Destiny: less grind, better economy in House of Wolves DLC

Destiny developer Bungie has said it aims to lessen the grind in House of Wolves, and it won’t repeat mistakes it made with the first DLC, that fans heavily criticized.

Gear rewards will be fairer, according to lead designer Luke Smith in a Neogaf thread. For example, buying from a vendor should not invalidate gear rewarded for completing raids like the Vault of Glass.

“Our philosophy about rewards/loot continue to evolve as we see how players play and react,” he added.

“We will continue to improve acquisition stories and frequency (My understanding of the perception is that Crota’s End drop rates are much improved vs. Vault of Glass), lessen the grind and get players to the fun parts of their arsenal faster.”  Smith also said the team is hoping to rework the shard economy so players can equip and use new gear quicker.

“Shards are a barrier between you and equipping a sweet new piece of gear. We want fewer barriers to equipping upgrades. The shard economies erect these barriers between players and the new piece of gear they just got.

“We’re not intending to adjust the shard economy for this Tier — we don’t want to invalidate player effort (again). But removing the barrier between that new drop you’re excited to get and actually being able to equip it as a member of your arsenal are something we will do going forward.”