'Destiny' Patch 1.0.2 Tweaks Legendary Loot Drops

Destiny is a game built on grinding for loot. Nowhere is this more apparent then in post-level-20 gameplay.


Leveling after level 20 requires you to get better and better gear to boost your 'Light.' Better and better gear is found by playing missions, purchasing it from vendors, or finding a loot cave.


But even with all of these options to score loot, the chances you'll actually get a Legendary or Exotic item have been slim, to say the least.


Finding the hardest-to-come-by purple 'Engram' (a coded item that needs to be unlocked by an NPC called the Cryptarch) is an exciting thing-until you decode it and get a blue Rare item instead (or an item that belongs to a different class.)


In Bungie's newest patch, which is live today, the developer is at least fixing the problem with purple Engrams.


From here on out purple engrams will always produce a Legendary or better item. That alone is terrific news.


For reasons not explained by Bungie, any purple engrams you have in your inventory now will turn blue but will still produce Legendary or better gear.



Bungie is making a few other changes in patch 1.0.2. Ascendant Shards and Ascendant Energy will now be considered Legendary. Rare and Legendary engram drops are also being added to the Vanguard: Tiger Strike playlist as well as first-time per-day playthroughs of daily Heroic Missions and first-time per week weekly Heroic Missions.


Finally, the patch shortens the time limit in Bastion and First Light maps in Control and Clash mode from 15 to 12 minutes. The two maps have also been reduced in the map rotation. Now all Bungie needs to do is patch in match-making and leaderboard functionality and the Crucible might stand a chance at becoming a really popular PvP mode.


All of these changes, and especially the changes to purple engrams, are steering the game on the right track. But I still find it lacking in compelling end-game content which, to be honest, is a shame after the less-than-compelling campaign.


That being said, I realize also that I'm not the biggest fan of this particular genre. I enjoy some Diablo III from time to time. I like to find fat loot and fight off mobs of baddies. I enjoy the occasional romp in Borderlands 2 and other grind-for-gear games. But I know other people who really live for this kind of game, and from what they've told me, Destiny definitely scratches that itch.


Furthermore, if Bungie approaches fixes to Destiny the same way Blizzard tackled Diablo III, the game might be an entirely different and more satisfying beast in a year's time.


For my part, I'll be busy playing the newly-released Middle-Earth: Shadows of Mordor (read my first impressions here) and the always-gripping Dark Souls II and its excellent three-part DLC trilogy. But I'm sure I'll dip back into Destiny soon enough; after all, The Dark Below expansion is landing in December.


Read all the patch notes here.


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