‘Destiny: Rise Of Iron’ Brings Back Thorn, Makes Artifacts Meaningful
Destiny: Rise of Iron is featured in the latest issue of Game Informer, where Bungie revealed several interesting details of the upcoming expansion to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One shooter. One of the most controversial weapons in the game’s history is returning, but it can be countered if a player obtains the correct Artifact.
The Thorn Hand Cannon was one of the tougher weapons to obtain during the first year of Destiny, and it truly paid off in the game’s Crucible multiplayer modes. The weapon dominated the Crucible meta for months prior to the release of The Taken King. Its combination of range, power, and a Damage Over Time (DoT) effect gave it an extremely low Time to Kill (TTK).
Bungie eventually nerfed the Thorn in the Destiny 2.0 update released with The Taken King, and never received a Year Two version. Those nerfs continued in the April update due to the fact the gun was still being used in the standard Crucible modes.
Artifacts were introduced with The Taken King expansion as another customization option that also affected a character’s Light level. The perks provided did little to justify their inclusion, and players complained how they held them back from achieving a higher Light level.
The developers at Bungie went back to the drawing board for Artifacts in Year Three. Destiny players can look forward to eight new class-agnostic Artifacts that not only provide a perk and stat boost, but a “game-changing power” for your Guardian.
“The goal for us was to add a new element to the sandbox, to players’ abilities, that they could then mix and match to create different loadouts,” Game Director Christopher Barrett told the magazine. “On top of that, we thought it would be cool to have multiple ones, and this experience of collecting them all. By the end, you have this new thing in your toolbox – eight unique abilities that you can pair with any of your characters.”
These Artifacts won’t be straight-forward to receive, however, and will not be available right off the bat. In fact, it will take at least eight weeks. Players will need to visit Tyra Karn at the new Felwinter Peak social area to receive a weekly bounty. Completing this weekly bounty will earn a token called the Iron Lord’s Legacy. This token can be used to buy one of three Artifacts Tyra has on sale for that week. The Artifact is unpowered, though, and will need to be taken to a mausoleum for the deceased Iron Lords, where players will need to light a fire so it can be infused with power from the Iron Lord the Artifact is associated with.
- Memory of Radegast – Adds a new ability for Sword Heavy Weapons, letting you reflect energy-based projectiles, including everything from an Ogre’s blast to a Crucible opponent’s rocket.
- Memory of Perun – Enemy Guardians with full Supers are highlighted yeallow, and all enemies with low health are highlighted red for easy targeting.
- Memory of Jolder – Sprint cooldown is completely eliminated.
- Memory of Silimar – Dramatically reduces any damage inflicted through damage over time effects.
- Memory of Felwinter – Lose your Super, but gain an extra Grenade and Melee charge plus a boost to all your stats and orbs recharge your grenade and melee abilities.
- Memory of Ghelon – Gain detailed radar at all times, and radar persists when aiming Primary Weapons.
- Memory of Skorri – Wielder glows with an inspiring light that speeds up Super recharge for all nearby allies.
- Memory of Timur – Using a melee attack on a low-level minion temporarily turns them into an ally. They will fight for you for 30 seconds, until they die, or unless you perform another melee attack on them.
Destiny: Rise of Iron is scheduled to release September 20 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at a cost of $30. As previously covered, the expansion will not be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
[Image via Bungie]
