[Warlock Class/General comments] *Possible Spoilers* /long/ (Destiny)

by Harmanimus , Thursday, July 20, 2017, 01:09 (2682 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Lets get straight into it, all PvE:

Dawnblade
- Thanks to Korny I performed much better than initially anticipated. I was not super excited for this class pre-Beta, but it probably is the most distinct feeling class, if you play to being airborne as the available tree suggests.
- I didn't notice the cool down as much because I was too busy trying to be Mary Poppins. So that made it more interesting. Your Rift does feel like it takes a long time to refill, though.
- The Icarus Dodge is great, but is on a 10 second cool down outside of super. It provided a little extra mobility that aided in staying alive in some cases I would probably not have floating like a leaf.
- Raining fire down feels great, but it burns out quick and isn't very useful attempting to engage anything at range, it is definitely an in-the-thick sort of super.

Voidwalker
- Drawing Super power to overcharge grenades is fun. Like, really fun. And with how slow supers charge I didn't feel like I was punished too hard for the tactical decision. There is a maximum overcharge that is obvious, but if you keep holding it it does continue to drain your super.
- Apparently hitting crouch while in the air makes you Glide? Did this happen in D1? made me mess up a few times trying to slide as I hit because I hit it too soon. Speaking of sliding, also accidentally used my Rift while trying to slide.
- Having a Melee that reduces the cool down on your Grenade is really one of the most useful things. It made me aggressively use my melee which was nice, but while it makes you feel more empowered the Beta cool downs are still like sludge.
- Novabomb is still Novabomb. It's purpose is the same, though it feels somewhat more destructive. I used Lance in D1, so it's definitely a somewhat different experience. It adjusts course aggressively, and usually to whatever I don't want it to go to. Thankfully it can be Shock-Combo'd and explodes in the air when you shoot it. It is a neat added utility. And pulling energy for my grenade even at full super wasn't a problem because usually I got most of that back if my grenade hit a cluster of adds.

General [Possible rants/rambling]

Art/feel/whatever:
- This is totally still Destiny.
- The art direction continues forward and is familiar while also being more refined. The gear, character, and location designs are all in line and work.
- Nessus is damn pretty and takes the Vex architecture but places it in context and surroundings that make it feel fresh. The flora is probably the best part though. I look forward to exploring it more.
- Gripe number one for me is that Titans feel less 80/20 Armor/Cloth now and the stacked pauldrons do nothing positive for me. I am looking forward to there being armor sets I am more inclined to by their aesthetic, but the same has happened periodically though the life of D1. I did not like The Taken King Titan Vanguard/Crucible sets for example, and immediately moved away from them as soon as I could get the gear. I am hoping that there are some familiar designs brought back periodically, as it would be a shame to lose them fully.
- Not a big fan of the overly sleek Hunter gear, either, but the Vanguard set looks great and feels more like the gear of a warrior scout than a Luge outift with a cape.
- Vanguard for the Warlock is also the better of the sets for my visual taste, and feels very familiar to Vanilla D1. In a good way.

- The music still feels like Destiny, and the sound design is familiar enough without feeling re-used. People who are more technically inclined to audio may disagree, though. I'm more of a visual arts person. The soundtrack also feels generally good. And I know that a lot of people are saying it makes them miss Marty's work even more. I'm still out on that, but I've also greatly enjoyed TTK and RoI soundtracks. I'll wait for the full soundtrack to really judge.
- No McCartney. While the foot tall holographic singer was a neat novelty (and the song isn't as bad as some people make it out to be) it will not be missed. At least not by me.
- Though maybe more pop-rock stuff might benefit Destiny? Maybe we'll never know.

- The game feels good at its core. I think most of my issues will be ironed out with time/the full release. Issues with abilities (nerfing both cooldowns and power for the sake of making a gun-oriented game might work for people who want to have a gun-skill, variable-limited experience, but I don't find that fun) and the PvE ammo economy (already confirmed changed) are high on my list of hopes for the release game.
- I have my curiosities for how gear will actually shake out, and how weapons will be exciting to get over and over. I know it has been said they are working on that, too. I know getting repeats in the Beta leads to an immediate sharding.
- Shaders for everything? I'm anticipating seeing some very ugly Guardians in the wild.

- Weapons are the key focus here though, and some of them feel really good to me. Others not so much. I am enjoying the change to Kinetic/Energy/Power (KEP? can we just call it KEP?) as it allows me more general flexibility. However, PvE definitely feels like it needs larger Power Ammo reserves. We'll see if that has changed.
- Energy weapons have a great punch to them on shields, though some of them feel substantially weaker than the available Kinetic comparisons. The Scout Rifles, for example, feel really different. The Veist one with Arc damage felt good in Crucible, but mostly feels like it shoots marshmallows unless you land a bunch of precision hits in PvE, while the Suros one only has 4 less rounds in the magazine but just feels punchier.
- Speaking of precision hits, if you are not landing them you aren't really doing damage. The values varied, but for example a single round from the Scathelock Auto Rifle did 45 damage, while a single precision hit from the same did 115. The different on the boss is less defined, as is standard for Yellow-bar enemies, but was still around double damage at ideal range.

- Enemies are neat, it feels like a rational evolution of some enemy types.
- The visual changes to shields are highly welcome and both make them more visible and better fit the enemy character.
- Nothing really new with the Vex except they have a Void beam weapon that does sustained fire. Didn't feel very threatening. We'll see what Void Burn does to it. Oh, and Minotaurs have a crit spot. Probably because of how important precision damage is.
- Nessus Fallen are interesting. The new Wretches feel similar to Vandals but are unique enough on their own. Servitor upgrade makes them even more of a threat, as they can provide an immunity shield to multiple targets. I am interested in seeing the character of this new House.

Cabal
- Cabal are totally revamped. Some of the changes seem arbitrary (Psions now do an attack with Void instead of Arc) but there are a lot of neat additions.
- Legionaries have wrist blades that they can melee you with or launch at you as a grenade. They telegraph this attack really obviously. Their weapons appear to all have been replaced with Arc shotguns though. I might have missed regular Slug Rifles, though.
- Phalanxes are substantially less irritating. Their shield still provides immunity, but you can disable it directly, when it is carried or deployed as a wall. The change up to their interactions is pleasant. I don't think I've been shield bashed. But I'll wait for it.
- The new Centurions are more of the same, but they have that new charged Void launcher weapon. They also seem to have that regular grenade launcher thing.
- Colossuses are a neat palette swap. Their missile barrage now does Arc and has an effect similar to Web Mines. Their foosh gun is both less and more irritating to come under fire from than the slug guns they previously used. I am also curious if these weapons will make a return.
- Immolator dudes are easy to deal with, and they trade area denial for being highly explosive. Also, they do have a concussive push attack.
- Gladiators are not interesting to fight. They are just highly aggressive and have a very long melee range.
- Warhounds are a neat swarm enemy. Different from Thralls in that they maintain a generally consistent vertical level even when attacking, but they take a little more effort to headshot because their lateral motion seems to be more aggressive.
- Psions now come with a sniper variety. They telegraph their shots really easily. Their blast attack allows them some area denial (it leaves a damaging Void wall) as well as causing you to break cover by bouncing you into the air. And they have a sprint action where they zoom from point A to B really fast. It appears to be the bright orange vent on their back.
- And then we have that vent: Most of the Cabal have it now and it is a secondary precision hit area. It makes your damage output with a good flank really high on a lot of Cabal and should be used to your advantage.

I am interested in the Farm, and perhaps as the weekend hits full swing I'll be able to organize a stack for Crucible and I might have a more enjoyable experience there.