So as most of you know, one of the many revolutionary artifacts coming to Rise of Iron has an interesting description. The Memory Of Silimar has promised to mitigate the lethality and utility of damage over time effects that you're stricken by. However, DoT isn't really an issue anymore like it was in the past. Therefore, it can make you wonder: why would anyone use this over the other artifacts that seem noticeably better? That, my friends, is why I'm concerned right now. There are certain reasons why I think that Bungie would add this artifact to the game. I'll list these potential motives, and whether or not I feel that these motives could make the crucible a better or worse place. 1. Thorn and/or Sunsingers are getting buffed back up to [b]previous[/b] levels. For the love of all things that are good, please don't let this be the reason. Why? If these two things were plaguing the crucible again, we'd be in a heap of trouble. All that this will do is make the artifact a must just to survive. The forums will be flooded with calls for nerfs, and the only response to these call outs will be bigots shouting, "just use the DoT artifact and you'll be fine, git gud you idiot." The problem with this is that if Thorn/Sunsinger becomes the clearly dominant meta again, nobody will have a choice in what artifact that they want to use. Want to use Memory of Jolder for no sprint cooldown? Too bad, you're going to get destroyed by thorn if you do. Hopefully though, Bungie has learned their lesson from DoT by now. 2. To keep current Thorn complainers off their back. If this was the reason, I honestly wouldn't be surprised at this point. Ever since they announced that Thorn was coming to year three, many fellow year one players have started having war flashbacks. While I'm of the belief that Thorn is where it should be now, many disagree. This artifact may have been added simply to keep angry Thorn haters off Bungie's back. If so, then I honestly feel bad that they would have to spend time making an artifact just to keep some year one players at ease. While I still get PTSD in regards to year one Thorn, it's honestly not nearly as frustrating anymore. It's just a hand cannon with a little edge over legendary ones. Is it really that bad for an [b]Exotic[/b] hand cannon to be a little better than say a Eyasluna? 3. New DoT related exotics are being added for Rise Of Iron. Another promising option. Bungie could have easily dabbled with a new exotic weapon or armor, and made this artifact to make them feel almost useless in battle. Maybe they add a new weapon that has a short DoT, or an armor peice that makes DoT grenades/melee do more damage. While we simply don't know right now, I'd be...okay with this. If this the reason, Bungie needs to take the balancing of these new exotics [b]extremely[/b] seriously to say the very least. [u][Edit][/u] 4. There could be new PvE enemies that cause DoT. Not originally posted by myself, but still a very possible scenario. I could see there being an emphasis on DoT in the upcoming raid, as well as new Siva enemies with a burning attack. While Golgoroth comes to mind as well, I don't view it as that important since very few people will be running King's Fall once the expansion drops. I never really considered this option, but understand that I'm much more worried about the PvP implications of this artifact. With all due respect to PvE players, balance is much more delicate for the crucible than it is for anything PvE that isn't a raid. For now, we will never truly know the motives of this new artifact until September rolls around. I ask all of you to test out the crucible as well as the strikes and raid with this artifact once it comes, and tell Bungie if it feels underwhelming to use, or if you feel forced to use it constantly. Be vocal, and don't hold back your opinions for anything.