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For years, Bungie has been hinting at how cunning and foreshadowing the most sinister villains in the Destiny series are, and now it will finally be revealed. In recent months, a series of clues have become clearer. The demon queen Savatuen secretly interfered in everything and finally chose to take matters into her own hands. Now that the Lich Queen's schemes have been uncovered, she has acquired the most precious power of humanity, light energy, and uses this power to create her own undead warrior.
In "The Phantom of the Evil Lady," Bungie bets on a long-simmering turning point in the story and uses this narrative opportunity to drive new changes to traditional game modes, including overhauls to player-defined gameplay. Prior to the launch of this expansion, we interviewed the creative director of the project and obtained exclusive intelligence about what new and existing players can expect in the coming months.
"The center of gravity of the expansion is the villain Savatun, who is also the most cunning demon enemy we have ever encountered," said Creative Director James Tsai, "and Savoyantun's story must be closely related to conspiracy, after all, she is the god of cunning."
Sawatoon made an appearance and harnessed light energy, but this did not end the story of betrayal and mystery. In this way, it seems that the focus of the "Evil Ji Phantom" is to engage in a battle of wits with such a cunning enemy.
"We've been playing puzzles," Tsai adds, "and this time players will experience what it's like to be a psychic detective." You will enter this territory full of uncertainties and feel this creepy and beautiful and grotesque area. What kind of secrets are shrouded here? What exactly can be trusted?"
This beautiful and grotesque quality is reflected vividly in the map Tsai draws. The World of The Throne of Sawatoon is a huge new map divided into several different areas for players to explore, puzzle, and battle. As a figurative embodiment of Savatun's mind, her throne world is an ancient demon interface, and now it has been blessed with stolen light energy.
"She seized light energy and created such an elaborately constructed ornate fortress, interspersed with unique sculptures and courtyards. This is not our common demonic area. There was also a swampy estuary area that she hadn't had time to rebuild with light energy. And then there's the underworld."
There's even a new six-player matchmaking event called Water source in throne worlds, which is about conquering this seemingly watertight fortress. By design, swampy and humid and hot environments are new things we haven't seen in the series.
In a whole new world, Bungie has prepared a grand plan to make the new campaign unforgettable. "We call it the decisive Destiny campaign, which brings the epicness of the later content to the campaign itself." Tsai says, "Traveling through these stunning scenes, unforgettable encounters will bring more thoughts and understanding. Puzzles have also been prepared for the player in the campaign, and in this expansion we have regained our focus on the campaign."
The renewed focus on the campaign also means a new gameplay, and in addition to the traditional Destiny experience, players will usher in a legendary version of the campaign. This means that more enemies will have thicker health, more battle affixes, and adjustments to the dark zone to ensure that players no longer take these events lightly. In return for the challenge, players can also get corresponding rewards, such as equipment combos that help the guardian reach the raid recommended light, upgrade modules, and even the possibility of dropping exotic equipment.
This legendary battle has also been rescheduled for the number of Fire Squads, with content and enemies adjusted based on the number of Guardians in the Squad. "Our purpose is to make sure that everything works," Tsai says, "and you want to be a lone wolf?" No problem. Do you want to hack with your friends? Then the difficulty and sense of accomplishment will not be greatly reduced."
Whether it's classic or legendary difficulty, players will face a huge challenge, and that is the threat of the Light Worm Swarm. While players will still face demon enemies who have been fighting for years, Sawathurn's army has introduced new variables under the protection of Light Energy, and the Light Worm Swarm can use superpowers and respawn after being defeated. "It fundamentally changes the sandbox experience of fighting them," Tsai explains, "and these demons don't just have differences in appearance, you have to pay attention to their abilities."
Players face an enhanced version of the Demon Clan Knights, who can hold the Void Shield like a Titan. Demon wizards also gained the ability to arc attacks, while attendants gained the power of the sun, wielding spinning fire knives. After being killed, these high-risk enemies remain dormant for a few seconds until their wits respawn them and throw them back into battle. Your only solution is to risk closing yourself closer to the enemy's cleverness, then press the FinalIzer, gripping and crushing them to end the threat once and for all.
At the same time, more standard demon enemies will be infused with light energy by moths. "So, when you defeat a light-infused squire, the moth will run out and try to inject its power into another soldier nearby, or try to blow itself up in front of you." Tsai explains. With these variables, the clash with the Light Worm Swarm becomes a high-intensity battle, and the player must get close to the enemy to end the battle.
To increase your chances of survival, the Guardians have also received some new treasures. As a new weapon type that has both exotic and legendary weapons, The Moon is a weapon type that combines melee and ranged weapons, with great destructive power.
"This is the first new weapon type we've introduced since bows and arrows, and the only first-person melee weapon." Tsai said. Unlike sword swings, Yan Yue selects a single enemy to attack, and continuously presses the key to perform a smooth and deadly stabbing combo. Moon can also fire energy explosions at medium and close range, as well as a defensive shield that is enhanced after defeating enemies.
Under the new weapon forging system, Yan Yue is just one of many weapons that can be built and adjusted by yourself. This complex new system fulfills the long-cherished wish of many Destiny players for years: to design their own custom armory and modify weapons in their own style.
Weapon forging begins with patterns and is used to create prototypes for specific weapons. Using this weapon in combat gives you the opportunity to make further adjustments, such as increasing inherent attributes such as range or maneuverability, or making adjustments to clip frames and other important attributes. Eventually, you'll be able to change its characteristics, such as rage or murderous wind.
In addition, you'll need to collect forged resources, which can be obtained either through different activities in the game world or by breaking down other weapons, and optional expendable souvenirs can even allow you to unlock changes in the appearance of your weapons.
These weapon changes are made through the Relic, a tool that combines creation and destruction, a new gameplay focus that allows you to invest time in the game for a personalized experience, and a feature that provides many options for crafting weapons. Tsai adds, "We introduced this relic because we wanted the player to feel a sacred moment that was intimately connected to their emotions and to give some importance to the relics in the story."
The Phantom of evil will also change the Void Branch class to further promote gameplay customization, this change is the first modification of the Light Energy Branch class this year, and the changes to the Arc and Hot Sun Branch classes will be introduced in subsequent seasons. If you want to have a general idea, you can refer to the shadow-based ice shadow abilities and how their stars and fragments reshape the gameplay.
On the Void Branch, players won't see a whole new set of abilities. Instead, it focuses more on combining and adapting existing skill trees to create the characters players want. Tsai said: "We think this is a big improvement for the Light Energy Branch class, enough to fully optimize your gameplay."
After the big jump ticket, the release date of "Evil Hime Phantom" has come to 2022, and for Destiny 2, a game that has been in operation for a long time, players who are still insisting on it have high expectations for whether the game can be revived.
While this vitality may not be apparent until a few weeks after the launch of the new expansion, it is certain that Bungie already has a clear roadmap for continuous updates. After all, "The Phantom of the Evil Lady" is only the first of the announced expansions, and the full picture of Savatuen's deception and trickery is about to be unveiled, and such a plot development is enough to attract the attention of fanatical fans.
Translated | Stark Young
Edit | Zoe