ACT II STARTS JULY 16

After touching base with our old friend Failsafe and starting an investigation into the Vex on Nessus, we found that something is…not quite right. The revelations of Act I will drive your investigation even further into Nessus in Act II when it launches on July 16.  

To make sure you’re equipped with all the latest intel, we’ll be hosting a developer livestream ahead of time, to preview new content that’s coming. We’ll have more details on the timing of the livestream for you soon! 

HOW ABOUT SOME ECHOES ART?

To celebrate that we are in the middle of our first Episode ever and that we just finished its first Act, how about we do something special? This community is filled to the brim with amazing artists, and we love to celebrate your talent every opportunity we can get. We have our Artist of the Week and Movie of the Week picks in every TWID because of that, but this time we wanted something more thematic and focused.

So, this is a call for artists everywhere to represent their favorite moment during Echoes: Act I. An epic fight against the Vex? Check. A representation of your favorite lore piece so far? Wonderful. A cozy Saint and Osiris scene? Can’t wait to see it. Some crazy situations with Failsafe? We are to blame for that one, probably. Just do what you do best and give us a take on this new narrative unfolding in the world of Destiny 2. 

Just remember to use the hashtag #EchoesAOTW so we can find your contributions. Those selected will be included in a future TWID, and their authors will earn both the regular AOTW emblem and the new, incredibly cool Photoionization emblem you see below. 

PVP STRIKE TEAM UPDATE

TWICE THE IRON BANNER

The Titan previously known as Iron Lord Saladin, now Valus Forge of the Cabal Empire, will be back at the Tower next week with a new edition of Iron Banner. Given that Iron Banner is one of our most ancient traditions, one would think the old War Beast can’t learn some new tricks, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  

To begin with, Iron Banner will now be a two-week event and the main PvP focus for that time.

Players will be able to earn rewards, climb ranks, and hone their PvP skills with one game mode during the first week and then with another game mode in the second. In this first iteration of Iron Banner for Echoes, the first game mode available is Control and the second one is Tribute.

In Season 23, we experimented with a system that enabled players to select from either Control or the rotating game mode (Fortress, Eruption, or Tribute) whenever Iron Banner was active. Players being able to choose which game mode they wanted to play was nice to have, but it was a departure from how we had previously handled the modes, and splitting the player base in half had a negative effect on both matchmaking times and match quality. These drawbacks meant that it was not sustainable over the long term, and paired with the new model of running two different modes back to back felt extraneous, so we’re returning to the previous system of one mode each week.

There will be two weapons added to Iron Banner during Echoes. The first weapon is a renewed Crimil’s Dagger. It’s still a Kinetic Aggressive Hand Cannon, but now it comes with a small bump to its stats and perks like Precision Instrument or Kill Clip. The other weapon available is Claws of the Wolf, a Rapid-Fire Frame Void Pulse Rifle with fan-favorite perks like Headseeker and Zen Moment, although the new perks like To the Pain are worth checking out, too. 

Getting many rolls for these weapons will be easier, too. You’ll still need to unlock them first to drop (by getting Ranks 4 and 7 with Saladin), but then you’ll have a good chance to earn them as post-match rewards. Wins now guarantee a random Iron Banner weapon while also having a very high chance to award an Iron Banner engram on top of that. As for defeats, both weapon drops and engrams have a higher drop rate, too. So, you can either get the roll you are chasing as a random drop or by focusing an engram with Saladin. 

Those of you looking to be one of Saladin’s favorites once more might want to gild the Iron Lord Title one more time. Wearing Iron Banner gear, using an Iron Banner emblem, and completing Saladin’s daily challenges will get you there faster, as these give you reputation boosts. If this is your first time partaking in the most ancient PvP ritual among Guardians, don’t worry. Focus on the objective, be a good teammate, and you will have Saladin’s attention soon enough.  

SANDBOX UPDATE 

We’re hard at work on the mid-Episode balance update, and we’ll have more details to share on that later. However, a handful of things have jumped out as early issues in Crucible, and we wanted to get those addressed sooner rather than later. 

KHVOSTOV  

• Recoil – It should come as no surprise to anyone who has used this beloved bullet-bouncing Auto Rifle that there was something… different about the recoil. This is the result of a bug. We intended to reduce only the recoil of the special ricochet rounds by 50%, but it was instead applied to the entire magazine, effectively giving Khvostov maximum stability. It’s made the gun substantially easier to use than other Auto Rifles and has predictably led to a huge spike in effectiveness in Crucible. Many players who have the weapon have commented on how good it feels in the current state, and we do not want to remove that Exotic feeling entirely, but the level it’s at is objectively too strong, compared to all other weapons in our sandbox. We will be removing the bugged effect that reduces recoil by 50%, but as a middle ground, we have increased the base stability by 30 (to 72). This will give it back some (not all) of that stable feel, without leaving it so far out of band.

• Ricochet Shots – While the bouncing rounds are fun for PvE, they are proving to be a problematic balance issue for PvP. With very high uptime and the ability to be buffed by orbs, the damage they deal both on initial impact and on their returning bounces allows Khvostov to neutrally drop it’s time-to-kill down to a level usually reserved for more difficult-to-trigger damage boosts. We want to avoid impacting PvE with this change, so we have reduced the initial bonus impact damage against players only from 15% to 5%. We have also reduced the bouncing bullet damage against players only from 18.4 to 4.6 damage, leaving PvE unchanged. These changes will retain the uptime of the perk in the Crucible but bring the effectiveness more in line.

