[UPDATE: Community Manager has added clarification to the comments about the exotic armor engrams. It appears Xur will still sell one armor item per class. See below:]
- Exotics that previously only dropped in POE can drop from Legacy Engrams
- Xûr will continue to sell one piece of Exotic armor per class
- None of the information I am giving is a promise about what will happen tomorrow
With the year-long wait for Destiny: The Taken King finally over, Guardians are undoubtedly spending as much time as possible exploring all that the new expansion for Bungie's popular sci-fi MMO has to offer. So far, the new missions, gear, and strikes have been a plentiful bounty for fans of the game, and Destiny diehards are sure to block off the majority of their weekends in order to take on Oryx in the new and much vaunted King's Fall raid.
A fresh weapon re-balance has also been introduced – along with the possible forthcoming inclusion of an exotic known as Touch of Malice – and the Agent of the Nine, more familiarly known as Xûr, is back to hawk more of his wares, with new guns and items. However, the vendor is going to be switching up his selling tactics when it comes to Year 2 of Destiny.
The news of the exotics dealer's altered practices comes courtesy of the first Bungie Weekly Update since The Taken King released a couple of days ago. According to Destiny's senior design lead Tyson Green, as opposed to the Agent of the Nine previously selling one exotic weapon, three exotic armor pieces (one per class), and an exotic engram, Xûr will now start offering only one new exotic item per week – that can be a Taken King exotics – which will either be the weapon or the engram.
Surely, some Destiny players will be disappointed by the news, but Green assures fans that the change is being made in order to keep the retailer's stock fresh. Regarding the matter, the senior design lead says:
"In Year One, Xûr was a community 'loot drop,' a shared rallying point that everyone could cheer or curse. In Year Two, Xûr’s offerings have been changed so that he will select either a specific Exotic Weapon or an Exotic Engram for sale every week. This change is due primarily to our desire to give players more direct paths to acquiring the Exotics they want through Quests and gameplay experiences, and to avoid repetition in his inventory."
Destiny's senior design lead then goes on to confirm that Xûr will also be selling a new consumable called the Three of Coins, and it enacts the chance for bosses to drop exotic engrams, including weapon engrams. Plus, Xûr will also choose a legacy engram every week, which will contain Year 1 exotics with their attack and defense levels set as they were during Year 1.
As Xûr has said during his debut of Taken King exotics via Destiny's Instagram, "My will is not my own, Guardian", so should players be upset with the trader's new policies, they should take it up with Bungie, as the developers are the ones pulling the strings. If nothing else, the studio has at least made good on their promise to offer substantial alterations for Year 2, but this may not have been the adjustment that fans had in mind.
What do you think about Xur only selling one new exotic item per week during Year 2 of Destiny? Do you believe it will help make what he offers even more appealing and reduce item redundancy, or do you believe the change will end up hurting game experiences in the long run?
Destiny: The Taken King is available now for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Source: Bungie