One week before the release of the Warmind expansion for Destiny 2, Bungie is getting fans excited again for the second DLC. Mysterious, cryptic lines and new lore are currently keeping the Guardians busy and sparking numerous debates. What is behind it?
What happened? Shortly before the release of DLC 2, several cryptic tweets from Chris Barrett, the Game Director of Destiny 2, have created excitement and good vibes in the community. The tweets contained a bizarre Russian audio recording, seemingly random combinations of letters and numbers, as well as images of a rabbit and an aurora.
What is special about this? Many Destiny veterans and long-time fans of the Destiny series quickly experienced nostalgia. Already shortly before the release of the “Rise of Iron” DLC for Destiny 1 in September 2016, Bungie hyped the new expansion with a similar event.
Players back then were infected with different nano-viruses, yet had no idea about the meaning of these events. Large parts of the community then set out to solve the puzzles surrounding the mysterious infection, which ultimately pointed to the presence of the newly introduced SIVA technology and thus served as an introduction to the DLC.
Fans are sure – Puzzles mark the story beginning of DLC 2
It didn’t take long before the first sleuths from the Destiny community found something this time as well. The first “Russian” tweet was decrypted as follows:
“Multiple disrupted Polaris axons report increased sterile neutrino patterning correlating to an increase in AVGPOLARISTEMP.” In German, it means something like “Numerous disrupted Polaris axons indicate an increase in sterile neutrinos correlating with a rise in average Polaris temperature.”
Shortly thereafter, the second tweet was deciphered. The rabbit served as a hint for encryption with the Rabbit Algorithm, and the aurora – the Aurora Borealis – was a clue for the keyword Aurora, which was needed for decryption.
“Reactivated areoseismic analysis detects high quantities of nonnative organic chitin.” In German, it means “Reactivated aero-seismic analysis detects high quantities of exotic, organic chitin.”
What do these lines mean? There is currently a divide among fans regarding the meaning of the first message. Fans are sure that it refers to a subroutine of Rasputin that also explains the events leading up to the Warmind expansion.
This routine explains the melting of the polar ice caps on Mars with a temperature increase of the POLARIS. It is currently assumed that in this case, Polaris is referring to the North Star.
An increase in sterile neutrinos is said to be responsible for this rise. Sterile neutrinos have been mentioned in the Destiny universe in connection with the Darkness and the Taken.
Lore experts are currently undecided whether the Taken God Xol or a possible return of the Taken might be responsible for their increased presence. Now, they are waiting for further hints or insights.
The second message was much easier for the community to interpret. For high quantities of exotic, organic chitin are attributed to the presence of the Taken, which is released after the melting of the ice.
How is this received by the fans? According to comments on Reddit, other forums, and social media, these puzzles in the lead-up to the second DLC are being very well received by the fans.
Puzzles and mysteries have been scarce in Destiny 2 so far, and the community is pleased that this situation is already changing before the release of the Warmind expansion. Many hope that this trend will continue consistently in the game with the second expansion.
Bungie also provides an official story preview
However, the creators of Destiny 2 are also providing new details about the story in the lead-up to the second DLC via official means. Initially, the studio announced that a new digital comic “Warmind” will be released this week, which will delve deeper into the events surrounding the second expansion. This will initially only be available in English.
Furthermore, Guardians can now watch online lore deliveries on the official Bungie site, which are styled similarly to the Grimoire cards from Destiny 1 but are somewhat more detailed. These provide some additional insights into the events surrounding the second expansion.
Currently, there are 3 of them. According to Bungie, it’s worth keeping an eye on the site, as more of these online lore deliveries are expected to be released soon. Some fans are already excited that Bungie may be replacing the missing Grimoire cards in this way and giving lore back more significance.
What do you think? Are you excited about such puzzles? And what do you think of the new online lore deliveries?
The community has also been creative here:
Clever internet detectives find hints about the Sleeper Simulant
