Destiny Weekly Reset: What's New For January 3, 2016
By Derek Nichols 04 January 2017
Destiny: Rise of Iron kicks off another new week of content for players with the weekly playlist reset, and here is everything that one needs to know for January 3, 2017.
The new year is finally here and with it comes a new set of expectations for the Destiny franchise. With The Dawning holiday event at an end, Guardians are starting to wonder what’s next for the game. As Bungie developers head back to work for the first time in 2017, players should be hearing more about that topic soon if the final Destiny: Rise of Iron blog post from a few weeks ago is anything to go by.
Based on early numbers from the seasonal event, players were very engaged with the new activities like sparrow racing and strike scoring that were added through the past three weeks. Bungie will be looking to capitalize on that community engagement well into 2017 through upcoming events such as the Valentine’s Day inspired Crimson Days to help set the tone for the eventual next entry in the series.
Though nothing is currently known about Destiny 2, Activision has previously confirmed the expected sequel is planned for launch sometime later in the year. In addition to a PC version for the sequel, rumors have indicated that the game has been rebooted during development, with The Taken King leads stepping in to put things back on track.
While fans continue to wait for new information, the first official week of 2017 has started in Destiny bringing with it a reset of content. Here’s a closer look at all the new playlists, bounties, and everything in between for the week of January 3, 2017.
Weekly Nightfall
This week in the Nightfall, players are heading back to the Moon to challenge Taniks in the recently remastered Shadow Thief strike. After being resurrected as Taniks Perfected by the Devil Splicers, it’s up to players to board his ship and take him out to end the threat.
Originally introduced in the House of Wolves expansion pack, things are not too much different than how they were two years ago. The big difference here is the additions of traps and Hive enemies, mixed in with the devil splicers. Players will also see SIVA nodes scattered around the level, though the process remains the same: damage Taniks each time he appears to force him to retreat deeper into the level.
The Devil Walker has also been replaced by a Perfected Walker, with a mix of Hive and Fallen enemies that storm the room in addition to Shriekers floating in the back to punish players for pushing too far in. Though the final room is largely the same, Taniks teleports around the room more frequently than he did previously. Once his health reaches a certain point, SIVA nodes and waves of enemies will begin to flood the room, making things a bit more tense and hectic than before.
Of course, new modifiers complicate things a little bit considering this is the Nightfall strike. Here are the active modifiers this week: Epic, Specialist, Chaff, Match Game, and Airborne.
- Epic adds heavily shielded enemies that are more aggressive and appear in greater numbers.
- Specialist increases damage for secondary weapons.
- Chaff completely removes the player radar, even for those using the MIDA Multi-Tool or Memory of Gheleon.
- Match Game makes enemy shields immune to damage that doesn’t match its element type.
- Finally, Airborne increases the damage done to enemies while players are in the air.
SIVA Crisis Heroic Strike Playlist
Interestingly enough, the SIVA Crisis Heroic Playlist doesn’t feature a burn modifier either, promising to make things a little more difficult and slow going than normal. Here are the active modifiers this week in the playlist: Heroic, Exposure, Airborne, and Catapult.
- Like every week, Heroic buffs enemies, making them more aggressive and in greater numbers than normal.
- Exposure greatly increases Guardian shields, but they no longer recharge after taking damage.
- Airborne increases the damage done to enemies while players are in the air.
- Lastly, Catapult greatly increases the grenade recharge rate.
Keep in mind that the SIVA Crisis playlist is a great way to earn valuable high level light loot and score an easy 30 Legendary Marks.
Radiant Treasure boxes remain the easiest way to acquire Silver Dust and new weapon ornaments. Players looking for those incredibly rare Skeleton Keys received a small boost in drop rate thanks to The Dawning as well. While the SIVA Heroic Crisis playlist is still the best way to obtain a key, finishing the Nightfall once per week now guarantees a drop.
Crucible Playlist
With Sparrow Racing now off the main Director page, things have returned to normal somewhat. This week features Combined Arms and Inferno Rumble.
Combined Arms features the biggest maps Destiny has to offer such as Bastion and First Light. The big feature for this mode is the inclusion of vehicles such as Pikes and Inteceptors into the traditional Control style match.
