‘Destiny’ Turns Gjallarhorn Into Sparrow For ‘Rise Of Iron’, Brings Winter To Cosmodrome

The Gjallarhorn will return with the release of Destiny: Rise of Iron this September, but Bungie is not stopping there. The developer revealed a new Sparrow inspired by the Exotic Rocket Launcher that will be available plus PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players should expect significant changes to the Cosmodrome based on the developer’s Twitch stream.

Bungie is offering the black and gold Iron Gjallarwing for those that pre-order Destiny: Rise of Iron prior to its September 20 release to the PS4 and Xbox One. This is in addition to the Iron Gjallarhorn that was previously announced.

Those that don’t pre-order Rise of Iron won’t be completely left out. A white and gold version of the Gjallarwing will be for sale through the Eververse Trading Company. A price hasn’t been announced yet, but something in the $5 to $10 range should be expected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBnW6JQFPQM

The Exotic Rocket Launcher returns for Year Three of Destiny skipping Year Two. Bungie deemed the Gjallarhorn as too powerful because it could quite literally be used to break boss fights during story missions, Strikes, the Raid, and Prison of Elders. The weapon did not receive a Year Two boost due to its overwhelming power, so it will be interesting to see what tweaks the developer made to bring it in line.

Players will need to complete an in-game quest to receive the Iron Gjallarhorn. However, a white and gold version will be available as well for those who do not pre-order.

Meanwhile, Bungie demonstrated some of the changes coming to the Cosmodrome in a livestream ride-a-long. This will be a featured area when Destiny: Rise of Iron launches as the developer adds the Plaguelands as an all new area. That wasn’t shown during the stream. Instead, viewers got a look at changes to the existing locations in the game with some other hints thrown in, such as potential Light level.

The most notable change is the Cosmodrome is now blanketed in snow from the starting area all the way through to the Devil Walker arena in the Sepiks Prime Strike. Players should also expect to see some of the content from the addition of the Plaguelands to leak over to the older zones. Most notably, some of the infected Fallen will appear along with other SIVA elements.

The geometry of some areas has been changed too. Walls have been cut through, opening up some previously enclosed buildings. How far in these openings lead is anyone’s guess as Bungie Community Manager David “Deej” Dague and the other developers would only stand on the outside looking in.

Interestingly, The Divide will pay tribute to the Public Event Devil Walker that appeared like clockwork in the zone. A destroyed version of the walking tank is now entombed in the snow.

As for the infected Splicer Fallen, there are obvious changes with them starting with the weaponry. The Servitors shoot red bolts of energy similar to the current bolts, but at a much faster pace. Additionally, the Splicer Captains demonstrated they will get the final elemental shield they have been missing, Void.

A new SIVA-themed black SUROS Auto Rifle was also shown briefly along with 355 Light level. That Light level is likely just a placeholder though with the final level to be revealed in a future Destiny announcement.

Bungie will be at the Gamescom 2016 convention in Kohn, Germany. The annual convention will start on August 17 and run through August 21. Expect plenty of news about Destiny: Rise of Iron then with a special focus on the multiplayer changes coming to the first-person shooter.

What do you think of the Gjallarwing and the changes coming to Destiny‘s Cosmodrome? Sound off in the comments below.

[Image via Bungie/YouTube]