10 Changes Destiny: Rise of Iron Needs

Exotic Axe

When Destiny: Rise of Iron was first revealed, one thing that drew almost all of the attention (aside from the wolves) was the flaming axe that Lord Saladin wielded in the trailer. This glorious piece of archaic weaponry is a perfect symbol of the Iron Lords and is an absolute blast to wield out in the Plaguelands. Unfortunately, the times when you do get to wield this weapon are in relatively controlled scenarios, and you will never see one when running through old Strikes or missions. After seeing how players absolutely fell in love with swords in Year 1, you would think that Bungie would’ve been prepared in Year 3 and had an exotic axe waiting for us.

At the end of the main story line, you can earn yourself a brand new sword, but it would’ve been cool to have a flaming axe instead. The fans certainly want it, so maybe the developers will give it a bit of consideration. Here’s to hoping that we’ll be able to show that Wretched Eye strike the wrath of our cool new weaponry. 

Let Us Stack SIVA Offerings, Please and Thank You

One of the new challenges in Destiny: Rise of Iron is the Archon’s Forge. This activity is similar to that of the Court of Oryx from The Taken King. Activating it is simple enough, just present a SIVA Offering to the nearby console and jump into the action. Unfortunately, coming by those SIVA Offerings is a challenge unto itself, and then when you do find one, you can’t carry any more. This is an odd design choice, considering that so many are excited to give it multiple goes and that it’s one of the few ways to actually surpass the 365 Light Level mark.

If the developers could make it possible to stack multiple offerings (at least five would do the trick), then that would help to alleviate some of the frustration. If stacking is not an option, then at least make drops within the Forge itself more common so that you could keep running challenges. 

Countdown at Start of Archon’s Forge

Since we’re on the subject of Archon’s Forge, there is another major issue plaguing this challenge. When you place your SIVA offering into the console, you must then jump down into the challenge area and fight for your life. What Rise of Iron doesn’t tell you, however, is that you have to jump in immediately.

A common practice of players is to change your gear right before diving in once you see what you’re going to be facing, since it’s random, but you may find yourself locked out of your challenge by doing so. After around three seconds, a thick wall of SIVA bars entry into the arena, even if it was your Offering that triggered the event. You would then need to use a Splicer Key to get in, and if you don’t have one, then you’re out of luck.

There are a couple of ways to address this issue. The first would be not to trigger the event until the person who made the offering dives into the arena. Another would be to have either an audible countdown or a visual one (or both), to let players know that they need to haul ass before the gate closes. As it stands right now, players are just left standing dazed and confused as they waste their extraordinarily rare SIVA offerings. 

Character Customization

Character creation is an art form to some. They take hours perfecting the look of their avatar so that their enemies will at least have a pretty face to look at before they die a horrible death. But for other players, rushing through that menu to get to the action is of the utmost importance… until they realize they created a monster without even realizing it. This realization often comes very far down the line, usually during an in-game cinematic, and then the scramble for a customization menu ensues.

Unfortunately, there is currently no way to customize the face of your created character in Destiny: Rise of Iron. You’re stuck with what you have, and if you want to change that, then you’re going to have to make a new Guardian. Considering that Bungie went out of their way to include more customization options over the past few months, including within this latest expansion, it doesn’t seem like they’d be totally against adding this menu in as well. Control over one’s legend is one of the major draws of the game as a whole, and that includes making them look just perfect. Hopefully the developers realize this and help out some of us less appealing space warriors. 

Loss of Ornaments

A new addition in Destiny: Rise of Iron is the Ornament system. These Ornaments allow you to place a skin over select weapons and pieces of armor to further customize your Guardian. Unfortunately, if you were to scrap the weapon or armor that you had an Ornament on, you would then lose it. This may not sound like a big deal at first, but the fact that you can actually purchase these items with real-world money changes that perspective.

