DBO RAID WRITEUP - BRAVO (Part 1) (Destiny)

by breitzen , Kansas, Friday, October 10, 2014, 15:52 (3545 days ago)
edited by breitzen, Friday, October 10, 2014, 16:24

The roster (GT's):

• breitzen
  
• DerekT07
  
• DiscipleN2k
  
• Kermit7
  
• FinalPOSTMORTEM
  
• ZeusTitan77

1. PRE RAID:

DiscipleN2k:
The stories I'd heard of the raid had me pretty intimidated. The suggestion to enter may be 26, but it sounded like we might need an extra level or two to survive. This is why, to be quite honest, I was a bit disappointed when I saw that I was the highest level on the team at just 27. I'd never played with any of you, but going on numbers alone, things didn't look too good. Thankfully, by the end of our first encounter, I could already tell that the numbers didn't mean squat. The guys might have had lower numbers next to their tags, but they all far surpassed me in skill. While I was intimidated to enter as a 27, Kermit charged in as a 25 and owned it. :)

Kermit
People used to talk about appointment television. The Raid is appointment gaming. And it's Destiny at its best, and that's interesting for me to say because I like story telling, and there is zero exposition. The Raid dumped us on Venus, and that's it. If there was going to be a story, we'd have to write it. We did write it, and it was an unforgettable experience.

2. THE SPIRE

Derek
From the very beginning I knew we were in for something unique. The first challenge of opening the gate did no justice to the difficulties our guardians would face within. We relatively easily conquered the gate, with the help of a random as we held our zones to open the gate. They watched as our fearless Fireteam headed in the gate.

3. THE TEMPLAR

Derek
The next phase of our quest made us a truly unique group. Without any guide to show us the way, we began the process of facing the Templar. We struggled as we encountered problems unlike any we had faced before. Our guardians fell time and time again, but we persevered. As the oracles began to take their toll on us, we developed into a well oiled machine. We made a critical mistake in our strategy, though. Somehow, none of us ever picked up on the cleansing mechanism of the relic. Despite this obstacle, we managed to conquer the Templar and his oracles. Our guardians took a break afterwards, sitting in a nice hot spring while we breathed sighs of relief.

4. GORGON’S MAZE

Postmortem
We found ourselves next in a large chamber, clearly too far of a drop for anyone to survive, yet with no obvious means to progress forward. I took a leap of faith, knowing we could not move on unless someone determined what way to go. My double-jump only took me halfway to the platform I was aiming at. I kept falling and falling expecting the inevitable kill-barrier to get me. When I finally came to a halt, I was standing in another hot spring, but this one darker and far less welcoming than the one we relaxing in earlier. I knew that we had found our next challenge, and so I called out to my Fireteam to make the leap.

Once we were all at the bottom, we began to ease forward, not knowing what was coming. A bright light ahead made us all stop, and the first Gorgon made its way around the corner. What came next was very much a series of trial-and-error, discovering first that the Gorgon’s could not be destroyed, then that they could so easily detect our Light, and finally, discovering a route through the labyrinth that - step by step - got us closer to our end goal. After nearly an hour of progressing slowly towards what we perceived to be our goal, it became clear that many of our team was having difficulty avoiding the deadly gaze of the Gorgons. We agreed upon a plan: I, the lone Hunter in our group, would scout ahead while the rest of the group stayed back, to discover where we would need to go. While doing this, breitzen discovered a back passage, behind where we had started. Assuming it might be a hidden way out, we backtracked and discovered that it was not an exit, but a long tunnel leading to a solitary chest. Opening the chest landed us Raid items and loot. I had attained the Shattered Vault Cloak, others weapons or ascendant materials.

Back to task at hand. With the whole team perched safely on a rock outcropping above the Gorgons, I crept towards the back passageway, and began to ease my way around the Vex minions. Slowly, I noticed that the tags of the whole Fireteam were coming back around into view, and as I rounded the corner, I realized that the goal we had been working towards for the past hour had been a deceptive path. The tunnel that I had hoped was to be our salvation was only a circular passage which led back to the labyrinth. I had been tricked.

Kermit thought to look in a back passage hidden from sight and right in the path of the patrolling Gorgons. During our next attempt, I once again delved forward and followed this passage down, until I was greeted by the entrance to the Vault of Glass. Having glimpsed our prize, I made my way back to assist the rest down, I stood in the doorway helping the rest of the team find the entrance. It was a great moment when the last of our members made it through, with my Hunter virtually rushing them through with waving hands and nervous glances over his shoulder to ensure we had truly made it. We had. The skills of a lone, stealthy Hunter had taken the spotlight for but a moment, and helped our team to move forward. But the worst was yet to come.

5. THE GATE

Derek
This is where our guardians' tale almost ended. As we tried to take down the gatekeepers, we struggled more than we ever had before, even in something as difficult as the earlier parts of the Vault. Without knowledge of cleansing, we faced truly impossible odds. Our endless deaths were too much for our hearts (and our need for sleep). Thus, we faced what the ancient heroes so often did not: true defeat.

Even as we reassembled with a new sixth guardian to attempt to tackle the Vault once more, our efforts were not enough. Our ability to continue was short-lived, and we were pushed out of the Vault again. Our only hope was to give it one last shot the next night, level up in the meantime, and pray that our sheer will to conquer would give us victory.

We once again required the assistance of another guardian to take a shot at Atheon. My friend, ZeusTitan77 (not of DBO) was kind enough to join us in battle. With knowledge of cleansing and a plan in place, we finally managed to slay the Gatekeeper in both past and future and return for our battle with Atheon. Suddenly, our team wiped without apparent cause. Fearing the worst, we openly hoped among ourselves that we had hit a checkpoint beyond the Gatekeeper, and we cheered as we realized that we had. Now the only thing left in our path was Atheon.