Destiny

[Craig H]

God damn VoG hard mode. That Templar fight is too fucking hard when you're on the part where you actually fight the Templar. Just two many goddamn adds. The worst of it was that the harpies were coming in 3s instead of 2s, so it was just mass chaos. A few times we fought the Templar to the point where he went into rage mode, which by that point the fight was over because no way could we deal with harpies, minotaurs, the Templar, and getting marked. Each time we got to that point the Templar only lost a sliver of health, maybe 1/5th at the most on one go. 4 of us are 30s, another is a 29 and I'm a 28. We all have weapons pretty well upgraded, but that fight is fucking insane. I can't even imagine what fighting Atheon on hard mode is like.

 

In any event, I got a chest raid piece for my troubles. So I have the boots and chest piece.

[Stay Gold]

Atheon is pretty do-able on hard, as long as you communicate what's going on at all times (what side you're on after you teleport, who's picking up the relic, etc). If you all stay in the shield, and attack Atheon from the middle platform, and jump out to safety at the 4 or 5 second mark, then you're fine. Takes about 3 or 4 rounds of attacks to kill him doing it that way. I think the Gate Keeper segment right before Atheon is the real hard part of the end battle.

[glfpunk]

God damn VoG hard mode. That Templar fight is too fucking hard when you're on the part where you actually fight the Templar. Just two many goddamn adds. The worst of it was that the harpies were coming in 3s instead of 2s, so it was just mass chaos. A few times we fought the Templar to the point where he went into rage mode, which by that point the fight was over because no way could we deal with harpies, minotaurs, the Templar, and getting marked. Each time we got to that point the Templar only lost a sliver of health, maybe 1/5th at the most on one go. 4 of us are 30s, another is a 29 and I'm a 28. We all have weapons pretty well upgraded, but that fight is fucking insane. I can't even imagine what fighting Atheon on hard mode is like.

 

In any event, I got a chest raid piece for my troubles. So I have the boots and chest piece.

 

At level 28, hard mode is damn near impossible unless you're just unbelievable.  The Templar fight on hard mode really needs to be done without attempting to stop him from teleporting unless everyone on the team is a god-like gamer.  Minotaurs don't spawn unless you try to stop him from teleporting so all you really have to do is avoid too much damage from the harpies.  And you're right, if you don't kill him before he enrages then it's not going to happen most likely because of the Minotaurs that spawn at that point.  The main thing is communication- making sure everyone on the team knows where the Templar is at before the relic holder takes his shield down and then the relic holder communicating that he's taking his shield down so everyone can unload on the Templar.  It also helps if you are grouped together to bring down the detainment quicker.  And have a Titan drop weapons of light so you do increased damage to the Templar in the short time you have to damage him. 

 

Agree with Stay Gold on the Atheon battle.  Gatekeepers are much harder. 

[Craig H]

We were doing all of that. I was actually surviving for quite a while too, even with being at 28. I was mainly taking out harpies with my Vision of Confluence or helping with Oracles. The problem was us just being overwhelmed by harpies. I was typically the first to die when we would start dropping like flies, but it was always two or three of us going down at the same time. I think I can power my way to level 29 tonight and then we're going to give it another go tomorrow.

 

It's a loooooooooooooong shot, but if we beat Atheon on hard, I could walk away with the helm and maybe Xur will have exotic gauntlets for sale so I can hit 30 by the time the expansion drops.

 

Speaking of the expansion, is that going to pre-load for those who already purchased it?

[J.T.]

Just when you thought that Gjallarhorn was the awesomest rocket launcher in the game.

 

 

You can live a lie, but you cannot outrun the truth.

[Craig H]

This was random...I opened a chest that had 31 Relic Iron in it.

[Craig H]

I discovered today that you're no longer rewarded for the first public event you gold star. I have 5 shards to go before I hit 29. Fuck you, Bungie.

[Stay Gold]

I haven't played since last Wednesday. What about the Daily Story missions? Can't you just get shards doing those? Or did they change that too?

[Craig H]

I always get energy.

