9.5 million registered accounts exist for the MMO shooter Destiny now. The sequel to the game is already in the works, but it currently doesn’t have a title.

“Mission accomplished,” one might say in light of the Activision Conference Call. Here, many financial figures for the third quarter were presented. Some numbers regarding Destiny were also revealed. CEO Eric Hirshberg announced 9.5 million accounts. However, this does not exactly correspond to the number of sold units, as some players have multiple accounts. First sales figures and player behavior statistics were already disclosed in the past few weeks.

Destiny, as is known, is designed as a ten-year project. To keep fans engaged, they constantly need new content. In December, with “Darkness Awaits”, “The Dark Below”, the first of many planned DLCs for the game will be released. More are already in development.

Work is also underway on a successor to the successful game, which is then supposed to be the middle part of a planned Destiny trilogy. A name has not yet been decided. “Destiny 2” seems to be the closest working title for now.

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In the MMO shooter Destiny the Nightfall, the weekly dusk strike, this time takes place on Mars, to Cerberus Vae III. None of the damage bonuses are active, making the strike safer but also significantly tougher than in previous weeks.

In Destiny, which Bungie refers to as a shared-world shooter, some classic elements of MMOs are present in the genre mix. This includes “Weeklys,” special missions that can only be completed once a week, guaranteeing a special bonus. In Destiny, this includes the dusk strike. Completing the weekly dusk strike grants a bonus of 24.5% to experience points and reputation until the next reset.

The modifiers of the dusk strike in the week of 11/4.

The so-called Nightfall leads to a different strike each week, with five different bonuses active. This week they are:

• Nightfall – this is always active and ensures that if all guardians are dead, the group must return to orbit. The strike resets after a wipe.
• Epic – the modifier guarantees that it will be more challenging than the heroic versions. The enemies are significantly stronger.
• Lightswitch – One should not let any enemy get too close, as their melee damage is significantly increased.
• Angry – Mobs are relentless and come aggressively at the guardians despite high damage.
• Juggler – No ammunition drops for the weapon used to take down the enemy.

Of Sherpas and damage modifiers

This week, no damage bonuses are active. Such a bonus triples a certain elemental damage. None, one, two, or three can be active. Right now, it just got a zero round. This also eliminates our typical weapon recommendation. Generally, sniper rifles are a good choice in the Nightfall. Many guardians have been waiting since the solar sniper rifle “Icebreaker” was available from Xur for the corresponding damage modifier. But even this week, their prayers to the sun god go unanswered.

In recent months, a trend has emerged to solo the Nightfall. The strikes are actually intended for three players. The solo performance in Destiny is not quite as impressive as in other games. This is because the instance scales somewhat with the number of players, making the mobs a bit easier.

Additionally, there is another trend where one player solos the strike up to the final boss and then brings in a friend, so he can also “finish” the Nightfall. The one who solos it up to the final boss and brings another to the peak is called a “Sherpa” from the mountaineering context. In MMOs, this is generally referred to as “pulling.”

Select Guides and Videos on Cerberus Vae III this week

This week we also have a selection of particularly impressive or successful runs for the Nightfall for you. These can serve as a guide or provide ideas on how you might try it. Generally, caution is advised this week. Due to the lack of burn, it is a grueling endeavor, and the enemies require many hits to go down. Especially the final boss Valus Ta’urc proves to be a tough nut.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” one might say about this solo run as a motto. It shows how important it is to never let yourself be hit twice in a row and to keep your head down when things don’t go according to plan.

Here is a full team of guardians on their way, shooting their way through the strike. For the final boss Valus Ta’Urc, they show a “cheese spot.” But even these heavily armed guardians are having a hard time without damage modifiers achieving the usual speed.

And in a third video, a guardian uses all the shortcuts and tricks she can think of to make life (her own) and death (the enemy) easier. Bonus: Icebreaker in action.

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In the MMO shooter Destiny the Iron Banner event has been surprisingly activated without announcement. However, the announced changes have not been implemented. Was the activation really planned or was it a mistake?

The Iron Banner event in Destiny was activated today with the weekly reset. No one expected this. There was no announcement from Bungie. The homepage is quiet, the Twitter account is silent. Yet this event would be a highlight of the week in Destiny. Normally, such events are announced big. Much indicates that a mistake has occurred here.

Iron Banner active without the announced changes in Destiny

The Iron Banner is actually a week-long event where players measure their skills in the Crucible. It was originally intended to be an event where the players’ gear counts. However, the first version of the event was a failure among fans, as the rewards were too weak for players. The gear of the Guardians did not play the promised role. Because only victories were worthwhile, players who felt they were on the losing side left matches, causing frustration. The players’ criticism was significant.

Ideally, the Iron Banner event should, when it returns, be the big and important thing that was originally promised to the players. Bungie announced extensive changes to the mechanics and later presented them. There were supposed to be armor pieces as rewards that would level up to 30. There were supposed to be easier bounty missions, the level advantage in the Crucible would have a stronger impact, and there would be coins for defeats that could be converted into reputation upon a victory. Everything would be different, everything would be better.

Has Destiny just become a victim of automation?

