I took a wee break from Destiny due to life and other stuff coming up and I decided to poke my head back into the game today. Drifter had a quest that lead to the Prime thing, but then it gave me synths and I'm supposed to convert things to motes or something to chase new specialized armor that will make me better at stuff. It's kind of confusing. How do I progress the story, and what do each of these currencies mean/how do I earn them? Should I bother at this point in the season?

It's... complicated.

Among your bounties, you'll notice you now have a Mote Synthesizer. That thing is what you use to consume synths and make Role Motes. There are 4 Roles: Sentry, Invader, Reaper, Collector (I'll explain those later).

Each Role has a weekly Drifter bounty that lets you upgrade the synthesizer (once per week), should you complete it, by completing 4 runs of Reckoning (new PvE activity, you must deposit the Motes in the bank at the entrance of the fighting arena each time) and specific Gambit Prime objectives (different ones for each Role).

Thing is, you need synths to make Motes, so you need to do the other Drifter bounties to get them. On top of that, completing runs of Reckoning grants you Role Armor pieces, which gives you cool bonuses while playing Gambit Prime.

So, basically, the loop is: get bounties, play Prime to get synths, make mote, play Reckoning to get armor, repeat.

So, basically, the loop is: get bounties, play Prime to get synths, make mote, play Reckoning to get armor, repeat.

THANK YOU. This is what I needed. I had no idea what I was supposed to pursue.

So, basically, the loop is: get bounties, play Prime to get synths, make mote, play Reckoning to get armor, repeat.

THANK YOU. This is what I needed. I had no idea what I was supposed to pursue.

To be cynical about things, if you just play from time to time, it's probably not even necessary to do this loop, unless you just want to.

If you're a casual all-around player (like me), the loop is a grind and not that fun. Good luck in the reckoning with randos.

If you play a lot of gambit, the loop is worth it as the armor does provide good gambit prime perks.

If you're a sweaty try-hard, it's probably mandatory as a team with full armor will probably mop up a team with no armor.

- No text -

Seriously.

I think Reckoning is suuuuper boring. I played like, 6 games of it? It's possibly the least-fun combat in all of Destiny that I can remember.

It's... not good, no. The bridge is either a cake walk or too damn stressful, no in-between.

I love the Reckoning. I love it lore-wise, as now I feel the greater story is finally moving somewhere. I love it combat-wise, as the Taken are far and away my favorite enemy faction, and there's definitely a no-holds-barred feeling to it. Use EVERYTHING at your disposal to be as lethal as you can. And I love it as an activity because there's matchmaking (which is surely hit-or-miss, but that's more about the quality of randos) but obviously you're going to want a coordinated fireteam. It gives me that Raid feeling without actually being a raid. I don't have to muster and motivate an entire team, and if we're successful, we get some sweet gear that substantially improves the quality of life in Prime. If we fail, we can just jump right back in the hopper. Wipes don't feel as punishing as they do in Raids. I honestly feel like it's the perfect arcadey high-score challenge. I enjoyed vanilla Gambit from the break, and Prime is fun but a bit sweaty. Reckoning is without a question my favorite activity at this point.

/end gush
/end rant

PS - If you're really struggling, have everyone put on their Malfeasance. It could change your life.

I’m happy it exists. It’s a neat idea. I hope Bungie really keeps exploring these things, the middle ground between Nightfalls and Raids. I think it’s a pretty strong place for Destiny to live. Raids are great, the best activities in the game without question for me, but putting a crew together can still be a pain, even around here. Having something that captures that feeling but allows smaller fireteams and matchmaking does wonders to fill that gap. Forges were fun, but ultimately far too easy and too disposable to feel like a real end game activity. The Reckoning gets closer, I just don’t think it’s all that fun (I say that having only done Tier 1, but have watched both the higher tiers a few times). It’s just not something I’m interested in doing.

I’d prefer another Shattered Throne, as I think it captures the things I like about a raid, mainly the mystery and exploration with cool combat encounters thrown in. When it really comes down to it, I think I like the Shattered Throne more than any raid they’ve done yet. I really hope we see some more dungeons.

I guess I'm just too used to actual raiding to actually enjoy the bridge section.

FWIW, the day after I posted that, I ran with a full Hunter matchmade team and it was tons of fun.

PS - If you're really struggling, have everyone put on their Malfeasance. It could change your life.

Huh. I had forgotten about that perk. Will do.