[odessasteps]

2 days not playing so far.

[CSC]

God damn, ledgendary weapons are an absolute game changer.

 

I'm no longer completely useless to most missions and my PvP kills jumped from 5-6 per match to around 15 just because of my shiny new LIGHT/Beware fusion rifle.

 

And now my path to higher levels is fairly clear and it needs a whole lot of Shards.  Now that Vanguard/Crucible marks can be sold for helium filaments, shards are all I need to upgrade all my armor and once I hit level 3 Crucible I'll be able to get the Legendary helmet that I'm missing.

[misanthrope304]

Didn't you get a mg out of the nightfall as well?

 

Also, I would suggest saving those marks to buy legendary gear to break down for ascendant material as well. ... And farm whatever material you need planet side.

[CSC]

Didn't you get a mg out of the nightfall as well?

 

Also, I would suggest saving those marks to buy legendary gear to break down for ascendant material as well. ... And farm whatever material you need planet side.

 

Yea I know that's what I should do but I'm ultimately lazy and impulsive (as pretty much anyone finds out who plays with me as I try to Super on top of anything, no matter how dangerous and stupid it may be) so I saw instant gratification in the armor upgrades and jumped on that.

 

I did get a MG out of the nightfall and it's pretty spectacular, although I've really got my heart set on a rocket launcher because they are so much flashier to blow things up with.

[TheVileOne]

Just when you thought that Gjallarhorn was the awesomest rocket launcher in the game.

 

 

You can live a lie, but you cannot outrun the truth.

 

I want this weapon!

[J.T.]

People forget how awesome Truth really is.  When it says in the weapon description that Truth's rockets target aggressively, that is literal and the blast damage value and timed detonation guarantees that the smart rocket will kill whatever it hits.

 

You can't really get multiple kills with Truth the same way you can with Gjallarhorn.  I have fired rockets from Truth that have veered away from groups because the guy I targeted decided to go in another direction.

[Craig H]

Hit 29 this morning. I did the daily and got 2 shards and a purple chest piece that I broke down into 3 shards, giving me the 5 shards I needed to make out my raid boots.

Now I just need to finish the raid on hard mode, hope I get a helm and then Xur needs to have some gauntlets for sale tomorrow.

[J.T.]

Well, here are the release notes for Dark Below.

 

w Legendary Gear

• Existing Legendary gear on display in the Tower will be replaced
• New Legendary gear will feature higher Attack and Defense values
• Legendary items will still require Ascendant Materials for upgrades
• This new, more powerful gear will be available to all players of Destiny
• Legendary gear will not be as powerful as new Raid gear or Exotics

 

New Rank Commendations

• In addition to Crucible or Vanguard Marks, purchasing new Legendary items will require a Crucible or Vanguard Commendation
• Commendations are received in Reputation Reward Packages delivered by the Postmaster upon reaching a new Reputation Level

 

 

Exotic Talent Changes

• As part of the December 1^st Destiny Update, Exotic Armor and Weapons no longer require Ascendant Materials for upgrades
• The final power node of all Exotic Gear will require an Exotic Shard
• This new material is obtained by one of the following means:
• Dismantling unwanted Exotics
• Purchased from Xûr for 7 Strange Coins

 

New Exotic Upgrading

Exotic Gear in The Dark Below will have higher Attack and Defense values than current Exotic Gear. For players and their current caches of Exotics, a path will exist to bring them forward into The Dark Below.

• Starting December 9^th, Xûr will offer players the opportunity to upgrade Exotics to the higher Attack and Defense values
• Upgrading an Exotic in this way will require an Exotic Shard
  • The upgrade will reset the progression invested into the item
  • Each week, Xûr will possess a selection of upgrades for existing Exotics in his inventory

 

Crucible (PvP) Changes

• Expansion I will include two new exclusive competitive playlists
• New Crucible arenas (Pantheon, Skyshock, and The Cauldron) will be featured in map rotation
• Playlists available in the Director will change week over week
• Experiences will alternate between 12 and 6 player engagements
• Map rotation will alternate between focusing solely on new expansion arenas and including original launch maps in the mix

