Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Looks like Blizzard finally put Xur from Destiny in World of Warcraft

What goes around comes around.

Destiny was once described as a cross between a traditional first-person shooter such as Halo, and a massively multiplayer online role-playing game such as World of Warcraft. Destiny didn't quite turn out that way, but after the game came out it was clear many of the developers at Bungie were fans of Blizzard's MMO.

Xur from Destiny. Still creepy.

Now, there will no doubt be plenty of developers at Blizzard who are fans of Bungie's "shared world shooter", and it looks like World of Warcraft is acknowledging its console cousin in the coolest way possible

Blizzard is popping a pretty cool Destiny Easter egg in upcoming World of Warcraft expansion Legion that will be familiar to anyone who's played Bungie's online shooter.

Destiny has an infamous vendor called Xur, who appears in the game once a week to sell seemingly random exotic items. In his pomp, Xur's arrival would send Destiny players into a frenzy as they splashed out (cashed in Strange Coins) on exotic-class items they were yet to obtain. (I wrote a feature on Xur and the players who tried to predict what he'd sell each week).

With Legion currently in closed beta, World of Warcraft players have discovered a vendor named "Xur'ios" who sells rotating items for "Curious Coins".

As rounded up on the Destiny subReddit, Xur'ios, who can be found in Dalaran, has two types of inventory items: some items are fixed, but one item each day is random (you can find a complete list over at WoWHead.com).

Xur'ios sells items such as Ingram's Puzzle (Engrams), Gjallar's "Horn" (Gjallarhorn), Mote of Light (Mote of Light) and Krota's Shield (a nod to end of final boss of The Dark Below).

Xur'ios, of Azeroth.

The description of Gjallar's "Horn", which costs 50 Curious Coins, is as follows:

Gjallarhorn, remember, was perhaps the most sought-after weapon during Destiny's first year of life. The rocket launch was considered overpowered for the incredible burst damage it caused.

Gjallar's "Horn" spits out five rockets (Gjallarhorn rockets split into tracking cluster Wolfpack Rounds upon detonation), and it even does fire damage!

The description for Krota's Shield says "it would pair nicely with a sword" - a clear reference to the sword and shield mechanic players need to use to take down Crota at the end of The Dark Below.

As for Xur'ios himself, he's a shady-looking character, much like the original, who is flanked by objects that emit a strange purple glow. A nod to Destiny's legendary engrams?

As Eurogamer reader drhickman1983 points out, Xur'ios neatly fits into the World of Warcraft lore. He's an Ethereal, who are travellers from the Twisting Nether who collect and trade in powerful artifacts. And the purple glowing objects have been part of their accoutrement since they appeared. GG, Blizzard.

Check Xur'ios out in the video, below, from the four minute mark.

Cover image for YouTube videoThe 28 New Mounts of World of Warcraft: Legion

Of course, World of Warcraft is no stranger to the travelling vendor. Remember The Darkmoon Faire? It was a mysterious carnival faction that would periodically turn up in Azeroth to sell its wares for a limited period of time.

What goes around, comes around, eh?