Bungie's final weekly update before launch!

DeeJ has once again released an update that has some golden information in it. Some of you have been around for a while, so you've got some treats in store: special badges on launch. [quote] Shield of Heroes Once reached Heroic forum status Shield of Legends Once reached Legendary forum status Shield of Mythics Once reached Mythic forum status Song of Spheres Participated in the Alpha Lupi experience The Inner Chamber Played at least 4 of the last 6 Bungie games Pathfinder Sign Registered on Bungie.net prior to 2013 Star of Moderation Bungie.net Ninja Mentor's Badge Bungie.net Mentor [/quote] Since early access to the game did not provide people with populated worlds due to the fact you need thousands of players, you will be playing with some of the press, bloggers, and other reviewers on launch. [quote] So, reviews of Destiny will wait for your arrival. On day one, you’ll be rubbing elbows with the pageant judges, so look sharp. Who knows, you may end up on one of their live streams. They may end up on one of yours, too! [/quote] We ask knew that level 20 was the player level cap, and knew they had something else in store. Here's some more light on how it actually works. Basically, keep playing and unlock awesomeness. [quote] Destiny really begins at Level 20. Afterwards, each player’s power is displayed as their Light Level – this is the yellow number in their nameplate post-20 in the Tower. The way to increase that Level? Get better gear. Strikes and Crucible matches can award powerful gear and currencies which you’ll use to buy Legendary (purple) gear from the Tower. Players can choose to champion one of our three Factions (New Monarchy, Dead Orbit, or Future War Cult) in both cooperative and competitive activities. This allows them to rank up and purchase gear from a particular Faction. Which Faction you champion is related to what kind of build you’re focusing on. If you’re Warlock looking to focus on Discipline and Strength, you’ll be looking at the Dead Orbit Legendary Set and coveting it. If you’re looking for a great Legendary Hand Cannon you might champion the Vanguard, or maybe the Future War Cult, depending on which piece tempts you most. Additionally, post-Level 20, players will unlock the Heroic mode progressions for Daily Heroic Story Chapters and Weekly Heroic Strikes. For example, in the Weekly Heroic Strikes, there are three recommended Light Levels and the first one, 22, will feature two modifiers. [/quote] Along with the traditional story and events that will happen all the time, there will be daily and weekly "Heroic" stories and challenges to complete. [quote] A weekly rotation of very challenging Heroic Strikes (and the pinnacle Nightfall Strike) use high-level enemies and global modifiers to create challenges that require skill, gear, and sometimes creative character builds to beat. Modifiers are one of the ways we tweak content we’ve already built. The first modifier is called “Heroic.” Heroic leverages the more difficult version of the encounters, but the second modifier is where we really start to challenge players. Take a modifier like Arc Burn – which increases all damage dealt by Arc Damage by 300%. If you’re a Bladedancer Hunter, you’re about to be an even more destructive force, and everyone else in your Fireteam is going to be scrambling for Arc weapons. But, if the enemies you’re facing also use Arc weapons, they will cut through you like paper. We give a very similar treatment to the Daily Heroic Story Chapter, which are featured on a daily basis with bonus rewards. [/quote] While each person may choose the same class and subclass, it will be near impossible after a while to find two players with the exact same build and skills, refresh times, ammo capacities, etc. [quote] An Arsenal example: A Pulse Rifle player may find that he wants to find a Pulse Rifle with a talent combination like Full Auto (converts the weapon to a fully automatic), but he wants Field Scout (which extends the mag and the clip to the weapons max), so he’s going to have to hunt for a weapon sates his desires. Now, Builds: Builds continue to progress long after players have completed the last Story mission. A bunch of the synergies found within a given build don’t come online till late in this build – like the Fireborn Sunsinger doesn’t actually earn the Self-Resurrection power till very late in his progression. There are also synergies outside of the builds in the form of both Armor Talents and Exotic Armor. Armor Talents allow players to align their arsenal and their build to create powerful synergies. For example, a Titan might try and find weapons with Grenadier (kills with this weapon reduce the cooldown of your grenades), and marry it with a bunch of Armor Talents which also accelerate grenade cooldowns. This Titan would probably also be looking for a lot of high Discipline armor as the Discipline lowers the cooldown for grenades. [/quote] I think they've confirmed a vault on every planet, but there will be level requirements to taking part. [quote] The Vault of Glass can be broken into beginning on September 16th, assuming you’ve achieved level 25. This allows all of our players a week to dive into the world, start to make their Guardians and prepare for what lies behind a giant door on Venus [/quote] Now, in two days time, we will all be knee deep in this story, so take the time now to finalize all your plans, get everything situated, and prepare for takeoff!