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[ocean]

dude please.
When you're playing destiny and suddenly hit the level 24 plateau and you're told that you don't have high enough leveled gear to do the raid it sucks.

this isn't whiny bitching, it's about being able to play parts of the game you need higher level gear for and not being able to get it because of wonky game mechanics. see my other posts. a lot of people hit 24 and get stuck because what had worked for them the previous 24 levels suddenly stops working. I had to specifically change how I played the game and I had to do a lot of reading and figuring shit out to be able to get better gear.

it's not clear at all in the game on how to do this. look at the tons and tons of questions on these boards. a lot of people are confused and frustrated.

i'm enjoying the game overall but it's not perfect and some things could have clearly been done better or at least explained better.

I actually think hardcore gamers who frequent these boards are more likely to be confused. I'm fairly certain an average player would just assume leveling after 20 depends on earning Marks. You can go for Vanguard/Faction or Crucible depending on whether you'd rather do PvE or PvP. Or both if you're in a hurry.

Hours upon hours following YouTube farming guides for a shitload of often disappointing engrams sucks hard. But it's a frustrating experience only gamers like us would encounter.

Every single vendor in the Tower has Legendary gear. I'm sure all players will notice this within their first hour playing. Sure it takes time but you can measure your progression. No frustration, no surprises.

I got 100 Crucible Marks the first week, and 100 more after it reset. This enabled me to get 3 Legendary armor pieces at 65 Marks each. I have 5 left over and I'll only be able to make 100 next week so the 120 mark Helmet will take a while. Will I pray to RNG gods until then by farming? Nah. I'll have fun playing with friends and getting upgrade materials. If in that process something happens to drop, then great! But it's a bonus, RANDOM drop, not something to count on.

No exotic drops? A few strikes and I'll have the currency for Xur to hook me up. Dependable, measurable progress towards a goal. Seems more reasonable than praying on engrams and jumping off the Tower when they're no good no?

Just two cents

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

I think I'm done with this game. I'm still enjoying it but I've put in about 15-20 hours since I hit level 24 and since then I haven't gotten a thing. Yes, I can just buy the items by earning vanguard and crucible marks and ranks, but then what's the point of the loot system?

I've never been much into grind fest experiences and as much as I like the game, the grind is a major turn off, sad to say I think I'm better off selling it while it still holds some decent value.

God damn dude, pump your breaks. That's a whole lot of play time. No wonder you're done, you're burned out.

 

[E92 M3]

I swear the only true bullshit things in PVP are the long range fusion guns and blade dancer super. Pretty much everything else can be countered/avoided with proper map awareness and your own skill.

I also don't think you should get shields when reviving in 3v3. I'm not sure how the scoring works, but if you're revived, it shouldn't count as a kill for the other team, but reviving should be a real risk, so dump the shielding mechanic, imo.

I did not expect to love this games PVP, but here I am.

I find the titan super to be much more annoying - killed plenty of Blade Dancers myself.

 

[everyday math]

I'm starting to wonder how the citizens of the Last City get food. No wildlife besides some bugs and birds.

 

[names2hard4you]

Been farming for materials on Mars and loot on the Moon here and there, this is what Isabeau looks like right now (wish I was home to take a screenshot):

Isabeau is now ready (or kind of lol) to hit a raid. Now I needa help my other 2 friends get to 26, and find another 3 players to join us. This no matchmaking bullshit sucks. Feel free to add me on PSN if you haven''t done so already. Played with a few of you already and it was a ton of fun!

 

[Xevren]

You can get multiple shards a day that way?

Yes, you can get one gold package per day per character. Usually you get either an ascendant energy or shard, one is for weapons (energy) or armor (shards).

 

[Ark]

I've enough Vanguard marks to buy something awesome but I'm still only half way through rank 1. What's the bet way to farm Vanguard rep? Patrol missions give so little rep.

 

[Stoze]

We gotta move away from this mindset of "just buy" as though it's an alternative to the right way where you find them as drops.

