Destiny’s next update, set to go live on April 12th, will be the game’s biggest since last September’s expansion The Taken King and here we go through all the details of the update and what you can expect once it goes live.
The April 12th update, Version 2.2.0, will introduce plenty of new loot and additional activities for Guardians, including five new armour sets, upgraded year-one exotics, and a new end-game activity.
Here’s what’s included in the update according to Bungie’s recent stream of the April update:
New Challenges: There will be 16 weeks of “unique” Prison of Elders content for end-game players – all available for free.
Challenge of the Elders – This is a reworking of the Prison of Elders arena and it’s the only guaranteed way you’ll be able to get to the increased Light level cap of 335.
The Prison of Elders now offers two difficulties: level 41 and level 42, with new modifiers and four new bosses being introduced. At level 41, matchmaking services will be available and there’s a recommended minimum Light level of 260. At this level, expect the game to stick to the familiar Prison of Elders format and rewards of up to 320 Light.
The Challenge of the Elders becomes is Level 42 and offers no matchmaking capabilities. The recommended Light Level is 320 and players can expect a point-based activity with items offering armour and weapons of up to 335 Light.
Over the course of three rounds, each ending with a boss fight, your fireteam’s score is recorded on the Elder’s Sigil card. Both Cumulative Score and High Score are tracked and those who hit a High Score of 30,000 during a single run will be guaranteed a 335 Light weapon. If a Cumulative Score of 90,000 is reached over the course of a week, the player will receive a 335 Light armour.
Challenge of the Elders will reset every Tuesday like the rest of the game, deleting your Cumulative Score.
16 unique encounters will occur during Challenge of the Elders based on variations such as gameplay modifiers and bosses across the three waves. That opens up three months of activities before things start to repeat themselves.
Blighted Chalice Strike – A new quest line is included with the April update and includes the new Blighted Chalice strike in which players take on the Taken boss Malok.
Winters Run Strike – This strike isn’t new (it’s the one that ends with the Archon Priest fight) but is being returned to the Heroic strike playlist and the Taken are the enemy this time round. There will be a chance of picking up quest-specific loot.
Increased Difficulty – An additional difficulty level will be applied to the Court of Oryx, the King’s Fall raid, Heroic Strikes, and Nightfalls. The incentive for doing them at this level is more powerful loot. In Normal Mode during the Raid, the loot will drop up to 320, on Hard Mode, gear can be up to 330 but a hotfix launched soon after release will up this to 335. Drops made in Court of Oryx will be 335 Light.
Increased Max Light Level: The game’s Light cap will be increased from 320 to 335 when the update goes live. The only way to guarantee 335 drops is by playing the Prison of Elders on the highest difficulty setting but it’s not the only way.
The King’s Fall raid on Hard Mode, Iron Banner and Trials of Osiris tournaments, and the Court of Oryx will all offers drops of up to 335 Light after the update but at a lower rate than the Challenge of Elders.
New Armour – Five new sets of armour will be introduced by the update, two of which are completely new. These are the Spektar Armour which is a kind of Tron-esque customisation scheme (see below) and Desolate, a Taken-themed armour which uses Prison of Elders gear models. This gear is unlocked using Sterling Treasure a new consumable detailed next. The other three armour sets are revamps of the faction armour for Future War Cult, Dead Orbit, and New Monarchy.
Sterling Treasure – This new consumable unlocks armour parts and Chroma for customising your gear. You’ll be able to grab up to three per week. One will be unlocked simply by paying a visit to the Postmaster in the Tower but for the others you’ll need to complete a level 41 run of the Prison of Elders and the other by complete a match in the Crucible’s weekly playlist. If that sounds like too much work and you have (real) cash to burn, Tess Everis sells Sterling Treasure at her kiosk.
Changed Infusion System: Infusion will offer 1-1 levels after the April update instead of approximations. This means that if you infuse a 320 item with a 310 piece of gear the infused gear will be 320.
Chroma – This is colour-shading for both weapons and armour and comes in blue, red, yellow, and white. You’ll be able to re-roll Chroma-supporting gear for the colour you want but note: Chroma isn’t affected by shaders, which is a separate customisation option.
Year-One Gear Upgrades: Veterans of Destiny year-one may remember weapons such as The Devil You Know, Shadow Price, and the Badger CCL. All of these and more are being upgraded to offer year-two damage and drop from legendary engrams at 330.
The Return of Year One Exotics: Patience and Time and Sunbreakers are just some of the old yellow engrams players can expect once the update goes live. You’ll find more on Destiny’s Instagram channel.
Extra Emotes: Express yourself with new emotes such as Taken Shiver (unlocked when you acquire a full set of Taken-themed armour) and Praise the Gun, a Dark Souls parody move.
Optional HUD: You’ll be able to turn off the game’s HUD in both social spaces and combat after the update.
A New PlayStation Exclusive: The Zen Master, a new exotic sniper rifle, will be available as a PlayStation exclusive once the weapon goes live.
Additional details about the April update can be found here.
