Destiny 2: The Witch Queen out now

Mafro wrote:

Photek wrote:I expect it’s pop on Xbox to jump massively when it hits GP with all the expansions. This have cross play?

They're planning cross play between platforms next year sometime. This November it'll just be cross play between PS4 and PS5 or Xbox One and Series X.

My most wanted feature for sure. I've quite a few mates who play on PS4 whereas I'm on PC. Would love to do some raiding with them, not to mention some of you lot (who seem to be a console majority)

After literally 2 years of trying I finally, finally got One Thousand Voices. I've probably done the final encounter of The Last Wish 10 to 15 times and never had a snifter. Finished it yesterday (after an hour of trying to do Queenswalk with an inexperienced team), used 3 keys and got it twice. Because of course.

Anyway it slaps. Excellent piece of kit.

Couple of very bad, hastily taken screenies from my recent adventures:



Some slightly better ones:

Because all the DLC including new one is part of the Gamepass version ill really give this a go for a longer period of time. Mostly from Sept to Nov (I suspect Halo to take over after Series X launch) but whynotboth?.gif

I imagine there'll be a huge uptick in new players once everything's out! Unfortunately the new/returning player experience is no better and remains utterly confusing. If you end up needing any help, just give us a shout!

Tafdolphin wrote:I imagine there'll be a huge uptick in new players once everything's out! Unfortunately the new/returning player experience is no better and remains utterly confusing. If you end up needing any help, just give us a shout!

Will do, I'll no doubt will consult some videos as well but, I'm actually quite excited tbh.

Tafdolphin wrote:After literally 2 years of trying I finally, finally got One Thousand Voices. I've probably done the final encounter of The Last Wish 10 to 15 times and never had a snifter. Finished it yesterday (after an hour of trying to do Queenswalk with an inexperienced team), used 3 keys and got it twice. Because of course.

Anyway it slaps. Excellent piece of kit.

Couple of very bad, hastily taken screenies from my recent adventures:

Some slightly better ones:

Bungies art design is eons ahead of most, including 343i

EDIT, those over grown ones, is that same planet/area you start off in, in D1?

I can't overstate how much I'm enjoying it again these days. After 2 absolutely uninspired seasons, Arrivals has been excellent. Part of that is because they're back to dealing with the big story, part is that the new activities are fun, and part of it is because I've finally gotten over my fear of playing with randos and have fully embraced the Looking For Group mentality. This means I've been able to complete almost all of the End Game content including almost all of the raids, the dungeons and the tough as nails Nightfall levels. It's been excellent.

Photek wrote:EDIT, those over grown ones, is that same planet/area you start off in, in D1?

The Cosmodrome yeah. It came back a while ago, in a very much reduced way, as the setting for an Exotic weapon quest. It's set to return completely, with all its D1 content, from November. A load of the D2 content is being shelved (4 of the planets, and a bunch of the raids) but they're bringing back a load of D1 stuff too. I'm hoping they eventually bring back the Dreadnaught, as I never got to experience that area.

Tafdolphin wrote:I can't overstate how much I'm enjoying it again these days. After 2 absolutely uninspired seasons, Arrivals has been excellent. Part of that is because they're back to dealing with the big story, part is that the new activities are fun, and part of it is because I've finally gotten over my fear of playing with randos and have fully embraced the Looking For Group mentality. This means I've been able to complete almost all of the End Game content including almost all of the raids, the dungeons and the tough as nails Nightfall levels. It's been excellent.

While you're on that topic, how much of a time sink is a raid? an hour? 2?

Tafdolphin wrote:After literally 2 years of trying I finally, finally got One Thousand Voices.

Did you hear the audio glitch this had when it first came out?

Photek wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:I can't overstate how much I'm enjoying it again these days. After 2 absolutely uninspired seasons, Arrivals has been excellent. Part of that is because they're back to dealing with the big story, part is that the new activities are fun, and part of it is because I've finally gotten over my fear of playing with randos and have fully embraced the Looking For Group mentality. This means I've been able to complete almost all of the End Game content including almost all of the raids, the dungeons and the tough as nails Nightfall levels. It's been excellent.

