Been AFK for over a year (Destiny)
by cheapLEY 
, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 16:04 (3679 days ago)
I've been basically living without the internet since January 2014, so I missed a lot, including the launch of Destiny.
I finally picked it up and started playing it a few months ago. I have mixed feelings, for all the reasons I'm sure have been discussed everywhere for ages. But overall, the game is a blast to play.
I've yet to do a raid, though, so would anyone be willing to lead a newbie through them? I'm on Xbox One with a 31 Gunslinger and a 29 Voidwalker. Also a 24 Striker Titan that I have neglected, but he'll get there someday.
I'll make a Fireteam Builder event for it at some point, but I've a busy schedule and not much time for gaming, so I'm trying to find a spot to dedicate some time for it.
Also, what are the best Destiny resources out there? I'm still finding myself a bit lost on the particulars of Destiny. What are the best weapon stats and perks, for instance? What's the best way to get Strange Coins? It seems like everyone else has hundreds of the things laying around, but I'm struggling to get any. I don't have many people on my friends list that play Destiny, so I haven't played the higher levels of PoE, or raids, or ToO. I've only done one Weekly Heroic Strike, and no Nightfalls. Etc, etc.
Anyway, it's been a long time, I'm looking forward to jumping back in to the community. I just feel like I'm so far behind and struggling to get caught up. I guess the good part of that is that I'm already behind, so I don't particularly feel the "obligation" to play Destiny and do everything before the reset like so many others seem to.
Also, The Witcher 3 keeps taking over what little gaming time I have. I can't put it down.
Welcome!
by Beorn , <End of Failed Timeline>, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 16:22 (3679 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Welcome to the fray!
I've yet to do a raid, though, so would anyone be willing to lead a newbie through them? I'm on Xbox One with a 31 Gunslinger and a 29 Voidwalker. Also a 24 Striker Titan that I have neglected, but he'll get there someday.
I'll make a Fireteam Builder event for it at some point, but I've a busy schedule and not much time for gaming, so I'm trying to find a spot to dedicate some time for it.
I think most everyone is up for a Vault of Glass run every now and then -- it's still a blast to play through. The trick will be getting up to speed with the mechanics of each encounter. Have someone in the group explain what's going on before each step begins; it'll make it much more enjoyable for you.
When you set up the FTB event, try to schedule it a few days ahead of time and be sure to note that you're doing a first run-through. The peeps here will take care of the rest for ya. ;-)
Also, what are the best Destiny resources out there? I'm still finding myself a bit lost on the particulars of Destiny. What are the best weapon stats and perks, for instance? What's the best way to get Strange Coins? It seems like everyone else has hundreds of the things laying around, but I'm struggling to get any. I don't have many people on my friends list that play Destiny, so I haven't played the higher levels of PoE, or raids, or ToO. I've only done one Weekly Heroic Strike, and no Nightfalls. Etc, etc.
So, the nice thing about stats and perks in Destiny is that you really can tailor them to your own play style and preferences! It's definitely worth trying new things and seeing what feels good in-game. I, for one, prefer high-stability, medium-impact Scout Rifles that increase Agility (<3 MIDA) and detest almost every Auto Rile I've used. Then I have friends who feel the exact opposite. The beauty is that we can spec ourselves out, and nothing is set in stone.
As far as Strange Coins goes, your best bet is to run the Weekly Heroic Strike on the maximum difficulty level each week, as that will net you 9 coins per week per character. Coins from any other source are random and infrequent.
And finally, don't be afraid to post here if you have questions!
So, the nice thing about stats and perks in Destiny is that you really can tailor them to your own play style and preferences! It's definitely worth trying new things and seeing what feels good in-game. I, for one, prefer high-stability, medium-impact Scout Rifles that increase Agility (<3 MIDA) and detest almost every Auto Rile I've used. Then I have friends who feel the exact opposite. The beauty is that we can spec ourselves out, and nothing is set in stone.
See, that's sort of what I'm talking about. What does the Impact stat actually do? I mean, it sounds reasonably self explanatory, but does more impact equal more damage, a higher stagger rate?
And then you add perks to the stat equation, and it's a lot without any real info. Obviously with perks I can just experiment and find what I like, but can I find available perks on weapons somewhere to know if there's something better I can reforge for?
