Tonight, the new Destiny 2 DLC “Warmind” will be revealed. Bungie will unveil the expansion live via stream on Twitch. We at Mein MMO will accompany the presentation of the DLC with a ticker in German.
The times are changing. Bungie wanted to present the last DLC “Curse of Osiris” through three live streams of one hour each. However, the individual streams were so thin that fans got up in arms until Bungie skipped the last stream and spoke instead about the future of Destiny 2. That was in November 2017. It almost feels like that was years ago.
This time, Bungie wants to bring everything that can be said about the DLC “Warmind” into one stream and has subdivided the presentation into three sections with changing speakers. Interestingly, people from Vicarious Visions, the Activision studio that handled the PC port of Destiny 2, will also be present.
When does the stream start? The stream begins around 7:00 PM. Normally, Bungie allows for five to seven minutes of buffer. It should start with a trailer around 7:05.
What is the stream about? The May DLC for Destiny 2, “Warmind”, will be extensively presented. It will be released on May 8 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Many season pass holders have pre-ordered it.
What has Bungie revealed about “Warmind”? Here you can find all the information about the DLC “Warmind” and here is a detailed analysis of yesterday’s teaser trailer.
Where can I watch the stream? Here:
What is Mein MMO doing? We will live-ticker the stream in German. This way you can follow everything that is said in English or read what happened after the end of the stream. In the comments, you can also see what other users think. We have been doing this traditionally for years. Sometimes we get lucky and catch Destiny highlights, like the legendary stream with Broman, the Prison of Elders, and a terribly annoyed DeeJ.
The Mein MMO live ticker for Destiny 2 Warmind
18:58: They have underlaid the 10-minute cooldown this time with black-and-white concept art. It is well done. 35,475 Guardians are spamming away in the Twitch chat while waiting for DeeJ’s sound check.
19:01: Sound check by DeeJ. Somehow, this has all become tradition. “I am DeeJ. This is my voice. I will be your host tonight.”
Game Director behind Warmind is not from Bungie
19:07: Teaser trailer is shown again. Brent Gibson and Evan Nikolich are the first guests on the couch. Brent Gibson is the Game Director for “Warmind.” So, the Game Director is not from Bungie, but from Vicarious Visions, a partner studio. Gibson talks about Vicarious Visions’ partnership with Bungie – they do not know where ideas come from, they all merge. Vicarious Visions believes they could bring their “special sauce” into the world of Destiny. They have been working together for 2 years now.
19:10: I still wonder what High Moon Studios is actually doing. According to an old leak from Kotaku, they were supposed to design the Mars DLC for Destiny 2. Apparently, Vicarious Visions took their place a few years ago.
19:13: Relatively bold announcements: Raid lair, new endgame activities, ranked PvP, private matches. They have added so much to the game that it challenges players to find everything, says Gibson. DeeJ is a bit startled and backtracks: “Careful, players take you at your word.”
19:15: There are first images of the “Hellas Basin” on Mars. Here, Rasputin has awakened. The campaign will take place here, but players are also encouraged to return after the campaign ends.
Ana Bray – important contact person in Warmind
19:16: The highlight is supposed to be the Hive Escalation Protocol. A new public event that players can play repeatedly. A ritualized event with waves.
19:17: Ana Bray will be an important story NPC on the players’ side. In the first mission, the player meets her. This prologue will now be shown in the stream.
19:18: Compared to earlier streams, the pace is fast. A lot of information per minute. New developers are already coming in while a trailer for Ana Bray is playing.
19:20: Story prologue. Ana Bray in an action scene against the Hive. Over 100,000 people are currently in the Twitch stream. Most have probably already paid for the DLC. Here is the prologue:
Hive Escalation Protocol is a new public event with waves
19:22: Hive Escalation Protocol is supposed to be a challenging new activity. This is the response to the complaint: “Destiny 2 is too easy.” One can start the event constantly, can play it around the clock. It is indeed a horde mode. Each time, stronger waves of Hive will come. There are 7 waves. Each wave has a mini-boss. The 7th wave is a unique boss fight. There are 5 unique bosses that rotate weekly. The bosses are supposed to bring unique loot.
19:25: There is a new shotgun with which you are supposed to go into melee. DeeJ adds: They want to have activities that give special loot. They took this from fan feedback.