While you're on that topic, how much of a time sink is a raid? an hour? 2?

Man, it really depends.

For example, the original D2 raid, Leviathan, is super puzzle heavy. The first time I played it with my old clan it took, no word of a lie, 5 hours. It was a chore. I played it recently with a bunch of randos who knew what they were doing and it took just over an hour. If you've got a decent team then you can knock them off fairly quickly, but if you're learning with a team, even after reading up on the mechanics, it can take ages.

Communication is key and voice comms are, literally, essential. I was super nervous about getting online with randos on Discord but I've actually had a bunch of really positive experiences over the past few weeks.

Mafro wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:After literally 2 years of trying I finally, finally got One Thousand Voices.

Did you hear the audio glitch this had when it first came out?

Haha! I heard about that but I'd never experienced it. How appropriate is that?

Seriously though it's an absolute beast of a shooter. Any bosses I can't sword-kill (like the final Prophecy boss) get melted by it.

5 Hours.

Well, hopefully ill play most other things before I tackle one so I know a bit.

I remember some raids taking a good chunk of a day but it was totally worth it.
Get a fun team together and the time flies by with the failures being all part of the fun.
The sense of triumph at the end is pretty epic.

Peter Crisp wrote:I remember some raids taking a good chunk of a day but it was totally worth it.
Get a fun team together and the time flies by with the failures being all part of the fun.
The sense of triumph at the end is pretty epic.

I had a quick look through this thread and it found the old GRcade vs Leviathan vid. It took you guys about half an hour just to get to the first encounter!

But yeah, the first time I finished The Last Wish was a huge feeling of achievement. No word of a lie, that was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had I think.

Tafdolphin wrote:I had a quick look through this thread and it found the old GRcade vs Leviathan vid. It took you guys about half an hour just to get to the first encounter!

But yeah, the first time I finished The Last Wish was a huge feeling of achievement. No word of a lie, that was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had I think.

I may have held them up due to my complete shitness at the jumping parts. It was like some kind of mental block where I was kind of ok at combat but I'd get stressed out and fail badly as soon as I had to do anything involving jumping .

As of last night I've now completed every raid in Destiny 2! So, I thought I'd do a ranking of how I found them, because why not!

Spire of Stars

Remember playing Pass the Parcel at some kid's birthday party and being the penultimate one to unwrap the present? Stretch the basic mechanics of that game out over 2 hours, add in multiple other play mechanics requiring pin-point accuracy then repeat everything 3 times until you actually make any progress. By far the worst of all the end game activities, SoS is fiddly, frustrating and just not very fun.

Leviathan

Another mechanic heavy raid, Leviathan is another slog. There's almost no bosses or combat here, just constant contending with tricky team based co-ordination exercises. It can be fun if you have a seasoned team, but on my first run it took 5 straight hours and almost put me off raiding entirely.

Crown of Sorrows

Bit of cheat here as I've only ever done the final encounter. And it was fun! The main mechanic is juggling a buff that allows you to damage special enemies but stops you from damaging normal foes. Teaming up with a partner, you have to defeat powerful enemies whilst buffing and rebuffing each other and managing time frames and damage dealing.

Eater of Worlds

The shortest of the raids, this is super fun and one of the game's most impressive set pieces. From the Leviathan you're flung into the heart of its planet eating core and forced to battle a giant Vex with the best design of any enemy in the game. It's just complicated enough to be fun for everyone, and quick enough to polish off in less than an hour. A great experience.

Scourge of the Past

Just getting to see more of the Last City is worth doing this raid for, but then you get a great variety of activities to do including map reading and orienteering, Sparrow racing and a final encounter with the Destiny-verse's equivalent of Metal Gear. It's not such a visual tour-de-force as some of the other raid areas, nor is the narrative as interesting, but there isn't a single duff encounter.

Garden of Salvation

The newest raid, and probably the best looking, the Garden of Salvation starts where you killed the final boss of Destiny 1. The main mechanic is the tether, where you and fellow Guardian's must use your bodies to connect beams of light to unlock doors and apply buffs. The area is stunning, with some of the best skyboxes in the game and the encounters are, to a one, furious fun. The final boss is a real challenge without ever feeling frustrating or cheap. A fantastic experience.