Buying your first set (important distinction) of Legendary gear the intended path in this game. Random drops of endgame gear here and there are lucky shortcuts- not the route.

edit: I hope to prove this in a big old guide post shortly.

Yep. I haven't been stressing out about legendary/exotic armor drops, because I can just farm a bit of rep to hit rank 2 vanguard, and then almost buy 2 pieces of vanguard gear. I'm also guessing I'm guaranteed exotic armor this weekend since I have 16 strange coins.

I'm totally fine with legendaries being incredibly rare; it's just that the game defeats its own carrot on a stick design by making it possible to get lower-tier gear from engrams. Dangle the carrot, sure; don't swat me in the nuts with it when I get close though.

This. I've expressed this to a few gaffers while chatting in a fireteam. Low drop rates are fine, it's the tease that pisses everyone off. Make the actual legendary and exotic acquiring rates the same as the drop rates, and make the engrams drop an item from their color.

I just imagine a Mario ? block gets dropped when I see an engram, that way I'm not disappointed.

 

[Anoregon]

Just reposting since it is the afternoon, if anyone on PS4 wants to do the level 22 weekly strike at around 6-7 eastern tonight (3 hours or so), add Anoregon on PSN.

 

[VE3TRO]

I'm starting to wonder how the citizens of the Last City get food. No wildlife besides some bugs and birds.

Legendary Engrams become microwave meals.

 

[Savantcore]

Will Xur definitely have the same stock this weekend?

 

[Hawkian]

"First Set" perhaps, but we're complaining about "First Piece". I don't want shortcut drops, but a-taste-of drops. Just enough to let me test them and take a peek before buying.

I dunno if it is "a taste," in practice, though. Your first piece of legendary gear will put you 25+. How much of an increase in drop rate are we talking about you wanting?

There's a lot of variables I haven't seen anyone take into account here.

Consider that once you rank your vendor up to 2, you can buy legendary gear there permanently. Let's say legendaries dropped 4 times as much, with that option still there. Suddenly by the end of the month a dedicated player has ever single inventory slot filled with legendaries and exotics.

Again, the random changes for "shortcut drops" are a good thing. A fun thing. But they're being misunderstood.

Spoiler

I was afraid of that being the answer.. However this stuff is hard to come by and the price for upgrading your most prized exotic stuff too high, atm. I'm up for that challenge but it gathering around 30 Ascendants is definitely a b*tch

I think it'll get easier though I'm not clear on how quite yet.

 

[super-famicom]

I'm starting to wonder how the citizens of the Last City get food. No wildlife besides some bugs and birds.

The engrams the cryptarch decrypts get converted to food. But somehow, everyone is allergic to eating the stuff made from engrams that actually give out legendaries. That's why we always get blues and greens.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

God damn dude, pump your breaks. That's a whole lot of play time. No wonder you're done, you're burned out.

Well, to be fair, the game kind of encourages binge play with all its various grinding currencies. Especially if you want to do the raid, it'd be pretty easy to fall behind and not be able to see the content you want to see for a very long time.

 

[Strider]

I've enough Vanguard marks to buy something awesome but I'm still only half way through rank 1. What's the bet way to farm Vanguard rep? Patrol missions give so little rep.

High level strikes.

Do the playlist, Nightfall and weekly heroic.

 

[sploatee]

I'm starting to wonder how the citizens of the Last City get food. No wildlife besides some bugs and birds.

Rahool provides.

 

[Xando]

Just got a exotic machine gun (thunderlord) with my first legendary engram.

Grimoire 1310. lvl 24.

 

[Twilight Gap]

most of my PvP complaints would go away if they buffed gunslinger. OHK throwing knife headshots; resistance when activating golden gun. now it's OP like the rest of them.

 

[Union Carbine]

The game mechanics aren't wonky. They introduce the Vanguard people at the start of the game, while it doesn't directly tell you "grind rep and then buy the gear with the marks you get" it is pretty obvious if you just talk to him and see his inventory and the rep bar.

