Don’t Miss Destiny 2’s Exciting King’s Fall Raid Race To Claim World’s First Title
Technically, the raid launching today is not new. The King’s Fall raid originally took place during Destiny 1 as part of the much loved The Taken King expansion. Like Vault of Glass, the raid is has been revised and updated with new twists and mechanics to suite Destiny 2’s sandbox. What has changed from the Destiny 1 version? That is part of the Raid Race’s excitement. Only Bungie knows what is different at this point, and it will be up to the competing players to find a new path through the encounters.
For example, in Vault of Glass players originally had to shoot Oracles that appeared in one encounter, but sequencing did not matter. In the Destiny 2 reprisal, the Oracles would chime in a particular order which then had to be shot in that same order once they appeared together. Brutal enemy types called Champions were also added into the mix which are new to Destiny 2 and require certain weapon loadouts to engage with.
Because the raid encounters are not wholly new, this Raid Race has more requirements than simply getting to the finish line first. Like all Day One raids, the conditions are conducted under “Contest Mode.” In Contest Mode, player’s power level is artificially reduced to a cap. This makes defeating enemies more difficult and survival a struggle.
After an initial run through King’s Fall, fireteams are only halfway done. They will need to launch back in and complete the raid again with challenges enabled. Each encounter gains additional conditions that must be met. If failed, the fireteam is immediately wiped and has to start their attempt over again, burning the clock.
Guardians can only rest once the second playthrough on Challenge Mode is completed. After some work to verify the legitimacy of the run, Bungie will announce the crowned champions to all players. Right now, streamer Saltagreppo and Clan Elysium stand as the reigning World’s First raid team for Vault of Glass and Vow of the Disciple. Do these back-to-back champions have what it takes for a threepeat, or will other contenders knock them off the podium? There’s only one way to find out, and the race starts at 1PM ET / 10AM PT today.
Watching the race unfold can be just as exciting as participating. I have been known to plaster my screens with different Twitch streams to keep tabs on how it unfolds, but streamers like World's First veteran ProfessorBroman work to reshare multiple streams in one feed with commentary. Be sure to also keep an eye on the different chat rooms. While it can be full of deliberate misinformation and spoilers, it also provided an early tip that Garden of Salvation World's First raider ExBlack_ and his team had reached the final encounter of Vow of the Disciple first. Clicking into his stream to see the final boss's unique aesthetic was quite a memorable surprise. Bungie also relies on the hype these events generate to buzz for upcoming content like Lightfall, so the company puts a lot of work into making it a spectacle.