The Dark Below expansion for Destiny is coming next week, and developer Bungie is already confident that it will "change the experience of playing Destiny for all."

In a preview posted to the developer's website, Bungie detailed the major changes that will be introduced to the game. One notable change for hardcore players deals with leveling exotic gear; the update will allow you to make your exotic weapons more powerful, but it comes at the cost of "resetting the progression" you've already put into that item.

New Exotic Upgrading

Exotic Gear in The Dark Below will have higher Attack and Defense values than current Exotic Gear. For players and their current caches of Exotics, a path will exist to bring them forward into The Dark Below.

- Starting December 9^th, Xûr will offer players the opportunity to upgrade Exotics to the higher Attack and Defense values

- Upgrading an Exotic in this way will require an Exotic Shard

- The upgrade will reset the progression invested into the item

- Each week, Xûr will possess a selection of upgrades for existing Exotics in his inventory

You can find the other update notes copied below:

New Legendary Gear

• Existing Legendary gear on display in the Tower will be replaced
• New Legendary gear will feature higher Attack and Defense values
• Legendary items will still require Ascendant Materials for upgrades
• This new, more powerful gear will be available to all players of Destiny
• Legendary gear will not be as powerful as new Raid gear or Exotics

New Rank Commendations

• In addition to Crucible or Vanguard Marks, purchasing new Legendary items will require a Crucible or Vanguard Commendation
• Commendations are received in Reputation Reward Packages delivered by the Postmaster upon reaching a new Reputation Level

Exotic Talent Changes

• As part of the December 1^st Destiny Update, Exotic Armor and Weapons no longer require Ascendant Materials for upgrades
• The final power node of all Exotic Gear will require an Exotic Shard
• This new material is obtained by one of the following means:
• Dismantling unwanted Exotics
• Purchased from Xûr for 7 Strange Coins

Crucible (PvP) Changes

• Expansion I will include two new exclusive competitive playlists
• New Crucible arenas (Pantheon, Skyshock, and The Cauldron) will be featured in map rotation
• Playlists available in the Director will change week over week
• Experiences will alternate between 12 and 6 player engagements
• Map rotation will alternate between focusing solely on new expansion arenas and including original launch maps in the mix

Heroics and Nightfall (PvE) Changes

• With the Light level increase to 32, Heroics and Nightfalls will be increased by 2 Light levels to keep up with new content, level increases, and gear items

New Raid: Crota's End

• The new Raid, Crota's End, will unlock on December 9th
• Players at Light level 30 can lead a Fireteam immediately upon release
• The reward system in Crota's End will address some issues reported in the Vault of Glass:
• Raid loot in Crota's End will drop at a higher rate
• New Raid gear will contain a wider variety of potential perks
• Weapons and Gear from Crota's End will not require Ascendant materials for upgrades
• Radiant Shards and Radiant Energy acquired in the Raid will be used to upgrade new Raid gear
• Unwanted weapons and gear from Crota's End will dismantle into Radiant materials
• Primary weapons will only drop in the harder version of Crota's End, released sometime in January

The Dark Below will also feature exclusive content on PlayStation platforms that won't come to Xbox until "at least" Fall 2015.

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