We recently visited Bungie for an in-depth look at Destiny: The Taken King, coming away with all sorts of details about the upcoming release. One of the most surprising changes is coming to what is arguably Destiny’s most central-voiced character: the Ghost. The tiny floating robotic being is the de facto narrator throughout the base game, and he assumes an even more important role in The Taken King. Playing that role moving forward is Nolan North, replacing Peter Dinklage in the name of a unified character voice throughout the entire game.

Players who are used to North’s work on games like Uncharted and Assassin’s Creed are likely to be surprised the first time they hear his latest role. In taking over the role of the Ghost, North echoes some of the cadences and quirks established by the character’s original voice actor, but his line delivery is hard to immediately connect to his familiar heroic tone. “I was really excited to do this role,” Nolan North tells us. “You want to give him as much personality as the world will allow, without making it unbelievable. There’s a fine line to walk there, and I think we found it.”

Not only does Nolan North play Ghost in the new content in The Taken King, but Bungie also had North re-record all of the original dialogue to create a consistent storytelling experience from beginning to end. “We wanted Nolan North’s version of the Ghost to wake you up at the start of the journey at level one and follow you all the way to level forty,” says creative director Luke Smith. With this change, the Ghost’s script will remain the same, but Peter Dinklage’s voicing of those lines will not be present in the game.

Our recent visit to Bungie headquarters confirmed what many fans have suspected for some time. Older legendary armor and weapons from across Destiny’s first year are not set to progress in power as Year Two begins. Simultaneously, dozens of new weapons and armor pieces are entering the game in an effort to revitalize the collection and discovery experience of the game.

“I definitely feel like some of our players are ready to play with some new toys,” says creative director Luke Smith. “And we’ve built a whole bunch of new toys. There are definitely some weapons that you are going to find better versions of – there’s going to be something that replaces that sniper rifle that you love.”

Our recent visit to Bungie provided us with hours of hands-on impressions detailed in this month’s magazine cover story, and one of the major changes we learned about is a new approach to leveling. Players earn XP by killing monsters, completing missions, and turning in bounties, as has always been the case, but that experience now feeds directly into your level progression all the way from 1 to the new level cap of 40.

Meanwhile, weapons and armor continue to provide increased power to your character, with new gear unlocking for use as you level up. “The conflation of gear and character level led to this place where your identity was determined by things outside of your control,” says creative director Luke Smith. “We don’t want to do that.”

We were also told that Destiny’s loot system will now pay closer attention to the loot you have already received when determining an appropriate drop, so that players will more consistently receive armor and weapons that provide meaningful power growth, items that vary their gear slot from one drop to the next, and fewer drops of items that a player has already attained.

Cozmo23 [score hidden] 7 minutes ago
I would hold off on dismantling anything just yet. We have a lot of information to share. As soon as the away team gets back from gamescom we will let you know our plan for a series of Twitch shows to answer all of the questions you have about the transition into year two with The Taken King. It's happening.

Summary of the Game Informer news (Credit - /u/Mawnix):
Level cap raised to 40

Cryptarch rewards from engrams are now more in line with the type of Engram you got

The second half of the Taken King apparently starts once you reach the Endgame (Questlines throughout the Destiny Universe!)

Your Ghost can now scan objects to offer more insight into the world's lore (IE, scan a Cabal soldier, gives you info on their Military Regiment)

You can now turn in Bounties without returning to the Bounty Board!

Intelligence, Discipline, and Strength now have numerical "tiers" that decide their influence on your character

A new progress system where you sacrifice an existing piece of gear that belongs to the same slot (? Kind of confused about this and this is literally how it's read)

The Tower and its NPCs have been retooled to offer quests/story/insight into the world as you level up your character from 1-40 (!!!! Cryptarch, Gunsmith, etc questlines!!!!)

Entire base game/expansions retooled for narrative and access purposes to make much more sense (Example: after meeting the Queen for the first time, the Reef is open to you)

Subclasses, old and new, have their own questlines (?)

GUNSMITH NOW HAS A REP AND THE HIGHER YOUR REP, THE MORE "PROTOTYPE WEAPONS" HE OFFERS FOR YOU TO "TEST IN THE FIELD" FOR REP. Reaching a certain Rep with Banshee allows you access to "Armsday", a weekly purchase that allows you to ORDER LEGENDARY GUNS with GLIMMER.

Crucible and Vanguard Marks are gone! ALL HAIL THE UNIVERSAL "LEGENDARY MARKS" FOR LEGENDARY VENDOR PURCHASES!

Class specific materials needed for upgrading are gone! Hadronic Essences, Armor Plating, etc. have been replaced by "Armor Materials", making it easier to utilize materials on one character towards another to progress them.

NO LONGER FORCED TO WEAR A CLASS ITEM WHEN LEVELLING UP NEW MONARCHY, DEAD ORBIT, OR FWC (you pledge to each faction!)

You can turn in materials to these above factions for a Rep Gain (like the Speaker with Glimmer)

NEW SYSTEM THAT RECORDS ALL SHADERS AND, ONCE YOU'VE GAINED IT, YOU'RE ABLE TO CHOOSE FROM THEM ANYTIME YOU VISIT THE SYSTEM (also shows you the Shaders you don't have AND HOW TO OBTAIN THEM!)

Same above system with Emblems!

New Exotics are tied into Questlines!

