though they also plan on combating that issue for players who don’t wish to upgrade.
Matt Sammons, the Lead Designer on House of Wolves, said the following: “We’ve heard the feedback from players about not being able to do the weekly activities, so two things we wanted to do were always have one of the activities available if you didn’t have one of the DLC’s. So you’ll never have where all of the missions are from the House of Wolves expansion. We also wanted to have more variety for all players so we’ve actually uncoupled the Nightfall and Heroic so those will be different every week now.”
Bungie did admit that while the DLC missions will be featured heavily in the beginning, the team plans on spacing it out a bit more.
Bungie is Working on Multiple Raids
Something Destiny is praised for the most are the six player cooperative missions known as Raids and it seems Bungie has a few more in the works. During a recent studio visit, Bungie confirmed with IGN that Other Raids are currently in development, though they will not be included with a purchase of House of Wolves.
When asked about the images stating that a Raid would be included with the House of Wolves, Bungie was adamant that this DLC would not include a Raid. Matt Sammons, Lead Designer on House of Wolves, said, “The in-game for House of Wolves consists of Prison of Elders, Trials of Osiris, and that’s all. There are Raids being worked on still, but we’re not talking about them today.”
Destiny’s Prison of Elders Aims to Please PvE Players
you’ve ever played Halo’s Firefight mode or Horde in Gears of War, then the Prison of Elders is going to be rather familiar looking. Familiarity isn’t a bad thing though – I still came out of our gameplay session with a smile from ear to ear. Great gameplay, coupled with beautifully destroyed locations and a community of supportive players made the Prison we were thrust into a joy to experience.
The Prison of Elders melds Strike missions, damage modifiers, and objective based gameplay together to bring us into a place where ”the most nefarious enemies in the galaxy are held prisoner.” You and two other players will arrive at this location in a dark and dingy room with four doors where a modifier notification will eventually pop up on your screen before a door opens revealing a large Servitor and your challenge. Once you enter the room you’ve been assigned, you’ll fight waves of either the Hive, Fallen, Vex, or Cabal while being given secondary objectives and avoiding landmines strewn throughout the level. These secondary objectives can consist of blowing up bombs by shooting them, disarming bombs by standing near them, or killing an enemy before he reaches his destination. Thankfully, these secondary objectives stop the mode from becoming a ‘hide in the corner and shoot everything’ mission. They’ll force your group out of your comfort zone and make you go to different areas of the map, but you’ll usually return to a spot that you’ve made “safe” – or at least as safe as you possibly can when 40 enemies are all around you.
Speaking of friends, if you’re a higher level player, I hope that a few of the supportive players I mentioned earlier have made their way onto your friends list. While the level 28 version of Prison of Elders has matchmaking support, Bungie did clarify that, once again, you’ll need to make a group of your own to tackle the level 32 mission Broken Legion, the level 34 mission Urrox’s Grudge, and the level 35 mission Skolas’s Revenge. Each week those missions will rotate though. The level 34 mission will be replaced with something new and that old mission will now become a level 32 mission. The level 28 matchmade mission will always be random. That rotation should do a lot to keep the gameplay fresh. While we weren’t allowed to try Skolas’s Revenge, Broken Legion was played using our currently unleveled gear. That means we were using level 300 fatebringers and playing at the old damage levels. Our team was comprised of two Warlocks and an invaluable Titan. In my experience, a Titan with a bubble shield will be your best friend when it comes to succeeding at these missions, as we quickly discovered that sticking together and pushing back the onslaught of enemies was the best way to come out on top. Each time we went into an area we would be given a hint about what we would face next and equip the appropriate gear. Hive? Bring your fatebringer. Cabal? Be sure to grab something with solar damage. It’s all part of the Player vs. Environment strategy that you’re used to, but come prepared for anything.
Bungie also throws in a little spice in the form of modifiers. We were told that there’s a total of eight, but during our play session we encountered a brawler mod which increased our melee damage, a Catapult mod which increased our grenade recharge rate, and at the same times classics would pop up like juggler and lightswitch. The modifiers yet again force you to be tactical with your team, so be sure you’ve brought the right weapon build to the table when entering the ring. Finally, let’s talk about the mini bosses. While they don’t feel like Raid bosses, one could compare them to any of the strike bosses that you face at the end of a mission, i.e. they’re large bullet sponges that have plenty of minions to throw at you while you try and do enough damage to defeat them. While powering through the prison, we faced a Wretched Knight who would sit on top of a hill as we mowed down his minions. Then there was Valus Trau’ug, a normal sized Cabal that would chase us all around the map while sporting a shield that rotated through solar, arc, and void modifiers.
Once Thau’ug fell, however, we were all treated to the real treasure. After receiving a Treasure Key, we once again went back to the central room, only to discover that the ground had opened beneath us. We then descended to receive our prizes, which seemed completely random. While I received a 23 clip Machine Gun that seemed rather ordinary, it’s important to remember that you can re-roll these weapons for better perks that fit your playstyle. This mechanic is already used in the Iron Banner, but will be expanding to all House of Wolves weapons. My teammates received a scout rifle with some decent stats and a shotgun that could potentially replace the Secret Handshake or Felwinters lie. The chests also contain another chance at Exotic weapons and armor, meaning yet another path for players to grind through week after week
Destiny’s Prison of Elders Endgame Activity Is Matchmade
During a livestream today showcasing the Prison of Elders game mode coming to Destiny, Bungie revealed that the level 28 activity will be matchmade. Additionally, three other non-matchmaking activities, Skolas’s Revenge, Urrox’s Grudge, and Broken Legion were shown off. Four of the five total challenge modes were shown on the selection screen, with Broken Legion coming in at level 32, Urrox’s Grudge at 34, and Skolas’s Revenge at level 35. All of the modes can be run on the weekly reset. The rewards for Prison of Elders are a Cryptarch engram, +6 Vanguard marks, and +25 Vanguard Rep.