Although plenty of Destiny players are still making their way through the normal mode version of the King’s Fall raid, others have simply been biding their time. They know that hard mode is the real test of a fireteam’s mettle, and are ready to slay Oryx once and for all. Soon they will get their chance, as today Bungie has revealed the King’s Fall hard mode release date.

The hard mode variant for King’s Fall was originally slated to release on October 30th, but lucky for us the Destiny raid team was ready to go a little early. Now, the King’s Fall hard mode will go live on October 23rd at 10am PT.

As far as what players can expect from hard mode, Bungie wouldn’t say much. They do recommend a light level between 300-320, and promised that new gear will drop with ratings between 310 and 320. In essence, players will likely need to be at or near 310 to have success in the early parts of the raid – the Warpriest fight and the Golgoroth fight – and will need to be at or above 315 to beat Oryx. But that’s just speculation, we actually won’t know the recommended light levels for each boss until next Friday morning.

For that matter, we don’t know how the King’s Fall raid will change with the Heroic modifier turned on. It’s safe to assume respawns will be turned off, but there’s the possibility of new challenges waiting as well. For those who remember, Bungie claims that they designed the hard mode of Destiny’s new raid first, and then worked backwards.

We also have yet to see what the new twist is for King’s Fall, which some believe is part of the hard mode. The twist could also be a third difficulty as well, but no word on that yet.

What we do know is that there will soon be new raid gear to covet, and it may or may not have a new design scheme. When the Destiny: The Taken King install file went live, data miners discovered two sets of raid gear – one basic version and one called ‘Harrowed’ – so perhaps that’s what players have to look forward to.

What we’re most looking forward to, though, is a set of primary weapons that include elemental burns. That’s always been the primary goal for past raids, and it hasn’t changed now.

Are you ready to take on the hard mode version of King’s Fall? What loot do you hope to get?

Destiny: The Taken King is out now for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: Bungie