Just about each week brings one thing new to Destiny 2, whether or not it is story beats, new actions, or attention-grabbing new combos of parts that allow gamers devastate one another within the Crucible. Iron Banter is our weekly take a look at what is going on on on the earth of Destiny and a rundown of what is drawing our consideration throughout the photo voltaic system.With a lot of the main content material for the Season of the Lost out of the best way, we’re kind of formally within the hype period–the run-up to The Witch Queen that is going to see a deluge of particulars and hints earlier than the growth’s ultimate launch on February 22. It bought going this week with a brand new trailer for The Witch Queen that included a deeper take a look at the locale and a few enjoyable hints about what would possibly go on there.So, hey, guess who’s fascinated about story possibilities–this man [points at self].There’s a variety of room for rampant hypothesis, however with the brand new trailer, we not less than have some areas on which to focus. The massive factor that pursuits me is the broader story of Savathun and her motivations, as a result of I believe every thing’s about to get much more sophisticated in The Witch Queen.Sister ActI spent the early a part of the week pouring over the newest Witch Queen trailer and breaking down every thing it included, scrounging for clues concerning the story that Bungie is likely to be attempting to inform within the subsequent chapter of Destiny 2. (Relatedly and on the similar time, Saniya Ahmed dug deep on outdated Mars story threads that appear like they’re about to turn out to be very related.) It raised extra questions than solutions, certain, however there have been a few tidbits that play into ongoing emotions I’ve been having about the place The Witch Queen is headed. The important one is that this:Check out this chunk of Hive historical past.That’s a statue of Oryx, the Taken King, combating the worm god Akka. It’s a scene out of the Books of Sorrow, the Hive’s creation delusion, which appears not less than partially true however may embody its share of lies–much like every thing to do with the Hive. But I believe it is greater than only a cool reference to an intense lore factor (which you must completely learn, because it’s a few of the finest story stuff within the Destiny universe).I’ve been cultivating the opinion for some time that Savathun desires to be mates. That concept was considerably born out with the Season of the Lost, when Savathun revealed that she had been impersonating Osiris and claimed that her (admittedly evil-seeming) manipulations of occasions had truly been tuned towards a useful objective. She claims she desires to be allies, regardless that she will be able to’t assist being super-creepy about it, and whereas The Witch Queen advertising seemingly paints Savathun because the villain of the growth, the impression cultivated with trailers and hints to this point does extra to recommend that Savathun is guiding or pushing us in a selected path by means of the course of the growth, relatively than simply attempting to kill us just like the Hive normally do.Let’s pause for a second and acknowledge that Savathun is the Hive god of deceit, so something could possibly be a lie or a machination to confuse and obfuscate as a result of she actually feeds off tricking folks into believing her lies. That stated, Savathun’s actions over the course of greater than a yr have backed up the sensation that she actually has switched sides and is now an energetic enemy of the Darkness, the evil energy within the Destiny 2 universe, and the worm gods, which have empowered the Hive for eons. Her personal sister, Xivu Arath, is searching Savathun and seemingly intent on killing her in service of the Darkness. And in previous seasons, Savathun has labored to maintain us Guardians away from the Darkness’s affect. Whatever different lies she’s telling, given the occasions we have seen and the fights we have truly fought, that Savathun is definitely combating the Darkness appears to be a fact.So okay, take it as confirmed that Savathun does not wish to be a slave to the Darkness or the worm gods anymore. This statue then would possibly simply be a cool piece of artwork with which Savathun commemorates Oryx’s battle in opposition to Akka. It could possibly be a tribute to household, or a monument to the primary defeat of the worm gods, since Savathun is not a fan anymore. But it is also one thing extra.Perhaps Savathun’s final deception is that she’s imply.There’s been one thing of a fan concept floating round for some time {that a} burgeoning Hive aim is to resurrect Oryx. After all, we left a emptiness on Oryx’s throne after we killed him again in Destiny 1 and no one has stuffed it–something that was a significant theme of Forsaken and all our visits with Toland the Shattered within the Ascendant Realm. Shadowkeep is about factions attempting to rise to take over the Hive hierarchy and dissent about Hive management. And although Savathun is likely to be mendacity to us, one thing she stated that really rings true within the Season of the Lost was about her dedication to household. While the Hive gods warred on one another numerous occasions over the millennia, they at all times thought-about these assaults to be love meant to strengthen one another–to drive evolution by means of what is basically their faith, the Sword Logic. I believe it is true that Savathun feels for her siblings even now.So possibly this monument is not simply tribute to previous deeds of Oryx or historic recollection of a worm-god ass-kicking, however some reverence for the Taken King. I believe it is potential Savathun desires to convey Oryx back–through, you already know, some form of bizarre Destiny area magic–and if that is the case, I believe Savathun desires not solely to free herself from the Darkness, however Oryx too.So that is my massive enjoyable fan concept of the second. The fact we’ll find out about Savathun is that she desires to resurrect Oryx and launch the Hive