I've only ever played the first tier. The first time I dropped in I was literally the only person. The second time I dropped in there was one other person and then a third joined. Both of these runs were failures. On my third attempt I actually matched into an in-progress session and was very surprised that apparently there are supposed to be four players.

Tier 1 is super boring. You're fighting the Taken, which you like, but I find them probably the most annoying of the enemy sets. I found the boss shield to be OP.

I was dying a lot and for whatever reason, randos in this mode refused to ever revive me. So I had to wait out the respawn counter, then spawn really far away from combat and spend like 15-20 seconds more to get back to the combat, where often times my teammates had died, aaaand repeat.

For me, Gambit Prime is "meh" so the rewards aren't important.

Anyways, I had such a bad/un-fun experience that I never went back after The Drifter gave me the synth upgrade. It was easy to imagine entering in, failing, losing the synth thingies I bid to get in.

It is intriguing to me that people are comparing it to the raid because Tier 1 is super boring and has no interesting mechanic whatsoever. As far as I could tell it is literally "shoot the taken before the timer counts down."

All that being said, I don't have strong opinions about it. I just think it is boring and prefer a lot of the other activities in the game. I'm glad you like it :)

It was easy to imagine entering in, failing, losing the synth thingies I bid to get in.

The "wagering" thing is weird. If you bet a synth and win, you get a piece of armor. If you bet a synth and lose, you get your synth back. The only thing you lose is your time.

It is intriguing to me that people are comparing it to the raid because Tier 1 is super boring and has no interesting mechanic whatsoever. As far as I could tell it is literally "shoot the taken before the timer counts down."

I can't see how anyone could compare The Reckoning to anything raid-like. I've definitely had better luck than it sounds like you've had, and I've managed to knock out a handful of Tier 2 and Tier 3 runs, but nothing ever really gets much more complex than "kill things and try not to die." In fact, they basically split those two objectives up so that the bridge section is "if more than two of you die, you fail" and the third part is either "kill this big thing in three minutes" or "kill this thing first so you can kill that thing faster" depending on the week.

It's OK, but it's not something I'm excited to do just to collect Gambit Prime armor. I have actually enjoyed Gambit Prime, though, so I'll probably keep doing it just because the armor perks can be pretty awesome.

-Disciple

It was easy to imagine entering in, failing, losing the synth thingies I bid to get in.

The "wagering" thing is weird. If you bet a synth and win, you get a piece of armor. If you bet a synth and lose, you get your synth back. The only thing you lose is your time.

Unless you get distracted and forget to recover your synth before the bank opens again. Once it's open, your synth is gone. (Forever.)

I'd scoff at that qualification... if I hadn't lost a couple of dozen synths this way over the last few weeks. :(

It is intriguing to me that people are comparing it to the raid because Tier 1 is super boring and has no interesting mechanic whatsoever. As far as I could tell it is literally "shoot the taken before the timer counts down."

This isn't quite right. You can shoot the Taken all day and not actually complete the level, if you don't notice that it's really only multikills that are advancing the counter. Team-shooting is critical, and supers are critical. A well-organized team can finish the round in less than 2 minutes. A poorly-organized group of whatever size can hit the 6-minute mark with 10% (or less) on the counter.

I wouldn't call it 'raid-like'... but it's not as simple as 'shoot stuff before the timer runs out'.

I can't see how anyone could compare The Reckoning to anything raid-like. I've definitely had better luck than it sounds like you've had, and I've managed to knock out a handful of Tier 2 and Tier 3 runs, but nothing ever really gets much more complex than "kill things and try not to die." In fact, they basically split those two objectives up so that the bridge section is "if more than two of you die, you fail" and the third part is either "kill this big thing in three minutes" or "kill this thing first so you can kill that thing faster" depending on the week.

Eh. The Knights on Tier III need to be dealt with separately; knock both of their helmets off simultaneously, and you have to be REALLY good (or really lucky) to finish. Work on them serially and they're not bad - but that takes skill, and awareness. (As in, don't tether them on the first encounter, because then all damage is shared. And so on.)

Likewise, Oryx has some mechanics that keep teams on their toes, even when they know about 'em.

I'm not saying it's a super-fun mode; I'd agree that things like the Shattered Throne (and Raids) are far more repeatable without getting boring. I'm saying it's not quite as simplistic as it's being painted in this thread. (That said, it's not super-fun, imo. There are too many 'crap, this is an auto-wipe' circumstances for that. Stomp mechanics on a narrow bridge? Fuck that noise.)

