We Talk Destiny: The Taken King With Luke Smith – Creative Director, Bungie

What can we expect to see aside from a new campaign in TTK?

 

There’s a new Campaign, an overhauled end game with new difficult questlines for players looking for a thumbskill challenge soloable end game, brand new Strikes, our biggest Raid yet, new PVP modes, new Public Event-type, the Court of Oryx, all-new Exotic weapons, piles of Quests and a whole bunch of secrets for players to uncover on our new Destination, the Dreadnaught.

 

 

 

What is the background and setting for The Taken King?

 

At the beginning of the Taken King, players discover a Solar System under assault. A Hive King has brought a massive fleet into our solar system, headed by his capital ship – the Dreadnaught (our new Destination). The Awoken, defenders of the outer systems rush out to meet this Fleet and meet a fate of their own.

 

 

 

This King’s brought an army with him – the Taken – and these Taken are now spreading around our solar system assaulting it. We, the Guardians of the Last City, have to stop this plague, but the only we know how is to take down the King, the Taken King. But first, we have to figure out a way onto his ship…

 

 

 

What new weapons and vehicles will be in place?

 

We have a bunch of new Exotic weapons and armor for Guardians to chase for. A couple of standouts are: A Sword players will go on a quest to craft and a Fusion Rifle meets Rail Gun prototype for them to scavenge the wild to put the pieces of a long-lost puzzle together to use.

 

 

 

What new abilities will be available for players?

 

We’ve built three brand new subclasses for players. Warlocks will get to wield the power of the Storm with the Stormcaller – a Lightning channeling force on the battlefield. Hunters can use their cunning and smarts to join the Nightstalkers, Hunters who’ve embraced the Void and use the deadly Shadowshot super to bind their foes together. Last and definitely not least is the Sunbreaker Titan. These Titans summon and throw flaming hammers and ignite the world.

 

 

 

With such a growing a rich Universe, how do you decide what items to include and when?

 

It’s a balancing act between pushing the overall Destiny narrative arc forward and reacting to the behaviors and adventures of our incredible community. The Taken King tries to straddle this line. We’re telling the continuation of a Hive story arc that started in DLC1: The Dark Below when Guardians killed a powerful Hive ruler, Crota.

 

 

Well, our Taken King – Oryx – is Crota’s father, and his response (arriving in our Solar System with vengeance on his mind) is the result of the Community’s war against Crota. Our goal is to make sure that player Guardians feel like the world is reacting to their footprints, while also pushing the Destiny narrative forward.