Under-Lighted Missions (Destiny)

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Thursday, September 17, 2015, 23:19 (3166 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

At some point during the mission, I was running out of special ammo, so I tried switching to Icebreaker. Icebreaker (high-impact) was doing a lot more damage than the 200-light sniper (low impact) I was using, even at 170. This highlights how (I think?) the new light system works: all damage is based on the light average of your gear and the stats of the weapons, not the individual weapon levels. With the increase in items that matter to your stats (average of 9 items), you may be able to afford to use a powerful Y1 weapon. If you average 280 light, using one 170 Y1 weapon decreases your average to 268, just a 4% decrease (which I think somebody noted before the expansion came out, but it makes more sense now that I've seen it in action). However, the 4% number may be misleading, as your damage is dependent on the relative light level between you and your opponent, so if the 12 point drop gets you to a high enough difference, you may be doing 100% less damage.

Please correct me if I'm totally wrong.

My understanding, based on Luke Smith's comments in a recent Game Informer podcast, is that your total light level does effect your damage output, but the damage rating of the weapon itself weighs in heavily.

That is also what I thought... but it sure doesn't feel that way.

I had a similar experience as in the OP-- I went into the Daily Heroic, was getting my butt handed to me, and switched to Ice Breaker and immediately started wrecking things. Later on I used Gyllenhaal to take out an Echo of Oryx before he could even spawn any adds.

Your light level and the weapon's other characteristics-- NOT base attack-- seem to be the important things now. Old guns, as long as you only equip one of them, are still way better than any of the new stuff I've seen so far.

He didn't get in to specifics or percentages or anything, but my takeaway was that using an Icebreaker while having a light level of 260, you'll do more damage than you could at 200. But a weapon with equal impact and a higher rating than icebreaker will do more damage, assuming your total light level is the same.

...and a new sniper with equal range and impact to Ice Breaker is...