Destiny 2

[Eivion]

I find Dead Orbit's victory irksome. I really wanted the catalyst for my Sunshot.

[J.T.]

3 hours ago, Eivion said:

I find Dead Orbit's victory irksome. I really wanted the catalyst for my Sunshot.

I don't think you earned your catalyst if FWC won.  I think you had to farm tokens and grind your way to Faction Rank 50.

I finally got Rank 50 on Monday and just walked up to Lakshmi-2 and took my catalyst and ornament.

[J.T.]

5 hours ago, RIPPA said:

And Dead Orbit wins

Surprise!  Not..

And now the grinding begins so that serious PvP teams can take their MW Graviton Lances to Trials.

I rolled with Mis and Slimy today and ran Flashpoint and hit the Heroic Strikes.  Mis and I had the worst guy ever as our third fireteam member for the big shrieker strike, but he came up big with a key revive on me right at the end.

Arc Singe is up this week.  I know because I got the killshot on the Root Mind with DARCI during one of our strikes.  The shot did about 4K points of damage.  

I got a critical on a yellow bar Minotaur that hit for 25K.  I have about 5% more to go before my DARCI is Masterworked and then I guess I will start on the Polaris Lance and Sunshot.  Eventually I will get around to grinding the Tractor Cannon catalyst on my Warlock.

[Eivion]

22 minutes ago, J.T. said:

I don't think you earned your catalyst if FWC won.  I think you had to farm tokens and grind your way to Faction Rank 50.

I finally got Rank 50 on Monday and just walked up to Lakshmi-2 and took my catalyst and ornament.

Well that sucks. Wish I had known before the rally ended.

[J.T.]

32 minutes ago, Eivion said:

Well that sucks. Wish I had known before the rally ended.

This was the first time in a while where I don't think I was ever on a planet with a Public Event going on that didn't have at least one active fireteam there to help out.  There were people farming tokens everywhere at all hours of the day.

I'd be interested to see how close FWC came to winning.  The Arach was always surrounded by players when I was online, but Lakshmi-2 also had quite a few people going to see her.  More than I was used to seeing when I pulled for Dead Orbit.

I barely saw anyone on the New Monarchy side of the Tower, but that doesn't mean that New Monarchy didn't have an army out there..

[Eivion]

Have to admit it felt like I saw less New Monarchy people whenever I visited so I wouldn't be surprised if we were the furthest behind.

[J.T.]

I thought the devs said that they were going to try to make the grind less grindy.  Not only do I have to keep up the LL of the gear in my inventory, I also have to make sure my stuff in my Vault is up to snuff, including the full set of FWC weapons and armor I just put in there this morning.

I am starting to become like Rippa.  The thing I am looking forward to the most when the new DLC drops is an increase in Vault space.

[J.T.]

9 hours ago, RIPPA said:

 

I was joking with Mis today that he should excel at Gambit since the object of this match mode is to grief the other team and be as big of an asshole as you possibly can.

He did not disagree.

I would totally the wear the Gambit logo shirt that Steve Cotton wore to the Forsaken review out in public.

[J.T.]

Yeah, I cannot preorder that DLC.  Flying around in Cayde=6's personal jumpship The Queen of Hearts, will just make me sad.

It is too bad that our Guardian doesn't speak anymore.  I would like to see a custom video of Ikora and my Hunter talking to each other with this as the dialogue.

 

[J.T.]

Having watched the Forsaken trailer over again, it's nice to see that the devs pay attention to their own game lore.

The lone Hunter figure (which probably represents the collective Bungie gaming community) carrying Cayde=6's body is wearing Cayde's cloak according to the flavor text for the Hardcase Cloak and in line with Hunter tradition.

Quote

"If you learn nothing else, learn this: when a Hunter takes up the cloak of a dead comrade, this is a vow."

 

[RIPPA]

@J.T. in case you didn't see it

https://kotaku.com/one-destiny-2-fan-worked-out-the-new-trailer-s-twist-wa-1826772791

[J.T.]

On ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 8:24 AM, RIPPA said:

@J.T. in case you didn't see it

https://kotaku.com/one-destiny-2-fan-worked-out-the-new-trailer-s-twist-wa-1826772791

There was a rumor that files had been mined from the D2 game and then posted to Reddit, so I steered clear of all Destiny Reddits until the E3 stream on Twitch.  I also had to re-verify the EULA when I signed on to Twitch to watch the Bungie stream because watching it was implied consent with an NDA.

The NDA really didn't keep you from discussing stuff in other channels, but Bungie wanted no one recording the stream and re-broadcasting it elsewhere.

There were lots of YouTubers watching the Twitch stream and Bungie did not want an already horribly kept secret to be confirmed before Bungie was ready to officially announce it themselves.

[J.T.]

I took a day off yesterday after finishing my last graveyard shift up on Wednesday morning and collapsing into a heap when I got back to my crib in MD.

In between assembling some deck furniture and light household chores on Thursday, I did a bit of Glimmer farming and ran the Nightfall with Mis.  I also had another stellar performance in Quickplay Crucible (Supremacy is turning into my jam!) which further convinces me that:

1) Racking up progress towards CTA is best done when the Sweaties are focused on Trials.

2) I seem to do better in PvP when I am solo even though I prefer to be on a fireteam with friends.

3) Rippa is a jinx designed to destroy my KD%

One win and my performance rating put me at 29% complete for this week's Call To Arms.  I will have zero game time on Friday or Saturday since it is Father's Day weekend and I have a slate of celebrations in my honor to attend. 

I'm ignoring the notion that what I'd REALLY like to do for Father's Day weekend is be left alone to binge game on Saturday, but the weather will be nice and I can ill afford to be antisocial, since Father's Day weekend is one of the few times during the year where I am not assumed to be a complete moron.  It's also my custody weekend and I like chillin' with my kid.

After a week and a half of graveyard, I'm looking forward to this two hour Swedish massage appointment tomorrow morning, and we've got free tickets to the Bowie Bay Sox game tonight.  I'm being taken to brunch on Sunday afternoon and then I will head back to VA to spend some time with my dad and maybe get some killing done on Sunday night.

Oh, and my DARCI is finally Masterworked!  Now all my OCD requires for satisfaction is for me to unlock a DARCI ornament and see if it is worth applying.  So far, the only ornaments I refuse to use are the ones for the Foetracer and the Dragon's Shadow.

I tried to start working on the Polaris Lance catalyst, but I'm beginning to get  frustrated trying to engineer Perfect Fifth Explosion kills so I may just say Fuck It and start grinding my Sunshot catalyst instead.

[RIPPA]

30 minutes ago, J.T. said:

3) Rippa is a jinx designed to destroy my KD%

You will never play Gambit with me.

For some reason Destiny and my connection have been hating each other so I keep having connection issues (I can begin to count the number of times my game locked up when I tried to see Ikora or Hawthorne). So I played a few Crucible matches last night - enough to get my Clan Engram but not enough to finish Call to Arms.

I hate how excited I am now about the Expansion in Sept. That being said I think I might start focusing on other games for the summer since I am not really feeling the grind.

So this probably means I will create my Hunter on like Sunday...

 

[J.T.]

48 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

I hate how excited I am now about the Expansion in Sept. That being said I think I might start focusing on other games for the summer since I am not really feeling the grind.

This is the sentiment from most of the people on the DARPA crew.  They're fired up about the storyline for Forsaken but they are mostly disillusioned by the current content. They're looking forward to playing in September, but they aren't exactly jazzed about playing now.

The Raids are needlessly complicated (you almost need a PhD to figure out some of the Leviathan shit) and EP has brought out the best and worst of the Horde-based gameplay as it relates to fireteams.  Prison of Elders was challenging, but beatable by a good squad while EP requires everyone in the zone to be on the same page as well as LL.

[J.T.]

Oh, and I hit the reddits to see what the fuck was up getting progress for the Perfect Fifth Kills criteria of the Polaris Lance catalyst.