19:27: After wave 3 and 5, there should be chests, but the biggest reward will be after wave 7 and the boss fight. The reward is also supposed to include cosmetic items. Recycling alert: The sword-bearer mechanic from Crota is coming back. A spear will also be introduced as a usable weapon for the event: Valkyrie.
Hive Protocol is supposed to be really tough – Honestly, really hard
19:29: The developers emphasize how hard this will be and that one needs to use abilities that are otherwise not needed. But at least until wave 3, the Hive Protocol event looks quite relaxed. The question arises: Does what the developers say match the reality of the players?
19:31: DeeJ now refers to his legendary “Prison of Elders” stream. There they wanted to show a difficult instance and then saw people dying and dying. DeeJ does not mention that he was there. But in any case: The event now is much harder than it looks here. For the presentation, they adjusted the conditions so that it looks easier than it actually is.
19:33: You need Warmind to play Hive Protocol. At the community summit, the streamers said: “It is hard, but make it even harder!” Therefore, Bungie has tightened it once again at the last minute and now it is even more difficult. It somehow reminds me of spice levels in chili: “No, it is really spicy. Really spicy. Even people who eat spicy say: Oh, this is spicy.”
19:35: I’m curious if anyone will ever manage Hive Protocol. It will be as hardcore hard as it will be. Maybe you can only play it after breakfast.
Ranked PvP is coming to Destiny
19:35: Oh dear, Cosmo. There will be Reddit posts about this again. He makes a very strange face, somewhere between bored, tired, and tense. The chat is posting emojis that are specifically designed for this.
19:37: Competitive PvP is coming to Destiny. Some have been waiting for this for three and a half years. Until now, players have relied on “fan lists”, with Warmind, there will be official ranks.
19:40: With Season 3, a special weapon will come “Redrix’s Claymore”, a pulse rifle that players will chase after. It is supposed to be very hard to get this weapon. When you see someone with it, you know: “He knows what he’s doing.” The pulse rifle has a unique perk “Desperado.” The perk improves “reload over outlaw” so that you do not suffer damage penalty while doing it. Overall, this is new and relatively complex – We will cover the details of ranked PvP in a separate article.
19:42: The private matches and ranked matches will be available for everyone.
Weapon balance in Destiny 2 – Time for something overpowered again
19:43 Jon Weisnewski and Josh Hamrick are the weapon gurus. It’s about weapon balance in Destiny 2. Exotic weapons should become stronger and more exotic so that an exotic weapon feels special.
19:45: Almost all exotic weapons in Destiny 2 have been reworked – except for a handful that already work properly. Somehow a strange statement when you think about it: Yes, we changed everything except for the few weapons that were okay. “Graviton Lance” and “Fighting Lion” seem to be Weisnewski’s favorites.
19:48: The pace in the stream has noticeably accelerated. What used to be stretched out over 1 hour is now covered in 15 minutes. The individual details will surely be documented in detail and picked apart over the next two weeks until the DLC is released.
19:53: DeeJ says: In Destiny 1, the discussion was always: “This weapon is too strong.” In Destiny 2, we never had this discussion, nothing was too strong. Therefore, they want to bring back some of the “rough edges”.
19:57: “Sturm und Drang” is also called “Sturm und Drang” in English, interesting how it is pronounced. The weapon pair is supposed to be reworked to deal significantly more damage.
19:58: They have fixed the sniper bug. The time of snipers has now returned.
Destiny 2 Warmind: Packed stream – these questions remain open
20:00: The stream ends. It was surely the most packed stream in three and a half years of Destiny. No big surprises. Much of what was seen was already known or leaked. So far, it looks good and has the potential to be a significantly stronger DLC than “Curse of Osiris”.
Ultimately, the success of the DLC “Warmind” will depend on three questions:
- How is the story and the new destination “Mars” – is there a wow effect?
- How high is the replayability of the event “Hive Protocol” and how much motivation does it give for PvE endgame?
- Can Destiny 2 with the changes and the ranked PvP mode and the reworked exotics become an attractive PvP game again?
We will find out on May 8 when the DLC is released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Until then, we will cover what we have seen here in several articles on Mein MMO. All information about Destiny 2 can be found on our topic page.