It's easy to get past the 24 plateau by doing what the game wants you to do and grind for legendary gear through rep and marks. If you're getting upset over drops then blame the RNG Gods. If you want it quicker just play more, the game gives you three factions on top of the crucible and vanguard to choose from as well. Dailies, weeklys, strike playlist, bounties. Bungie has given you all the tools to get your gear.

Your level won't be stuck at 24 once you start getting legendaries, don't expect them from drops.

This. A hundred times, This.

You can also synergize your bounties, depending on what you've picked up in your inventory and what's on offer at the tower. So if you're going to go in for some strikes, pick up some bounties (if available that align with those strikes).

Last night, I didn't get to play very long so I went to the Bounty Tracker and swapped out some bounties. I picked up: kill 30 enemies via melee without dying and the complete 6 Venus patrol missions bounties and knocked them out together quickly and got extra rank for completing the patrols as part of the bounty.

 

[super-famicom]

Will Xur definitely have the same stock this weekend?

Maybe, but I'm guessing at least a couple of items, if not all, will get rotated out for new stuff.

 

[The Librarian]

The engrams the cryptarch decrypts get converted to food. But somehow, everyone is allergic to eating the stuff made from engrams that actually give out legendaries. That's why we always get blues and greens.

that is a terrible explanation and particularly lacking in #spacemagic

 

[ocean]

I'm starting to wonder how the citizens of the Last City get food. No wildlife besides some bugs and birds.

Haven't you heard? The Guardians are excellent farmers.

 

[PrivateWHudson]

Does this game even have legendary/exotic sets that grant set bonuses (like Diablo)?

Haven't played Diablo, but they each lean toward a different combination of Strength/Intellect/Recovery or whatever super/melee/grenade cooldowns are called. Plus they match ascetically.

 

[everyday math]

Legendary Engrams become microwave meals.

The engrams the cryptarch decrypts get converted to food. But somehow, everyone is allergic to eating the stuff made from engrams that actually give out legendaries. That's why we always get blues and greens.

Rahool provides.

Lawl

 

[Strider]

Will Xur definitely have the same stock this weekend?

No. He had a stock refresh bar when he was up last weekend. So it won't be the exacvt same items but I'm sure it'll be different exotics for 13 strange coins again.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Yes, you can get one gold package per day per character. Usually you get either an ascendant energy or shard, one is for weapons (energy) or armor (shards).

I'll make a Warlock or Hunter tomorrow. I kinda got lucky now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTrCxDDcDLU&feature=youtu.be

 

[Oozer3993]

I would have thought GutZ would win that after ghost hunting with him in the Beta, but I think I saw someone a page or so back that had him beat by a few (both in the 1600+ range). Anyone over 1700?

I'm at 1610. That's with only one ghost found on each Mars and Venus though. And not a single Crucible match played.

 

[Ze_Pershing]

Can someone briefly explain why vanguard and crucible points get reset every week?
How do those work?

 

[Hawkian]

I actually think hardcore gamers who frequent these boards are more likely to be confused. I'm fairly certain an average player would just assume leveling after 20 depends on earning Marks. You can go for Vanguard/Faction or Crucible depending on whether you'd rather do PvE or PvP. Or both if you're in a hurry.

Hours upon hours following YouTube farming guides for a shitload of often disappointing engrams sucks hard. But it's a frustrating experience only gamers like us would encounter.

Every single vendor in the Tower has Legendary gear. I'm sure all players will notice this within their first hour playing. Sure it takes time but you can measure your progression. No frustration, no surprises.

I got 100 Crucible Marks the first week, and 100 more after it reset. This enabled me to get 3 Legendary armor pieces at 65 Marks each. I have 5 left over and I'll only be able to make 100 next week so the 120 mark Helmet will take a while. Will I pray to RNG gods until then by farming? Nah. I'll have fun playing with friends and getting upgrade materials. If in that process something happens to drop, then great! But it's a bonus, RANDOM drop, not something to count on.

