The mysterious Black Armory expansion of Destiny 2 redoubled efforts to put "amateur" players in the foreground

Until today, the details of the upcoming Destiny 2 expansion have remained mysterious. Beyond a basic list of Battle.net that mentions a new activity called "The Lost Forges", the usual shopping list of new and exotic quests and a photo of the game. a robot vendor, there is little information on what the downloadable content will contain. Which is quite strange when you think it will come out on December 4th – that is, next Tuesday – and it's even stranger when you think about Activision recently. expressed disappointment the "underperformance of our expectations" of Forsaken, the big expansion published in September.

A good reason for this silence is that Black Armory will not be structured like the other small extensions of Destiny 2 – the sullen Malediction of Osiris and the much better Warmind, who have both added a series of campaign missions with cutscenes. In June, Bungie announced that for the second year of Destiny 2's life, in addition to the free seasonal updates that all players receive, such as pinnacle arms redeveloped, the new content would be broadcast via a annual pass it costs $ 34.99 (£ 29.99), and includes three extensions that otherwise can not be purchased separately.

These three extensions – Black Armory, Joker's Wild and Penumbra – do not involve any traditional reporting campaign. The content will be divided into several months, instead of being fully broadcast on the first day. All this will naturally give players who have been burned by the game in the past (so: most players) a lot of reasons to pause before throwing money at the annual pass. Today, Bungie has lapsed Black Armory late, giving us a glimpse of what lies ahead via one of her developer vidocs, which you can view above.

We now know that the robot supplier is an exo called ADA-1 and will be our gun dealer in Black Armory. During the Forge Season, which begins today, the annual pass holders will be responsible for recovering the lost gold age weapons, created by three different families from Canada. blacksmiths to the Nordic, Japanese and French lineages (you can see several examples of their work among the new exotic weapons in the gallery below). The search will lead you to four lost Forges, each representing a new activity that will recall the other Destiny 2 hits on the horde modes, the climbing protocol and the blind well, the significant difference being that Lost Forges will have three players. make matches – so do not hang around like a spare dick at a wedding.

Bungie has also released a new roadmap, featuring all upcoming content for next year, including free updates for all players. You can find this below.

Is it a handgun in your pocket, or …

The Lost Forges take place in new areas of existing destinations and will also be ranked in time, which means they will unlock during the season (see roadmap). It may sound like a fun training game, but given the speed with which Destiny's most engaged players chew on content, this is an approach to avoid drought between the major versions that have devastated Destiny since beginning.

The Black Armory also raises the power ceiling to 650 and introduces a new series of exotic quests for a gun, in the vein of the recent hunt for the Thunder Lord, but a little more involved, hopefully. The quest will begin Jan. 29 and the award will be The Last Word, a fan-loved hand-held cannon that veteran PvP players are clamoring for return. Bungie has definitely improved its after-sales service over the last two extensions, but I hope we will also have less expected surprises in the Black Armory.

Black Armory is organizing a new raid on December 7th for really dedicated PvE fans. Bungie gave up the nickname "Lair" when describing the next raid because it is billed as bigger than Spire of Stars but smaller than Last Wish. Beyond that, all we know is that it will take place in the ruins of the Last City on Earth and that it will include sections of vehicles using your Sparrow bikes. As for the exact details on the amount of equipment that will contain Black Armory, this remains to be seen. I know that it will not involve new strikes, which is a bit disappointing given that one of the new Pinnacle weapons requires grinding this playlist.

New ways to play

Yesterday, I spoke with David "Deej" Dague, Bungie's director of communications, with the aim of clarifying how Black Armory differs from previous extensions. I started by asking about the inherent tension between creating an extension filled with secret things and trying to persuade people to part with the money for the annual pass. I started by asking if he could even write exactly the contents of the extension on a piece of paper and give it to me.

"No, we can not – and I think the annual pass is something that keeps its promises over time," said Deej. "Season of the Forge is an opportunity for players to return to the tower, and all players can enjoy it as players begin to show up with these new weapons and equipment, Destiny's quintessential question is: & "Hey it's great, where did you get it?", So new players will be able to meet ADA-1 in the Black Armory and get into these quests to discover these Lost Forges. . "

We agree with the annual pass being something that keeps its promises over time.

