Official Thread Destiny 2 - Final Shape

[Kerosene31]

I was fine with it until I saw two season versions of the same gun in my inventory. If anything, it just becomes and inventory management nightmare. I suppose that we'll get piles of new loot anyway once the DLC launches so I shouldn't worry about it.

I bet many players don't even get it yet, and are basically throwing away stuff they might need. I didn't even realize it at first until I saw the different season icon on stuff.

 

[CFogle21]

 

[Kerosene31]

The problem goes back to the perk system which is so shallow. You essentially want damage and reload perks (reload perks are basically damage over time perks anyway).

The system is supposed to work like an RPG where perks are unique and give people different options, but how it really works is that there's a few optimal perks and then there's the rest. You keep grinding until you get the "right" roll. Having to go out and find the right roll again just is frustrating.

On the plus side, they seem to have increased the drops this season. Umbral engrams drop all over and I already have plenty of weapons in a few weeks. The Youtubers aren't wrong, but they are making more drama than the average player needs. Sure, the top tier PVPers are grinding for specific rolls on specific guns, but for most of us, just give us a damage and a reload perk and we're good.

Assuming there's lots of replacement loot, and drop rates are good, it won't be a big deal.

 

[Kerosene31]

The big Beyond Light expansion is being pushed way back from September to November 10th

 

[Viktor]

So I ended up getting an exotic cipher. Cryptarc is selling some exotics right now that require it. Any ideas on what I should buy with it? I'm like 99% PVE in this game. I'm thinking either Eriana's Vow or Leviathan's Breath.

 

[Kerosene31]

So I ended up getting an exotic cipher. Cryptarc is selling some exotics right now that require it. Any ideas on what I should buy with it? I'm like 99% PVE in this game. I'm thinking either Eriana's Vow or Leviathan's Breath.

Eriana's Vow is good, because it has an anti-barrier mod by default for dealing with those annoying champions. The DPS on it is quite good too. I use it a lot on the new public event. It is basically a hand cannon that takes special ammo and does more damage. For activities with champions, I run that, plus a primary with the other mod, then a sword. Cuts through them pretty well.

The heavy bow just sits in my vault, kind of neat as it is a unique heavy bow, but not particularly useful as I recall. The DPS on it isn't terrible, but it isn't worth wasting an exotic on it.

 

[menace-uk-]

With the news that beyond light is free for GP i'm gunna try and get back into this. Is there anything I should know? I stopped playing not long after Forsaken.

 

[Kerosene31]

With the news that beyond light is free for GP i'm gunna try and get back into this. Is there anything I should know? I stopped playing not long after Forsaken.

The biggest change is weapon and armor sunsetting. Now, items will have a max power that they can't be infused beyond. A lot of the meta guns are now capped at this season's max power, so will be mostly useless the next time power jumps. It is actually a good time to jump in, as you not having the latest meta will be fine as it is going away anyway and we'll all be going for new guns.

The confusing as *** part is that the same weapon can drop with different caps on it since they are re-issuing guns all the time. For example, I have a god rolled Outrageous Fortune that is capped at 1060 power, and another without the god roll that can go to 1300+ power. So it gets super tedious at times. Something like DIM is helpful.

Bottom line, most of anything you have is going to be junk, but that puts you in the same boat as the rest of us anyway.

The big change in PVP is they took out skill based matchmaking completely. You're probably good enough to not notice too much, but games can get ugly with all the pubstomping. Console is a little better, but PC is just crazy.

 

[TeKPhaN]

With the news that beyond light is free for GP i'm gunna try and get back into this. Is there anything I should know? I stopped playing not long after Forsaken.

Biggest change is the game went s*** after Forsaken but I still play it.

 

[menace-uk-]

The biggest change is weapon and armor sunsetting. Now, items will have a max power that they can't be infused beyond. A lot of the meta guns are now capped at this season's max power, so will be mostly useless the next time power jumps. It is actually a good time to jump in, as you not having the latest meta will be fine as it is going away anyway and we'll all be going for new guns.

The confusing as *** part is that the same weapon can drop with different caps on it since they are re-issuing guns all the time. For example, I have a god rolled Outrageous Fortune that is capped at 1060 power, and another without the god roll that can go to 1300+ power. So it gets super tedious at times. Something like DIM is helpful.

