For those of you that didn’t read part one on Monday I was in Bellevue, Washington last week and got more hands on time with Destiny: Rise of Iron. On Monday we covered the first new story mission King of the Mountain, and an updated strike the Devil’s Lair. This time I’ll go into detail about Felwinter Peak and Archon’s Forge.
Felwinter Peak is the ancestral home of the Iron Lords. It is here that you’ll set up shop for the remainder of Rise of Iron. Felwinter is the third shared social space in Destiny. It falls in between the Tower and Reef for size. It’s a little smaller than the Tower but a little larger than the Reef.
It should come as no surprise to anyone with a name that has Peak in it that Felwinter is near the summit of a mountain. Everything is lightly dusted in snow as befitting the surrounding area. You’ll also find a handful of wolves that have made their home amongst the Iron Lord’s ruins. Once you take part in a mission to light all the fires this cold and barren area will start to see more life. Felwinter will become repopulated with a postmaster, a mission vendor, and a few story specific NPCs. Felwinter is also the home to a jumping puzzle. You can watch me take part in some of it in the video below. I don’t want to spoil it entirely so consider yourself warned, I’ll stop about halfway through.
More important than a jumping puzzle is the shrine to the fallen Iron Lords that are located inside of the mountain. While the outside of Felwinter is harsh and cold, the inside of Felwinter is warm and solemn. It is a place of remembrance and reflection. It’s a solid contrast to the harsh environment outside. It is here that you will be able to light additional fires as you take part in quests to receive an artifact associated with each of the Iron Lords. These quests will come out once a week and will take a player 8 weeks to earn them all.
Felwinter is very distinct from the Tower and the Reef and will make a nice addition for players to run around and hang out in between missions. Felwinter also supports 16 players simultaneously. This is an increase from the previous social areas. This is one of the benefits players will be able to see by not supporting the Xbox 360 and PS3 with this release. While there are other advantages too, this is one of the most immediately noticeable.
Archon’s Forge is a type of public event that can be found in the Plaguelands. It is located inside of a large hill, or small mountain, that is leaking lava. In order to enter the forge a member of your group will have to enter a key. Once inside the Forge you’ll be able to stay until you die and release. If you release, you’ll need another key to get back in. There are three different tiers of the Forge. Each take a different level of key to open. These keys are known as offerings of SIVA. There are five different varieties of encounters you can face in the Forge. It’s random which one you will face. The key will only determine how difficult the public event is you trigger. Even though you can stay as long as you want in the forge, as long as you live, a person can only carry one key at a time. At a certain point you’ll be dependent on other guardians coming in and spawning the event if you want to do anything. You can get offerings of SIVA from doing different objectives throughout the game. We earned a key by killing Sepiks Perfected in an earlier strike mission. Regardless who trigger the Forge to begin everyone will be awarded upon successfully completing a mission. At the least you’ll be rewarded a blue engram. Most people however will probably be more interested in the sets of armor that can be won.
That’s it for now. Look back next week when we will have a full review of Rise of Iron!
