TL;DR:

(MoSadie’s note: This is a long one, so here’s a summary of the summary with links to the sections.)

• Epic Raid Inbound, and loot updates for the raid overall
• The Portal tries to get us out of the mines
• An actual way to get old season pass gear from in-game
• Known Issues List

The Desert Perpetual Expands Soon

The epic version of The Desert Perpetual raid arrives September 20th, 10am PT!

There will be:

• Mechanical changes to encounters!
• New Legendary weapons!
• New set bonuses on armor drops!
• A new quest
• ATTUNEMENT!
• Raid exotic CATALYST

Contest Mode On

Contest mode will be available for the first 48 hours after the epic raid version launches. Loot has been updated, your first clear of each encounter in Contest will drop Tier 5 gear. Clear all the encounters for an exclusive emblem, the raid Exotic, and its catalyst.

World First Race Info

Requirements for the race:

• Completion of The Edge of Fate campaign
• A fireteam of 6 players
• Fireteam leader must have completed the regular version of The Desert Perpetual

Once the first team has completed the epic version of The Desert Perpetual in Contest Mode, the normal version will be unlocked.

Not Swap Update

A new version of Not Swap is being rolled out, active for contest mode.

This modifier will reset your Super and ability energy, Special ammo, and Heavy ammo, as well as remove all ammo and orbs on the ground, when you change Exotic or Legendary Armor or weapon ammo types.

In addition, this modifier will also be activated when doing 3+ feats in the EPIC version on standard difficulty.

Featured Gear and Seasonal Mods

The bonuses to damage and damage resistance granted by the Artifact for using Featured Gear WILL BE ENABLED for Contest Mode. Similarly, Seasonal Mods will also be available.

Banned item list coming soon.

Integrity of the Challenge

Don’t cheat and don’t play with cheaters, or face the consequences.

Upcoming Raid Reward Changes

Changes coming in 9.1.0 (Ash & Iron):

• Extra rewards from clearing all encounters of The Desert Perpetual
  • Defeat all three bosses before the final boss to earn an extra piece of gear
• In addition, two weekly challenges!
  • First challenge: Complete each encounter (either version of the raid) (extra piece of loot for each encounter)
  • Second challenge: Bonus loot from the epic raid
  • Loot will have bonus Seasonal Power and drops at an upgraded Tier based on number of active feats.
• Not required to complete the “Combined Mastery” Triumph to increase your gear drop tier.
  • Now all gear will drop at Tier 2 in normal, and Tier 3 in epic, no matter your current Power level.
• Additionally, added a chance for all gear earned during a full clear to drop at up to +2 from your base Tier.
  • Add feats to increase chances!
• Players who have completed “Map and Compass” and the epic raid can approach the Simulant Ansible to receive a new quest.
  • Completing this quest unlocks the ability to attune to any previously acquired gear from the raid, increasing the chance it drops from any encounter.

Bungie Rewards Extension

The Desert Perpetual Bungie Reward dates have been extended! Players have until December 5th 9:59AM PT to complete The Desert Perpetual, on regular or epic, to unlock the raid jacket and raid sling bag. You can purchase them until January 6th 9:59AM PT.

The Portal Updates

Hey Guardians! The Portal dev team here. We see that you are all loving [checks notes] Caldera and K1 Logistics! A lot! Maybe too much? […] What do they mean by the mines? The Salt Mines? […] Oh. […] Oh no… Either way, in Ash & Iron we are adding more variety to the Portal, keeping all activities worthwhile, but also making them more time-equivalent and risk and challenge-equivalent while you progress your Power.

- Destiny 2 Community Team

(MoSadie’s note: There’s a lot of developer insights I’m skipping over, please check the Original TWID for additional information and graphs!)

Incoming Improvements

Solo Ops and Fireteam Ops are not performed as expected.

Next Week (Update 9.0.0.8)

• Time limits in Fireteam Ops direct launch matchmaking will be increased, giving players more time to complete matchmade Grandmasters

Goals for the changes in Ash & Iron and beyond:

• The time bonus system should give more value in trading off speed vs. killing everything in kill-based activities in Fireteam Ops and have a meaningful role in earning scores in Solo and Pinnacle Ops.
• Good grades in Fireteam Ops should be less risky and less challenging to get than they are now, and closer to Solo and Pinnacle Ops activities.
• Fireteam Ops should be at least as good a place to earn Power as Solo or Pinnacle Ops, and matchmade Fireteam Ops should be more viable at high Power levels.
• The way that equipped Power and Account Power work is confusing.
• More variety in Pinnacle Ops, including a way to earn Pinnacle Ops gear via matchmaking.
• Give more regular opportunities to matchmake into marquee activities like Onslaught and The Coil.
• Make it easier and more obvious for everyone in the fireteam to get the best rewards, even at wide Power differentials.
• Various banes, challenges, and boons should be well-balanced against each other.
• There should be more things to do in general! As brand new activities get added to The Portal, and older legacy activities are brought in, be able to feature these more effectively for daily Power gain.
• It would be great if Conquests were repeatable for Portal rewards.

Ash & Iron Updates

Note: This list is not final, expect more in the future!

Ultimate Difficulty

• Ultimate difficulty will become available, starting at Power 451
• Ultimate difficulty includes two new player stakes:
  • Pressure Cooker: Finish under the time limit or get kicked to orbit
  • Extinction: No Revives
  • Both stakes are really hard and have score boosts to match.
• Ultimate Fireteam Ops matchmaking opens Week 10 (September 16th, one week after the launch of Ash & Iron)

Platinum and Diamond Reward Ranks

• Players can reach Platinum and Diamond Reward ranks, running from 450-499 and 500-550 Power respectively
• While in Platinum and Diamond, you can earn an A+ grade in PvE
  • You’ll need an A+ to qualify for Tier 5 gear until Platinum III, where A grades start giving Tier 5
  • Once you reach Diamond I, B+ qualifies you for Tier 5, and at Diamond III even a B will get you Tier 5

Reward Multiplier Changes

• Reward Multiplier will now use Account Highest Power instead of Equipped Power to determine the basis of the multiplier.
  • This includes PvP in the Portal!
  • Still need the new or featured armor on for the up to 10% score bonus.
    • Can’t cheese by swapping at the end.
  • Ash & Iron Reward Pass has 5 new Portal score boosts, but you don’t need them if you already have the boosts from the Reclamation Pass!
    • You’ll get Enhancement cores instead if you already maxed out the score boost at 15%.

Time Limit Adjustments

• All activities have had their time limit adjusted based on actual play data.
  • Many things are coming down. (looking at you, “35-minute Starcrossed timer”, and “8-minute Caldera timer”)
  • Others are going up! (Liminality! Inverted Spire! Onslaught!)
• Bonus Timer will award a minimum of 5% score bonus for coming in under the timer.

Loadout Restrictions

• Locked Loadout score booster will be lowered
• New Loadout Player Stake: “Touche”, a combo of Locked Loadout and Avant Garde, both effects and scoring.
• Additional Loadout Player Stakes are being added, starting at Expert
  • Just some Examples:
    • Explosive weapons, including rocket-assisted ones
    • Medieval weapons
    • Old West weapons
  • All of these also include restrictions for new and featured armor, but the weapons can come from anywhere and anytime
  • Initially these just include weapon categories, but eventually want to expand to specialized frames, perks, and special case Exotics like Vex Mythoclast or Sunshot
  • Yes this will make Champions hard to deal with, scoring bonus will compensate you, and these will not be selected as randomized modifiers in matchmade activities.

Data, Experience, and Rewards

(MoSadie’s note: Again, many words are being skipped. These are just the changes. Look at the pretty graphs on the Original TWID.)

• Encore
  • End-activity engrams reduced to two
  • Mid-activity chests reduced to two
• Starcrossed
  • End-activity engrams reduced to one
  • Mid-activity chests reduced to one
• Whisper
  • Mid-activity chest removed
• Liminality
  • Rewards increased to two
• Inverted Spire
  • Rewards increased to two
• Onslaught: Window’s Court
  • Rewards increased to four

In Update 9.1.5:

• Onslaughts/Crawls are being moved to Pinnacle Ops

Power and Rewards

New weapons and armor are coming to the Portal in Ash & Iron, preview in a future TWID.

As mentioned in the July 3 TWID, 400-450 will no longer be limited by Prime engrams. You can reach 500 via any Portal activity. 500-550 will require Prime engrams.