This isn't quite right. You can shoot the Taken all day and not actually complete the level, if you don't notice that it's really only multikills that are advancing the counter. Team-shooting is critical, and supers are critical. A well-organized team can finish the round in less than 2 minutes. A poorly-organized group of whatever size can hit the 6-minute mark with 10% (or less) on the counter.

I had NO IDEA this was the case.

This whole mode is another example of the game not really explaining things.

The first few times I was in, I didn't even get a chance to wager motes because of how and when I spawned in. The fact that it is called wagering led me to believe they were gone forever, I had no idea you could get them back.

I though we completed Tier 1, I guess I didn't wager any motes? I was just so confused.

It was easy to imagine entering in, failing, losing the synth thingies I bid to get in.

The "wagering" thing is weird. If you bet a synth and win, you get a piece of armor. If you bet a synth and lose, you get your synth back. The only thing you lose is your time.

Unless you get distracted and forget to recover your synth before the bank opens again. Once it's open, your synth is gone. (Forever.)

I'd scoff at that qualification... if I hadn't lost a couple of dozen synths this way over the last few weeks. :(

It is intriguing to me that people are comparing it to the raid because Tier 1 is super boring and has no interesting mechanic whatsoever. As far as I could tell it is literally "shoot the taken before the timer counts down."

This isn't quite right. You can shoot the Taken all day and not actually complete the level, if you don't notice that it's really only multikills that are advancing the counter. Team-shooting is critical, and supers are critical. A well-organized team can finish the round in less than 2 minutes. A poorly-organized group of whatever size can hit the 6-minute mark with 10% (or less) on the counter.

I wouldn't call it 'raid-like'... but it's not as simple as 'shoot stuff before the timer runs out'.

I can't see how anyone could compare The Reckoning to anything raid-like. I've definitely had better luck than it sounds like you've had, and I've managed to knock out a handful of Tier 2 and Tier 3 runs, but nothing ever really gets much more complex than "kill things and try not to die." In fact, they basically split those two objectives up so that the bridge section is "if more than two of you die, you fail" and the third part is either "kill this big thing in three minutes" or "kill this thing first so you can kill that thing faster" depending on the week.

Eh. The Knights on Tier III need to be dealt with separately; knock both of their helmets off simultaneously, and you have to be REALLY good (or really lucky) to finish. Work on them serially and they're not bad - but that takes skill, and awareness. (As in, don't tether them on the first encounter, because then all damage is shared. And so on.)

Likewise, Oryx has some mechanics that keep teams on their toes, even when they know about 'em.

I'm not saying it's a super-fun mode; I'd agree that things like the Shattered Throne (and Raids) are far more repeatable without getting boring. I'm saying it's not quite as simplistic as it's being painted in this thread. (That said, it's not super-fun, imo. There are too many 'crap, this is an auto-wipe' circumstances for that. Stomp mechanics on a narrow bridge? Fuck that noise.)

Agree on pretty much all points.

For me, Reckoning has virtually no replay value. It’s a solved equation. Success is more or less decided by your team’s subclasses. If you have at least 1 WellLock, you’ll probably be fine. Add a tether, and it’s basically a sure bet, baring any unfortunate stomps or something like that. Of course, players at the extreme high end will be able to push those boundaries, but for the average group there isn’t much chance of success without those subclasses. So it ends up playing out the same, run after run.

The encounters are also designed in a way that favor using abilities to tank damage, rather than using skillful movements to avoid damage. Particularly the bridge. You’re literally just standing there, getting shot at from all sides, with no cover. It’s all the hazards of a bullet-hell shooter, without the abilities or mechanics to evade fire that make BH shooters work. It reminds me a lot of the early days of Prison of Elders. If I could run and jump and evade the way I can in a game like Titanfall or High Moon’s Transformers games, then dealing with the constant barrage of enemy fire would be a fun, challenging, and rewarding activity. But Destiny just doesn’t allow that kind of movement. So you’re mostly forced to use win buttons (ie supers) to utterly negate the incoming fire.

More than anything else, my issue with Reckoning is that engaging with the activity in a way that is at all productive from a loot/levelling up perspective requires LOTS of repetition, and I just don’t think the activity itself holds up. As a fun little diversion that you run once every few weeks with friends, it’s fine. Nothing special, but fine. But if I want that Gambit Prime armor, I’ve gotta do a boatload if Reckoning to get it. Which I don’t find fun, so I don’t chase the armor. And then I go into Gambit Prime (which I find quite enjoyable), and I go up against top-tier 4 stacks who are all running max-Level sets of Prime armor, which puts me at enough of a disadvantage that the fun is starting to drain out of that activity for me as well.