Bottom line, most of anything you have is going to be junk, but that puts you in the same boat as the rest of us anyway.

The big change in PVP is they took out skill based matchmaking completely. You're probably good enough to not notice too much, but games can get ugly with all the pubstomping. Console is a little better, but PC is just crazy.

Thought Activision wss to blame for tge bad stuff? That sunsetting is aweful.

 

[D-V-ANT]

With the news that beyond light is free for GP i'm gunna try and get back into this. Is there anything I should know? I stopped playing not long after Forsaken.

Was thinking the same since the entire lot of it is coming to GP.

 

[menace-uk-]

Was thinking the same since the entire lot of it is coming to GP.

It is a big download. 108 GB mine says...been downloading for 8 hours

 

[D-V-ANT]

It is a big download. 108 GB mine says...been downloading for 8 hours

s***. Forgot I didn’t have it downloaded. Better get ok that.

 

[Kerosene31]

Thought Activision wss to blame for tge bad stuff? That sunsetting is aweful.

Not much has improved so far, but they've "talked" about it. Obviously this fall DLC will set the tone for the future. Shadowkeep was sort of meh and most seasons have been pretty routine. Each season has been the same - grind 50 levels of power and a bunch of bounties towards some sort of set of weapons and armor. It isn't a terrible loop, but it can feel very unrewarding.

The problem is that those of us who have been playing all along have god rolls of everything we could possibly need, so there's little need for me to farm anything new. Sunsetting isn't the worst idea in the world, but they implemented it poorly.

With Destiny, I stick to the same philosophy - play while I have fun, quit when I don't. The past year hasn't been bad, it just gets very routine. With working from home, I can switch over on my lunch hour and basically grind things out as needed. It isn't a "bad" game right now, but it misses that D1 feel for sure.

I can't remember when armor 2.0 came out, but if you aren't familiar with that you should check out a guide. It is pretty simple overall, the thing to remember is that stats scale to 100, but only increments of 10 matter, so having 51 vs 59 intellect is exactly the same. Until you get to 60, there's no point. Most players don't even get deep into things anyway in PVE. In PVP, getting your super a few seconds earlier can be a big deal but in PVE it rarely matters much.

 

[menace-uk-]

Not much has improved so far, but they've "talked" about it. Obviously this fall DLC will set the tone for the future. Shadowkeep was sort of meh and most seasons have been pretty routine. Each season has been the same - grind 50 levels of power and a bunch of bounties towards some sort of set of weapons and armor. It isn't a terrible loop, but it can feel very unrewarding.

The problem is that those of us who have been playing all along have god rolls of everything we could possibly need, so there's little need for me to farm anything new. Sunsetting isn't the worst idea in the world, but they implemented it poorly.

With Destiny, I stick to the same philosophy - play while I have fun, quit when I don't. The past year hasn't been bad, it just gets very routine. With working from home, I can switch over on my lunch hour and basically grind things out as needed. It isn't a "bad" game right now, but it misses that D1 feel for sure.

I can't remember when armor 2.0 came out, but if you aren't familiar with that you should check out a guide. It is pretty simple overall, the thing to remember is that stats scale to 100, but only increments of 10 matter, so having 51 vs 59 intellect is exactly the same. Until you get to 60, there's no point. Most players don't even get deep into things anyway in PVE. In PVP, getting your super a few seconds earlier can be a big deal but in PVE it rarely matters much.

It being the first major DLC not to be influenced by Acti is the main reason for my interest. Hope we finally get a really good update.

 

[Kerosene31]

It being the first major DLC not to be influenced by Acti is the main reason for my interest. Hope we finally get a really good update.

The problem was never Activision - the problem goes back to D1. Bungie can't make content fast enough for people, so they do what they can to slow people down. D2 is all about time gating and anything else that slows players down.

Bungie knows what players want - but it can't produce enough of it fast enough.

Hopefully the delay helps, but plan on the same thing - a month or two of content dripped out over 6+ months.

In D1, you'd clear your gaming calendar for a month or two, but with this, you get a few hours each week, but need something else to play.

 

[menace-uk-]

The problem was never Activision - the problem goes back to D1. Bungie can't make content fast enough for people, so they do what they can to slow people down. D2 is all about time gating and anything else that slows players down.

