What You Need to Know About Destiny: House of Wolves

The eagerly awaited second expansion pack for Destiny, titled House of Wolves, hits Xbox One and Xbox 360 tomorrow. In anticipation of the launch, we’ve gone ahead and sussed out the biggest new features and additions coming to Bungie’s space opus.

New Missions
Of course, perhaps the most anticipated thing House of Wolves brings to the table is a slew of new missions. The story has the Queen calling upon Guardians to help hunt down the Fallen who once served her. The Fallen decided to rebel… and the results play out over the course of the story missions included with the new expansion.

The Shadow Thief
An all-new cooperative strike for three-man fireteams, The Shadow Thief has players hunting for Taniks, a Fallen mercenary living on the moon in House of Wolves’ Ketch spaceship. Expect quite a challenge from this one!

Trials of Osiris
A new multiplayer mode, Trials of Osiris provides players with scorecards. Players complete these by maxing out at either nine wins or three losses, at which point said scorecard can be cashed in for rewards. The multiplayer mode places two teams of three Guardians each against one another; these teams score a point for eliminating the opposing team, and the first team to five points wins.

Prison of Elders
Prison of Elders is House of Wolves’ new Fireteam-focused arena mode, which has players fighting their way through five rounds of enemies that progressively increase in strength. Each round sees three successive waves of enemies and a random boss fight. How long can you hold out?

Performance-based Rewards
Completing multiplayer sessions will double rewards for Destiny players – and for the first time, players’ performance will help in determining what rewards they receive. In other words: You get yours.

New Arenas, Gear, Weapons, and Armor
House of Wolves adds three new Crucicle maps to Destiny, along with plenty of never-before-seen equipment. The ceiling for Guardians’ levels has also been raised to 34, and players will be able to upgrade all of their exotic and legendary armor to match the new level.

The Queen’s Bay
Finally, a new hub area has been added to Destiny’s universe. Until now, the only place that the game has offered for purchasing gear and getting bounties has been Earth’s Tower – but House of Wolves allows access to The Queen’s Bay, located in the Reef (which was seen briefly during the campaign). This zone features new vendors and missions, all relevant to the House of Wolves story and theme.

All in all, House of Wolves is a massive Destiny content pack that should keep you busy for quite a while. Get it tomorrow on Xbox One or Xbox 360!