Since it is just a skin, the Ornament itself should be returned back to your inventory, just in case you decide to reforge the piece of gear you’ve dismantled. It’s understandable that the Silver Dust would be lost, but the Ornaments should definitely stay just so we can always go back to our favorites when the need arises. 

Raid Has Serious Difficulty Spike

If you’re one of the lucky people who have completed the raid in Destiny: Rise of Iron, Wrath of the Machine, then you’re aware of the sudden difficulty spike at the very end of the activity. It’s a disheartening experience for those who worked so hard to get to that point, only to be turned away by a door to which you have no key. Fortunately enough there are ways to fix this.

We won’t ask for the end to be made easier, because that’s just silly. The challenge of Wrath of the Machine is arguably its greatest feature, pitting raw power against a team of Guardians. To make the end not seem like such a slap in the face, though, perhaps making earlier portions gradually more difficult would ease players in. Vault of Glass and King’s Fall did this very well, leading players through a successive gauntlet of more challenging encounters. This latest raid is actually pretty easy leading up to the final fight, which makes the hit of challenge completely unexpected.

Toughening up the beginning will certainly help players prepare for what awaits them, and help push this raid to the top. 

More Ornaments, Please

Ornaments are actually pretty cool, much cooler than Chroma was (at least when it comes to weapons). The thing is, there aren’t that many weapons and pieces of armor that support them right now. There are plenty of loved Exotics and Legendaries that deserve skins and if the developers make them, fans will most certainly snatch them up.

This is most likely already in the pipeline, but just in case it isn’t, we would like to make a formal request for new Ornaments to add to our collections. If you happen to want to spice up Bad Juju and Light Beyond Nemesis, this particular writer would certainly be a happy camper. 

Vault Sorting Button

If you’re anything like me, then you just chuck things into your vault all willy-nilly with no concern as to where it lands. Then, when you finally return to look for that one specific piece of gear, you have to carefully look at each image to see where it is. Vaults end up becoming a mess that are difficult to sort through and manage, and they remain that way now in Destiny: Rise of Iron.

This may be the simplest change for Bungie to implement, making all of you collectors and hoarders out there very happy. A sort button that cycles between options such as power, rarity, and alphabetical will definitely help players find exactly what they’re looking for. Seeing all exotics bunched up instantly will make life easier when it comes time to get some Shards, and things being neat are just so aesthetically pleasing. 

My Lord, Skeleton Keys are Rare

Skeleton Keys are used to open chests at the end of Strikes in Destiny: Rise of Iron. These chests are important because they are one of the few ways to actually ascend past 365 Light, increasing your power and making end-game challenges much easier. Unfortunately, these keys seem to be even more rare that Exotic Engram drops. You can go through countless strikes and be lucky to see even one of these things.

We aren’t saying to make them drop for every strike (not that anyone would be bothered if they did), but the drop rate definitely needs to be addressed. Playing dozens strikes and getting nothing of value for your efforts is not a good feeling at all. Maybe if there was something closer to at least a 20% drop rate (meaning 1 in 5 strikes nets you one), would be much better. I’ve personally done upwards of 20 to receive only two and had friends receive none. If you want players to keep playing, they need to be rewarded fairly. 

Old Raids Made New Again

While expansions are always welcome, Destiny’s have had a habit of rendering past activities completely pointless. The biggest sufferers are the raid activities. Vault of Glass, Crota’s End, and King’s Fall were all very fun, engaging activities for players to sink their teeth into, but with the new raid, Wrath of the Machine, many players see no need to go back.

While King’s Fall gear can certainly be Infused up to Year 3 levels, which may draw some players in, the rewards from the previous two raids are pretty much obsolete. It would be great if Bungie decided to revamp each of those raids for Destiny: Rise of Iron, introducing new enemies into the fold and making those classic weapons a part of the game once more. I’m pretty sure that not many players would be upset at a Year 3 Fatebringer or Vex Mythoclast, so let’s make it happen.