On Wednesday, January 21st, Bungie will rolll out a Destiny update to add a hard mode to the Crota's End raid. The update is expected to go live around 10:00 PST/13:00 EST/18:00 GMT.
The maximum level cap in Destiny at the moment is 32 but the raid's tougher challenge will be set at level 33 so you can expect it be quite difficult indeed.
There will be a lot of rewards waiting for players who manage to pull off the feat of vanquishing the Hive god in hard mode; with special and heavy weapon already starting to drop during the raid, including the Hunger of Crota (rocket launcher), Black Hammer (sniper rifle), Song of Ir Yut (machine gun), Light of the Abyss (fusion rifle), and the Swordbreaker (shotgun).
Playing on hard mode will also produce primary weapons, which are the Abyss Defiant (auto rifle), Fang of Ir Yut (scout rifle), Oversoul Edict (pulse rifle), Word of Crota (hand cannon).
You'll also be able to pick up the Crux of Crota to upgrade Eidolon’s Ally (which was itself upgraded from Husk of the Pit) to Necrochasm, which is an exotic auto rifle. Other bonuses of playing include the Bane of the Dark Gods, a new ship, and a shader called Glowhoo.