As numerous posts in the US forum reddit show, none of this is in the game. Moreover, it seems to be even more chaotic than in the first version. Although the event is active, for example, reputation points have been reset even though it explicitly was not supposed to. Allegedly, the old shaders and emblems no longer work, where a reputation bonus was supposed to be associated. One presumably has to buy them again.

Some players suspect due to all the problems that Bungie made a mistake and that the event started “automatically” during the night (US time) at the weekly reset. The timing fits: the first Iron Banner premiered at the first weekly reset in October. That was Tuesday, October 7th. Today we have the first reset of the month. A pattern can be recognized.

As it stands now, there are probably not many reasons to participate in the Iron Banner. Much indicates that something is going wrong in Destiny right now.

Update 12:50: That was a short enjoyment. The event was deactivated again around 12:20 our time. Players were kicked from ongoing Iron Banner encounters, Lord Saladin has disappeared, and the Iron Banner has closed. One can assume that there was a mistake with Destiny.

Update 22:20: Now there is also the official confirmation. It is as assumed. It was a mistake on Bungie’s part, which was quickly resolved. Soon they want to announce when the Iron Banner will officially return.

Iron Banner went live this morning for an hour. It was not planned. It was the old version. We’ll talk more about the official return soon.

— Bungie (@Bungie) November 4, 2014

To learn more about the Iron Banner in Destiny and how it is currently going, you can read our articles about the first of these events that took place almost exactly a month ago:

Destiny Iron Banner: New legendary items for PvP players *Update*

Destiny: The Iron Banner is live – Reputation Rank 3 for armor

Destiny Iron Banner: Much criticism for PvP event – Legendary items from reputation level 2 *Update*

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The MMO Destiny wants to win back fans like Eminem, who have become a bit bored with the game, with new content and hard work.

How does Destiny plan to bring back bored gamers?

On the sidelines of the Paris Game Week, the French-speaking online magazine playfrance.com had the opportunity for a brief interview with Harold Ryan, the head of Bungie. He was asked, among other things, about the rapper Eminem, who allegedly finds Destiny bored and has traded the MMO shooter for a game on the WII U.

Ryan laughed and said they would continue to work on improving Destiny, expanding it with new content, and making the gaming experience even more entertaining. They hope to see players who have set Destiny aside to play something else again. After all, the game is still young. At Bungie, they are committed to meeting fan expectations.

When asked about criticism of the game, Ryan replied that the sales figures are fantastic and the ongoing statistics on player count and playtime are outstanding. However, he admitted that the criticism was sometimes quite harsh. Yet he knows some who, despite their devastating criticism, were still playing Destiny seven weeks later. Nevertheless, they are aware of the weaknesses and are working to address them. All in all, most people enjoy Destiny and have fun playing, and that is what makes the Bungie team proud.

Destiny is to be made more accessible and better told

For the next expansion “Darkness Awaits”, “The Dark Below,” they have already integrated fan feedback. Just two weeks ago, they completed the development. Players wanted mainly easier access and more options to connect with other players. Additionally, they are taking a new approach to storytelling: they want to tell stories in a way that makes it easier for players to understand and immerse themselves more deeply in the world of Destiny.

As it goes, playfrance wanted to know from Ryan how it felt to work with Activision instead of Microsoft. Ryan’s response: The main difference is that they are now active on multiple platforms. This allows them to reach other player groups beyond just Americans. The Xbox, for which they produced when they worked with Microsoft, was mainly popular in North America. Now they are looking forward to their games being playable on PlayStation as well.

In the meantime, Destiny has also found another way to provide players with good reasons for a return. You can find more about the MMO shooter on our thematic page.

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The MMO shooter Destiny now attracts wayward players with enticing gifts. Legendary weapons are to be distributed for free.

Destiny has been on the market for almost two months now and even though some events provided variety, not everyone who bought the game in September is still playing. In the long term, Bungie is certainly planning to bring players back with the new DLC in December. But until then, they are not sitting idle. As some players report on Reddit, they received an email from Bungie after about a month of not logging into Destiny.

Bungie lures players back to Destiny with tips and an experience points boost

The email contained requests to take on the challenge and log back in. Apparently, there are various versions of these emails. One lower-level player received a message from the Vanguard, promising an EXP bonus if he logged back in. These boosts double the amount of experience points gained for half an hour. The Guardian receives three of them. The email also contains some tips on how to quickly reach level 20. Bungie advises to tackle the patrol missions. Combined with the experience points bonus, this should ensure the Guardian progresses quickly in Destiny.

Another email, apparently addressed to a Guardian above level 20, encourages the Guardian to take on the challenge in the raid “The Vault of Glass”. Here, a legendary weapon is promised to ease the way beyond level 20. Again, Bungie has tips available (we also). To progress beyond level 20, the player should participate in the Vanguard Strikes, collect marks, and stock up on legendary items from the vendors. Additionally, there is another chance for a legendary Engram upon completing each strike.

Clearly, the emails are a targeted action by Bungie. They have considered what might cause players to stop playing. Perhaps because they do not understand a system or do not see a true goal. To address these difficulties, they not only provide hints on what to do next but also concrete support.

Our tips and more news about the MMO shooter Destiny can be found on our theme page.

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