from the worms altogether. The Witch Queen growth sees Savathun gaining the ability of the Light, and whereas we’ll stand in opposition to her, Put me on document as seeing that as one other manipulation–by the Darkness this time, not Savathun herself. We’ll see the error of our methods ultimately.Ultimately, I believe, it will not be the forces of Light that stand in opposition to the Darkness, however the forces of life. We’re already discovering allies among the many Eliksni and the Cabal, alien races who have been our enemies for years (if not, within the story sense, centuries). We’ll be a part of with the Hive ultimately too, I believe, and doubtless the Vex. It’ll be life combating in opposition to loss of life, with all of us residing beings demanding a proper to exist.I imply, what in the event that they resurrected Oryx and the Taken King was our good friend? How sick would that be?Would you want to listen to about my Orb?Orbs of AtrocityIn the This Week at Bungie weblog publish this week, the developer outlined a comparatively minor change that has kicked off the outrage that the Destiny 2 group sees on occasion. Venture over to the r/destinythegame subreddit to see what I imply. It boils all the way down to this: Guns aren’t going to generate Orbs of Power by means of Masterwork anymore. With The Witch Queen, you will equip sure mods to your armor, which can trigger weapons of a particular sort to generate Orbs for you.The ostensible cause for this specific change is to take away the requirement that gamers should collect Exotic catalysts for sure Exotic weapons. If you are unfamiliar, catalysts are sure objects you could find or earn in Destiny 2 that equip to Exotic weapons, and as soon as you have accomplished no matter their necessities are, amp up that specific gun. They additionally generate Orbs of Power. A bunch of catalysts are solely accessible by means of random drops in sure actions, which implies lots of people do not have them, and it could actually take a very long time to get them. Sometimes you get fortunate. Often you do not. Until you do, that spiffy Exotic that you just like does not generate Orbs. This new mod answer treatments that.We do not have all the main points concerning the Orb state of affairs, it should be stated, as a result of Bungie is dropping further particulars later. However, it appears like Orbs will issue into the brand new weapon crafting system and that extra alterations to the Orbs system altogether are probably taking place.But that is a kind of issues that has gamers fairly upset, and it is potential to see why. Currently, you’ll be able to generate Orbs with all three weapons in your arsenal, supplied you both Masterwork them or have their catalysts in the event that they’re Exotic. And Orbs are very helpful in gameplay, since they provide help to acquire your Super quicker and can provide you further advantages, like well being or capacity power regeneration. When you construct a present Destiny 2 loadout, you consider Orbs.With the mod change, it appears like as an alternative of getting three weapons for Orb era, you will have…fewer, most probably. Each mod is tied to a sure injury sort for Orb era, so it looks like you will must equip a mod to make your Arc weapons generate Orbs, or your Void weapons, and so forth. That has gamers irritated as a result of it will hinder the power to swap weapons on the fly. Instead of simply going from Arc to Void because the state of affairs dictates, they’re seeing the necessity to swap mods off their helmets to verify they’re nonetheless producing Orbs, or worse, swapping your entire helmet for an additional one with preset mods able to go.The concept that Masterworked weapons won’t produce Orbs fo Power anymore has lots of people irritated.I’m normally at odds with the group response to adjustments like this, as a result of personally, how my weapons generate Orbs of Power shouldn’t be a factor that will get my blood up. It’s a minor mechanic to me that hardly impacts how I play the sport 99% of the time and thus I do not actually care. I really feel that means about a variety of issues in Destiny 2, to be sincere. This simply is not actually that massive of a deal.And I do suppose a variety of these reactions are, in actual fact, over-reactions. Most actions in Destiny 2 simply aren’t that tough and do not require that a lot care or consideration for loadouts or build-crafting. That’s by design–the sport is essentially accessible and you may breeze by means of it with some problem however not min-maxing-level consideration to element. The locations you may need to care about whether or not your weapons generate Orbs in all conditions are these highest-level actions like Raids or Grandmaster Nightfalls. In most of these instances, the place the sport is so onerous that each piece of armor, weapon alternative, and mod attachment issues, nicely, you are most likely going to be equipment-locked anyway. You’re not going to be making weapon swaps or mod changes. So the situation wherein you are swapping to make large switches to your loadout to ensure you’re nonetheless producing, once more, Orbs of Power, is simply not one I believe is lifelike.Maybe the Orb change goes to make a drastic distinction to how Destiny 2 performs, or possibly it will simply make issues slightly extra annoying; it is powerful to invest at this level. We’ll discover out extra quickly as Bungie drops extra particulars and when The Witch Queen truly drops. But I’m uncertain this can be a change that anybody’s actually going to be fascinated about in roughly two months.But hey, possibly I’m flawed. Feel free to argue with me within the feedback below–I’m taken with some affordable takes concerning the state of affairs, for certain, particularly as a result of whereas I pay some consideration to build-crafting, I do know there are lots of people on the market who’re way more professional. That stated, I’d relatively discuss your Witch Queen predictions, your Hive lore deep-dive ideas, and your Oryx good friend date dream situations.