2.44GB Destiny update goes live

Bungie has released a huge 2.44GB update for first-person shooter Destiny that adds a raft of much-requested features.

Highlights include the addition of new shaders as well as the ability to preview shaders. Public events will now occur 10-15 per cent more frequently. Bounty slots have increased from five to 10.

Update 1.0.3 also adds Team Chat, anti-cheese changes and tweaks to competitive multiplayer maps. The update contains the new Iron Banner mode, but Bungie has yet to say when this will go live.

Why is the update so huge? Bungie said it adds "new playable spaces to support The Dark Below", the upcoming expansion. I expect we'll see plenty of videos showing players finding these new areas before they're supposed to.

There's no mention of fixes for the game's raid, Vault of Glass, or much-requested changes to some exotic items, including weapons Thorn and Bad Juju.

Here are the patch notes, as posted on Bungie.net:

Voice

• Added a new social feature that enables users to access a channel for Team Chat
• Matchmade teammates will now be able to talk to each other in Strikes and team-based Crucible matches
• To learn more about how to toggle between chat channels, click here

Classes

• Fixed an issue in which two players who performed a melee lunge simultaneously would teleport through each other
• Fixed an issue in which Blink Strike damage would be caused by colliding with the Blink Strike, rather than melee impact
• Fixed an issue in which Warlock Bonds dismantled into Titan materials

Weapons

• General
• Reduced camera shake when being hit with explosive rounds
• Perks:
• Clown Cartridge: Replaced Clown Cartridge perk with other perks in shotgun upgrade trees
• Headseeker: Fixed an issue in which the bonus Precision Damage perk did not always get applied

Activities

• Missions
• Buried City: Fixed an exploit in Mars that would clear all enemies from Clovis Bray
• Strikes
• Winter's Run: Fixed an exploit zone in the Aksor boss encounter
• Difficulty will scale less for 3-player Fireteams, making Strikes less deadly for them
• Heroics
• Fixed an issue in which engrams earned during Daily and Weekly Heroic activities were not displayed in the post-game carnage report

Event: Iron Banner

• Players must now be level 20 and above to lead an Iron Banner Fireteam
• Players below Level 20 can only accompany players above Level 20
• Lord Saladin now has 5 reputation ranks (increased from 3)
• New Features Added: Tempered Buff, Reforging
• For more detailed information, click here

Cinematics

• Fixed several issues with the synchronization of cinematic subtitles in various languages

Destinations

• Combatants
• Fixed an issue in which Vex Cyclops and Hive Shrieker health bars would not update properly
• Reduced the number of Stealth Sword Vandals that spawn in the basement of the Terrestrial Complex on lower difficulties
• Events
• Public Events will occur 10-15% more frequently in all public spaces

Vendors

• Increased the number of Bounty slots in the Inventory from 5 to 10
• Added shaders to Eva Levante's stock in the Tower
• Shader preview functionality added to vendor and inventory screens
• Emblems on vendors can now be previewed in the inventory screen
• Marks and Reputation icons and meters were adjusted to better differentiate the two
• Fixed an issue in which Strange Coins and Motes of Light would not route to the Postmaster if your inventory was full
• Fixed an issue in which engrams were not displaying the possible contents in the Cryptarch vendor menu
• Fixed an issue in which players did not receive Bounty or Mission credit when assisting in the killing of a Walker or Vex Cyclops
• Armor Stat upgrade potentials added to item compare on vendor and inventory screens

PVP

• General
• Enabled revive scoring for Skirmish and Salvage
• Fixed an exploit with revive scoring when entering a kill volume and having a teammate revive you for easy points
• Adjusted Join in-Progress settings for all playlists to minimize long periods of unbalanced teams due to players quitting out of matches
• Added new functionality to match pre-formed fireteams against each other
• This will slowly roll out to all playlists over time, but will start with the 3v3 playlists
• In 3v3 games, Fireteams of 2 or more players will match together more frequently
• In 6v6 games, Fireteams of 4 or more players will match together more frequently

Medals

• Won't Be Beat now triggers correctly when a team wins a game after coming back from a 500-point losing deficit
• Mark of the Unbroken no longer requires a minimum player count
• Sum of All Tears no longer requires a minimum player count
• Sum of All Tears should now trigger consistently

Maps

• First Light
• Implemented multiple fixes to stop players from getting into advantageous positions
• Blind Watch
• Addressed some balancing issues for the Control gametype by moving Zones, modifying routes, and adding cover objects
• Adjusted landing and respawn points to accommodate new geometry changes
• Added protection to prevent players from getting on top of a pipe high above the intended playable space
• Firebase Delphi
• Added protections to prevent players from getting outside the intended playable area between Control Zone A and the crane room
• Rusted Lands
• Blocked off the monitors above Control Zone A to prevent players from hiding in them
• Shores of Time
• Added a Vex pillar to prevent players from sniping through the small gap on the ninja platform
• Implemented multiple fixes to stop players from getting into unfairly-advantageous positions
• Exodus Blue
• Multiple fixes implemented to stop players from getting into advantageous positions, especially the giant hose reel near Control Zone A
• Fixed an issue with visibility culling behind Control Zone A
• Twilight Gap
• Adjusted landing points to keep players from fighting too soon in Rumble matches
• Added protections to prevent players from getting into unintended areas, for example, atop the security camera at Control Zone C
• Added geometry to fill in small gaps that let players see out of the world

HUD

• Improved the readability of Grenade and Melee recharge states
• Improved the visibility of objectives in the Motion Tracker
• Improved the visual look of Revive waypoint and Last Man Standing
• Added skull modifier descriptions to the Navigation Mode screen
• Fixed an issue in which the names of downed teammates did not always display on-screen

Orbit

• Destiny version number to added to the Character Login screen
• Added dialog imagery for various events
• Fixed an issue in which new items available from the Special Orders vendor would not show up in the message count in the Director
• Fixed an issue in which a PlayStation Plus dialog was mistakenly shown when selecting a specific PVP activity
• Added countdown timers for weekly/special events
• Fixed various issues with Director animations
• Fixed an issue in which the Player/Inventory screen would sometimes close during certain parts of the spaceflight sequence
• Added the post-game carnage report for the previous games during Matchmaking search

Menus

• General
• Fixed an issue in which cursor speed in 4:3 and PAL was not consistent
• Roster
• Network Connection Quality Indicators now added to the Roster
• New icons added to the scoreboard and roster to indicate voice problems due to connection issues (NAT issues)
• Added support for direct fireteam joins from the roster on the Xbox One
• Inventory
• Updated Spinmetal, Relic Iron, and Helium Filaments icons to better represent in-game visuals
• Fixed and updated several inventory icons
• Fixed and updated several talent tree icons

Audio

• Improved audio cues for sticking others and being stuck with certain Grenades
• Fixed an issue in which an audio cue would not play when completing a Bounty
• Fixed an issue in which "Guardian down!" referenced the wrong gender in French, Spanish, and Portuguese

Technical

• Added the ability for the Bungie DOC to send in-game alerts and messages
• Fixed stability issues across all platforms
• Fixed an issue that would cause a rare crash during space flight into activities
• Improved patch installation process
• Implemented PS3-specific performance optimizations
• Fixed some issues causing beetle and lionfish Kicks to Orbit

Struggling with Destiny's end-game raiding? Don't miss our essential Crota's End walkthrough.