And I might try for Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon for the raid, but I won't know until tomorrow if some other plans I have are going through or not. Weeknights are a bit difficult for me to dedicate what I assume will be a pretty significant chunk of time.
Welcome!
by RaichuKFM , Northeastern Ohio, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 16:59 (3679 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Impact is just the amount of damage a gun deals per shot. So a high Fire Rate low Impact gun deals little damage a shot, but shoots a lot of shots in a short time, and a low Fire Rate but high Impact gun is for placing (relatively) few but powerful shots.
Lies!!!
by unoudid , Somewhere over the rainbow, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 17:04 (3679 days ago) @ RaichuKFM
He's telling the truth. Just find what makes you comfortable on weapons. I like medium-high ROF and medium impact scout rifles and low ROF High Impact Auto-Rifles. I also like low ROF + High Impact shotguns for PvP and High ROF + low-medium impact shotguns for PvE.
It all comes down to personal preference. once you find the archetype you like, then you can use other resources to really dial in your weapons. Planet Desting and DestinyDB are great sites to use while doing weapon research.
Welcome!
by General Vagueness , The Vault of Sass, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 17:04 (3679 days ago) @ cheapLEY
So, the nice thing about stats and perks in Destiny is that you really can tailor them to your own play style and preferences! It's definitely worth trying new things and seeing what feels good in-game. I, for one, prefer high-stability, medium-impact Scout Rifles that increase Agility (<3 MIDA) and detest almost every Auto Rile I've used. Then I have friends who feel the exact opposite. The beauty is that we can spec ourselves out, and nothing is set in stone.
See, that's sort of what I'm talking about. What does the Impact stat actually do? I mean, it sounds reasonably self explanatory, but does more impact equal more damage, a higher stagger rate?
Impact is the base damage relative to the type of weapon (a certain size bar for a pulse rifle isn't the same as the same size bar for an auto rifle, and it's wildly different from the same size bar for a shotgun) and it's always relevant. Attack affects damage dealt to AI enemies and players in the Iron Banner and the Trials of Osiris. In regular multiplayer matches attack doesn't do anything. Impact and possibly attack affect how likely a target is to stagger from a hit, but I think that's more about how much damage you deal regardless of the specific stats, and the high impact rounds perk seems to have more of an affect than just having high attack or impact.
And then you add perks to the stat equation, and it's a lot without any real info. Obviously with perks I can just experiment and find what I like, but can I find available perks on weapons somewhere to know if there's something better I can reforge for?
There are guides out there, I'll see if I can find one.
And I might try for Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon for the raid, but I won't know until tomorrow if some other plans I have are going through or not. Weeknights are a bit difficult for me to dedicate what I assume will be a pretty significant chunk of time.
It really depends on the group, how good they are and what weapons and armor they have and just if they're playing well or poorly that day and if you get a bunch of lucky or unlucky spawns. Once you get the routine down you can knock out a normal-mode raid in about half an hour. (I have yet to have this happen personally.)
There are guides out there, I'll see if I can find one.
I'm sure I can google around and find one. I just thought there might be some commonly known resources out there.
It really depends on the group, how good they are and what weapons and armor they have and just if they're playing well or poorly that day and if you get a bunch of lucky or unlucky spawns. Once you get the routine down you can knock out a normal-mode raid in about half an hour. (I have yet to have this happen personally.)
Keep in mind I've never done it and don't have ideal gear. I guess that's a lot of what I haven't really explored yet. I mostly make armor decisions based on Light Level at this point, I haven't explored the actual perks on most of them.
I got lucky and got The Ram helmet for my Warlock the week HoW dropped, and I got a lucky drop for Mask of the Third Man for my Hunter. Other than those two, it's all random Legendary drops. As I said, I don't have a huge amount of time for gaming, so my Faction reps aren't high enough yet to buy most vendor gear. I'm about 900 rep from Dead Orbit Rank 2, so I'll hopefully be able to knock out some bounties soon to get that. My Warlock still has a bunch of blue armor that I need to replace.
Welcome!
by General Vagueness , The Vault of Sass, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 19:34 (3679 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by General Vagueness, Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 19:43
Keep in mind I've never done it and don't have ideal gear. I guess that's a lot of what I haven't really explored yet. I mostly make armor decisions based on Light Level at this point, I haven't explored the actual perks on most of them.
