End-game activities and light level (Off-Topic)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Monday, February 29, 2016, 21:21 (3029 days ago) @ Robot Chickens

Except now the damage values of the weapon drops are random as well, so even if you get the gun you want with the perks you want, it might have a lower attack level than you want, so you'll need to get lucky with other drops in order to "infuse" it up to a higher damage level.

Light level doesn't matter quite as much in the end-game activities. Sure, higher is better. But the degree of how much better has been scaled.

Honestly, I don't find the difference between 314 and 317 compelling enough to alter my preferred aesthetics when I play. There is a comfortable range of light that is able to compete well in pretty much all activities. I just played IB with a range of characters from 300 to 318. I didn't really notice a huge difference in the outcomes of each match.

I generally agree. But I do run into the occasional situations where I feel the difference. If I'm running my hunter with a build in the low 300s I start to run into cases where I'll stick players in the 315-320 range with my tripmine and not kill them. Or I'll find I need to hit them with 3 body shots from my low-impact sniper to kill them. I can still play the game and generally have fun, but I find that the closer I get to 320, the less often those frustrating moments occur.

As such, I view getting the higher light as something fun to chase, but I never feel like I have to have it to be playing destiny correctly. I get wanting to be a 320. But I don't get the feeling that some have that it isn't fun unless every drop brings you closer to 320. The math of that particular treadmill ensures that you will be more angry/frustrated the longer you play. Bungie freed us from that with TTK.

For me, it's not that I care about hitting 320 per say. It's that I want to be able to use a wide range of gear, with various armor builds, while maintaining a level that is high enough for me to not worry about any level disadvantages (roughly 315 and up). In order for me to be able to do this, I need a steady stream of 320 drops to use as infusion fodder into the gear I actually want to play with.

In House of Wolves, I found it far easier to focus on building a wide range of gear, because the vertical climb was so short. Like those boots? 1 piece of etheric light and BAM they're max level. You can use them in any activity. TTK just adds so many more random drops and RNG dependence into the mix.