Bungie talks: The Taken King – New Leveling System

Today Bungie took to Twitch to discuss their upcoming Destiny DLC, The Taken King.  This is the first time the developer has publicly shown some key features relating to the games leveling system.  This, quite possibly the most important piece of information for year one players.  Me included.  So, lets dig in to what we now know.

Bungie has decided to completely change the way Guardians level.  With the most significant change being that Light will no longer be tied to your over all rank.  Light will now more specifically influence the amount of damage you deal as well as take in.  Also level, currently capped at 20, will determine the content available to you.  The good news is, your current “level” will be grandfathered in to The Taken King, meaning your combined level and Light rating, which has a current cap of 34, will move forward with you, leaving the new overall level cap of 40 only a mere 6 levels away.Destiny-Hunter-Lvl-20-Cutout

In addition, new players to the franchise will not be left in the lingering dust of our Gjallarhorn blasts.  They will receive a one time consumable called a Spark.  Applying this buff to a new character will instantly snap them to level 25 – presumably the minimum level required to play The Taken King content.  It will also award them with an appropriate set of gear for that level.  This is great news for new players or for current players looking to fast start a second or third character in the game.

Some of the other highlights covered included level specific Ghosts complete with their own perk sets.  Though they were quite lackluster in my opinion.  A rare Ghost shown, provided its handler with in-game cues to the location of materials while roaming the open world.  Another legendary Ghost provided the player with a glimmer bonus for killing class specific players in the Crucible.

This was overshadowed, in my opinion, by the news surrounding year one weapons.  We learned that there will be a new system in the tower to specifically manage Exotics.  This kiosk will house all of the year one and year two Exotics you’ve earned.  As well as the blueprints to those yet undiscovered.  Unfortunately, not all year one Exotics will move forward with The Taken King.  Only a chosen few will have year 2 counterparts. That’s right, say goodbye to your No Land Beyond’s.

This means that year one Exotics will not directly upgrade or ascend.  Rather, they will be a means to purchase their year two variants. Bungie explained that if you have found an Exotic, and that Exotic has a year two counterpart, you will be able to purchase the year two version.  You wont need to wait for it to drop.  Though the cost to do so was an astounding 120 legendary marks.

The key Exotics featured were the infamous Suros Regime and the Light Beyond Nemisis.  The year one version of LBN we know and love was on display but with a few discrepancies.  It showed a defense rating of 160, held no Light level and only had a +27 strength rating.  This is way under the ratings on the current year one piece.

Destiny1The year two Suros Regime was also a bit off.  Only displaying a 280 attack value.  A long way from the 365 Attack value we currently hold as standard.   It’s hard to believe that an 85 point demotion is an upgrade.  When asked to address the obvious, the Bungie team simply stated that the stats were a result of the new leveling system, stating that it was like they “switched to the metric system”.  They also assured players not to worry.  Saying that the lower rating wouldn’t affect the damage output on launch day.

The positives I saw inside this Exotic Blueprint Kiosk were some new year two perks.  Moving quickly past the attack values and stat numbers Bungie displayed the year two Suros proudly.  Calling it the Devil’s Ferrari.  With its new flame red on graphite color scheme.   I must admit it looked pretty sick, but that wasn’t all that was new.  It was also totting a new perk.  A perk called “Spinning Up” that reads, “The longer this weapon is fired, the faster it fires”.  It appears that this is an alt to “Focus Fire”, the perk from year one that caused the weapon to fire slower but deal more damage.  The ability to swap between the two will be a huge step forward for the weapon.  Possibly making it the most versatile auto rifle in the game.  I can only hope that we see more of this thinking on other year two weapons.  destiny2

All said and done, Bungie ended on a highlight feature that set the crowd ablaze with excitement. It was the announcement that Bungie planned to double the vault space.  Providing 72 slots for our lovely loot.  An upgrade most players would say is months past due.  This was a crucial decision for Bungie to make.  Especially with this weapon and gear packed DLC only weeks away.

After the downpour of information coming out of this live stream.  I can say I’m a bit more excited for The Taken King than I was yesterday, and that’s a good thing.

See you on the battlefield Guardians.