Depending on how you play, few to none of the non-exotic perks on armor matter. Some of the exotic armor perks are really freaking useful though, and some aren't super useful but are much better than they first appear. (Some are also just not that useful.) I play as a Hunter where the melee ability coming back is either not an issue (Bladedancer) or not terribly useful (Gunslinger) and I love having a fast reload so I focus on discipline and intelligence, having gauntlets that speed up reloads for whatever I'm using, and having chest and/or leg armor that lets me keep more ammo for whatever I'm using. Your play style would probably make different stats and perks best for you.
I got lucky and got The Ram helmet for my Warlock the week HoW dropped, and I got a lucky drop for Mask of the Third Man for my Hunter. Other than those two, it's all random Legendary drops. As I said, I don't have a huge amount of time for gaming, so my Faction reps aren't high enough yet to buy most vendor gear. I'm about 900 rep from Dead Orbit Rank 2, so I'll hopefully be able to knock out some bounties soon to get that. My Warlock still has a bunch of blue armor that I need to replace.
You'll want to be decked out in mostly legendary or better armor at least before you do raids. For the Vault of Glass the game recommends 26 but you'll want to be 27 or 28 if you can, and for hard mode it's fairly important to be above 28 if not at 30 or more.
Being one level below an enemy means you do something like 15% less damage I believe, two levels below is more severe, three or four levels below and you only do half damage, and five or six levels or more and you can't do any damage or even see what level they are. Being at a higher level than an enemy doesn't give you any advantage in your attacks, you deal the same damage as you would if you were at the same level as the enemy. (The higher defense that comes with being a higher level is always nice though.)
In other words, player at 27 + enemy at 28 = less damage dealt, player at 28 + enemy at 28 = full damage, player at 29 + enemy at 28 = full damage.
The best way to get those legendaries is to grab Vanguard bounties and play Vanguard strikes. The strikes give you rewards that can include legendary items. Completing strikes and bounties gets closer to buying legendaries or getting reward packages that have legendaries in them. Strikes are also a great way to get engrams. With the engrams you can get a legendary one, or you can get a surprise legendary from a blue engram, and decrypting any engrams will move you towards getting a Cryptarch reward package that can have a legendary in it.
You'll want to be decked out in mostly legendary or better armor at least before you do raids. For the Vault of Glass the game recommends 26 but you'll want to be 27 or 28 if you can, and for hard mode it's fairly important to be above 28 if not at 30 or more.
My Gunslinger is, he's at 31 with all Legendary and an exotic Helmet, and The Last Word. My Warlock only has the Ram exotic helmet and I think one Legendary armor piece.
Being one level below an enemy means you do something like 15% less damage I believe, two levels below is more severe, three or four levels below and you only do half damage, and five or six levels or more and you can't do any damage or even see what level they are. Being at a higher level than an enemy doesn't give you any advantage in your attacks, you deal the same damage as you would if you were at the same level as the enemy. (The higher defense that comes with being a higher level is always nice though.)
In other words, player at 27 + enemy at 28 = less damage dealt, player at 28 + enemy at 28 = full damage, player at 29 + enemy at 28 = full damage.
See, thank you for that! That's the sort of thing that is not explained at all. Granted, it's sort of obvious that being lower than the enemy is bad, but it's never broken down exactly how.
The best way to get those legendaries is to grab Vanguard bounties and play Vanguard strikes. The strikes give you rewards that can include legendary items. Completing strikes and bounties gets closer to buying legendaries or getting reward packages that have legendaries in them. Strikes are also a great way to get engrams. With the engrams you can get a legendary one, or you can get a surprise legendary from a blue engram, and decrypting any engrams will move you towards getting a Cryptarch reward package that can have a legendary in it.
I'll keep that in mind. My problem is that so far, the Strikes aren't very enticing to me. They are fun the first time, and every once in a while afterward, but more often than not I just don't feel like doing one. Again, up to this point, I've been soloing Destiny, in that I haven't been playing with friends. If it doesn't have matchmaking, I haven't done it. And I've had a few great experiences with some randoms, but we all know how that goes. So I'm looking forward to getting more active here and adding to my friends list. As fun as Destiny is, I've fundamentally missed out on a lot of great experiences by playing alone.
If I don't notice, ping me on XBL when you schedule your raid and I'll sign up if I can.