Before you start reading the rest of this article, please remember the following - [b]this article deals ONLY with the Prison of Elders unless otherwise stated. All information pertains ONLY to the Prison of Elders. There may be other ways to do or obtain things that are discussed in this article that are NOT part of the Prison of Elders.[/b] Hey everyone, Dukaness (apparently I can't tag other guardians?) and I decided to pool the knowledge we've gained over the last day regarding the Prison of Elders. Most of this information comes from the Bungie Twitch stream on May 6, however some of it has been sourced from different articles written by other entities (Forbes, IGN, Gamespot, etc.). Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks! Also - please take a look at the "Preparing for House of Wolves" topic posted by Dukaness for general tips and tricks for the expansion https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/117540048/0/0 [i]Access and Logistics[/i] PoE is accessed from the Reef within the Director. Before accessing the PoE, you must complete the HoW story missions (and maybe the strike?). There are four options related to PoE: 1) Level 28 – with matchmaking (Base Arena) 2) Level 32 – NO matchmaking (Challenge Mode) 3) Level 34 – NO matchmaking (Challenge Mode) 4) Level 35 – NO matchmaking (Challenge Mode) [i]Weekly Rotation[/i] There are 6 different arenas in the PoE. Level 28 is always a random arena. Level 34 is on a weekly rotation between 5 different arenas. Level 32 is always the previous week’s level 34 arena. The level 35 arena is always the same and does not rotate. Deej stated that there were 6 unique arenas available to us with the level 35 remaining static. [i]How the Arenas Work[/i] Each arena has 5 rounds with 3 waves each round (except for level 35, which has 6 rounds). All rounds have ONE modifier, similar to how the Weekly Heroic has 1 modifier (other than Heroic). Modifiers seen so far include: • Trickle – cool downs are significantly longer • Small Arms – primary weapon damage doubled • Brawler – Guardian melee damage increased by 300% • Exposure – shields increased but do not replenish • Catapult – grenade recharge rate is significantly increased • Grounded – take more damage while airborne • Airborne – deal more damage while airborne • Specialist – speculation is that special weapon damage will be doubled • Arc Burn • Solar Burn • Void Burn • Juggler • Lightswitch • Angry Strange that there's Small Arms (primary) and Specialist (special), but not heavy damage double...maybe it will come at a later date! After some rounds, you get a “gift”. So far, we’ve seen: • Heavy ammo - exactly the same as in Crucible • Scorch Cannon - a new weapon with LIMITED ammo. It’s basically a Semtex grenade launcher. The blast radius will grow the longer you hold the trigger down before firing (i.e. you can cook the cannon) You must complete all 5 rounds in one visit. If your team dies, you start from the beginning of the round. Example: you beat round 1 first try, and then die on wave 2 of round 2. Your team starts over from the start of round 2, because round 1 has already been cleared. You then beat round 2, but decide to go back to orbit. When you enter again, you have to start from the beginning of round 1. [i]What We Have Actually Seen - based on Bungie's Twitch stream[/i] [u]Round One[/u] You basically enter this arena (pretty big). They tell you which modifier is on. The waves in round one were only kill missions, meaning you simply defeat the enemies. [u]Round Two[/u] Same as round one, except there are “Critical Objectives” (CO). These must be completed to finish the wave, they are not optional. In the round 2 that we saw, each wave had 3 bombs to be defused. You defuse them by standing in the highlighted circle (it’s basically the exact same thing as capping a flag in Control). You can shoot while defusing. Having three Guardians in the circle makes it defuse VERY quickly. [u]Round Three[/u] Same as round two, except the CO was a VIP Target. The target is one level above the level you enter (i.e. if you play a level 34 arena, the VIP is level 35). [u]Round Four[/u] This was a repeat of round 2, with bomb defuses as a CO. [u]Round Five[/u] They never managed to get to this round, so we never saw anything. This will be the boss round. Similar to any VIP round, you’ll have to fight a one-level-higher named boss mob with special powers (changing shields, for example). Bosses we've seen include a Cabal Centurion with shields that rotate 10 seconds after going down (i.e. you take down a solar shield and 10 seconds later, his shield is completely full but as a void shield) and a Hive Knight who will essentially make the floor lava (you step on the ground, you take solar damage). [i]LOOT![/i] The challenge modes can be run once each week for loot, similar to the Nightfall process. The base arena can be run infinitely each week for new loot, similar to the ROC strike process. The loot is obviously much better in the challenge modes. The level 28 playlist will likely give loot similar to the ROC strikes. [u]Level 28 activity[/u] Rewards are relatively randomized and proportionate to the level (i.e. you will not likely be walking out of here with level 34 weapons or armour). You will receive Queen’s Wrath-themed gear, likely enough to put you to level 30 or 32 without ascending them (this is just speculation). You also receive a Cryptarch engram, 6 Vanguard marks, and 25 Vanguard reputation points. [u]Level 32/34/35 activities[/u] For completing the level 32 activity, you will receive an Armour Core and 200 reputation for the House of Judgment. The Armour core will be exchanged with Variks the Loyal at The Reef for that week’s piece of level 34 armour. Completing the level 34 activity will provide you with a Weapon Core, Etheric Light, and 300 reputation for the House of Judgement. The Weapon Core will be exchanged with Variks for that week’s weapon. Completing the level 35 activity will provide you with a Weapon Core, an Armour Core, Etheric Light, and 500 reputation for the House of Judgment. You can combine one Armour Core and one Weapon Core at Variks for a Judgment's Chance. This will then give you the chance at a random (as far as we know) PoE gear. It remains to be seen whether the Judgment's Chance will provide us with one random piece of gear or a random weapon AND random armour piece. Additionally, it's entirely possible the "random" armour it could give us will be for a different class. These rewards are exclusive to the Prison of Elders. In addition to these guaranteed rewards, at the end of the fifth wave (sixth in level 35), you can get random rewards from chests (we are led to believe there are three chests by a Forbes article, may be more or less depending on the level – no clear information if we get to loot all chests or just one). These rewards may include (but may not be limited to) vendor-grade legendary weapons and armour, class items, emblems, shaders, coins, motes, shards, and exotic items. You can only get Etheric Light within the PoE from completing the level 34 or 35 activity. You can still get Etheric Light from Trials of Osiris, Nightfalls, and Iron Banner (Ranks 3 and 5). [i]Other[/i] - Level 35 is apparently brutal. - There is a Sidearm Pistol called Vestian Dynasty which is listed as a secondary weapon. - Some Shanks were seen with Arc shields that seem to explode similar to Supplicants in the VoG. - "Web mines" will pop up every so often. These are big blue orbs (if they go off) that appear to slow you down significantly. You can shoot them when they pop out of the ground to prevent them from going off. - There is a 30 second revive timer. You cannot revive yourself (without Fireborn); your teammates must revive you (looks like we've found uses for Crest of Alpha Lupi, Crest of Alpha Lupi, and Light Beyond Nemesis).