Destiny: The Taken King- News from the Twitch stream of Year two and how it affects you

With just under a month left before Bungie starts off their second year of Destiny with The Taken King, it was only natural that Bungie decided that they should probably elaborate on exactly what kind of changes you can expect in the coming year. This is especially true given that the second year of Destiny is promised to bring major changes not only to the way that you play, but also to the way that your character is supposed to evolve and stay with you in Bungie’s decade long franchise.

A modified UI that makes it simpler to find out exactly what does what.

Old or returning players? Don’t worry

Your character level in The Taken King will be carried over, so your level 34 Warlock with all your armor and weapons and whatnot will be brought over. There is no need to log on the night before either, as Bungie will log your level beforehand.

New leveling and light system

To alleviate problems that Forever 29 players used to have, everyone can hit the new maximum level cap of level 40 regardless of what you have. Instead, there will be a simple XP system not unlike your path from level 1 to 20.

Your Light level will still play a role in everything you do.

Light levels will still play a role, and it is essentially an average of your armor and weapon levels. While your light level won’t be as vitally important as before, it will still affect how efficient you are in various activities by modifying how much more damage you can deal and take.

New quests, bounties, and ways to keep track of them

Also, you get 12 bounty slots.

Unlike the somewhat cumbersome way that current players keep track of quests and bounties, the UI for Destiny has been overhauled so that it is easier to keep track of what bounties you are working on. Furthermore, you can track specific bounties on the bottom right of your screen so that you no longer have to go into your menu.

There will also be weekly bounties that offer the same loot as Nightfalls.

Bounties themselves have also been reworked, as they are somewhat easier to complete as you play in the sense that some of them can be completed without switching out whatever class of weapon you like. Instead, some will encourage you to use different elemental weapons. Of course, other bounties will still encourage you to use other weapon classes, but it will no longer be the vast majority of the bounties available.

No more flipping between menus once you meet your demise.

New loot. Yes, that means Ghost shells too

The Speaker should expect more business come September.

The Speaker’s items will no longer be purely aesthetic in nature as they will provide bonuses to your combat abilities. Your Ghost will also have abilities, though they are mostly for collecting planetary material and Glimmer purposes. To be fair though, some of the higher tier Ghost shells will also let you do things like gain Glimmer from killing certain enemies in the Crucible along with giving a small bonus to combat situations.

Standard white Ghost shell no more.
Not to be outdone, some Vendors like Shaxx will have their own Ghost skins.

To make all loot matter though, armor in particular will have perks that can be switched around, not unlike how weapons currently work. For example, that new fancy Legendary chestpiece that you got can either reduce the damage you take from Solar explosions, or increase how efficient you are with a Solar class.

Want to modify your armor on the fly? Now you can.

Quality of Life improvements, including currency and wallet changes

All your shaders and emblems in one central location, other than your Vault of course.

Unlike how shaders and emblems were given out before, once you get a shader or emblem, it will be unlocked for you to use anytime you want. Then it will be removed from the overall loot pool for you so that you have a higher chance of getting another shader or emblem that you want.

Too many ammo synths? Drop them off here for a reputation boost.

New characters will also receive a boost in their level via an item provided by the Postmaster once you buy The Taken King. The item will boost your level to level 25 immediately and grant you equipment appropriate to your level.

Want to try out a new class? No problem.

There will also be no limit to how many of the new Legendary Marks (which are accepted at all vendors and function as the universal currency for them) that you can obtain and spend within a given week. Unlike before, you can essentially play however long you like in a week and still obtain marks, though you can still only carry 200 at a time.

Exotics

Here is where all your Exotics are collected.

Once you collect an Exotic weapon or armor piece, you can go to the Hall of Guardians so that you can order a copy of whatever armor or weapon piece you collected (for a cost of course). This is tracked through your account, so your new character that just hit level 20 can get a copy of the Gjallarhorn that you found months ago without having to juggle it through the Vault. This also applies to Exotics acquired before Taken King, so that you don’t have to look for another version of it once Taken King comes out.

A significant buff to certain Exotics through added perks, as evidenced by this upgraded Warlock helm.

Exotics themselves are also receiving an overhaul. Exotics that you have now can be upgraded up to the new standard, and their signature perk will be unlocked immediately. They will also have new perks that provide bonuses for your character stats, so that armor piece that previously only served to let you revive teammates faster can also increase your Intellect.

Lower rate of fire, or higher impact, the choice is yours.

Cryptarch

Bungie promises that those are legitimate Legendary Engrams that don’t drop lower quality items.

Less of an asshole. You can buy Legendary Engrams from him that can offer a chance at Exotic items.

Gunsmith

Not just for reforging anymore.

He will let you field test weapons that will in turn raise your reputation with him. Once your reputation is high enough, you can order a high quality weapon from a weapon foundry.

Guns, guns, guns, and how they’ll follow you

This feature is only available to weapons from the Taken King, so it is likely that things like Fatebringer will be left behind.

Sacrifice higher quality weapons, and you can boost lower quality weapons to a higher level. This lets you keep your weapon that you may like relevant, and serves to diversify how end game characters look like.

Vault

Now with enough space for 72 Gjallarhorns!

Doubled Vault space for both weapons and armor. ‘Nuff said.