New Activities and Bonuses

Fireteam Ops

• A brand new activity type called REDACTED.
  • More details in a future TWID
• Two Battlegrounds
  • Behemoth
  • Echo: Core
• Three Strikes
  • HyperNet Current
  • The Insight Terminus
  • Fallen S.A.B.E.R.
• Three expeditions from Season of Plunder
  • Nessus
  • Cosmodrome
  • Europa
• Tome of Elders

The daily Bonus Focus mission will be more predictable:

• Bonus Slot 1: Random choice of REDACTED missions.
• Bonus Slot 2: Random choice from the newly converted Battlegrounds, strikes, expeditions.
• Bonus Slot 3: Random choice from Onslaughts/Crawls.

Also the score multiplier for all kill-scored activities will be increased by 5%. In addition, matchmade kill-scored activities are boosted by an additional 5%.

Pinnacle Ops

• Three dungeon lairs
  • More info in a future TWID
• Two Exotic missions
  • Presage
  • Avalon

Pinnacle Ops has two daily Bonus Focus activities:

• Bonus Slot 1: Random choice from the dungeon lairs
• Bonus Slot 2: Alternating between Presage and Avalon

Solo Ops Bonuses

Was not intended to be the best farming method for all player types.

• Reduced Power earned for a given grade in Solo Ops by one compared to Fireteam Ops, Pinnacle Ops, and Crucible

Conquests Update

• Four additional Grandmaster Conquests, and two Ultimate Conquests
  • Grandmaster ones round out the requirements for Conqueror Title, and Ultimate Conquests are needed to complete Guardian Rank 11, and earn you a new seasonal Ultimate Conquest emblem.
• All Conquests will be replayable!
  • You will earn normal scored Portal loot for additional completions.

Future Changes

Expect the following in the weeks after Ash & Iron’s launch:

• A scoring tuning pass on all modifiers
• Onslaught, The Coil, and Tomb of Elders will move from Fireteam Ops to Pinnacle Ops
  • They will get their own bonus focus slot in Pinnacle Ops
  • Just like in Fireteam Ops, the featured activity will get matchmaking
  • Bonus Slot 3 in Fireteam Ops will be replaced by a random choice from the rest of the Fireteam Ops
• A new ‘solo operative’ score boost in Fireteam and Pinnacle Ops for solo players

Get Rewards From Past Seasons

With the Ash & Iron update, players can visit the Monument to Seasons Past aka the Seasonal Archive to claim rewards from previous seasons passes.

Players can acquire “Archived Passes” to gain access to armor ornaments, accessories, and more from their respective Season or Reward Pass.

If you owned a Pass when it was available, you automatically get the corresponding Archived Pass for free. Otherwise, it can be purchased for 600 Silver. (If you purchased an item from one of the Eververse Flashback Sales, you also can get the corresponding Archived Pass for no additional cost.)

Starting with the Ash & Iron Reward Pass, a new seasonal currency will appear on the Reward Pass: “Chronologs” (on both the free and paid sections of the track) This currency is used to buy items you did not earn during the original Pass.

To clarify:

• If you can’t claim an Archived Pass for free, you can purchase it for 600 Silver.
• If you earned the rank for the item, even if you did not own the Pass at the time, you can claim the item without using Chronologs. (You only need the Archived Pass)
• If you did not earn the rank, you must use Chronologs to claim the item.

Lastly, if you have extra Chronologs and nothing to spend them on, there is a variety of items available for purchase in the Seasonal Archive:

Complete Your Seasonal Challenges

Your Seasonal Challenges will reset when Ash & Iron launches, so be sure to complete any outstanding challenges before then! The Top Challenge Triumph was reduced from the previous 102 to the actual 42 needed, so you can actually earn that this very week!

Mayhem Now, Trials of Osiris Tomorrow

Mayhem is featured in The Portal as the weekly rotating game mode.

Trials will be played on Cirrus Plaza this weekend.

Player Support Report

Known Issues List

• A small volume of players are unable to integrate Strangelet Capsules and progress the Edge of Fate campaign.
• The Class armor stat is scaling in increments instead of per point.
• The combatant difficulty in the Malfeasance quest version of The Corrupted strike is incorrect.
• The Slow and Small challenge modifier is causing persistent audio to be present in activities.
• Kepler Weekly missions are incorrectly displaying that they will always reward Kepler Gear.
• The Photogalvantic set bonus from the Lustrous set will loop its activation audio continuously while active
• Due to an issue where the Cross Counter perk on Liar’s Handshake can activate from all damage sources, it has been disabled in all Crucible activities.
• The daily Portal activity modifiers sometimes rotate after the normal daily reset time.

Read the full Bungie.net post
Return Home