In the MMO shooter Destiny , confirmed information about the first DLC “The Dark Below”, “Darkness Lurks”, has emerged. The DLC will be released on December 9, raises the light level to 32, and brings three new PvP maps. Additionally, players on Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 will receive an exclusive strike and an exotic item, thanks to an exclusive deal between Activision and Sony, which will be withheld from Xbox players.
The leaks were accurate, summarizing what Bungie has now officially confirmed in a phone interview with eurogamer.net and via a blog post. The first expansion for Bungie’s Destiny will be released on December 9 and will include more of everything. The cost is set at €19.99 or €34.99 if purchased as a package with the second expansion, which will be released sometime in 2015.
New armors raise level cap in Destiny to 32
- New legendary and exotic armors and weapons are expected to find their way into the game.
- In this context, the maximum achievable light level will also increase from 30 to 32. This means, if the current formula is followed, the best armor pieces in the game will reach a value of 33 light points instead of a value of 30.
New stories, new PvP maps, more of everything
- New story missions will begin. A merchant named Eris will appear in the Tower, setting this process in motion. She aims to prevent the alien race Hive, the Swarm, and their leader Crota from seizing power in the universe of Destiny. There are expected to be three new story missions, all initiated by Eris. The storytelling is set to change, making it more “loot”-based, similar to the current exotic bounty from “Thorn”. Action will be more in the foreground.
- Three new PvP maps will be introduced in the game. In “The Pantheon“, players will enter a Vex temple inside the Black Garden. “The Cauldron“, the Cauldron, is a smaller map set in an abandoned Hive ritual site. And “Skyshock” will be a map where vehicles will be deployed again. However, there will be no new vehicles.
A new exclusive strike and an exotic item for Playstation Destiny players
- A new strike for everyone is coming with “The Will of Crota”. Playstation players can also look forward to a second exclusive strike: “The Undying Mind” is only for them. They will also receive an additional exotic item. These things are expected to remain inaccessible to Xbox players until autumn 2015.
- The new raid “Crota’s End” will be open to all players. It is located in Hellmouth on the Moon, designed for six players, and will likely not launch immediately at the start but will take a bit of time before becoming available. Insights into this strike were recently revealed in a leak.
- Additionally, the number of active bounties will be increased from 5 to 10.
As Harold Ryan, the president of Bungie, confirmed in an interview with eurogamer.net, there will be no new planet with “The Dark Below”. However, he is aware of how much players desire this. Whether new planets will come to Destiny with the next DLC, Ryan didn’t want to disclose yet.
Regarding other content that data miners have already found, such as shader improvements, Ryan was evasive: they have already included some content from Destiny on the disc to spare players from downloading later. This is not an indication of when something will actually come to the game.
