The new Hive faction is cold as ice

On a stream today, Bungie and Vicarious Visions detailedWarmind, the Mars-centric expansion forDestiny 2. It’s due out in just two weeks — on Tuesday, May 8 for $20 — and spans a few key additions.

There’s a new horde-mode-like endgame activity called Escalation Protocol, which has players teaming up to survive waves of Hive forces and, despite the simple premise, sounds like something I could really get behind as a lapsed player. There’s another Raid Lair, dubbed Spire of Star, set on the Leviathan. And there will be more strikes — including a timed exclusive on PlayStation 4 (“until at least fall 2018”) called The Insight Terminus; in it, guardians will break into a Vex tomb on Nessus.

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Here’s the story setup forWarmind, per Bungie:

“Ana Bray, a Guardian long thought lost, searches for a connection to her past…one that could be hidden forever beneath the polar ice cap of Mars. As Golden Age satellites begin slamming back to ground, glaciers begin to thaw, revealing the core of theWarmind Rasputin–and an ancient Hive army bent on its destruction. Now free, the Hive swarm in service to their god.”

This all sounds decently intriguing to me, but I think I’ll be best off waiting until Season 4 in September to get the most bang for my buck, interest-wise. It’d be a shame to get back intoDestiny 2for the newWarmindstuff only to drop it again two weeks later. To that end, here’s the upcoming content schedule:

The opening area of the Whisper mission, in a small grove.

There’s astream archive here. Lastly, you’ll find images of the new exotics below. Gotta look fresh.

The Divide in the Cosmodrome, where the Guardian was resurrected.

A holofoil Ribbontail, as seen in collections.

The Phoneutria Fera hand cannon, inspired by the Season of the Haunted armor set. It has a unique, galactic glow.

Three Fuses appear in a match of Apex Legends' Wild Card mode.

Mad Maggie opens a supply bin and an item with a symbol indicating infinite ammo appears.

Legends slide through a zipline in King’s Canyon in Apex Legends.

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The Yeartide Apex tex Mechanica SMG with a Holofoil glow.