Bungie knows what players want - but it can't produce enough of it fast enough.

Hopefully the delay helps, but plan on the same thing - a month or two of content dripped out over 6+ months.

In D1, you'd clear your gaming calendar for a month or two, but with this, you get a few hours each week, but need something else to play.

That doesn't mean they can't make better decisions and better content. D1 DLC were better

 

[Viktor]

I got back into this game back in March or whanever season 10 started. I hadn't played since October when Shadowkeep came out, and that was only to just play the main story a second time in hopes of continuing to play... which never happened. I'm still really enjoying it now and have gone through the two small DLCs. I've been meaning to start Forsaken but when I do find time to play I've been working on season 11 stuff instead.

 

[Kerosene31]

That doesn't mean they can't make better decisions and better content. D1 DLC were better

Don't get your hopes up. Their business model revolves around the weekly microtransaction store. They time gate everything now. We're never getting another Taken King.

I'm not defending it, I just learned to accept it. There's obviously a ton of players who plunk down 10-20 bucks a week on microtransactions and those are the players the game is designed for now. It isn't going to change. Bungie is running a business and the business model says time gate everything. Tons of people complain about it, but they still play so it will never end.

 

[TeKPhaN]

Game went to s*** when the awesome High Moon Studios and others from Activision left.
Do I play it still? Yes but not much these days.

 

[menace-uk-]

Don't get your hopes up. Their business model revolves around the weekly microtransaction store. They time gate everything now. We're never getting another Taken King.

I'm not defending it, I just learned to accept it. There's obviously a ton of players who plunk down 10-20 bucks a week on microtransactions and those are the players the game is designed for now. It isn't going to change. Bungie is running a business and the business model says time gate everything. Tons of people complain about it, but they still play so it will never end.

They're not up. I may not have played for a while but I still remember how things go.

 

[tumorman]

I started playing this game last Friday for the first time ever. Never played Destiny 1, and was kinda thrown in trying to understand how everything works.

Once I figured out that I should start with the "Red" questline (whatever that is lol) I'm understanding the game a lot more. It's really fun, and the grind isn't too annoying so far. Love that the expansions are coming to Game Pass in September, hopefully I'll be pretty leveled up by then. Only ranked 800 right now.

 

[menace-uk-]

I started playing this game last Friday for the first time ever. Never played Destiny 1, and was kinda thrown in trying to understand how everything works.

Once I figured out that I should start with the "Red" questline (whatever that is lol) I'm understanding the game a lot more. It's really fun, and the grind isn't too annoying so far. Love that the expansions are coming to Game Pass in September, hopefully I'll be pretty leveled up by then. Only ranked 800 right now.

To be honest you have very little grinding to do until you hit 1000. Then you only increase level via specific activities that are limited to once a week drops. Then you also have to contend with RnG which slows progress even more.

Not fun spending 6 + hours and only getting 1 or 2 power levels a week cause RnG decided to give you 4 sets of gauntlets and 3 cloaks. At this rate I might get to do this seasons Dungeon in 6 months.

 

[tumorman]

To be honest you have very little grinding to do until you hit 1000. Then you only increase level via specific activities that are limited to once a week drops. Then you also have to contend with RnG which slows progress even more.

Not fun spending 6 + hours and only getting 1 or 2 power levels a week cause RnG decided to give you 4 sets of gauntlets and 3 cloaks. At this rate I might get to do this seasons Dungeon in 6 months.

Noob question, but what is RnG? Also, Dungeons are raids right?

 

[Kerosene31]

Destiny 2 is the kind of game where it isn't what you should do, but what you want to do. The campaigns are a good place to start. The Red War is the first campaign as I remember.

Basically leveling works like this: any world drops will get you to 1000 (or is it 1010?). From there you need powerful drops to get to 1050 and pinnacle to get to 1060 (you don't need to worry about anything like that for now).

