Destiny’s “Rise of Iron”: Here’s what we know so far

Bungie was as tight-lipped as ever during the reveal stream for Destiny’s”Rise of Iron” expansion overnight, teasing and suggesting rather than revealing all. While not much has been announced yet, here’s what we know about the story of “Rise of Iron” so far:

• Years ago the Iron Lords sacrificed themselves to stop a technological plague known as SIVA, locking it away in a Golden Age era vault.
• The ever intrepid Fallen have found SIVA and have begun to use it to augment themselves, making themselves into machine gods in the process.
• As the last remaining Iron Lord, Lord Saladin is totally not OK with this and will charge the players with putting an end to the plague-riddled Fallen.

This story will unfold across the three new locations announced for Destiny‘s “Rise of Iron” expansion:

• The Wall, where players first begun their Destiny journey.
• Felwinters Peak, resting place of the Iron Lords and home of the Iron Temple. This will also be a new social space.
• The Plaguelands, home to the SIVA-riddled Fallen.

New gear has been announced too with at least three more armor sets set to feature in “Rise of Iron”. We can expect to see some Viking themed gear reflecting the fashion choices of the Iron Lords, a CEVA inspired set — whether or no this is the raid set isn’t clear yet — and some brand new gear for Trials of Osiris as well.

The return of the Gjallarhorn was perhaps the worst kept secret of last nights reveal and will be returning in two flavours: Classic and Iron. All players will be given a quest upon beginning “Rise of Iron” to forge their own Classic Gjallarhorn while the Iron variant will be a pre-order exclusive.

All of this comes with a raise to the maximum light cap but Bungie is still mum about what that will be.

Oh and that giant flaming axe that Saladin wields in the reveal trailer? That’s set to be a relic weapon akin to the scorch cannon or Vex shield. It will function as a power up that lets players ruin the days of all the Plagued Fallen in the nearby area, running out after a short duration. Now that’s something I can’t wait to get my hands on.

Bungie is set to let more information trickle out about Destiny’s “Rise of Iron” expansion across the coming months in the lead up to its 20 September release date on Xbox One and PS4. It’ll also be popping up in at least one E3 conference (my money’s on Sony) to announce a few more bits and pieces.