Inferno Rumble is a traditional six player free for all, with the added twist of a removed radar.
Tower and Iron Temple Bounties
First up at the Iron Temple on Felwinter Peak, Tyra Karn and Shiro-4 have new bounties and quests to complete. As usual, Tyra Karn has her weekly Artifacts of the Iron Lords quest available requesting that players finish patrols and other actions to earn a token that can be redeemed for one of three artifacts. The artifacts this week are: Memory of Silimar, Memory of Skorri, and Memory of Jolder.
- Memory of Silimar provides added protection against damage over time attacks in the Crucible.
- Memory of Skorri charges nearby allies super meters when your super meter is full.
- Memory of Jolder removes the sprint cooldown penalty.
The Vanguard scout Shiro-4 has has a number of things for players to take care of as well including his weekly Plaguelander quest which also puts a focus on patrol activities around The Plaguelands. After a very heavy Archon’s Forge bounty list last week, Shiro has eased up a bit with his weekly bounties. This week he’s offering: Stay Down, Anti-Splicer, Crushing Blows, and Archon’s Forge: Servitors.
As usual, these bounties are the only way to have a chance at earning the Thorn exotic quest line, one of four that is needed to finish off the four exotic quests in the Rise of Iron record book.
- Stay Down simply requires that players take down a certain number of Splicers within the Plaguelands.
- Anti-Splicer tasks players with finishing 10 patrol missions in The Plaguelands. Worth pairing with The Plaguelander weekly quest to finish both at the same time.
- Crushing Blows asks players to kill enemies with the Iron Hammer or other heavy weapon types. Easiest way to do this is in Archon’s Forge or by doing Quarantine patrols.
- Archon’s Forge: Servitors requires players to complete four Servitor encounters inside of Archon’s Forge.
Before getting started, players should also head over to The Tower for more weekly quests and bounties to take care of. Head down into the Vanguard area and first stop by to greet Lord Shaxx, who has a new Crucible weekly bounty. This week Shaxx is offering A Game of Rift, and here’s how to finish it:
- A Game of Rift requires that players finish seven rift matches, earn 50 kills, earn 25 assisted kills, and to stop the runner once.
As always, finishing thee weekly Crucible bounty grants Nightfall tier rewards, helping players get closer to that maximum light level of 400.
Even though The Dawning is over, Strike Scoring remains in place. This means Commander Zavala is now a must visit each and every week in order to get his weekly bounties. As usual, the Titan has his usual Strike Elite and Sunrise strike bounties as well as one new one to finish.
- Sunrise – Earn a Gold Tier Medal before time expires in the Nightfall Strike.
- Merciless – Kill 9 enemies rapidly to earn the Rampage medal. Do this three times.
- Strike Elite – Earn 9 Gold Tier, Silver Tier, or Bronze Tier Medals.
Don’t forget that finishing the Sunrise bounty each week gives players a small chance to start the new exotic quest line for the Icebreaker sniper rifle.
Challenge of the Elders
Players in search of Sterling Treasure should head to the Reef to speak with Variks and enter his Prison of Elders. For Guardians working on the Elder’s Sigil in the Challenge of the Elders, the modifiers for this week are pretty favorable featuring the modifiers: Specialist, Catapult, and a bonus for getting melee kills.
- Specialist increases damage for secondary weapons.
- Catapult greatly increases the grenade recharge rate.
- Lastly, all Melee Kills award bonus points.
Events
With the snow shoveled, presents put away, and sparrow races shelved for another year, the Dawning has finally left the Tower. While things have mainly returned to normal, players may have seen that the long blocked off back of the Tower has been reopened. Traditionally the spot where weekly events like the Iron Banner or Queen’s Wrath events took place, Traveler’s Walk has been closed since Lord Saladin left prior to the launch of Rise of Iron. While the newly reopened area may be devoid of activity, a hidden dead ghost is waiting to be found.
The weekly raid challenge has changed once again as Aksis is now the the focus of the challenge. For tips and tricks on overcoming this challenge, check out our guide.
Best of luck out there, Guardians!
Destiny: Rise of Iron is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
