What will become of Destiny's worst modifier, Trickle?

Destiny’s new expansion, Rise of Iron, launches in less than a week, but a specter will continue to haunt the online shooter even after its release. That dreaded ne'er-do-well? Trickle.

First introduced in the House of Wolves expansion in the middle of 2015, Trickle is a modifier that slows the regeneration of all player abilities and supers. Over the last year it has appeared in a variety of modes, including Challenge of the Elders, Heroic strikes and Nightfall strikes. Like many things in Destiny, Trickle appears as a random modifier, rotated each week. And when it shows up, players tend to avoid those modes.

Just this week, in fact, Trickle appeared as one of the modifiers in the Nightfall. Players in the popular Destiny subreddit voiced their concerns. User Polkad stated, simply, "Fuck trickle." Another user, fewtoots, wondered, "Trickle still gonna be a thing in the next DLC?"

Good question, fewtoots! At an event at Bungie’s headquarters last week, we asked about Trickle’s origins and whether we’d be seeing it in the future.

"The original goal ... was to try and introduce some new modifiers that really changed up players behavior and would add some interesting variety," said Christopher Barrett, the game director of Rise of Iron. "I can totally understand that the game is a little less fun when you can't use your super. That's something we'll certainly look at and make some adjustments to."

But is it back in Rise of Iron?

"It exists in Rise of Iron," said Barrett. "I know we've tried to use it a lot less and only when appropriate. You'll be seeing it less for sure."

So yes, while Trickle will be returning, it won't be quite as frequent. Yay...ish.