RED DEATH 

• Recoil – Lurking just under the Khvostov-coated surface of our current weapons meta is Red Death. As many observant players have noticed, there is also something special about Red Death’s recoil pattern. Unlike with Khvostov, this was not a bug though. It was an intentional connection to the original Destiny variant of the weapon, which (like Outbreak Perfected) utilized Auto Rifle recoil patterns instead of the more severe Pulse Rifle ones, giving them tighter burst spread and higher ease of use. While Red Death is not as far out of line in terms of strength, the High-Impact family of Pulse Rifles itself is very strong, and having all the bonus stability provided by the special recoil pattern feels like overkill, so we have experimented with several different tuning options for it. Completely replacing the recoil with the standard Pulse Rifle recoil felt like it shifted the gun too far away from its origins, so we have instead chosen to reduce the added stability that the pattern provides. This will align the burst spread more closely with other Pulse Rifles, while retaining as much of the unique feel as possible.  

SPEAKER’S SIGHT

• Orb Generation – As it stands, it is currently too easy to generate an extreme number of orbs in the Crucible using this Exotic. This plays into several different buildcrafting levers and is making it feel like the only choice in many Competitive and Trials lobbies. While we would like to retain the ability to generate Orbs in Crucible, to allow players to lean into the healer fantasy, the current volume is not healthy for the sandbox. As a short-term solution, we will be disabling the Orb Gen portion of the Exotic in Crucible only. Longer term, we will revisit allowing the weapon to create Orbs at a more reasonable rate. 

FUUUUUTUUURE 

The changes to Iron Banner and the sandbox are not the only things we have planned. We’ll have more to talk about before the mid-Episode patch, so keep an eye out for that. We don’t want to give too much away while things are still in flux, but we’ve got several quality-of-life features to roll out, a Destiny 2 reprised map coming in the next Episode, some UI updates to help with clarity, and a “big” feature that we’re heads down working on for our third Episode that we can’t wait to share with you all! 

WITNESS THIS COSPLAY 

Yesterday, we concluded Cosplay Cosmodrome in the most glorious way possible. The talented Cinderys managed to create an incredible cosplay of the antagonist that has been center stage during the Light and Darkness saga. Her cosplay is a mindboggling 10.5 feet (3.20 meters) tall and combines smoke machines, animatronics, 5000 handmade panels, and a centuries-old painting technique to bring our villain to life in jaw-dropping reality. 

We couldn’t be more excited about the outcome and are thankful to everyone who contributed to Cosplay Cosmodrome. Don’t forget to check out all the photos and videos in this Cosplay Cosmodrome blog article—and show our talented participants some love!  

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

The Pride@Bungie and Trans@Bungie Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Associations (IDEAs) have been busy celebrating Pride Month with events and communications in studio in preparation for the Seattle Pride Parade this weekend.  

In case you missed it on socials, during the month of June for each purchase of Bungie’s Pride Collectible Pin 2.0—which comes with the Infinite Prismatic emblem—$7 will be donated to It Gets Better. The pin is available at both the Bungie Store and the EU Bungie Store. 

The Infinite Prismatic emblem is also available with a $10 donation through the Bungie Foundation. All donations received in June will support It Gets Better.  

Since 2019, Guardians have raised an incredible $660,746 for It Gets Better (IGB), a nonprofit organization that strives to uplift, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. Through storytelling, media, and educational resources, IGB proactively supports LGBTQ+ and questioning youth to explore and define their own journey.   

WEAR YOUR PRIDE ON YOUR SLEEVE  

Whether you’re a member of the LGBTQIA+ community or a fierce ally, you can don your best Pride fashion in Destiny 2 year-round by equipping the Rainbow Connection emote and End of the Rainbow transmat, both available to all.   

If you missed the emote or transmat effect last year, have no fear. We’ve got you covered.  

• Rainbow Connection emote: TK7-D3P-FDF
• End of the Rainbow transmat: R9J-79M-J6C

MORE ABOUT TRANS@BUNGIE AND PRIDE@BUNGIE 

Trans@Bungie was founded during the summer of 2020 to help trans and gender-non-conforming folks connect with each other during the COVID-19 pandemic, navigate the process of transitioning in the workplace, and ensure access to inclusive healthcare. Its mission is to uplift trans and questioning people among Bungie employees, our players, and our industry peers.

Pride@Bungie was founded in the fall of 2022, based on the success of Trans@Bungie, to create a space for supporting other identities and orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community. Its mission is to create a community inside Bungie that empowers and supports LGBTQIA+ employees, to increase awareness and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ issues inside the studio, and to help make Bungie’s games be more inclusive and accepting for all our players.  

PREPARE FOR THE BOUNTY FOR GOOD

The next installment of our Bungie Bounty for Good returns today at 10 AM PT live on the Bungie Foundation Twitch channel with community members notmashed and Kubacki  and some special Bungie devs teaming up in the Crucible. This will be your last chance to earn the Light Lotus emblem for beating this Bungie fireteam. We’ll be matchmaking from the US West Coast and UK, so jump into the crucible and earn that exclusive emblem! (We will have an all-new Bungie Bounty emblem to earn when we return in August.) 

This month’s Bungie Bounty for Good will support our partners at the International Rescue Committee (IRC). For each point scored by the Bungie Fireteam, the Bungie Foundation will donate $2 to help support IRC’s life changing work. 

We’ll also be sharing some details of Seventh Column Chaos, our first-ever charity tournament and fundraising campaign. Don’t miss out on a sneak peek of all the new rewards we’ll be offering during the campaign. Oh, and we will also be unveiling a real-life skimmer that notmashed and her team, The Quack Dealers, won for their amazing contributions during the Guardian Games Cup 2024.  

There’s lots to be stoked about, so we’ll see you on Twitch!