The Taken King

The Taken King
Developer(s):	Bungie
Publisher(s):	Activision
Platform(s):	Xbox One Xbox 360 PlayStation 4 PlayStation 3
Release date(s):	September 15, 2015
Genre(s):	First-person shooter
Mode(s):	Campaign Cooperative
Rating(s):	ESRB: Teen (T) for Animated Blood and Violence PEGI: 16+

"We have slain his brood. We have murdered his son. And now, the Taken King comes for us all."

— Eris Morn

The Taken King is an expansion for Destiny, released on September 15, 2015 and priced at $40 (USD).

The expansion's story centers around Oryx, the God-King of the Hive, and his quest for revenge, after the Guardians had slain his son Crota. He has brought a massive Dreadnought into the system and has launched an invasion using his personal army, the Taken, members of the other races warped by the power of the Darkness into Oryx's slaves. The game's story also expands upon the Darkness, the Cabal, and the Fallen House of Wolves.

The expansion was showcased at E3 2015.

Features

Guardian Subclasses & changes

• New Subclasses and Super Abilities, acquired via special Questlines
  • Titan: Team up with a mercenary clan of rogue Titans on Mercury to unlock the Sunbreaker class and the Hammer of Sol.
  • Hunter: Track down a solitary nomad in the Black Garden to unlock the Nightstalker class and the Shadowshot.
  • Warlock: Join a shamanistic ritual on Mars with Ikora Rey to unlock the Stormcaller class and the Stormtrance.
• Level cap is now 40, and leveling is dependent on earning experience from gameplay and is no longer tied to armor acquisition.
  • Upon first logging in to Destiny after The Taken King launches, a player's characters will automatically convert to the new level system and their existing levels will be preserved. For example, a level 16 character will remain level 16, and a level 31 character will remain level 31; however, a level 27 character who owns (but does not have equipped at the time of conversion) fully upgraded armor pieces with a total Light value that would take them to level 33, will convert to level 33.
• Every purchase of The Taken King includes one Spark of Light item, a single-use consumable that will instantly boost one character to level 25 (the level required to play the expansion's content).
• Ghost now provides in-game lore when prompted at certain points

Loot

• Class-specific weapons available through Vanguard quests
• Weapon Foundry gear, with each foundry having its own unique design and playstyle. Available foundries include:
  • Häkke
  • Omolon
  • SUROS
• Weapons upgraded through Infusion: dismantle more powerful weapons to increase the attack value on your equipped weapon.
• New heavy weapon class unlocked through a Quest from Eris Morn: the Sword
• 17+ new Exotic weapons (exact number unknown; the existence and/or method of obtaining certain weapons is "classified" by Bungie) plus 10 improved variants of Year One Exotics
  • New Year Two Exotic weapons
    • Ace of Spades
    • Black Spindle^(Classified)
    • Bolt-Caster
    • Boolean Gemini
    • Dark-Drinker
    • Fabian Strategy
    • Hereafter
    • No Time To Explain^(Classified)
    • Raze-Lighter
    • Sleeper Simulant^(Classified)
    • Telesto
    • The Chaperone
    • The First Curse
    • The Jade Rabbit^{(PlayStation exclusive)}
    • Tlaloc
    • Touch of Malice^(Classified)
    • Zhalo Supercell
  • 10 Improved Year One Exotic weapons
    • Bad Juju
    • Hawkmoon
    • Invective
    • Monte Carlo
    • Red Death
    • SUROS Regime
    • The Fourth Horseman
    • The Last Word
    • Thunderlord
    • Truth
• 27 new Exotic armor pieces plus 18 improved Year One armor pieces
  • New Year Two Exotic armor
    • Alchemist's Raiment
    • Astrocyte Verse
    • ATS/8 Tarantella
    • Chaos Cloak
    • Circle of War
    • Cloak of Oblivion
    • Cloak of the Rising
    • Dunemarchers
    • Empyrean Bellicose
    • Fr0st-EE5
    • Graviton Forfeit
    • Immolation Fists
    • Light Beyond
    • Mark of Oblivion
    • Mark of the Circle
    • Mark of the Executor
    • Ophidian Aspect
    • Sealed Ahamkara Grasps
    • Shinobu's Vow
    • Skyburners Annex
    • Thagomizers
    • The Age to Come
    • The Impossible Machines
    • THE STAG
    • The Taikonaut
    • Transversive Steps
    • Twilight Garrison
  • Improved Year One Exotic armor
    • An Insurmountable Skullfort
    • Celestial Nighthawk
    • Claws of Ahamkara
    • Crest of Alpha Lupi (Hunter)
    • Crest of Alpha Lupi (Titan)
    • Don't Touch Me
    • Heart of the Praxic Fire
    • Helm of Inmost Light
    • Helm of Saint-14
    • Knucklehead Radar
    • Light Beyond Nemesis
    • Mask of the Third Man
    • No Backup Plans
    • Obsidian Mind
    • Ruin Wings
    • Starfire Protocol
    • Voidfang Vestments
    • Young Ahamkara's Spine
• Exotic Blueprints - any previously acquired exotic gear can be repurchased from kiosks at the Tower for one Exotic Shard and 2500 Glimmer each. Year Two versions of previously-acquired Year One gear are automatically available for purchase in the kiosks, but are initially priced at 150 Legendary Marks. After purchasing the item once or obtaining it as a drop, the price will revert to one Exotic Shard and 2500 Glimmer.
• Vanguard and Crucible marks have now been combined into Legendary Marks, which will be an account-wide currency like Glimmer. Although the player can only hold a maximum of 200 Legendary Marks at a time, there will be no limit to how many can be earned per week.
• Hadronic Essence, Plasteel Plating, and Sapphire Wire are now combined into a single universal crafting material: Armor Materials.
• Emblems and Shaders are unlockable items at new collection kiosks near Eva Levante. Obtaining an Emblem or Shader once will unlock it permanently at the kiosks where it can be reacquired an unlimited number of times, in the same manner that Special Orders items are always available from Tess Everis once unlocked.
• More intelligent loot-dropping system that takes previous drops into account.
  • Shaders will be removed from the player's potential loot pool as they drop, so that only ones the player has not yet obtained will appear in subsequent drops.
• Ghost Shells provide defense buffs and additional effects such as resource-finding abilities.
• New item slot for Artifacts: these items allow guardians to generate Orbs of Light in ways other than using Supers.
• Vault space is doubled; Weapons and Armor sections will have 72 spaces each, and General items will be increased to 36 spaces.

