Get the lowdown on Destiny's new arena mode known as Archon's Forge: where it is, what it's like, the lore behind it, and the rewards waiting for those who overcome its challenges.

Destiny: Rise of Iron will bring a new Arena mode to Bungie sci-fi shooter called Archon’s Forge. It is located deep in the Plaguelands, the new Patrol area and public space players will explore in Rise of Iron. It has been described as a cross between the other arena-type modes already in Destiny—Prison of Elders and Court of Oryx.

When players reach Archon’s Forge located inside of a “big flaming fortress” hidden in the Plaguelands, they will kick off Destiny’s closest version to a classic Horde Mode á la Gears of War. Waves of Fallen enemies spawn out of domes inside the Forge and players will have to fend off the scattering enemies quickly. If the waves can be cleared out fast enough, a boss will spawn to cap off the experience.

Defeating that boss will drop loot specific to Archon’s Forge, which, much like the April Update’s Challenge of the Elders mode, can drop at the highest Light level (depending on the player’s current Light level). Not only will collector’s likely want to get their hands on the exclusive Archon’s Forge armor sets, but also this mode appears to be another viable way to make solid strides to level up in Light.

There is a risk/reward element to Archon’s Forge. Players who die and respawn during Archon’s Forge will be kicked out back to the entrance, which will be locked. The way around getting locked out is to wait for a friend (or helpful stranger) to revive within the Forge. Therefore, it will be a good idea to take a fireteam or join up with other random players when taking on this new mode. Like Court of Oryx, Archon’s Forge is in a public space, so random Guardians will be able to jump into each other’s games to help each other.

Judging from the impressions of the Game Informer editors who played the mode, it sounds like it’s a slugfest that can be pretty challenging. Players will have deal out lots of damage quickly if they hope to reach the boss fight and claim the higher tier rewards.

Interested in the lore behind Archon’s Forge and why it’s even in the Plaguelands? Here’s some info gleaned from Bungie:

[Archon’s Forge] plays off the Fallen hierarchy system. A Fallen foot soldier has to scavenge for a piece of SIVA technology to prove his worth to his House, and then he offers it up at the Archon’s Forge in order to earn the right to fight and improve his standing. So, in effect, when you find these SIVA pieces that trigger the start of a fight, you’re stomping all over the Fallen ascension rituals!

Archon’s Forge may end up being what many originally thought Bungie was going to add to the game when Prison of Elders was teased back in the House of Wolves expansion. It appears to be a little more traditional wave-based arena gameplay, without the added objectives of Prison of Elders, but meatier than one short boss fight that is found in Court of Oryx. Throw those high-level armor and weapons in, and it sounds like something players will definitely want to try this fall.

Destiny: Rise of Iron will launch September 20 on PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: Game Informer