Destiny: The Taken King to get Light Increase, New PvE Challenges and More Gear

Bungie has been teasing a larger update coming to Destiny this spring. On the heels of the announcement that the game is getting a big expansion later this year and a sequel in 2017, the developer has teased what's due out in the next few months.

Specifics are still hard to come by, but here's what we know. The spring update offers "a significant" increase to Light levels, new gear, and new PvE "challenges" for those "seeking some more fun experiences and replayability."

Bungie didn't detail what that Light increase will translate to exactly or if these new challenges will be reserved for those who have reached the highest Light levels. Since The Taken King's release, Bungie has added a Challenge mode for the King's Fall raid and limited-time modes. The latter have been exclusively available for Crucible, like the Sparrow Racing League and ongoing Crimson Doubles mode.

Activision hasn't said what will and will not be free, but based on the language--what's coming in spring is an "update," but we're getting an "expansion" later this year--it sounds like the spring additions will be free, while what's coming later in 2016 will not be.

Destiny introduced microtransactions late last year. Activision made it clear that these wouldn't necessarily serve as a complete substitute for the types of paid expansions seen during Destiny's first year.

A Bungie designer said in December that, in lieu of new expansions, Destiny would be supported through events (presumably in the lead up to the release of a sequel later this year). However, as Activision confirmed today, plans to release Destiny 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) this year have been scrapped, and the new game will instead be coming in 2017. In its place, we'll be getting a "large new expansion" in 2016.

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