"Did that really just happen?" (Destiny)

by Mid7night , Rocket BSCHSHCSHSHCCHGGH!!!!!!, Monday, August 31, 2015, 15:33 (3469 days ago) @ Mid7night

That pretty much sums up my mental state following (and during) the Thorn bounty. I guess the tenth(ish) times the charm. :P (also helps to have finally got it on my Warlock and not my Hunter)

After getting back from vacation last Friday, I hopped on Destiny Saturday night. I honestly didn't have a plan, having not even thought about Destiny for a solid week, but I saw some friends doing Iron Banner and thought "alright". I also thought I should play my Warlock some, since I've been Titan-heavy for a while (finishing my first Elder Cipher), and my Hunter is always my go-to default.

So I loaded up my Warlock, and then I remembered he still had the Thorn bounty on him, stuck at the MM section. I know Iron Banner isn't the recommended time or place to try completing Thorn, but I figured "what have I got to lose?". I poured an E.Light into my Atheons Epilogue, grabbed my Void Spear and Zombie Apocalypse and joined up.

At first I just went back and forth, not really making any bounty progress, but then I remembered all the "take it slow" and "hang back for assists" advice I've read, and it CLICKED.

A.Epilogue isn't the best PvP primary, it's probably not even in the top 5, but I've since discovered it's an Assist Machine. Lots O Bullets in a tight stream means your gonna do SOME damage to someone; so I made it my mission to always do damage with a buddy, even if I traded deaths, because at least I could get an assist. And if there were any sniper sight lines, I camped them and plinked away with my Final Round Spear. I rarely took heavy ammo, unless I was certain we had the area locked down - I wasn't about to just give up a death for a chance at heavies.

And that's pretty much it. Two nights in Iron Banner, mostly with DBO'ers but also some randoms near the end, and lots of reminding myself "don't run there by yourself" and "it's ok to run away!", and I had it done. I don't know why, but it's funny to me; I didn't even make it to Rank 3 in IB but I finished Thorn.

My Xyor fight isn't hardly worth mentioning after all that, other than to say thanks again to CougRon for keeping me company and being an extra target for the enemies. :D
We cleared the room, then chipped away at Phogoth from behind the left-rock until Xyor landed, then I burned that chump in seconds with Gjallarhorn (all hail the pre-nerf memories!)

From the other side now, I can agree that the Thorn bounty is not as bad as I first thought, but it's still the hardest bounty. Weirdly though, I think the large part of its difficulty is MENTAL. I am NOT a stellar PvPer by ANY measure, I'm mediocre in most circles, but even an average-ish player can hang around and get assists. It just takes changing your approach and PATIENCE. If you're average or below in PvP, you CAN do the Thorn bounty (I did), but you CANNOT rush it!!!

Ok...back to work... :)