RAIL GUN FUSION RIFLE HEAVY WEAPON EXOTIC HNNNNNG YE SON YOU READ THAT RIGHT.

Eight new Crucible Maps

Weekly Crucible and Trials bounties! Complete all 5 of the Weeklies for the week, and you gain access to a 6th that has a chance to reward you either a Legendary or Exotic!

ENDGAME THAT EXPLORES PREVIOUS ENDGAME (Vault of Glass) AND FURTHERS TO STORY EVEN AFTER FINISHING THE STORY MISSIONS

Bosses/mechanics that aren't purely Bullet Sponge-y!

Crucible has a "mercy rule" (Thank you /u/optimal_ac)

“Weapons, armor, class items, and even your Ghost shell all offer perk customization as well as increased power and light for your hero.”

The RNG algorithm has been re-tooled to be smarter, rewarding you more frequently with items you could use, and attempting to avoid giving you those you already have.

“All of the original mission have been reorganized, contextualized, and placed within a larger quest framework. Even older subclasses…have dedicated quest lins that explain their use and place with the world.”

Vanguard vendors have quests unlocked at certain points of progression.


“Quests from the ominous Eris Morn lead to the rediscovery of a forgotten weapon type.”

“Equippable emotes are now available below your emblem selection.”

Holding L2 on the pause screen gives an instant glimpse at the energy types equipped on each weapon. New item and subclass visual icons have been redesigned for quick recognition at a glance.”

Tiers (thresholds) for Intellect/Discipline/Strength that tell in seconds what your cooldown is, rather than a percentage that you have to find out.

“As an alternative to using or sharding your new high-powered Legendary weapons and armor, you can also improve an item you like by sacrificing another piece from the same gear slot.”

“The Cryptarch more reliably provides rewards that match the Engrams you give him.”

Gunsmith has reputation meter that can be leveled by testing out common prototypes in the field. These test weapons have a “built-in challenge” like killing Hive on the Dreadnaught, or using a sniper rifle to get headshots in the Crucible. Check out as many as you want at a time.
Hit a certain rep level with the Gunsmith, and he’ll open up Armsday purchases.
Pay glimmer to order a new Legendary weapon, and Wednesday that weapon arrives with a random set of perks.

Legendary marks replace “Crucible” and “Vanguard” marks. “Armor Materials” replace Hadronic Essence, Sapphire Wire, Plasteel Plating.


No longer have to wear class items to gain reputation. Instead you “pledge allegiance” to gain rep for a faction, one at a time. You can turn in unwanted materials for reputation.

No more Emblem/Shaders taking up inventory space! Shader console & Emblem console in the Tower, housing all of the Emblems & Shaders you own.
“We’re still bumping into a technical limitation for vault space. We are exploring options for getting stuff out of players’ inventories via these kiosks that we’ve placed around the tower, but we’re still working toward a solution that we’re excited about.”

You can change the displayed weapon in the Tower.

Over a dozen new Exotic weapons. Half a dozen new armor pieces for each class. Auto Rifle that shoots bolts of chain lightning, Sniper rifle blinds enemies on precision hit.
“No Time To Explain” is an Exotic version of the Stranger’s Rifle, sort of.
Sleeper Stimulant is a Heavy Fusion Rifle that charges an over-penetration laser through enemy targets and bounces off walls.
An Exotic gained through multi-step search quest on the Dreadnaught; pieces are hidden all over.

All Exotic unique namesake perks are immediately unlocked.

Heavy-slot Fusion Rifle! “Multiple missions must be completed to get the Sleeper Stimulant.”

Expanded Crucible: 8 new maps and 3 new modes. The modes are Mayhem, Rift, & Zone Control – only controlling matters, kills don’t.

Quests to ease new players in. 5 weekly bounties in addition to much faster daily bounties. Finish all 5 weekly bounties to unlock a big bad bounty where you have a chance at a powerful reward like a Legendary/Exotic weapon.

Better matchmaking for skill and connection.

The Crucible will have a “mercy rule” that will end “dramatically misbalanced” matches early to preserve player sanity/K/D

Narrative-driven story with 8+ lengthy missions, seamlessly integrated with strikes, public events, class quests, and eventually, the raid – King’s Fall.

Complete the main storyline for access to the ancillary “The Taken War”, with harder, narrative-driven missions that have us revisiting old locales like the Vault of Glass.
“I undertook a mission in to the Vault of Glass called Unsealed Paradox, which finally provides some answers regarding the fate of Praedyth.”

Four new strikes (three for non PS users), plus three remixed older strikes.

Presence of several “raid-light” mechanics to keep things mentally engaging.

Strikes aim for replayability, cycling species you might fight, & altering enemy configurations. Multiple narrations to provide more info as you replay the strike.

The Taken Foes
Taken Captains: Solar shields, throw out slow moving balls of darkness that blind Guardians.

Taken Knights: AoE Scorch attack that dissuades close combat.

Taken Centurions: Possess deadly tracking shots that can aggressively seek around corners.

Taken Wizards: Can summon “shadow thralls” for a zerg-like rush. Eliminate them fast or risk being overwhelmed.

Taken Psions: Have the ability to multiply if they are not quickly dispatched.

Taken Vandals: Deploy a Defender Titan-like Shield, that restores their health and is permeable to their fire alone.

Taken Phalanxes: Have an impulse blast that applies a physics impetus, much like their notorious shields.

Taken Thralls: Can teleport short distances to frustrate attempts to pick them off easily.