 

Heroics and Nightfall (PvE) Changes

• With the Light level increase to 32, Heroics and Nightfalls will be increased by 2 Light levels to keep up with new content, level increases, and gear items

 

New Raid: Crota's End

• The new Raid, Crota's End, will unlock on December 9th
• Players at Light level 30 can lead a Fireteam immediately upon release
• The reward system in Crota's End will address some issues reported in the Vault of Glass:
  • Raid loot in Crota's End will drop at a higher rate
  • New Raid gear will contain a wider variety of potential perks  
  • Weapons and Gear from Crota's End will not require Ascendant materials for upgrades
  • Radiant Shards and Radiant Energy acquired in the Raid will be used to upgrade new Raid gear
  • Unwanted weapons and gear from Crota's End will dismantle into Radiant materials
  • Primary weapons will only drop in the harder version of Crota's End, released sometime in January

 

People are naturally freaking out about the Exotic re-upgrade system.  That doesn't bother me because it will be the same old grind.

 

The thing that annoys me is the Commendation system.  My current Vanguard / Crucible rank looks like it will be worth squat when it comes to accessing the improved Legendary gear and I will need to upgrade my Purple if I want to qualify to do Weeklys and Nightfalls.

[RIPPA]

It clearly looks like they are trying to get people to stop farming Ascendant Materials by just using marks to buy a Legendary and then break it down.

 

I wonder if this extends to factions - because if not, I see everyone just sticking with one of the three and not upgrading regular reps.

[Craig H]

The exotic upgrade thing had me and my buddies, along with the rest of reddit, super pissed off yesterday. I'm still irked about it today. Playing Destiny feels like being a wrestler in the WWE.

[Craig H]

I also really hope that there are two levels for the Nightfall, 28 and 30. It would suck for players to have to wait longer to do a Nightfall.

That said, with regards to the DLC, fuuuuuuuck alllllllll thaaaaaaat.

[J.T.]

It clearly looks like they are trying to get people to stop farming Ascendant Materials by just using marks to buy a Legendary and then break it down.

 

Yeah, but if that is the case why not just take Ascendant Materials out of the picture?  Create Legendary Shards for purple gear and Exotic shard for yellow gear and make players spend Marks for weapons / armor and Strange Coins / Motes of Light for Shards.

 

It looks like the point of all of the upgrades is to create more sinks for consumables and currency, but there are ways to keep players from hording without making them feel like they wasted their time.

[glfpunk]

So in addition to getting marks weekly you also need to level up your vanguard or crucible rep to actually use them. This seems a bit more grindy than farming mats.

The exotic upgrade thing seems like not a big deal to me.

[J.T.]

I also really hope that there are two levels for the Nightfall, 28 and 30. It would suck for players to have to wait longer to do a Nightfall.

 

Yeah, that is what freaks people out about the Commendation system.  

 

You raise the Light cap and level requirements for Weekly and Nightfall strikes and then you put in an additional hurdle for players to jump in order to get their hands on improved Legendary gear that will help them meet the new requirement.

 

Not cool.

 

Giving players the ability to adjust the difficulty of Nightfalls (one 28 version and one 30 or 31 version) would be a step in the right direction.

 

I am annoyed with myself about being annoyed by some of this shit.  First World Problems, man.

[J.T.]

Mis and Damian helped me with the psycho Summoning Pits strike and I have added Thorn to my arsenal.

 

It looks like a pickle and a pineapple had a baby.

[glfpunk]

I kind of like the fact that Nightfalls are going up to level 30 now.  They were always intended to be really difficult and were implemented at a time when barely anyone playing was leveled up to 28-30.  Most people were trying Nightfalls when they were level 26-27 anyway and then they just became easier as they leveled up to where eventually they were relatively easy to solo.  I don't really think that one of the supposed hardest things in the game should be that easy to do by yourself. 

 

J.T. that Thorn is pretty sweet but damn that strike is a pain in the ass.  I've done it for myself and I've helped two friends get it done.  Those fucking shields on the Knights...