Bungie has laid out what’s coming in Destiny 2’s Ash & Iron update, including major fixes to power progression, loot drops, and more.
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate expansion has been out for a few weeks now, and it’s been one of the biggest overhauls the game has seen in years. Bungie didn’t just add a new destination and campaign; it reworked the core systems of the game.
From a complete power level reset to new armor and weapon tiering, to the introduction of World Tiers and the Portal system, the update brought huge changes meant to modernize the game and create more long-term progression.
But not everything landed smoothly. One of the most common complaints from players since launch has been how slow and confusing power progression feels. Add to that some frustrating reward balancing in raid and PvP activities, and there’s been a growing sense that the new systems, while ambitious, need more time in the oven.
Bungie has heard the feedback, and now it’s pulling the curtain back on what the developer is working on for Destiny 2’s next big update, Ash & Iron, set to launch on September 9.
What’s Coming in Destiny 2 Ash & Iron Update?
In the latest This Week in Destiny blog post, Bungie shared a quick preview update on what its dev team is currently focused on, and what’s coming in the next few weeks, as well as in Ash & Iron next month. This includes immediate fixes that are already in progress, plus bigger changes aimed at making the game feel more rewarding and less grindy.
Here’s a breakdown of what Bungie said.
Power Progression Will Get Faster
One of the first things Bungie pointed out is that power progression is their top priority right now. The dev team straight-up admitted it: “Progression is clearly slower than we want it to be.”
“Power Progression is our most important topic right now, and we are still identifying the adjustments we plan to make. We plan to generally increase the speed of progression for most players.”
Bungie is working on ways to speed up the power progression for most players. No exact numbers yet.
Raids and Dungeons Are Getting Better Rewards
Bungie says that raids currently drop decent gear, but not enough of it, and not at high enough Tiers. It is planning to increase both the quantity and Tier of raid rewards, so the time you put into these longer, harder activities actually feels worth it.
This also applies to dungeons, which are getting the same treatment, both in baseline difficulty and reward upgrades.
“Raids have good baseline weapons and armor, but drops are not high enough Tier, and not enough of it drops for the time investment. We are planning to improve both the Tier and drop rates in a future update. Baseline raid and dungeon difficulty is being adjusted down, and higher reward Tiers are being made more accessible. Contest Modes will also bump the Tier further.”
Portal Reward Balance and Crucible Changes
Bungie is working on adjusting Portal reward balance, especially for Fireteam Ops.
“Portal Reward Balance is being actively adjusted up and down to make more activities feel evenly rewarding. Fireteam Ops in particular is feeling too low right now and we are working to make it feel viable to make good progress while playing with friends.”
Crucible Ops is also on the radar. Bungie says it wants to improve rewards for lower ranks and increase drop rates for Competitive-exclusive weapons to make the mode more rewarding across the board
“Crucible Ops are also getting close attention, and we are looking at raising rewards at lower ranks and increasing the drop rates for Comp-exclusive weapons.”
Kepler Difficulty, Bright Dust, and Other Fixes
The blog post also mentioned a few other important fixes coming soon:
- Kepler Mythic difficulty will be tuned to make solo play more viable.
- Bright Dust, which lost its infinite source with Edge of Fate, is getting fixed. An infinite source will return in update 9.5.0 (Renegades release)
- Bungie is restoring The World Tab’s color vibrancy.
- A fix is also on the way for reward previews showing lower-than-actual drops when in mixed fireteams.
Apart from that, Bungie has already confirmed a bunch of changes and content coming with the Ash & Iron update, including the return to the Plaguelands, two new exotic weapons, a new exotic mission, and much more.
What are your thoughts on the above changes? Let us know in the comments below!