There's tons of activities:
-Campaigns
-Patrols - basically jump into a planet/zone and look for the little beacons around and they will give you small solo missions
-Public events - an event that happens in patrol areas that multiple people can randomly jump in
-Strikes (3 person activity that takes about 10 minutes). Not super hard, but you sort of have to know what you are doing
-Adventures - solo activities
-Gambit - basically a PVP/PVE mix activity that is sort of complicated and not very fun
-PVP - play against other human players
-Raids - 6 man long activities with a lot of complicated mechanics that you have to know
-Dungeons - basically a 3 man mini-raid

The game is ultimately a power grind and a loot grind. Early on you can just do what you like and see if you like it.

 

[menace-uk-]

Noob question, but what is RnG? Also, Dungeons are raids right?

Random number generator.

Dungeons are not raids, but they are supposed to be raid-esque.

 

[tumorman]

Destiny 2 is the kind of game where it isn't what you should do, but what you want to do. The campaigns are a good place to start. The Red War is the first campaign as I remember.

Basically leveling works like this: any world drops will get you to 1000 (or is it 1010?). From there you need powerful drops to get to 1050 and pinnacle to get to 1060 (you don't need to worry about anything like that for now).

There's tons of activities:
-Campaigns
-Patrols - basically jump into a planet/zone and look for the little beacons around and they will give you small solo missions
-Public events - an event that happens in patrol areas that multiple people can randomly jump in
-Strikes (3 person activity that takes about 10 minutes). Not super hard, but you sort of have to know what you are doing
-Adventures - solo activities
-Gambit - basically a PVP/PVE mix activity that is sort of complicated and not very fun
-PVP - play against other human players
-Raids - 6 man long activities with a lot of complicated mechanics that you have to know
-Dungeons - basically a 3 man mini-raid

The game is ultimately a power grind and a loot grind. Early on you can just do what you like and see if you like it.

Awesome thanks! I did notice that playing some Crucible last night I got a lot of gear within the two matches I played. I wanna keep on with the campaigns, (probably 3/4 the way through The Red War), but what do you really recommend to get boosted quick?

BTW I love the public events and side missions that are just randomly thrown out there. Makes the game feel so much bigger.

 

[TeKPhaN]

Game has issues but getting to 1000 is not one of them.

 

[Kerosene31]

Awesome thanks! I did notice that playing some Crucible last night I got a lot of gear within the two matches I played. I wanna keep on with the campaigns, (probably 3/4 the way through The Red War), but what do you really recommend to get boosted quick?

BTW I love the public events and side missions that are just randomly thrown out there. Makes the game feel so much bigger.

Everything you get will help you get to 1000, so just do what is fun. Campaign and patrol spaces are fine. You might be able to boost a little faster jumping into public events with higher level players. Once you hit 1000, blue drops will stop helping, so then you need to follow the formula more. All you need to do is damage something in an event to get a completion if people around you do it.

Don't bother to infuse anything at lower levels, it costs too much and you don't need to. Your actual equipped power level doesn't matter all that much. If you get a higher level drop and don't want to use it, just keep it in your inventory. Drops will go by your max possible power level anyway.

Keep anything purple/legendary you get for now, you can ditch anything blue or green once you get something higher level.

As you get higher, you'll see more and more quests in your inventory (probably a ton). You can look those up on youtube and see what they give you vs how easy they are to do.

The game is huge, but you can't do too much harm at lower levels so just have fun. My big problem with the game early on is it isn't obvious what is an easy, solo activity or not.

 

[tumorman]

Everything you get will help you get to 1000, so just do what is fun. Campaign and patrol spaces are fine. You might be able to boost a little faster jumping into public events with higher level players. Once you hit 1000, blue drops will stop helping, so then you need to follow the formula more. All you need to do is damage something in an event to get a completion if people around you do it.

Don't bother to infuse anything at lower levels, it costs too much and you don't need to. Your actual equipped power level doesn't matter all that much. If you get a higher level drop and don't want to use it, just keep it in your inventory. Drops will go by your max possible power level anyway.

Keep anything purple/legendary you get for now, you can ditch anything blue or green once you get something higher level.

As you get higher, you'll see more and more quests in your inventory (probably a ton). You can look those up on youtube and see what they give you vs how easy they are to do.

The game is huge, but you can't do too much harm at lower levels so just have fun. My big problem with the game early on is it isn't obvious what is an easy, solo activity or not.

Yeah it'd be nice if there was some sort of difficulty star rating or something. This Red War campaign is pretty easy overall so far, most of the time I've played I've been doing it solo.