Destiny changes are afoot, with a massive new title update from Bungie that, in addition to making a number of fixes and balance changes, also ups each player’s total bounty inventory from 5 to 10. The change addresses among one of the most popular suggestions offered by players, as does the addition of new shaders (basically, armor paint) to the inventory of the Tower vendor that sells such things.
More importantly, patch update v1.0.3 sets up the latest Iron Banner event, which launches November 18, and also makes some under the hood preparations for the launch of The Dark Below, Destiny‘s first downloadable content drop, which is due to arrive on December 9. Bungie says v1.0.3 is the first in a series of updates planned to launch prior to 12/9.
That’s all in the future, though. The just-released update does more to the game than grow the bounty inventory and add new armor paint. Bungie’s previously promised voice chat enhancements have been implemented, which means that players now have the option of talking to one another during Strikes and team-based Crucible matches (provided they opt in). It’s the first step toward building a more social experience in Destiny; voice chat will always be opt-in, but Bungie aims to equip players with more opportunities to engage.
Also in the realm of gameplay changes: update v1.0.3 increases the likelihood of a Public Event occurring (“10-15% more frequently”) in social Patrol zones.
Lastly, the new update makes necessary changes to Iron Banner, a Crucible event in which everyone gets to enjoy their level/gear-based advantages in multiplayer matches (stats are normally evened out to maintain a level playing field). In the new take — meant to improve on the underwhelming original — on Iron Banner, only level 20 or above players can host a Fireteam, and there are more ranks to earn now than before. That’s just a sampling of what’s new; check out a more complete rundown of Iron Banner 2.0’s changes right here.
You can check out the full patch notes for v1.0.3 right here.
