Spoiler-Free thoughts on the Silent Hill Dungeon.

First things first, folks online have been complaining (as they do) about the Armor sets. And while yeah, it's fairly obvious that they were likely swapped out with the Battle Pass Ornament set for whatever reason, I think they look neat. And the flavor text isn't too far off from what you're doing in the Dungeon, so... Closer to Halo era designs is a win in my book. The weapons look great, even though they conspicuously match the aesthetic of the BP ornament set. I'm loving the Grenade Launcher that I got from the first encounter (even though it has a Blast Radius of 0, lol. Literally 0). I would have killed for it to be a Stasis Wave GL, however, but eh, it is what it is.

Anyway, I think this dungeon is quite fun, and while it's definitely designed to be possible to Solo (good news, Insane)! The demands that it makes of you (and each person in your fireteam) are steep. Especially given that it seems to scale with Fireteam size.
That said, it seems to be incredibly forgiving compared to stuff like the Legend campaign, with how revives and damage cycles work throughout, and how you do get moments to breathe, regroup, and re-arm between cycles. Not having revive Tokens feels pretty essential to the success of this Dungeon in terms of how people feel about it.

And the fact that each encounter is farmable is great. I think this is a good direction for Bungie to take (especially compared to the lame Vox Oscura.

Also, without spoiling anything, Insane, the bit in your fireteam event that says "And, as far as I can tell, bring plenty of add-clear", made me giggle. You'll see.

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I absolutely love it based on what I’ve seen (up to the second encounter, which I think we’ve figured out). I won’t bitch about power level again, but it sucks that my low level was the hold up because I didn’t play last season. It’s just a bummer.

I think this is the closest a dungeon has ever felt to bring a mini-raid, and this is the direction I wish raids would go. No lists of symbols to memorize, no huge reliance on call-outs, just some neat mechanics that are complicated enough that you have to be mindful of what’s going on, and lots of combat to manage while you’re doing it. It’s just cool. This is the sort of stuff I keep coming back to Destiny for.

I like the armor set (I’m totally here for stripped down Spartan armor!). Although, after seeing the weapons, I do think there’s a missed opportunity for a matching armor set. I don’t think the ornaments in the season pass track are really that.

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Prophecy's mechanics and aesthetics were absolutely kickass, Grasp nailed the theme and overall fun, but this one nailed it on all fronts, IMO.

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Anyway, I think this dungeon is quite fun, and while it's definitely designed to be possible to Solo (good news, Insane)! The demands that it makes of you (and each person in your fireteam) are steep. Especially given that it seems to scale with Fireteam size.
...

Yeah, maybe. But this one in particular right now seems to take FOREVER to pull off one damage phase.

...
Also, without spoiling anything, Insane, the bit in your fireteam event that says "And, as far as I can tell, bring plenty of add-clear", made me giggle. You'll see.

My greaser build (*snap, snap, snap*) was doin' pretty well, but now you're tellen' me I gotta go full on jazz hands? Uh geez.

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We made it to the final encounter tonight, but, again, I just hit the wall because of my light level. Being -10 is totally fine, feels almost perfect as far as difficulty. I have to use all of my tools to both survive and handle the things I need to do, but I can do it. The forgiving death mechanics through lack of tokens or wipe timers for deaths helps a ton here. Being at -20, though, just isn't feasible for me. I can survive, but that's all I can do. The freaking dogs basically one shot me at that point, then add in snipers and incenerators and all sorts of other shit, and all I could manage was running circles and staying alive.

Still, this dungeon rules. I think it's honestly one of the best things Bungie has ever put into Destiny. I'm genuinely surprised at the popular reaction to it and lots of folks saying it's too hard. I'm so happy there's finally something that feels appropriately difficult, and that it's not difficult just because of Contest Mode and forced Champion loadouts. This is peak Destiny and I still find myself wishing more of the game felt like this.

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We did another run last night (my first to completion), and I think it’s maybe cemented as my favorite dungeon. It’s truly a 3 man raid. I love the aesthetic and theme (and Calus, when Claude’s not making fun of his voice).

It’s paced nearly perfectly. The combat encounters are intense and fun to manage. The jumping sections in between are a nice little downtime without overstaying their welcome or becoming tedious like Zero Hour ended up for me. While it’s not as expansive or grand as maybe any of the other dungeons, I think I really appreciate how straightforward this one is. This is the peak Destiny experience distilled to near perfection.

Just when I thought I might truly be done with Destiny for good, they go and release the best dungeon alongside what seems to be a pretty great season.

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