Criticisms 2: Arc Boogaloo [2] (Destiny)

by Harmanimus , Wednesday, January 03, 2018, 16:15 (2357 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Heroics and Challenges
[2.1a] So, two totally underutilized features of the game. I appreciate the inclusion of Heroic Adventures for Mercury and the boost to rewards for completing Challenges. But neither is really in the place they should be to support the player base.

[2.2a] Heroics should cover all activities. Period. And they should involve modifiers. I am not going to get into my issue with the consolidation of modifiers here, that is a different bag of cats. The campaign missions should be selectable at any time at their base, normal level, allow the first 3 mission completions to aware Ikora tokens. Ikora's meditations should be made Heroic and cycle appropriately with modifier. This allows the campaign to exist as a chosen activity rather than the weird place it is now while also going back to something akin to Daily Heroics as they were in D1.

[2.2b] All destination Adventures should have Heroic options that can be picked up from the destination Vendor. Destination quest missions, without the initial rewards, should also be replayable with Heroic options. Lost Sectors on the Flashpoint destinations should have Heroic versions which are signaled on the map in a similar fashion to public events, and have a beacon to queue to matchmake up to 3 players into that space if you don't have a full fireteam, but don't require it.

[2.3a] Challenges are great as a replacement to Bounties. They no longer tie up inventory space (fix weapon quests doing this please) and they exist for all activities every day. However, certain activities (Strikes) do not greatly benefit from their challenges. Some skew to being more difficult than necessary or too easy for various reasons.

[2.3b] My focus on where I think challenges are under performing is Strikes. Every day you get 1 challenge for styles of engagement (close up precision; multikills without reloading), 1 damage type (100 arc/sol/void damage kills), and 1 sub-class perk challenge (kill enemies in a sunspot; kill enemies with your arc soul). The first is good and enjoyable, and seems to get about the right volume for difficulty of task. The second is pretty standard and supports your use of a subclass, so I can appreciate that as a very direct and overall simple challenge. The last is bad. All of the options are bad.

[2.3c] I don't mean that lightly, even if the language is soft. I have two issues with 9 of 10 challenges in that slot; generate 10 Orbs is fine. First, there is only one challenge per subclass. So it is the same every time it comes around, and a number of them only work with subclass tree (Sunbreaker, Voidwalker) and there is no variety to it. Striker is always kill enemies blinded by a Flashbang Grenade.

[2.3d] Second, if you matchmake into a strike without a full fireteam you have to play against the Strike (speed run to an area; hang back in a public space) to reliably resolve those challanges in a timely fashion. If you are doing the Nightstalker or Striker challenge and you have to kill enemies blinded by your grenade/smoke, you have to be the one to finish them. I can't tell you how many times a blueberry has sent a rocket at a group I just flashbanged/smoked and left me with a nice goose egg of progress and a need to wait until I have my grenade/smoke back. Simple fix is increase the number needed and make it fireteam based. Strikes are supposed to be cooperative, right?