In order to get one to count towards MW Catalyst, the PF shot from your Polaris Lance must:

1) be a precision hit and

2) the target must die from the Solar DoT; not the explosion damage caused by the round.

That really sucks.

[J.T.]

So, people on the internets are up in arms about the prospect of Bungie officially coming out and saying that Mara Sov, Queen of the Reef, is  really dead.

The five people who actually read their Grimoire cards remember that as per the events recorded on the Aftermath card that you can get during TTK,  Uldren's slipfighter crashes on Mars.  He "senses" that his sister is still alive and orders the Crows to help him find her. 

An action you can chalk up to the first stage of grief (aka denial) and a nonsense belief in the magical powers possessed by twins. 

And then there was the interview held with the voice actress that did the work for Mara' stating that she felt that the Pirate Queen (Mara's character skin was retconned to be the Queen of the Reef just as the mysterious antagonist, Crow, became Uldren and Crow's role in the Black Garden storyline was taken over by the Exo Stranger) would eventually make a return to the game. 

Most people feel that this interview along with the "maybe she is / maybe she isn't" nature of the information  on the Aftermath card is Bungie confirming that Mara is still alive

Now that Uldren's assumed motive for murdering Cayde in Forsaken is because he feels that Guardian meddling in the affairs of the Reef got his sister and countless other Awoken killed and he springs the Scorn to help him wage war on the Vanguard, mother fuckers have lost their shit because that plot could confirm once and for all that Mara is dead.

Denial is a powerful thing.

I am a solid member of the Mara Is Hot club, but the stories behind Forsaken and TTK get their gravitas from Mara's death.  Hell, getting to fly to Mara's aid is the gravitas behind House Of Wolves.  Therefore, I honestly believe that her showing up alive in Forsaken would be completely stupid.

[Eivion]

13 hours ago, J.T. said:

So far, the only ornaments I refuse to use are the ones for the Foetracer and the Dragon's Shadow.

Why did Tiamat have to be so ugly?

[misanthrope304]

https://gamerant.com/destiny-queen-reef-dead/

Quote

While talking with Creative Story Lead CJ Cowan, Cowan revealed that Bungie has big plans for Mara Sov in the future of the franchise: “This is totally spoiling like Destiny 2020 or something but when we get to that world down the road where that original pirate Queen comes out, I think it’s going to be a really powerful moment.”

Again, she's not dead.

Fuck Uldren

</end salt>

[J.T.]

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 11:17 AM, misanthrope304 said:

https://gamerant.com/destiny-queen-reef-dead/

Again, she's not dead.

Fuck Uldren

</end salt>

Why is everone's "proof" coming from an old interview with a guy that doesn't even work for Bungie anymore.  CJ quit back in 2016.

The recently leaked concept art for Forsaken of the mysterious gender neutral Awoken armed with a sawed off shotgun is a more convincing argument.  Could be the Queen or maybe another character?  Who knows?  Nothing conceptual necessarily has to make it into the final game.

Personally, if this turns out to be true:

Spoiler

There is allegedly a leaked script that has some of the suggested dialogue in it including Cayde-6's badass last words.

Cayde-6:  "So,....  How's your sister?"

Uldren:  "You'll find that out soon enough.  Give her my regards when you see her."

Cayde-6:  "Don't worry.  If I know my Guardian friend, you'll be doing that for yourself in due time."

It would be a terrible idea for her to turn out to be alive.  TBH, I'd rather have that be true than the Queen turning out to be among the living.

Oh, and that sawed off shotty turns out to be a player weapon, I may actually have embrace the D2 Forsaken broken weapon slot insanity and arm myself with three shotguns.

[J.T.]

On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 10:53 PM, Eivion said:

Why did Tiamat have to be so ugly?

Without an ornament, it matched up well with the Season 2 Iron Banner armor for Hunters.  When you put on the Ornament, it meshed well with absolutely nothing.

I fucking hate the Polaris Lance Catalyst challenge.  Trying to engineer Perfect Fifth kills may be the most infuriating thing I will ever do in this game.