Locations

• The Dreadnaught orbiting Saturn - a new Patrol location and the focus of the expansion
• Fleetbase Korus on Phobos - a new location only visited during certain Story missions

PVE Content

• New Enemy race, The Taken, with each enemy possesing a new ability designed to counter Guardian abilities.
• Complete Revamp of Patrol mode, including for current destinations, to integrate new events and The Taken War.
  • Court of Oryx - a player-instigated Public Event aboard the Dreadnaught featuring randomized enemies and Ultra bosses
• Over 26 new Story Missions
  • The Coming War
  • Last Rites
  • Lost to Light
  • Regicide
  • Outbound Signal
  • Fear's Embrace
  • Kings of Decay
  • Summoner's Circle
  • Blighted Coven
  • Cayde's Stash
  • Enemy of My Enemy
  • Entropy's Pinnacle
  • Tenebrous Tunnels
  • The Dreadnought
  • The Promethean Code
  • A New Den
  • Prime's Path
  • Knock, Knock
  • Unsealed Paradox
  • A Ranger Lost
  • A Ranger Found
  • A March of Fire
  • Bound by Fire
  • A Spark in Shadow
  • Bottle the Arc
  • Dread Patrol
• Questing system is completely retooled
  • Quests for each subclass and many NPC vendors
    • Earn reputation with Banshee-44 by equipping experimental weapons to be tried out in the field. Completing these challenges will allow you to order for a legendary weapon that will arrive on Wednesday with a set of randomized perks.
  • Multi-part quest to acquire a new exotic weapon
  • Quests for older content add lore to the game
• 4 new Strikes and 3 remixed strikes; the new strikes feature multiple different scenarios and can swap out enemy races. Also feature "raid-lite" mechanics.
  • Echo Chamber^{(Playstation Exclusive until Fall 2016)}
  • Fallen S.A.B.E.R.
  • Shield Brothers
  • The Sunless Cell
  • Strikes now have unique rewards such as strike-specific armor or weapons. These rewards will help prepare players for Raids.
  • New versions of Cerberus Vae III, Dust Palace, and The Undying Mind featuring the Taken
  • Playlists reorganized into Legacy (all year 1 strikes), Ursa (randomly selected heroic-level strikes) and Marmoset (all Taken King strikes)
  • The Heroic playlist will be replacing the Weekly Heroic Strike altogether.
  • The Nightfall modifier has been adjusted so that instead of forcing the fireteam into orbit upon a wipe, instead it uses the same 30 second wait to revive that is featured in Raids.
• New Raid that pits players against Oryx, the Taken King known as King's Fall. The raid won't be unlocked until September 18, 2015, three days after The Taken King releases.

