It's almost time for more Destiny. Bungie has a livestream set for Aug. 26 and another, final one on Sept. 2, but your latest look at The Taken King comes compliments of the studio's Instagram feed.
What you have here is your first peek at some of the new exotic gear that you can collect in the upcoming expansion to the game. We'll continue updating this post when/if more items appear.
Note that in addition to the image, each embed caption includes some details on how that particular exotic works. I've also added some analysis and speculation based on my [REDACTED] hours spent playing Destiny.
A photo posted by DestinyTheGame (@destinythegame) on Aug 25, 2015 at 10:01am PDT
This is neat. The Empyream Bellicose gives Titans an ability that sounds like a carbon copy of the Warlock Sunsinger's Angel of Light upgrade. Aim while in the air to hover in place for a few second, making it easier to shoot things in mid-air. It's already easy to see that there's great synergy between this helmet and any activity modifier or weapon that boosts damage when your Guardian is airborne.
The other perk, which recharges your melee ability whenever you collect an Orb of Light while your Super is full, is totally new to Destiny. The usefulness there seems limited, especially if it consumes Orbs that you could otherwise leave to collect after you pop your Super.
You must adapt to persist, Guardian. The Chaperone Exotic shotgun fires a single slug shot and grants an Agility boost when equipped. Your precision kills will grant a brief increase to Handling, Range, Rate of Fire, and Stability. - Xûr, Agent of the Nine A photo posted by DestinyTheGame (@destinythegame) on Aug 25, 2015 at 11:00am PDT
The Chaperone sounds like a real risk/reward type of gun. Its fires a single slug shot -- suggesting there's no spread, but rather a single, chunky bullet -- and gives an automatic agility boost when you have it equipped. Slug-firing shotguns typically pack all the damage you'd expect from a spread shot into one piece of metal, so this thing has the potential to be a real damage-dealer.
The slug ammo also pairs well with The Chaperone's signature upgrade, which briefly boosts weapon handling, range, rate of fire and stability when you score a precision kill.
The one thing that's not clear is clip size. The wording could indicate that this is a single-shot clip, or it could simply be saying that The Chaperone fires only one shot at a time. If it's the former, the signature upgrade's rate of fire boost probably won't help much. Of course, that could change is this puppy also comes with Spray N Play, which boosts reload speed whenever the clip is empty.
Warlocks: reshape the world and turn iron to gold with the Alchemist's Raiment. Collecting Primary Ammo will give you a chance to gain glimmer. Orbs collected when your Super is full recharge your grenades and melee. - Xûr, Agent of the Nine A photo posted by DestinyTheGame (@destinythegame) on Aug 25, 2015 at 12:00pm PDT
Alchemist's Raiment is for the Glimmer-hoarders of Destiny. It's the first piece of non-consumable equipment we've seen that increases your Glimmer gains, in fact. Here you have a "chance" of getting some bonus funds whenever you pick up primary ammo.
The other upgrade, which recharges grenades and melee when you collect Orbs of Light while your Super is full, comes with the same caveat as the melee-focused upgrade on that Titan helmet. Seems like it could be useful, unless it works against your ability to save up Orbs of Light on the ground.
A photo posted by DestinyTheGame (@destinythegame) on Aug 25, 2015 at 12:59pm PDT
Telesto is a Void fusion rifle that sounds like a holdover from Bungie's Halo days. Its projectiles attach to foes and detonate on a delay. Does that sound to you like something Master Chief might wield?
The other upgrade sounds like fun as well, especially for group activities in PvE. Scoring multikills with Telesto drops extra Orbs of Light. That could create a great loop of Orbs dropping and Supers popping in situations like the Abyss portion of Crota's End (or really anywhere you're facing off against lots of relatively weak foes).
Hunters: these Sealed Ahamkara Grasps are filled with Nightmare Fuel. They will provide you with an additional melee charge and your melee damage will have a chance to reload your Primary Weapon. - Xûr, Agent of the Nine A photo posted by DestinyTheGame (@destinythegame) on Aug 25, 2015 at 2:00pm PDT
These could be very useful for Hunter Bladedancers. An extra melee charge means you can have up to two Blink Strikes stored up. Paired with the right perks -- mainly Escape Artist, which turns you invisible with a successful Blink Strike -- the Sealed Ahamkara Grasps could be king for support-focused Bladedancers that sneakily revive downed teammates.
Melee damage also has a chance to reload your primary weapon. That's... just fine. It's probably going to have very limited uses, but it's also probably a lifesaver when it does trigger at the right moment.
A photo posted by DestinyTheGame (@destinythegame) on Aug 25, 2015 at 3:00pm PDT
This is something completely new: a fusion rifle, which is typically a secondary weapon in Destiny, that goes into the heavy weapon slot. We've seen exotic secondaries that function as primaries (Vex Mythoclast, No Land Beyond, Universal Remote), but never one that works as a heavy.
Sleeper Simulant is a "laser weapon" the "tears through enemies and ricochets on hard surfaces." The caption text suggests that the weapon's shots not only bounce off of walls, but also overpenetrate, traveling through any foes they strike to hit whatever's on the other side.
This exotic should be especially useful whenever the Specialist modifier is in effect, as that one soups up the damage of secondary weapons. Specialist also affects the secondaries that equip as primaries, so there's no reason to think it won't also boost a secondary equipped in the heavy slot.
Destiny: The Taken King comes to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Sept. 15.