The Last Wish

Even after 2 years, the Last Wish is still my favoruite raid. It gets everything right: the puzzles are complex enough to be challenging whilst not requiring the absolute accuracy of Leviathan, the bosses are multi-layered and interesting, the setting is gorgeous and the variety of tasks is perfect. It also has the best narrative, being the conclusion of the Forsaken campaign, and Riven is still perhaps the most interesting boss in the game. I've run it at least 10 times now trying to get the exotic One Thousand Voices fusion rifle, and it's never gotten old.

It's weird to think that five of these will be disappearing come November. I'm certainly glad I got to experience them whilst they were still around.

Screenies of last night's Garden run!

All the stuff being removed in a few months:

Strikes:
The Pyramidion
The Festering Core
Savathun's Song
Strange Terrain
Will of the Thousands
Tree of Probabilities
A Garden World

Gambit Maps:
Cathedral of Scars (Dreaming City)
Kell's Grave (Tangled Shore)

Note: All Gambit Prime armour perks will be deprecated.

Crucible Maps:
Meltdown
Solitude
Retribution
The Citadel
Emperor's Respite
Equinox
Eternity
Firebase Echo
Gambler's Ruin
Legion's Gulch
Vostok

Crucible Modes:
Supremacy
Countdown
Lockdown
Breakthrough
Doubles
Momentum Control*
Scorched*

*Probably will return sometime in Year 4

Dungeons:
No current plans to vault Dungeons
Except The Prophecy (returning later)

Raids:
Leviathan
Eater of Worlds (Leviathan)
Spire of Stars (Leviathan)
Scourge of the Past (Last City)
Crown of Sorrows (Leviathan)

Exotic Quests:
Sturm
MIDA Multi-tool
Rat King
Legend of Acrius
Sleeper Simulant
Polaris Lance
Worldline Zero
Ace of Spades
The Last Word
Le Monarque
Jotunn
Izanagi's Burden
Thorn
Lumina
Truth
Bad Juju

Catalysts:
Bad Juju
The Huckleberry
Izanagi's Burden
Legend of Acrius
Polaris Lance
Skyburner's Oath
Sleeper Simulant*
Telesto*
Outbreak Perfected*
Whisper of the Worm*
Worldline Zero*
*Will come out of vault at some point in new season with new ways to earn

Modes/Locations:
Forges
Reckoning
Menagerie
Niobe Labs
Campaigns:
Red War
Curse of Osiris
Warmind

Exotic Missions:
The Whisper
Zero Hour

Planets/Locations:
Mercury
Mars
Titan
Io
The Farm
The Leviathan
The Tribute Hall

What else goes away when a destination gets vaulted?
Story missions and cinematics
Strikes (detailed above)
Raids (detailed above)
Dungeons (detailed above)
Adventures
Secret missions
Vendors and associated bounties
Destination-specific patrols
Collectables & scannables
Destination-specific activities (Ex: Mercury’s Forge, Mars’ Escalation Protocol)
Freely roaming the destinations themselves, exploring Lost Sectors, etc.

Tis the Destiny way.

Taking stuff away then reintroducing it and pretending it's new.

Yeah, it's a strawberry floating massacre. Some stuff I can understand, before the recent public events no-one ever needed to go to Io or Titan, and the Mars patrol zone, although cool, was largely being ignored too.

But Leviathan? All those raids are regularly run to this day and comprise some of the best experiences in the game. To just slice them all away is insane. And there's really no excuse for the vaulting of the weapon catalysts...all could be easily placed into normal play. If you went through the effort of getting Outbreak Perfected or Izanagi's Burden you should damn well be able to earn their catalysts.

I've pre-ordered the next expansion and won't be cancelling but holy gooseberry fool it's got an awful lot to live up to now.

The most important thing for me is that they’re revamping Gambit - they’re merging the 2 modes, regular and Prime. From reading what Bungie had to say, it sounds like it’s going to be an awful lot like Prime now...as in, gooseberry fool. Gutted!

Removing Gambit completely would be a big improvement.