‘Destiny: The Taken King’ Debuts At E3, Details On New Sub-Classes

Bungie unveiled Destiny: The Taken King during Sony’s E3 press conference on Monday evening and delivered on much of the information that had previously been leaked for the PlayStation and Xbox shooter. Turns out that killing Crota in the Dark Below expansion has had some ramifications as Oryx is out for revenge.

As mentioned before, The Taken King is the first “Comet” expansion for Destiny that is bigger than the expansions, but it doesn’t come with quite as much content as the original release. It’s basically Destiny 1.5 and will launch on September 15 for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Destiny: The Taken King arrives on 9/15. Get ready, Guardians. Oryx is coming for you. https://t.co/l9HaRUKjqN

— Destiny The Game (@DestinyTheGame) June 16, 2015

Oryx is The Taken King himself and is building a dark army out of Fallen, Hive, and Cabal forces that he has kidnapped, turned, and twisted into his servants. Yes, that means the point of speculation based off of early concept art for Destiny turns out to be true. While assets are undoubtedly re-used, they are not exact copies as you see some significant upgrades in the trailer above such as the Cabal with the Gundam-like wings.

A big draw may be the new locations, however. The trailer hints that Jupiter’s moons and possibly Saturn may be new locations along with Oryx’s mothership. It looks like it is finally time to stretch those adventuring legs beyond the Reef.

Each of the three classes are gaining new sub-classes that fill the hole of the missing element damage. Titans go Solar with a Thor-like hammer, Hunters live up to their name with a Void bow, and Warlocks become a Sith Lord homage with Arc damage.

Here’s the breakdown of each of the new sub-classes.

Titan Sunbreaker

Incendiary siege engines of war, Sunbreaker Titans hammer and shatter their enemy’s ranks from afar, raining cleansing fire down upon fortified defensive positions.

Abilities:

• Super: Hammer of Sol – Summon a flaming hammer and wreak destruction down upon your enemies.
• Thermite Grenade – Grenade explosion sends a line of fire toward your target.
• Sunstrike – Ignite your enemies with a heavy solar strike.
• Fire Keeper – Hammer of Sol lasts longer and you gain an overshield while standing near a Sunspot.

Hunter Nightstalker

All Hunters master the frontier, but none claim territory quite like a Nightstalker. Shadowshot binding may seem more merciful than gun or blade… until the feeding frenzy begins.

Abilities:

• Super: Shadowshot – Tether a large group of foes to a Void Anchor, slowing and suppressing them for your Fireteam.
• Voidwall Grenade – Grenade explosion creates a horizontal wall of burning Void Light.
• Smoke – Throw Smoke to slow and disorient those within its cloud.
• Shadestep – Gain an evade to avoid damage.

Stormcaller

Stormcallers directly manipulate Arc energy, focusing body and mind to channel and chain the lightning. Their enemies are given fair warning— flee from battle, or face the storm.

Abilities:

• Super: Stormtrance – Chain Arc Lightning from your hands.
• Storm Grenade – This grenade calls down a localized lightning storm.
• Thunderstrike – Deliver an electrocuting melee strike at extended range.
• Perpetual Charge – Getting a grenade kill recharges your melee. Getting a melee kill recharges your grenade.

Destiny: The Taken King will be available to purchase separately as a digital download for those that already own Destiny and both expansions for $39.99. Those that have hung around for the first year of the game will receive in-game rewards that include a new sparrow, armor shader, and a year one emblem. There’s no word on if the same automatic upgrade from the Xbox 360 to Xbox One and PS3 to PS4 that Destiny had at launch will be available with the Taken King.

Those jumping into Destiny for the first time can purchase The Taken King – Legendary Edition for $59.99. It comes with the original game, The Dark Below expansion, House of Wolves expansion, and The Taken King.

There will also be a Destiny: The Taken King Collector’s Edition for $79.99. This comes with everything included in the Legendary Edition plus a steelbook case, weapon schematic, poster, “modified Treasure Island book with Cayde-6’s personal notes and illustrations,” a Strange Coin replica, a “collection of relics and artifacts,” and early access to a weapons pack.

What do you think of Destiny: The Taken King? Sound off in the comments below.

[Images via Destiny]