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Niobe Labs scratches heads.
Yesterday, the fourth and final forge that comes with Destiny 2’s Black Armory DLC was scheduled to drop, but Bungie had one last hurdle in line for fans. In order to access the Bergusia Forge, fans first need to solve an elaborate, intensely obtuse puzzle in Niobe Labs – and many fans aren’t happy with the task.
The entrance to Niobe Labs lies within Sojourner’s Camp, just past the Outskirts. The puzzle itself requires players to come equipped with three weapon types: a bow, sniper and LMG. The mechanisms of the puzzle involve standing on specific plates while using one of the three weapons to shoot different symbols in the correct order.
The hints as to which symbols need to be hit with each weapon requires the use of cyphers, information that isn’t made available in the game itself, and going through multiple levels with these tools to, eventually, unlock Bergusia Forge. Puzzle resets further compound these issues and frustrate players.
The puzzle has prompted fans to work together via streams, Reddit threads and more, but over a full day later, fans still have more of the puzzle to solve. Understandably, many fans are upset that content they’ve paid for is being locked behind such a complex puzzle, though Bungie has stated that once Niobe Labs is ”completed by a fireteam, Bergusia, the final forge, will be unlocked for all.” While not the first Destiny content to be unlocked once a single group completes a task, it is taking significantly longer than usual.
Many expected more straightforward unlock methods that came with the first three forges, and instead most fans are just waiting for other people to solve the puzzle so they can access the content they’ve paid for. Still, some appreciate the complexity of the puzzle and are commending Bungie on Niobe Labs making the community work together. It’s also taken fans longer to finish than any raid in Destiny history, as Last Wish took nearly 19 hours to finish.
Wait, so you NEED to be playing with friends to unlock content that I’ve paid for?
— Liam (@Liamdestroyer39) January 8, 2019
How is this meant to be fun for the 90% of your players who are basically waiting someone else to finish this so they can play themselves. Terrible thought process IMO
— Adam Peebles (@peebs1986) January 8, 2019
D2 Community: GIVE US CHALLENGING CONTENT IN THE END GAME
Bungie: Here’s Niobe Labs: the hardest mission we’ve put out that has the entire community working together to solve the stages.
D2 Community: THIS IS SO HARD WTF BUNGIE YOU GUYS SUCK. THIS ISNT WHAT WE WANT
— The Glorious One (@DipsGaming) January 8, 2019
I honestly think a community event where players could find syphers out in the game world, solve the puzzle then get an item to power opening the door in a collaborative effort would have been a better event for this final forge.
— Gothalion (@Gothalion) January 9, 2019
Niobe Labs – Epic Fail…
Basically I’ve paid for you to say go watch the streamers and reddit unlock Bergussia.
How is the average Destiny Player meant to even take part?
For an exotic item, like Outbreak Prime – fine, not actual content which I want to play.
— Alexander (@AlexFi1978) January 9, 2019
I can appreciate the hell out of Niobe Lab’s puzzle. It has thousands of people stumped. Researching Wikipedia and using 3rd party sources isn’t my cup of tea. Stoked for the people that like this kind of stuff. I prefer the classic raid style puzzle solving and shooting aliens
— Gigz (@T1gigz) January 9, 2019
In our review for Black Armory, we called the DLC “Mediocre” saying, “Destiny 2’s Black Armory DLC finally adds matchmaking, but its repetitive missions and bland gear mean it has little else to offer.”
For more on Destiny 2, check out our comprehensive wiki for the game, and read about how the title isn’t performing quite as well as Activision had hoped.
Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.