‘Destiny’ Servers Down Eight Hours Thursday, Bungie Preps For ‘Rise Of Iron’

Destiny players on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One seeking to dive into various game activities Thursday might want to find other ways to spend their time. Bungie will be taking the servers for its multiplayer shooter offline for the bulk of the day starting at 11 a.m. ET or 8 a.m PT.

Bungie plans to take the Destiny servers offline for eight hours Thursday, September 8. This will run from 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT to 7 p.m. ET or 4 p.m. PT. Players will not be able to access the game during this time, while the developer performs maintenance.

When Destiny comes back online, PS4 and Xbox One owners will be required to download the 2.4.0 update. This is normal for the game leading up to the release of an expansion. Bungie will use this as an opportunity to begin prepping the game world for the release of Rise of Iron and will likely sneak in some special in-game events that will go live Tuesday’s Weekly Reset, a week before the release of the expansion.

While there will likely be many behind the scenes changes coming with the Destiny 2.4.0 update, Bungie has confirmed some immediate changes with the Sterling Treasures and in-game Clan functionality.

Update: Bungie announced it will be releasing Patch Notes and Weapon Tuning notes later today.

Coming soon, throughout the day…

1. Weapon Tuning Preview
2. Patch Notes
3. "This Week At Bungie" https://t.co/4KjATdWIry

— Bungie (@Bungie) September 8, 2016

Clan functionality will be disabled at least through the release of Rise of Iron on September 20. The expansion will come with new in-game Clan Roster functionality, such as being able to use your clan to host private matches, as previously reported.

Meanwhile, Sterling Treasures are receiving a huge change with this patch. Destiny players will only be able to acquire one Sterling Treasure per week through gameplay and the only activity that will grant the reward will be the Level 41 Prison of Elders playlist. That means no more Sterling Treasures through the featured playlists or the Heroic Strike playlists.

This is part of replacing Sterling Treasures with Radiant Treasures with the release of Rise of Iron. Just like their predecessor, players will only be able to earn a limited number of Radiant Treasures a week. Opening them will reward cosmetic items like the new Ornaments and others.

Radiant Treasures will also be available to purchase with real-world money via the Eververse Trading Company. The good news is the items rewarded from the new treasure can be broken down into Silver Dust, a new in-game currency, which can then be used to purchase other items from Tess Everis’ store and even Xur, Agent of the Nine like Ornaments.

Those that still want Chroma for armor and weapons that use the color-changing material will be able to purchase it in-game from Eva Levante.

Destiny players should also not expect to see Trials of Osiris this Friday or the next. In fact, the weekly competitive multiplayer event will take a break through most of the month while Bungie focuses on the expansion getting released successfully. There should be a flurry of activities at the end of the month, however, with the Wrath of the Machine Raid going live on September 23 plus an Iron Banner and the return of Trials of Osiris.

The time needed for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners to complete their Year Two Moments of Triumph is quickly dwindling. Oryx will be available for the King’s Fall Raid Challenge Mode until the Tuesday reset while Thalnok will hang out in the Court of Oryx during the same time. Players will receive Calcified Fragments that count towards the Eris Morn’s Revenge Moment of Triumph by completing these two activities.

Destiny players also shouldn’t sit on completing the Exotic Sword quest if they haven’t already. Part of the quest line requires waiting until the next Armsday to collect a piece from the Gunsmith. This gives players until September 14 to complete this step of the quest line.

Destiny: Rise of Iron will go live on Tuesday, September 20, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Expect to see some special events the week prior to release, just like all the other expansion launches.

[Image via Activision/Bungie]