Destiny: 'House of Wolves' DLC Won't Include a Raid, and That Could Be Trouble

For all the knocks that Destiny has taken since it launched in September, there has always been one magical part of the game that keeps players coming back for more: the raids.

The raids are end-game content, and you can play them once a week for chances at exotic loot. I’ve run both Vault of Glass (by far, the best raid) and Crota’s End countless times. In spite of the glitches that can appear in both, they’re great experiences, they’re a lot of fun to play, and they require a type of coordination and communication that other parts of Destiny don’t.

I’ve met a lot of great teammates in raids; unfortunately, I’ve never had similar experiences in mission levels, strikes, or the Crucible. The raids are the shining stars of Destiny.

And the House of Wolves expansion won’t be getting one.

When news broke on Monday that a raid wouldn’t be featured in Bungie’s next update, a lot of the community expressed frustration with the decision. Some even decided, right then and there, that they wouldn’t be coming back to the game. That Bungie had already failed to deliver, over a month before the DLC release date, on its most make-or-break content addition yet.

I can’t say I blame players who are let down, or who feel that Bungie isn’t listening. Destiny hasn’t had any new content since December 9, 2014. When House of Wolves arrives on May 19, players will have gone over five months without anything new to keep their attention. I’m one of those players who’s grown bored with what Destiny has to offer, but I’ll say this — I still play the raids, even though I don’t have a lot left to earn from them. I play them because they’re fun.

House of Wolves will get an “arena-type” game mode called the Prison of Elders in place of a raid. But this mode will reportedly be limited to three players, and early indications point to Prison of Elders being a sort of “horde” mode with wave after wave of enemies coming at players. Which is great if you want a horde mode — something like Firefight in Halo. But if you’re looking for the puzzle solving and the interesting mechanics of a raid, you may very well be disappointed by the Prison of Elders.

Bungie is set to do a slow-drip reveal of the House of Wolves content over the next few weeks. I’m trying my best to hold off judgment until I can see the arena mode in action (Bungie will stream gameplay on May 6). But if I don’t feel the pull of Prison of Elders, I’ll be left with the prospect of running the same two raids for the next four or five months. Right now, that doesn’t excite me a whole lot, especially when quality titles are coming out for all platforms on a regular basis.

So I ask you, Destiny fans — are you disappointed by the lack of a raid in House of Wolves? Will you give the Prison of Elders a shot, or are you fed up with the game enough to leave it for good?

Drop us a line with your thoughts.