They need to adjust this crap in a patch so that Explosion kills count rather than this I Hope The Explosion Doesn't Kill Him And He Burns To Death Instead shit.  I have only gotten three PF kills counting towards the Catalyst MW so far and those have been on Yellow Bars.

I am 29% for my Call To Arms so I am going to zerg some PvP this afternoon.  I may get set home early because the HVAC is fucking up here at the office on the morning of what is forecasted to be the hottest day of the year so far.

Dr. Ana Bray was kind enough to give me back the Braytech Winter Wolf I infused into my Kibou lo these many weeks ago, so I infused my old Scathelocke (I totally forgot that Scathelocke is one of Robin Hood's Merry Men!) into my new Winter Wolf and threw a Bray Innovation shader on it for good measure. 

I'm happy to have the WW back in my arsenal because the AP Rounds / Zen Moment settings combo totally fucking shred in PvE and the Tactical Mag / Zen Moment combo should melt faces in the Crucible.  Too bad that Hunters need pulse rifle kills for one of our ornament unlock requirements and my trusty Battle Scar fills the niche.

Now I need TWO Legendary Kinetic Mods instead of one and five more MW cores.to bring all of my gear back up to snuff.

[J.T.]

Well, fuck.  It's starting to feel like they fixed the HVAC chiller. Early dismissal DENIED~!

Once I'm done with CTA and the DC this afternoon, I'll grind tokens for Glimmer until I get tired of it and then bounce to watch some television now that the new Tomb Raider is available On Demand and I have a five dollar credit to burn.  I also have two episodes of Legion on FX to blaze through.

[J.T.]

Well, Mis, Rippa, and I jinxed each other last night as there were more valleys than peaks in last night's Crucible shooting of other players.  I had a couple of good outings, but my overall Efficiency fell by like .04 so I will have to get with it during the Iron Banner. 

I was happy that I got five Sniper Rifle kills during a win, so unlocking that Crucible leg armor ornament that I will probably never wear does not seem like such an impossible task.

The effects of the new matchmaking are clearly evident as we ran into quite a few sweaty serious players thanks to us being in a coordinated fireteam.  All of our wins were hard fought except for one team that we rolled over.

Not sure if this is a glitch, but if you need Legendary Kinetic Mods for any weapons you are building up, you'd better buy them before Reset..

I needed three LKMs for my Telemachus-C, BrayTech Winter Wolf, and The Doubt so for shits and giggles I plunked down 6 Mod Components and got three LKMs in a row.  I can't believe that was pure luck.  That was the match when I went ape shit with my Frigid Jackal.

I need to remember not to shred all of the armor mods I buy and try to stack on Rare mods I like and decide to keep so that I can convert them to Legendary ones.  I still need to finish kitting out my MW FWC armor before the next Faction Rally and I want to get a Legendary Arc mod for my FWC scout rifle.

I'll probably get Flashpoint and Heroic Strikes out of the way when I get home from work this afternoon so I can get tooled up for IB once members of the DARPA crew log on for the evening.  Prayerfully, I'll get a few Perfect Fifth kills in when I do Heroic Strikes today since Solar Singe should be up in the rotation.

[RIPPA]

I missed that IB was this week but that made me realize that I hadn't looked at the This Week At Bungie on Friday

I also purposely waited to finish the 5 Heroic strikes with my Warlock till this week. A) I only have two left so I can piggy back them onto the normal Heroic Strikes and B) it should be Void singe which suits my Warlock just fine (not to mention all my top guns are void)

[J.T.]

26 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

I missed that IB was this week but that made me realize that I hadn't looked at the This Week At Bungie on Friday

I also purposely waited to finish the 5 Heroic strikes with my Warlock till this week. A) I only have two left so I can piggy back them onto the normal Heroic Strikes and B) it should be Void singe which suits my Warlock just fine (not to mention all my top guns are void)

I thought it was Void Singe the week before last and Solar Singe should be up this week?  Or was it Solar Singe the week before and the trauma of The Pyramidion strike is still haunting me and throwing off my sense of time?