Story
The first thing you should probably do is Rise of Iron’s new story missions. These missions will tell the story of the Iron Lords, and see you take on enemy forces and put a stop to the lethal SIVA mutation. Not only do these provide players with another opportunity to get stuck into the lore of Destiny, you’ll also be rewarded with some high-level loot and a particularly awesome weapon at the end for your efforts.
In order to get started with Rise of Iron’s story missions, you’ll need to be at least level 40 and the game suggests a recommended light level of 280, though you can get by with a little less dependent on your skill level.
Strikes
Strikes have always been a staple of Destiny content, providing players with a means of grinding to get the very best loot and achieve that maximum light level. Rise of Iron adds another new strike into the mix, The Wretched Eye. You’ll have to have completed a few of the story missions before getting access to it, but we suggest getting everything you can from Rise of Iron’s story before checking out strikes and other endgame content.
Rise of Iron also remixes two existing strikes with new challenges and trickier boss battles. Devil’s Lair now has Sepiks Perfected awaiting those who make it to the end, and The Summoning Pits has also been equally remixed for veteran Guardians to go back to.
Archon’s Forge
Archon’s Forge can be found within the new Plaguelands area of Destiny. In order to gain access to Archon’s Forge, you’ll need SIVA Offerings and a couple of Splicer Keys just in case things don’t quite go to plan. This place is essentially a new Court of Oryx challenge arena. The better offering you provide, the tougher the enemies will be and the better your reward.
The Forge does have a bit of a catch, though. If your teammates fail to revive you for whatever reason, or you self-respawn, you’ll end up outside on the observation deck and will have to use a Splicer Key to jump back in. Therefore, you’ll need to pay attention to the rest of your team and communicate effectively to be successful. Archon’s Forge is going to be somewhere that’s worth checking out when you’re trying to grind those last light levels to the cap, so don’t forget about it.
Exotic Quests
Rise of Iron brings four exotic quests to the table for Guardian’s to complete and add more incredibly powerful loot to their armory. Currently, we’ve got guides for the Gjallarhorn, Khvostov, and the Thorn, if you want to embark on these quests with a little bit of help.
Not only will these new quests have you venturing into territories you may not have explored before, taking on waves of enemies, and fetching some important items. Having all of the Exotics in your roster will certainly help you take down any future threats with a little less effort, especially those raids.
Dormant SIVA Clusters and Dead Ghosts
If you’re someone who just loves collectibles or just can’t get enough of Destiny’s lore, then you probably already know about the Dead Ghosts from vanilla Destiny. Well, turns out that Bungie added a ton more in for you to find with the Rise of Iron expansion. If you’re looking for something a little less chaotic than the action of Strikes or the Crucible, then you can always whittle away a couple of hours collecting these.
There are also Dormant SIVA Clusters dotted around through the Plaguelands, Felwinter Peak, and other areas of Rise of Iron. These not only give you a reason to scour these new areas and see what they have to offer, but reveal extra tidbits of the lore surrounding this virus and the rest of the Destiny world. You can check out our guide on these over here.
Record Book
While you’ll more than likely complete some of your Rise of Iron record book simply by playing through the story mode, playing some strikes, and trying out the new raid, there are some other milestones that will require you to put a bit of a grind in, or you may not just happen to finish without a little prompt.
Rise of Iron’s record book has 32 milestones for you to complete and 12 different rewards to entice you to rank it all the way to 24. If you’re wanting to see quite literally everything this new expansion has to offer and you want to earn some sweet loot in the process, the Record Book should be something you keep referring back to.
Raid
It may not be live just yet, but Rise of Iron’s Wrath of the Machine raid will provide you with more than enough challenge to keep you and your fireteam occupied for a while. Bungie has revealed that your success in Wrath of the Machine will depend more on your light level than your knowledge of the technical aspects of the raid and its unique mechanics, so you should probably use what time you’ve got left between now and then to try and hit the level cap.
Wrath of the Machine is going to be a surefire way to get some of the best loot to push you towards that final light level cap. For all of you veteran Guardians out there, Wrath of the Machine is probably going to become your hunting ground and possibly the toughest challenge you’re likely to face in Destiny. If that isn’t ample reason to check it out, I don’t know what is.
About the author
