Edit: This was written before Crota's End came out. This is a suggestion for Bungie to consider. Hopefully they're reading. You may read the title and be thinking "Uh....Wouldn't that negate [i]any and all[/i] reason to play Crota's End?". Well... it depends on the upgrade method. So first, I'll address why that wouldn't be the case. And then go on to explain why I think this in fact may be a good idea. We all know the #1 priority for the DLC raid should be to encourage people to play the hell out of Crota's End, get new gear, new weapons etc. I think this idea does exactly that. Alright, here's the scenario. You've done the raid. You've gotten duplicate gear. And so dismantling Crota's End gear and weapons will give you a special currency item... Let's give this special item a lame placeholder name: "Hive Core". You'd go up to Eris with your VoG gear equipped and she'll offer to upgrade it to Level 32 if you have the currency to do so. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I made a quick, little animation to illustrate how I envision it working (similar to Iron Banner reforge): http://i.imgur.com/Dnp4f8G.gif A list of positive outcomes from this feature.. (click Spoiler tag to see a list) [spoiler]1) You still [i]have[/i] to do the new raid. You still [i]have[/i] to get the new gear/weapons in order to dismantle them. 2) Because you'd need to dismantle two Crota's End items to upgrade one VoG item, it would give you more incentive to repeat the raid. You'd have two LVL-32 raid sets to obtain instead of just one. It would extend the life of the expansion pack, and give you more stuff to do. 3) "Ugh! Chestplate AGAIN??". These moments would be reduced since duplicates have more of a use to players. They can be dismantled in order to obtain a second LVL32 raid set. 4) Because you need an expensive 2 "Hive Cores", not many people will be able to upgrade their stuff for a while. So Bungie needn't fear that their brand new, cool weapons and armour aren't being enjoyed. 5) It would allow more choice / customisation since you aren't forced to only use Crota gear to reach 32. You can mix and match between the 2 raid gear sets and personalise your Guardian to your playstyle. If you like the extra Heavy Ammo perk on your VoG gear, then you can make use of it. 6) Following on from point 4. If your favourite weapon is Fatebringer for example, but you're not too keen on the newest handcannon. It would allow you bring your old, trusty handcannon into the newest content. 7) You wouldn't get this nagging feeling that all your progress in a raid goes to waste with the release of every expansion. Since they'd be future-proofed by this progression path. 8) If you get chestplate, chestplate, chestplate, chestplate every single run, and never get boots. You could dismantle some of those chestplates and upgrade VoG boots to inch closer to 32. You'll always be making progress, it's a way to mitigate the negatives of RNG. Apparently RNG will be improved with this new raid however which is nice, but every little bit helps I suppose.[/spoiler] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can stop reading here if you wish, this is just a hypothetical price listing because NM drops and HM drops will need different price-tags to preserve their respective rarity. I think the Crota's End Equivalent of these items drop in Normal Mode Crota's End. Hence the low cost to upgrade. [spoiler][i]VoG Chestplate - 2 Cores VoG Gauntlets - 2 Cores VoG Boots - 2 Cores Praedyth's Revenge - 2 Cores Praetorian Foil - 2 Cores Found Verdict - 2 Cores Hezen Vengeance - 2 Cores Corrective Measure - 2 Cores[/i][/spoiler] I think the Crota's End Equivalent of these items drop in Hard Mode Crota's End*. Hence the high cost to upgrade. [spoiler][i]VoG Helmet - 6 Cores Vision of Confluence - 6 Cores Fatebringer - 6 Cores Praedyth's Timepiece - 6 Cores Atheon's Epilogue - 6 Cores[/i][/spoiler] Edit: Rather than invent a new currency. Radiant materials would probably do, since they're obtained only in Crota's End. *The high costs shown in the latter list ensures that you can't just easily obtain a Level 32 VoG helmet or primary weapon from doing a couple of Normal Mode Crota's End runs. You'd need to do the Hard Mode Crota's End if you want to upgrade your helmet/primaries in a reasonable time-frame. Hive Cores would drop exclusively from the Hard Mode raid to help you out in this regard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A list of positive outcomes from this feature.. (click Spoiler tag to see a list) [spoiler]1) You still [i]have[/i] to do the new raid. You still [i]have[/i] to get the new gear/weapons in order to dismantle them. 2) Because you'd need to dismantle two Crota's End items to upgrade one VoG item, it would give you more incentive to repeat the raid. You'd have two LVL-32 raid sets to obtain instead of just one. It would extend the life of the expansion pack, and give you more stuff to do. 3) "Ugh! Chestplate AGAIN??". These moments would be reduced since duplicates have more of a use to players. They can be dismantled in order to obtain a second LVL32 raid set. 4) Because you need an expensive 2 "Hive Cores", not many people will be able to upgrade their stuff for a while. So Bungie needn't fear that their brand new, cool weapons and armour aren't being enjoyed. 5) It would allow more choice / customisation since you aren't forced to only use Crota gear to reach 32. You can mix and match between the 2 raid gear sets and personalise your Guardian to your playstyle. If you like the extra Heavy Ammo perk on your VoG gear, then you can make use of it. 6) Following on from point 4. If your favourite weapon is Fatebringer for example, but you're not too keen on the newest handcannon. It would allow you bring your old, trusty handcannon into the newest content. 7) You wouldn't get this nagging feeling that all your progress in a raid goes to waste with the release of every expansion. Since they'd be future-proofed by this progression path. 8) If you get chestplate, chestplate, chestplate, chestplate every single run, and never get boots. You could dismantle some of those chestplates and upgrade VoG boots to inch closer to 32. You'll always be making progress, it's a way to mitigate the negatives of RNG. Apparently RNG will be improved with this new raid however which is nice, but every little bit helps I suppose.[/spoiler]