These days, when I log onto Destiny 2, which for my sins I still do most nights, the conversation with my clan mates has a funeral air. The talk invariably turns to what Bungie should do to stem the player base from bleeding out in the wake of The Final Shape expansion, and the backdrop of mass layoffs at the studio. The one thing we all agree is that the brilliant Onslaught horde mode, which was introduced as part of the Into the Light update in April, needs to be a cornerstone of whatever comes next.
So, good news! When Episode 2: Revenant launches next Tuesday, it will include a revamped version of the mode called Onslaught: Salvation. Wisely, it ticks off almost all the features from players' wishlists: Three new maps (Widows Cout was shown during the live stream), two new enemy factions (Vex and Shadow Legion Cabal), and a suite of new defensive upgrades to the tide. Those include:
- A turret which can be upgraded to fire scorching rounds that will proc relevant Solar-based perks in your build.
- Improved tripwires that trigger the Stasis Slow effect and create Stasis crystals at higher levels.
- An airstrike that enables you to place an orbital laser beam on your enemies. This can also be upgraded, but Bungie wasn't saying what the final form will look like.
That last one is clearly ripped straight from the Helldivers 2 playbook of splashy stratagems, but I'm not complaining. All of the new defensive options will be added to the original version of Onslaught, and Bungie also said it will be improving the Mothyards map (which nobody seemed to like except for my fireteam, who enjoyed the chance to use ranged weapons rather than just play Midtown every single time). We were also told that the new version of Onslaught will be power enabled, meaning the difficulty at launch could be a little punchy until you've levelled up to the appropriate cap.
[Watch the full stream below]
There was no mention of shiny weapons being part of Onslaught: Salvation, and after the stream a Bungie spokesperson confirmed that it isn't happening.
Here's the only downer: Although you will be able to earn masterworked weapons with double perks, they won't be 'shiny'. The 'Brave Arsenal' which dropped from OG Onslaught had a rare chance to drop as a variant with a sweet-looking animated skin, which the community dubbed 'shinies'. But there was no mention of shinies being part of the loot chase for Onslaught: Salvation on the live stream, and afterwards a Bungie spokesperson confirmed that it isn't happening. I imagine the playerbase will have something to say about that.
Additional Revenant info revealed
Elsewhere during the stream, Bungie also showed off the new exotic weapon available as part of Revenant's season pass. It's a breech-loaded Stasis grenade launcher that takes primary ammo (much like the Fighting Lion, which itself is getting buffed to fire Volatile Rounds) and fires its projectiles in a straight line, much like The Mountaintop. On kills the new GL will drop 'remnants' which, when collected, charge up a bar. Once you reach 50% you can activate an alt reload that will fire out a special ammo brick for your allies to pick up. At 100%, it becomes a heavy ammo brick. Given how important the ammo economy is in Destiny 2, especially in endgame activities, if the damage is even half-decent then this promises to be a solid support exotic.
The new version [of Ice Breaker] generates ammo based on getting assists and kills with your other weapons.
Speaking of exotics, we already knew that a reprised version of the iconic Ice Breaker sniper rifle from Destiny 1 is going to be the premium piece of loot from the new dungeon, Vesper's Host, which opens its doors on Friday Oct 11. What we didn't know is exactly how it was being reworked. Ice Breaker became infamous for creating balance problems in Destiny 1 because its infinitely regenerating ammo enabled players to hide at the back of the map and plink away tortuously at high health targets. According to Bungie's weapon design supremo Chris Proctor, the new version generates ammo based on getting assists and kills with your other weapons. It will also have 10 rounds in the mag and 10 in reserve, versus the capacity of six that the original had. Proctor also teased some sort of interaction with ice, which I assume to mean Stasis crystals, but wouldn't elaborate further.
Other things touched on during the stream that are coming in Revenant included:
- Another Stasis grenade launcher, this time using the double-fire frame, which can roll Chill Clip and Envious Assassin. Proctor noted that it had been designed specifically with multi-weapon damage 'rotations' in mind.
- The Inverted Spire strike is being brought out of the Destiny Content Vault, and tweaked to include more Vex and additional death lasers.
- A new skimmer is being added that will be earnable from Xur using Strange Coins. It is, and I'm wincing as I type this, called the Xurfboard.
- The episodic artifact leans heavily on grenade launchers, including a reworked version of the powerful Breach & Clear perk, and boosts to the Stasis subclass. You will now be able to use tonics to temporarily activate more potent versions of the artifact perks. See screencaps of the perks here.
Episode 2: Revenant is themed around the return of the scorn baron Fikrul, and Bungie has already stated it'll have a vampiric theme. Perfect for Halloween. During the stream they also said it's going to be a very 'metal' episode. They also touched on a major work coming to armor, which has long been all but irrelevant once you had a couple of sets with decent stats, that is coming as part of the bigger 'Apollo' expansion next year. I have some thoughts about what they're proposing and plan to write that up next. You can read the accompanying blog here.
In the meantime, I'm delighted to see they've taken the feedback about wanting more Onslaught onboard, but hope there's time over the course of the episode to rethink the lack of shinies. We are simple creatures: If it glitters, we will grind for it.