I asked Deej what Activision said he was disappointed with Forsaken's performance in the recent call for results, and how an expansion like Black Armory could allow new players to get involved, since it seems designed to to please those who already exist: "I am not a commercial analyst and I am not quite sure what these other statements were about," he said. "We're always looking to make Destiny a fun game that keeps people energized and keeps them going with their imagination, winning new rewards and having fun." If their love for this game is reflected in the lives others and that they invite their friends to play with them, it's a welcome evolution. "

We also talked about the change of structure and whether it will be as much raw value in terms of new equipment and things to play. Here, Deej was adamant that Black Armory is offering a better offer, mainly because of the opportunity to replay its activities. "I think it will serve much better to support Destiny's final phase than another filming campaign that lasts several hours and which is adopted, mastered and set aside by a community that wants more than a pass-through. time coming and going. " the space of a week. "

I agree with the idea that what Destiny 2 no longer needs now is another thin slice of history missions, although I fear that Lost Forges will not deteriorate unless their mechanisms are not much more interesting than the Blind Well. At least each Forge will have its own stock of loot, which was one of the biggest problems with the well.

In general, I am optimistic about Black Armory's prospects. Abandoned, according to our opinion, has corrected the majority of Destiny 2 vanilla sins. It is now a more hardcore experience, providing many reasons to connect over the months necessary for the City of Dreams to reveal its mysteries. In addition, by abandoning campaign missions, Bungie can now focus more on creating engaging and replicable activities such as the Whisper of the Worm mission and the Shattered Throne Dungeon. In short, my hope is that Black Armory gives back double to please players who have gone through bad times.

Towards the end of my interview with Deej, I addressed more specifically a series of quick-response questions. Here's how he treated them:

PCG: Will machine guns have ammo and treasure reserve benefits?

Deej: Yes.

PCG: Will you bring back more legendary equipment and armor from the first year to beef up the loot?

Deej: No need to.

PCG: Are we going to buy hunter's coats as beautiful as those sold by the President?

Deej: It's subjective!

PCG: From the screenshots, will the Titans have more epaulettes the size of a hatchback?

Deej: I do not know.

PCG: who is [notorious Destiny leaker on Reddit] & # 39;anonthénine& # 39; and how many problems did it cause you personally?

Deej: Me personally?

PCG: Yeah, you're the communications guy.

Deej: I have a German shepherd who loves me a lot and when I get home at the end of the day, that's all I see. So he did not have a problem for me personally. I was a fan of Bungie before joining Bungie, so I understand all the attraction of that. But I always say to people in the community, "Let us tell you what we are really going to achieve when the time comes, you are welcome to your conversations by then.

On rare occasions, I contacted friends of mine in the community and I told them that they should not waste their time with the ambient beeps of the farm, this is not the Morse code that leads to an ARG, but in terms of Reddit theories. and wild speculation, it's all part of the culture of the internet, and the people who live and breathe their hobbies by playing a video game, so it does not bother me as much as you might think.

PCG: Why should I use an Izanagi Burden sniper rifle above Whisper of the Worm?

Deej: Because you dig it. Maybe you are an impractical player, like me. Maybe you like how it sounds! I have a Dead Orbit rifle, it's not the best, but the crack of the striker against the back of the hull plate … It wakes something up in me.

The merry-go-round opens

I tell him I feel the same about the Gambit sniper rifle. As a hardcore addict with over 1,500 hours in Destiny 2, I'm obviously thrilled to jump into Black Armory. It's a little difficult to reconcile what seems to be Bungie's most hardcore goal and all the secret surrounding Black Armory up to now with Activision's desire to "re-engage the core" (bleurgh ). But honestly, that's the problem of accountants. For me, the biggest problem with Destiny was the impossibility for Bungie to create enough material for the players to be satiated during the following months. Black Armory and the extensions of his siblings seem entirely intended to solve this problem. We'll see exactly what the answer looks like next week.