Destiny's Vault of Glass raid more difficult from today
UPDATE: Bungie explains decision: "The Raid is never supposed to be easy."
UPDATE 29/10/2014 9.20am Bungie has moved to explain the controversial changes it made to Destiny's Raid encounter, Vault of Glass.
Yesterday the developer issued an update to the game that prevents players from pushing Atheon, the Raid's final boss, off of his platform for an easy win.
But the most contentious change was to have Atheon randonly target players to teleport. Previously you could predict which he would select and prepare accordingly.
Many players who had worked out Atheon's abilities were upset, saying they were being punished for employing effective tactics.
But in a post on Bungie.net, community chief David "Deej" Dague defended the decision, saying Vault of Glass' designers wanted to ensure the encounter was hard for all players at all times.
"So, the update just went live. Atheon can no longer be pushed off his platform. He'll also select people at random to be thrown across time. He's a real bastard, eh?" Dague said.
"I talked a lot to the developers about your opinions on the matter. You don't want to be selected at random. You want to choose who gets to fetch the Relic under fire from those nasty Oracles. I spoke on your behalf. Your voice was heard. We discussed your concerns.
"I even said 'Why not just change Hard Mode and leave Easy Mode alone?'
"I was told 'The Raid is never supposed to be easy.'"
Dague added that Vault of Glass was designed to be undertaken by a hardcore team willing to adapt and improvise to changing battle conditions, his point being that predictable player teleportation by the boss was not in keeping with this goal.
"Like the moment when the Templar shields random players, the Final Boss was supposed to be extremely dangerous," he added.
"While we've been working on some of the other things for which you've been asking (i.e. better exotics, voice chat in matchmaking, more bounties), the designers who made the Raid have plugged the holes that you showed them.
"If you got in on the ground floor of this thing, we thank you. If you understand the mechanics for how to beat Atheon, it's still a thing you can teach your friends. If you're all up to the challenge, the Raid is waiting for you."
UPDATE 28/10/14 4.30pm Destiny players have spotted a special gift now available from the game's postmaster - a trio of pumpkin head consumables for you to wear.
Each lasts 30 minutes, and you're able to travel between planets with your holiday headgear intact.
We took a trip to the Tower and tried one on for size:
ORIGINAL STORY 28/10/14 4.00pm Bungie's latest Destiny hotfix has shut down two player tactics that were making the game's Vault of Glass raid a little easier than intended.
The event's final boss could previously be forced off of his platform, killing him instantly. This exploit has now been fixed.
The boss will also now randomly target players to teleport during the raid's final encounter - previously you could predict which he would select and prep accordingly.
Other issues mentioned in today's patch notes include server-side fixes to reduce the likelihood players will be kicked at the beginning of a mission.
A number of future tweaks were also teased - including the long-awaited balance changes for some exotic weapons and better options for voice chat with match-made teammates.
The ability to hold a larger number of Bounties at any one time is also on the way, Bungie concluded.
Watch the now-fixed final boss exploit in action below:
