The 5th encounter, bosses, and Raids in general (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Tuesday, October 30, 2018, 05:19 (2012 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Going back to your initial question, I think about the moments in previous raids that really stand out in my mind as quinticential Destiny experiences.I remember doing the Confluxes for the first time, and how thrilling it was to be part of a 6-man fireteam as we formed up in a line and unleashed everything we had at the column of Vex rushing up the stairs towards us. I remember the long jump into the dark. Sprinting through the abyss and fighting off the horde with our backs to the forming bridge. For all the mechanics at play, both Atheon and Crota felt like fights, not puzzles. I miss that. I want raid encounters that feel like combat with an extra layer of mechanics worked into them, rather than choreographed theatre with some combat mixed in.

You nailed my thoughts almost exactly.

Shuro Chi is a great encounter because of that aspect, I think. It's like the inverse of holding off the waves of Hive as you build the bridge. It feels like this cool assault as you fight your way up the tower. The timer mechanic works so brilliantly in the Shuro Chi encounter for me, because it helps make that fight up the tower feel desperate, even if it's not really all that difficult at the end of the day. That time restriction makes it feel epic and intense in a way that it probably wouldn't otherwise.

Yes, totally. I like that encounter a lot as well. It also allows for designated role-playing. When I ran that encounter with Kermit’s group, I didn’t fully understand the symbol/plate mechanics, and I didn’t need to. I was dealing with other things (clearing ads). I was still able to act as the backup plate guy if one of the main plate people needed to switch. They’d just tell me which plate needed covering and I’d run and do it.

Eventually, I’ll learn the intricacies of the whole encounter, and that will make me a more effective raider. But for my first run through, the limited scope of the details I personally needed to keep track of meant I was able to do my job very well.

*Riven Spoilers Below*

I spent 2.5 hours fighting Riven last night, and it only reinforced my opinion. That encounter is awful. It’s not even fun on a pure mechanical level. It’s all positioning of hidden symbols, calling out numbered targets, running from bland room to bland room. Neither the boss nor our guardians feel powerful in that fight. I still want to master it just so I can beat the whole raid, but man is it a far cry from the days when raiding was the part of the game I loved most.