Yeah, people get all excited/bunchy about mechanic changes, difficulty settings, sandbox expansions, blah blah blah. Let's be honest about why we're really here: Fashion. Now that we're at the end of the year, lets memorialize our guardians as they looked on the field.

Never forget where you came from. Remember when RNG created this guy?

That was just a bump in our journeys towards aesthetic perfection. So... pop your collars, put on your best shaders and spin for the camera because we want to see the look you've worked so hard to earn.

Bonus: You don't have to add them but I think it'd be fun to add little vignettes from the life of your character so we can get a sense of who they are.

Please submit a maximum of two entries per class. In two weeks (Friday, August 24) I'll collate them into poll and we can vote for the best in each class the following week. You win nothing but the respect of your fellow aesthetes unless someone wants to volunteer actual prizes.

Here's my entries

Hunter Formal

She always hated formal occasions. Too much small talk with people wrapped up in their titles. But, if you've got to go, you might as well wear your best and elegance masked her purpose suitably.

Hunter Tactical

She's faster than you. She's smarter than you. She's tracking you. The void will reach out and you will perish amongst your allies in it's embrace.

Warlock

There was always more research to do, more experiments to be done, more tomes be written. He longed for white walls. He rationalized his forays into violence as an inconvenient distraction to his life's work. Just one more body and he could surround himself with his beakers and equipment, hidden behind their sterile assurance. As time passed through him, the white walls seemed to stretch, expanding further and further into the cosmos.

Titan

A single spear, hurled into the choas of battle plunges into their champion's heel, breaking their resolve and dispursing their onslought. The wreckage in his wake may have appeared random, but his destructive path belied uncanny precision. Many fell mistaking him for Paris, only recognizing his true nature as darkness set in. He was the spear.

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So, I'm starting out with a demotivating guardian post. I apologize to who it was I ran into at the tower. I feel dirty having done it. Names have been removed to protect the innocent.

Anyway, with that out of the way:

Titan
Out in the world drawing attention to yourself can get you in a lot of trouble . . .

. . . But a Titan filled with Solar Light might like Trouble.

Warlock
A shell of metal and light. Like a Lich in old tales of fantasy for a post-Golden Age.

Hunter
Feet first into Hell, baby.

All but the Solstice armor is basically what I've been running (with a few minor changes) for about the last 6 months. I'm a little too excited for some of the changes that will be coming with Forsaken to my fashion options.

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I feel dirty having done it. Names have been removed to protect the innocent.

Love it. Doesn't it feel good to get that off your chest?

Hunter
Feet first into Hell, baby.

I like the guardian ODST work!

These backstories are great. Especially your Warlocks.

I didn't know Siegmeyer of Catarina was a Guardian!

Hunter
Feet first into Hell, baby.

I like the guardian ODST work!

What shader is just full black? I need it.

Hunter
Feet first into Hell, baby.

I like the guardian ODST work!

What shader is just full black? I need it.

It depends on the armor piece because they map differently on each set. These are the shaders that appear black the most often for me:

Metro Shift
Monochrome
Dead Orbit variations
Cerulean divide

It's a selection of different ones. I'll check:

Helmet: Dead Orbit's Fate
Arms: Dead Orbit Camo
Chest: Dead Orbit's Fate
Legs: Dead Orbit's Fate
Cloak: Midnight Talons

I previously had Metro Shift on the Chest, this is iteration 5 I think of the ODST stuff.

I'll have to think about this. I'm very excited to have an excuse to show my carefully selected looks off, but the two entries per class thing is difficult - I've got 3 distinct setups per class, one for each subclass, and I'm not sure I really have favorites among them. Choosing which ones to leave out... I don't know if I can.

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I really wanted to do mini background write-ups for these characters but I am away from home on vacation - hopping on a friend's computer real fast to upload these images before the contest ends tomorrow :)

Fight with honor

Well behaved Hunters rarely make history

I can't stand the D2 trend of linebacker armor for Titans. Svelte Titan is best Titan. Is she all fancy pants? Nope. Her armor is simple. It's clean. It's no frills. It's armor, not a fashion statement. It's not meant to do the talking, that's what her flaming hammers are for.

That said, a few modest concessions have been made. A nice red flowing mark? It's important. Rocket boots? Dude. Rocket. Boots. The light is awesome and all but who doesn't want rocket boots? Also a somewhat vague reference to an early 21st century superhero film, because lets face it, she IS a superhero (with the rocket boots to match).

Tesni Jarmila

Little by little, Tesni has recovered from the Red War. Her short stint with the Dead Orbit faction was both sickening and enlightening. She found that, no, she did not... could not... in fact run away. But their ideas on organization and fleet building and staying mobile and gaining allies anywhere they could? Those stuck with the legendary Titan. And so, she turned her attention to the Reef. It had been silent for too long. And while yes, the Awoken were mysterious and standoffish in even the best of times, maybe if the City had been on better terms with their Awoken "allies" perhaps the Red War would not have happened to begin with.

Tesni is suited and armed for any combat scenario, but her load out (a large, two-handed Gatling gun, a long range Braytech sharpshooter's rifle, and... a broadsword...) is skewed notably towards up close range and melee support. On the battlefield, her fists and angular reactive armor are just as essential to her high kill counts as any weapon she carries in her hands.

Natela Tamaya Murk

In each of the months following Red War, Natela racked up a kill count... and death count... higher than her previous lifetimes totals in either category. Her recklessness quickly saw other Guardians keep their distance. 'Another one too far gone...' they would say with sadness, sure that she would soon find the final death she so desperately seemed to be seeking. But she is still out there. Still alive... somehow. And now there is word of new dangers among the territories that were once controlled by the Awoken...

That she still flies the colors and symbols of the New Monarchy and Iron Lords? Those were simply the last things she had on.

Natela's fighting style is still a faster, more agile mirror of the one used by her Titan mentor. Now, more than ever, she strikes fast and nimble. The rifle on her back hasn't seen much action since she lost her sister to the Cabal attack, much to her Ghost's chagrin.

Tacy

Since she was discovered by her Ghost in the aftermath the Red War, Tacy has no personal story of loss or tragedy to tell, but she has heard far more than she can count from the Tower's Guardian and civilian populations alike. You hear a lot of things when working as part of the Tower's restoration crew.

Tacy's thick coat and overslung effects bend far more towards the practical than the outfits of most Warlocks. Where they mostly focus on the complexities of the Light, Tacy prefers to focus on the complexity of the next data relay or electrical junction, and her tough, tear resistant outfit is simply what she needs to complete her tasks while working in tight, cramped access tunnels and passageways.

In the rare times that she does deploy out beyond the walls of the City, Tacy keeps her armament equally practical. A hand cannon for close combat. An auto rifle for covering fire. And, of course, a cargo-grade gravity grapple for actually getting things done.

Well behaved Hunters rarely make history

That's a sexy looking hunter right there. Also, well done on the quote :D