Crucible

• Crucible and Faction Quests
• Earning reputation for Dead Orbit, Future War Cult, and New Monarchy no longer requires wearing a class item. Instead, players can pledge themselves indefinitely to one faction, allowing them to earn reputation for that faction at the same time as they earn normal Vanguard and Crucible reputation. Pledging costs 2500 Glimmer and can be changed once per week.
• Five weekly bounties are available. Completing them all unlocks a sixth bounty for a chance to earn a legendary or exotic weapon.
• New "Mercy Rule" ends matches early if they are extremely unbalanced (as in, half of one team leaves in the middle of the match, and the other team gains a huge lead in points)
• Eight New Crucible maps
  • Bannerfall—The Last City, Earth
  • The Dungeons—Dreadnaught, Saturn
  • Frontier—City Perimeter, Earth
  • The Drifter—Foundling's Gyre, The Reef
  • Sector 618—Cosmodrome Wall, Earth
  • Crossroads—The Lost Oasis, Mars
  • Memento—European Dead Zone, Earth
  • Vertigo—Caloris Basin, Mercury
• New Crucible Modes
  • Mayhem Clash
  • Zone Control
  • Rift

Editions

Features	Digital Download	Legendary Edition (Digital)	Legendary Edition (Physical)	Digital Collector's Edition	Collector's Edition
Digital copy of The Taken King	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Digital copy of Destiny	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Physical copy of Destiny	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Digital copy of The Dark Below	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Digital copy of House of Wolves	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Collector's Edition Digital Content1 (Shaders, Class Items, Emotes)	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Collector's Edition Physical Content (Steelbook Case, Cayde-6's Treasure Island book, Strange Coin replica, Relics and Artifacts, Sleeper Simulant schematic poster)	No	No	No	No	Yes
Vanguard Weapons Pack and SUROS Arsenal Pack	Yes2	Yes2	Yes	Yes2	Yes

Notes

¹Will be available for separate purchase ($20 USD) on September 15, 2015 for all players.

²Only included with pre-orders.

Exclusive and bonus content

SUROS Arsenal Pack

The SUROS Arsenal Pack is included with pre-orders of The Taken King via select retailers. The Pack includes three SUROS weapons, the SUROS Minimalist Shader, and the SUROS Fire Emblem. Content will be available to all players after January 1, 2016.

Vanguard Weapons Pack

The Vanguard Weapons Pack is included with all pre-orders of The Taken King. The Pack includes three Vanguard-themed weapons. Content will be available to all players after January 1, 2016.

Collector's Edition Digital Content

The Collector's Edition Digital Content is included with the The Taken King physical and digital Collector's Editions, and can be purchased separately by all Destiny players beginning September 15, 2015. The content includes three class-specific Emotes, three Shaders, and three Exotic Class Items.

Founder's Fortune Pack

The Founder's Fortune Pack is a set of exclusive content awarded in The Taken King to all players who reached level 30 with at least one character in Destiny or purchased The Dark Below and House of Wolves before August 31, 2015. Content includes the Be Brave Emblem, the Old Guard Shader, the S-34 Ravensteel Sparrow, and the Brave Ghost Shell. Players must purchase The Taken King before February 1, 2016 for the Pack to unlock.

Laurea Prima

Laurea Prima is an exclusive Emblem awarded in The Taken King to all players who completed the Year One Moments of Triumph before September 15, 2015. The ten Moments of Triumph are: reach level 20 with one character; complete The Black Garden; complete The Wakening; complete Queen's Ransom; discover all 20 Golden Chests; win 100 Crucible matches; complete 50 Public Events; complete Vault of Glass on Hard; complete Crota's End on Hard; complete Skolas's Revenge.

Marketing

{{#youtube:HQymFddoo9I|350px|right|The Taken King prologue|180px}}

Red Bull Quest

In 2015, Bungie partnered with Red Bull for the "Red Bull Quest" promotion between July and September 2015. Destiny players who purchase select cans of Red Bull are able to obtain single-use redeemable codes that grant them access to the timed-exclusive Quest Make the Vanguard Smile in The Taken King and an experience-boosting item called Focused Light. The quest will be available to all players on January 1, 2016. Completing the quest rewards the Joyride Ghost Shell, the SR-0 Swiftriver Sparrow, and a consumable upgrade that converts the SR-0 Swiftriver to the SR-1 Swiftriver.

Development

The Taken King was called "Comet: Plague of Darkness" during an early stage of its development. Production started in late 2013. It was originally planned to release for $60, and include access to Europa and the European Dead Zone. Additional fireteam activities were planned. Development was rebooted in March, 2014, to focus on the Hive Dreadnaught. A public space on Mars was also planned, but was cut, and is intended for inclusion in Destiny 2.