It was easy to imagine entering in, failing, losing the synth thingies I bid to get in.

The "wagering" thing is weird. If you bet a synth and win, you get a piece of armor. If you bet a synth and lose, you get your synth back. The only thing you lose is your time.

Unless you get distracted and forget to recover your synth before the bank opens again. Once it's open, your synth is gone. (Forever.)

I'd scoff at that qualification... if I hadn't lost a couple of dozen synths this way over the last few weeks. :(

I almost mentioned that, but I've had a synth that I forgot to pick up show up for me at the postmaster on at least two different occasions so I assumed that would always be the case.

Stomp mechanics on a narrow bridge? Fuck that noise.

Agreed. The addition of the "push" to so many different things in D2 has been seriously irritating.

-Disciple

Stomp mechanics on a narrow bridge? Fuck that noise.

Boop them baaaaack.

But seriously, I find that part terrifying, but fun. If your team isn't focusing fire on the big boys, you're gonna have a bad time. I think the point is to melt them before they even come close enough to stomp. Seems like most folks aren't as big of fans of Reckoning as I am. Oh well.

Agreed. The addition of the "push" to so many different things in D2 has been seriously irritating.

A few of us had this discussion last night. I agree that push/stomp mechanics are at a point of being overused. But allowing the player to exist in such close proximity opens bosses up to a number of damage mechanics that would require them being turned into insane damage sponges to counteract. However, flamethrower/area-effect attacks, power-drain mechanics, defensive abilities...lots of ways exist for them to approach that particular problem.

I hope that Reckoning has more of a future than just being a Prime armor farm. I think the concept can be developed a bit further than we're seeing now. New boss fights, additional segments to navigate, even at 3 tiers but on a revolving basis, would add some depth to the experience.

A few of us had this discussion last night. I agree that push/stomp mechanics are at a point of being overused. But allowing the player to exist in such close proximity opens bosses up to a number of damage mechanics that would require them being turned into insane damage sponges to counteract. However, flamethrower/area-effect attacks, power-drain mechanics, defensive abilities...lots of ways exist for them to approach that particular problem.

They just need to mix up the Stomp mechanic into something that's not "throw the player super far away." Turn some of them into a stun, suppression, something else that punishes the player for trying to stand right next to the boss.

More importantly, give the Stomp an actual wind-up that gives it some predictability so you can actually get out of the way. How many times have you run up to the boss with a shotgun only for it to randomly stomp literally immediately with no warning? Maybe I'm just an idiot, but it happens to me pretty frequently.

Almost all bosses with a stomp will trigger it immediately when you get within range. It can be countered by a melee impulse. You’ll take damage but you won’t go flying. Not that I’m against giving them different effects other than making you fly away. Concussion, flash, suppression, and burning would all be neat mix ups. As would a vacuum stomp for a melee boss.

- No text -

Almost all bosses with a stomp will trigger it immediately when you get within range. It can be countered by a melee impulse. You’ll take damage but you won’t go flying. Not that I’m against giving them different effects other than making you fly away. Concussion, flash, suppression, and burning would all be neat mix ups. As would a vacuum stomp for a melee boss.

All I know is it sucks for us shoulder charge titans. I can't count (and recorded) how many times I've been flung into a pit or insta-deathed into a wall from being flung so far and fast. I mean, sometimes if I actually get the shoulder charge off it helps me fireteam. But I'm a titan, I want to dance with death. I don't want to be denied the ability of a titan to get in a very powerful enemies face!

When you melee you lunge. There is a physics impulse associated with melee that supersedes most other physics. Such as falling from height or the stomp attacks, canceling out their bumping you away.

Feint going in for it to trigger the stomp, then shoulder charge. Take whatever shotgun or whatever you are using and watch for them to telegraph the stomp again. Punch them when they are stomping to stay punchy. The loop works really well with Trench Barrel.

Feint going in for it to trigger the stomp, then shoulder charge.

You make it sound so easy. How am I supposed to "feint" when I'm in the middle of a shoulder charge, usually over uneven ground so I'll be in the air? I would have to run past the outer ring of his stomp range and then flip a 180 to hit him, while still in my shoulder charge, before he has cool downed his stomp. That doesn't seem at all easy.

Take whatever shotgun or whatever you are using and watch for them to telegraph the stomp again. Punch them when they are stomping to stay punchy. The loop works really well with Trench Barrel.

