Grateful Guardians were enamoured to discover the release of Bungie's newest trailer: for Destiny's upcoming DLC, The Curse of Osiris. But aside from being ostensibly set on Mercury, starring Osiris, and featuring the timeless Vex, what do we discover?
Here, we break down what's in this trailer, for maximum pleasure.
New Vex
The new Vex have a new color scheme: gold and white. This indicates they're a different group, possibly from a different era. The Vex are scattered across time and space, but via their central minds, can communicate. In previous installments, we've seen deployments from past, present, and future, such as the Hezen Corrective, the Sol Divisive, and the Aphix Invasive. The new Vex seen here don't match any of their designs.
Despite the trailer making an attempt to blur them, we see a band of three such Vex, with unique markings.
Their design is far more elegant and refined. Interestingly enough, there's an attention to ornate fixtures, such as gold trim and an extremely aesthetic headlamp.
This isn't the article for speculation, but these designs fall in line with Emperor Calus' own preferred aesthetic about his Leviathan. Could his actions have some consequence in the future that we're called upon to face? Or more frightening, is something happening in the present, that we must respond to?
Here, we see what appears to be a new Vex-based armor set. The guardian is wielding an equally Vex-themed gun, with what I assume to be a Fusion Rifle mounted to his back. The arms certainly look cool.
Here, we see a Minotaur up-close. The design starts to become clearer: literally.
Some of its elements are translucent. The overall design is gold, but it seems extremely ornamental, with an extremely gold gun, the same redesigned head and an extra set of horns. I dig the design, but there's something new that intrigues me.
The Vex's glowing center contains its Radiolaria, which we know to be its living component. Here, the liquid seems to be piped into its arms and legs. Past models haven't featured translucent bodies, so we've never seen this before. It may be unique to the new Vex, but more likely, is just something we never had a chance to see.
Jade Rabbit and Telesto Return
Here we see two Guardians, with two familiar weapons: Jade Rabbit and Telesto.
Jade Rabbit, as seen the left-most Guardian's grasp, looks as beautiful as ever, and Telesto, while somewhat obscured, is betrayed by its unique stock, and charging animation. These were certainly two of the most fun guns to use, so I'm pleased to see them return.
Osiris and The Lighthouse
Here we see Osiris, taking a knee after annihilating some Vex. He's rocking the Sunbracers gauntlets, as well as a pretty nifty sword. This sword had previously been seen in the game's concept art, so it's good to finally see in the game. He has a unique helmet, but if history is any guide, we likely won't be able to acquire it ourselves.
That's The Lighthouse, implying that whatever area of Mercury we explore in the expansion is the same that it inhabits. Makes sense, given the mutual ties to Osiris. But also interesting to know that Osiris actively haunts these grounds.
I'd like to imagine him peeking from beyond a rock, watching us fight in the Burning Shrine, tip-toing into the Lighthouse with our Adept weapons, and then watching us gleefully unwrap them.
Osiris is like the Santa Claus of fire, I've determined, and while that's not actually part of the lore, it's going to be soon, because this DLC is clearly planning to explain that process. You see, Santa Claus' domain the cold; Osiris' is the heat. While Santa gives good boys and girls gift, Osiris is slinging guns around the most dangerous parts of the galaxy.
I don't have time to explain what I don't have time to explain, but the spherical structure seen in the background (no, not the sun) is of some value. Vex structures are very specific, not random, and certainly not frivolously placed.
On Nessus, we encountered similar spherical designs, and they intrigued me. Here, that curiosity only deepens. Both Mercury and Nessus are machine-worlds, indicating that these structures hold some value within that environment. I can't wait to find out what it is.
The Reef?
Finally, and most explosively, this could be The Reef. The red flags, the twisted metal beams, the drenching of purple light...it's a familiar asthetic. Even the crumpled rug with the mysterious emblem looks straight out of everyone's least favorite social space.
I could be wrong, and it could be that Mercury is suffering a power outage during a Reef themed celebration, and the inclusion of Vex structures certainly has me puzzled, but the inclusion of a lot of the visual elements leads me to believe this is a Reef location.
But wait, there's one last thing.
We have the cover of DLC 2; the only though to be Warmind-themed
There's a giant ghost, feeding speculation that Ghosts were actually created by the Warmind, Rasputin. (This is a really old theory from Destiny Year 1 that may or may not hold up very well; but I'll be sure to give it a shot.)
It's presumably set on Io, unless Bungie sees fit to bless us with another patrol location. And it's interesting to see Ghosts featured as the predominant image of what's going to be a Warmind themed DLC.
Update: Nope. Was shown the full-sized image and that's definitely just a Warmind Vault.
Bungie gave us an exciting new look at what's to come in Destiny 2, and we can't wait to get our hands on it. The release date is Decemebr 5th, and will be available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC.