Really sorry to anyone I couldn't group with last night! Squall I'm particularly sad I missed your message when I was running Tiger Strikes
Next time!
Had a great and productive night, tons of fun, and got everything I wanted done- ran the Nightfall again with a couple GAFers that still needed it, ran the Weekly Strike legit (cheesy method this week is soooo cheesy), dominated some Crucible with darthbob and toasty, and went to work on the Tiger Strike playlist. I can cut through level 24 strikes like butter now; even left solo they go quickly. The anti-damage-sponge patch will realllllllly make it so these can be obliterated quickly.
At some point I realized I had enough both Vanguard marks and Crucible marks to get a legendary weapon apiece. Did a bit of research but just had to crash after sleepwalking my way through the last strike of the night- so on a little break here at work I used remote play to buy:
Trading up to the world of legendary primaries, The Devil You Know is what I'll be rocking when Hawkmoon is holstered. It's a workhorse all around, but the Crowd Control mod from the vendor version makes it especially great for general PvE play.
With the Crucible marks, I sprung for
77 Wizard. I had heard great things about it from you GAF guardians, and it being Void made it a no brainer. This let me complete one of my personal mini-goals:
I call them The Three Tenors. Plan C gets the solo this week in the Nightfall.
I know that many disagree quite a bit, but I personally reject the idea that getting my guns this way is less legitimate or interesting than randomly finding them pop out of a monster. I earned my marks by doing strikes, daily story missions, public events, weekly challenges, Crucible matches- in other words, playing the damn game- and then I chose two of the exact items I wanted for my collection and bought them. These guns are rad and it feels good. I can understand the other side- that it's "boring" to buy your gear or that "everyone will have the same stuff," but it feels rewarding to have earned useful gear concretely through play and it certainly didn't feel boring when I realized I had enough marks on me for a weapon from each vendor. I was like a kid in an FAO Schwarz checking out those toys.
As for the "everyone having the same stuff" aspect, I have some theories on that- but it might be less of a concern than you think. Although the game DESPERATELY needs
visual transmutation. The concept that every endgame character with raid gear will look the same except shader, chosen exotic piece and class item is terribly disappointing. Bungie pls giff transmutation thx >
I'm in the middle of three new guide posts right now which I hope will help out some of the people roughly around where I am in the progression. One is the final part of my leveling guide, which I started writing after realizing that I'm personally in no rush to hit 30 as quickly as possible. The second is a simple "What Type of Destiny Player Are You?" checklist with suggestions on how Bungie expects one might play Destiny each week at different activity levels. The third is Tips and Tricks Vol. 3, which will have a couple tips relevant to endgame as well as one or two for brand new players.
From my 8 strikes last night, I got 1 strange coin, 9 blue drops, 10 blue engrams, and another 4 blue engram drops for a total of 14. I haven't decrypted these yet and am not expecting much- but I will say that at the very least, Tiger Strikes are now a fantastic way for players level 21-23 to get to 24. The Queen's stuff is easier while it's still around, but remember that she disappears on Monday, Oct. 6.
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