The telegraph happens about a half a second before he stomps, if I'm within his ring I'm screwed. Titans are mobile strait forward, and 90% of the time there is an enemy there, because that is what we do.

I'm not trying to ignore your advice, but from my experience that advice is not going to happen for about 95% of the Titan community unless I am just terrible at this.

When you melee you lunge. There is a physics impulse associated with melee that supersedes most other physics. Such as falling from height or the stomp attacks, canceling out their bumping you away.

The most noticeable one is a shoulder charge/melee in super form. If you use it right after being stomped you can basically cancel it out and head towards the boss.

Take it with a grain of salt. I do play on PC which is a slightly different environment.

Mostly? It takes practice. You’re doing it intentionally, so your goal is to trigger it as safely as possible. So you run a tangent to the edge of the circle to trigger the stomp and you circle out and back immediately. You don’t wait for the stomp. As you get back to the right angle they should still be between stomps. It did take me practice to get reliable with it, and even then it is not always successful. I think I got 3 Hammerstrikes in during the Boss Rush playing Verdant Forest last night. Two of those were unstomped.

This is easier with higher sensitivity, obviously. I have a roughly 5.5” 360 on my mouse but I wrist aim,. This doesn’t directly translate to controllers. The turning around part is the difficult part.

Take it with a grain of salt. I do play on PC which is a slightly different environment.

Mostly? It takes practice. You’re doing it intentionally, so your goal is to trigger it as safely as possible. So you run a tangent to the edge of the circle to trigger the stomp and you circle out and back immediately. You don’t wait for the stomp. As you get back to the right angle they should still be between stomps. It did take me practice to get reliable with it, and even then it is not always successful. I think I got 3 Hammerstrikes in during the Boss Rush playing Verdant Forest last night. Two of those were unstomped.

This is easier with higher sensitivity, obviously. I have a roughly 5.5” 360 on my mouse but I wrist aim,. This doesn’t directly translate to controllers. The turning around part is the difficult part.

That makes more sense to me :D

- No text -

- No text -

But if I want that Gambit Prime armor, I’ve gotta do a boatload if Reckoning to get it. Which I don’t find fun, so I don’t chase the armor. And then I go into Gambit Prime (which I find quite enjoyable), and I go up against top-tier 4 stacks who are all running max-Level sets of Prime armor, which puts me at enough of a disadvantage that the fun is starting to drain out of that activity for me as well.

This sums up exactly why I'm pretty disillusioned with the game at the moment. That's literally the entire game at this point. It's become "If you want to X, you have to do a whole lot of Y before we'll let you." That's the entire leveling progression system, and it's just tiresome.

That horse is well and thoroughly beaten, at this point, but it's just so disappointing that it's almost difficult not to complain about it. I want to have fun playing Destiny, but it's just not that anymore. Raising the level cap every season is a huge misstep as far as I'm concerned, and I'll be so far behind behind next season that I'm honestly questioning if I'll want to play it at all.

As much as I want a good, big fall expansion, I'd be sort of relieved if we didn't get one and they just put the entire studio heads down on Destiny 3 for a 2020 release and it comes out and really does something new and amazing. I don't think there's any chance of that happening, but that's what I'd wish for.

Raising the level cap every season is a huge misstep as far as I'm concerned, and I'll be so far behind behind next season that I'm honestly questioning if I'll want to play it at all.

Why can't you bank rewards?

Miss a milestone in week 12? Get it and the week 13 one in week 13. Don't get a raid drop in week one? Now you can get that in week 2 plus week 2's if you run the raid again.

New expansion come out? Clear the bank because we don't want people saving up. This way you can catch up. This way you can never fall permanently behind. So… why not?

Streamers. The answer is streamers.

Why can't you bank rewards?

Honestly, who cares? That doesn't even fix my primary problem. Even if I can "catch up" after a few weeks, the end result is still me having to play way too many hours of bullshit chores to get to the stuff I want to do, using the gear that I actually want to use. Like, great, now I can do fifteen hours of bullshit this week instead of only seven. Hurray!

Why can't you bank rewards?

Honestly, who cares? That doesn't even fix my primary problem. Even if I can "catch up" after a few weeks, the end result is still me having to play way too many hours of bullshit chores to get to the stuff I want to do, using the gear that I actually want to use. Like, great, now I can do fifteen hours of bullshit this week instead of only seven. Hurray!

Well, if you could bank rewards I might have been able to beat Riven.

It's a band-aid.

Agreed. The addition of the "push" to so many different things in D2 has been seriously irritating.

Git Lucky gud

- No text -

- No text -