THAB 5/16/19: No Fun Allowed edition (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Saturday, May 18, 2019, 10:43 (1805 days ago) @ Ragashingo

The problem is that Whisper's zone of being SUPER EFFECTIVE just happens to almost always line up with the most tense moments in Destiny. Zero Hour is a good example where weapon specialization works well. But, most Raids where we get the best and most sought after rewards are on the other end of the spectrum. Way too many bosses have some fun mechanics to get them into a DPSable state... and then they are just huge targets sitting there for Whisper.

Imagine instead, if a boss fragmented into a pile of pieces that all needed to be killed quickly and it was a rocket launcher instead of the a sniper rifle that worked best? Or if a boss in its DPS phase released multiple quick yellow bar that by being released depleted the boss' health and dealing with them was better suited to heavy machine guns and stunning grenade launchers.

Instead, all throughout all of Destiny, it's been the infinite ammo sniper rifle shooting at the giant upscaled boss that has dominated Raid encounters. Which throws weapon specialization right out the window. An overpowered Whisper is fine with a more diverse set of encounters... but generally we don't have that so it needs to fit what we actually do have.

I do think they hit Whisper too hard, by the way. Imagine if they'd just cut its ammo generation in half or something. Then it could still be unique and do "it's thing" instead of feeling like a D.A.R.C.I. knockoff...

This is a great point too. It does show a certain over-dependence in the "everyone form up and hit the stationary boss during the damage phase!" mechanic that Bungie seems so fond of, especially in Raids. I love your suggestions. Another approach is to have boss encounters where your weapons literally can't hurt the boss, like Crota. That was another battle that encouraged specialization. You wanted to have a few people with sniper rifles to take care of the Boomer Knights and the oversoul, while other players might want to use tracking rockets or machine guns to deal with Crota's shield. There was no "must have" weapon... it was more about planning your loadout around what the team needed.

I'm ok with boss fights like the Scourge final boss from time to time. In that case, I see the "line up and blast him" portion as a sort of reward for doing everything else right. If you've left snipers alive, or failed to clear out the Fallen captain, then you'll be under too much fire to unleash a barrage of Whisper rounds. It's also an example of a fight where there are other equally effective alternatives to Whisper, despite its strength. I've used the Mountaintop and out-damaged teammates who were using Whisper. Shotguns can be very effective as well. And its well known that DARCI can consistently out DPS Whisper as well.
So even in a situation that seems tailored to Whisper, it isn't the clear winner.

All that said, I'm totally with you on the need for some more diverse boss fights.