With the launch of Destiny: The Taken King a little more than two weeks away, veteran players are chomping at the bit to devour the expansion’s new content. Obviously, a major goal for Destiny players will be hitting the new level cap of 40, as well as acquiring stronger weapons and gear, but there’s also apparently a deeper story involved this time around as well.

But while new missions and co-op experiences are sure to have their time in the sun, most would agree that the major selling point of Destiny: The Taken King is the new King’s Fall raid. It’s been more than half a year since Bungie released a new raid for Destiny and with talk of King’s Fall being the biggest raid the developer has ever created, anticipation is understandably high.

Unfortunately that anticipation will have to wait a little longer, as Bungie has today confirmed that the King’s Fall raid will not launch alongside Destiny: The Taken King on September 15th. According to The Taken King’s director Luke Smith, players can expect the raid to launch a week or two later.

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While this news is obviously disappointing, it’s not necessarily surprising. When vanilla Destiny first launched, it did so without the Vault of Glass raid, and the hard mode version of Crota’s End did not debut until a month after Dark Below’s release date.

Bungie’s decision to delay King’s Fall likely stems from a desire to give players enough time to complete the new story content and acquire some top tier gear. Since Destiny fans are a voracious bunch, we wouldn’t be surprised to see players hit level 40 within the first day of The Taken King and then jump into King’s Fall shortly thereafter. And while that’s all well and good, it could diminish the mystery for those players who can’t pull a Day 1 marathon session, as spoiler videos and details would start hitting the Net.

Moreover, Bungie has made it abundantly clear that the last thing they want Destiny players to do is race through their content. Say what you will about its depth, but Destiny’s content takes time to design, and having someone gloss over all that detail in a quest to get raid gear is the last thing Bungie wants.

Delaying the King’s Fall raid is also smart because it offers players enough time to prepare their world record teams and runs. Since gear drops largely depend on RNG (random number generator), setting a start date after the launch makes it so most raid race teams will all be at the starting line with the right gear. In other words, it’s not a race to hit level 40, find the right gear, and complete the raid, just a race to complete the raid.

Ultimately, this is a small blow and should do little to dampen fans’ enthusiasm for Destiny: The Taken King’s release. In fact, it may be more of a relief because it gives players time to explore the content and level up their new subclasses without the pressure of getting to the raid as soon as possible.

How do you feel about Bungie delaying the King’s Fall raid? Were you hoping to make it through the raid on day 1?

Destiny: The Taken King releases September 15, 2015 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: Planet Destiny