Bungie has delivered on their promise of a Destiny hot fix to solve several painful issues currently prevalent within the online shooter. Today's hot fix addressed complaints regarding the rewards for Destiny's weekly Nightfall strike, put a band aid on the unlimited Shadowshot bug that plagued Iron Banner last week, and finally set the page for Friday's unlock of the King's Fall Hard Mode difficulty. Altogether a very constructive hot fix -- no download required!

Yes, the groundwork has been laid for the King's Fall Hard Mode difficulty and Bungie has opened the curtains on several new details regarding the loot that players can expect from the raid. Unlocking at 10:00AM on October 23, King's Fall Hard Mode (recommended Light 310) will be every guardian's first opportunity to earn items with Light up to 320. Note that Bungie clearly says Light up to 320 and not between 310-320. The ceiling has been raised.

In a separate FAQ,  Bungie has made clear that those running King's Fall Hard Mode will earn both the rewards for Hard Mode and Normal Mode, so long as Normal Mode has yet to be completed. In today's hot fix Bungie added some clarification on a couple more points. Oryx in Hard Mode will now guarantee a Raid drop, no Moldering Shards required. But Moldering Shards will continue to drop in Hard Mode if the player has not yet cleared Normal Mode for the week. Everything has to be so complicated, doesn't it?

As predicted, Bungie addressed the exploit allowing Hunter's running the Nightstalker sub-class to have unlimited Shadowshots. Unfortunately all they were able to manage in a hot fix is a temporary fix. They've removed the extra shots from Quiver, preventing the unlimited supply from perpetuating. It's a very rough fix to the issues, one which will likely frustrate honest Nightstalker Hunters, but Bungie insists that it's just a quick fix and that the issue will be solved entirely in an upcoming patch.

Here's the full list of changes put out in today's Destiny Hot Fix:

  • Classes
    • Nightstalker Hunter
      • Temporarily removed the extra shots from Quiver to avoid unlimited Shadowshots
      • This is a temporary fix, and the node will be restored in a fixed state in an upcoming patch
  • Activities
    • Daily Heroic Story
      • Removed deprecated Quest requirements from "Siege of the Warmind"
      • Removed deprecated Quest requirements from "The Wakening"
    • Weekly Nightfall Strike
      • Increased the base level of Nightfall Legendary rewards by 10 Attack/Defense
      • Increased the chance of Legendary rewards by 10% (from 50% to 60%)
      • Increased the number of Strange Coins or Three of Coins awards
      • Ghosts have been added to the Legendary reward loot table
      • Legendary Engrams no longer drop from Nightfall Strike boss kills
        • They will continue to drop their unique Legendary items
        • Removed Antiquated Runes from the loot tables
  • King's Fall
    • King's Fall Hard Mode will be available at 10AM on 10/23
    • Recommended Light is 310
    • King's Fall Hard Mode has the following changes:
      • King's Fall Hard Mode rewards will drop up to 320 Light
      • Oryx in Hard Mode will guarantee a Raid item drop each week, without requiring Moldering Shards
      • Oryx in Normal mode will still require Moldering Shards
      • Moldering Shards can drop in King's Fall Hard Mode, but only if a character hasn't cleared King's Fall Normal for the week
  • Crucible
    • Weekly Crucible Bounty
      • Increased base level of Weekly Crucible Bounty Legendary rewards by 10 Attack
      • Increased number of Strange Coins awarded
      • Ghosts have been added to the Legendary reward loot table

Weekly Nightfall rewards have also been addressed, though perhaps not to the extent that many Destiny players were hoping for. The Taken King expansion saw the removal a core Nightfall Reward, a buff that gave additional experience and faction rep, but Bungie appears to be happy to keep the buff in storage. Instead, they've buffed the Legendary rewards found within Nightfall by a solid 10 Attack/Defense, increased Legendary drop rate, and boosted the amount of Strange Coins and Three of Coins that players might earn after completion. That should make the weekly Nightfall more attractive for those still climbing the Light staircase, but there's no new reason to do the Nightfall for those who weren't already.

In addition to the King's Fall Hard Mode preparation, the Shadowshot hot fix and the changes to the Weekly Nightfall rewards, Bungie made a handful of other small fixes. That includes the removal of a couple deprecated quest requirements the "Siege of the Warmind" and "The Wakening" missions. It also includes a buff to the Weekly Crucible Bounty on top of the Nightfall changes. Legendaries again were buffed by 10 Attack/Defense, Strange Coin rewards have increased in number, and Ghosts will now drop. It's raining ghost shells!

Bungie's put together a healthy looking hot fix here. I'd expect that many Destiny players will say that Bungie could have made the Nightfall rewards even more attractive, but as ever will take what they can get. Folk will likely be too excited for the King's Fall Hard Mode unlock later this week to get too caught up in any other drama. Okay, check that, there's still going to be a lot of frustration over the Iron Banner rewards for a while yet. It's always something!