No exotic drops? A few strikes and I'll have the currency for Xur to hook me up. Dependable, measurable progress towards a goal. Seems more reasonable than praying on engrams and jumping off the Tower when they're no good no?

Just two cents

For this post I'd give you all the legendary engrams I have stashed if I could.

This. I've expressed this to a few gaffers while chatting in a fireteam. Low drop rates are fine, it's the tease that pisses everyone off. Make the actual legendary and exotic acquiring rates the same as the drop rates, and make the engrams drop an item from their color.

It's fucking hilarious how much of the rage in this game is- not just theoretically, not just technically- but literally because purple engrams are colored purple. That's all on Bungie and I have no clue at all what there were thinking.

I just imagine a Mario ? block gets dropped when I see an engram, that way I'm not disappointed.

damn. I use a really similar metaphor in the guide post I've been working on. +1 to you too

 

[Bunta]

Can someone briefly explain why vanguard and crucible points get reset every week?
How do those work?

They don't get reset. You can only earn 100 each week, so the cap is reset every week.

 

[Ramirez]

it definitely needs tweaks and there are lots of things they can do to balance it. it's otherwise great when it's working.

i'd rather there not be overshields at all.

For sure, but it should be a complete shit show every match given all the abilities in the game. 3v3 is legitimately great, and I wish Salvage was the base 3v3 mode, and not a weekend hopper.

I find the titan super to be much more annoying - killed plenty of Blade Dancers myself.

All of the supers can be annoying. Staying spaced out is a good counter to a Titan smash. I feel like if I see a Titan running at me, I can at least kill him before he starts the animation. Blade Dancer's are so quick I think it fucks with the net code at times.

 

[Stoze]

I've enough Vanguard marks to buy something awesome but I'm still only half way through rank 1. What's the bet way to farm Vanguard rep? Patrol missions give so little rep.

I'm in the same boat, I was thinking about trying out farming spin metal or whatever material is the fastest to farm. I believe a stack of 50 materials gets you 250 rep and 5 marks, but I might be wrong.

Other than that, I'd say bounties and patrols.

 

[Respect]

Legendary Engrams become microwave meals.

RNGesus always provides for his people.

Lol, I fail at a public event and the next drop I get is a Legendary Engram. Praise RNGesus.

Hallelujah!

 

[Bravo123]

Just got my first exotic weapon from a purple engram called ThuderLord.
Would've preferred some exotic armor but still happy.

 

[Hawkian]

It's bounties for Rep, by a huge huge huge margin.

 

[Spinluck]

So is that cave on Earth and that one spot on the moon still the most efficient farming methods? Gonna try and rack up crucible and vanguard marks for gear and shit. Weapons will take second place in priority.

Been farming for materials on Mars and loot on the Moon here and there, this is what Isabeau looks like right now (wish I was home to take a screenshot):

Isabeau is now ready (or kind of lol) to hit a raid. Now I needa help my other 2 friends get to 26, and find another 3 players to join us. This no matchmaking bullshit sucks. Feel free to add me on PSN if you haven''t done so already. Played with a few of you already and it was a ton of fun!

I need this shader, what is it called? The lady in the Tower is always selling the same shit.

 

[PrivateWHudson]

I dunno if it is "a taste," in practice, though. Your first piece of legendary gear will put you 25+. How much of an increase in drop rate are we talking about you wanting?

There's a lot of variables I haven't seen anyone take into account here.

Consider that once you rank your vendor up to 2, you can buy legendary gear there permanently. Let's say legendaries dropped 4 times as much, with that option still there. Suddenly by the end of the month a dedicated player has ever single inventory slot filled with legendaries and exotics.

Again, the random changes for "shortcut drops" are a good thing. A fun thing. But they're being misunderstood.

I think it'll get easier though I'm not clear on how quite yet.

As I said in a previous post, I think it's fine the way it is if they would get rid of the armor going to a different class. If that didn't happen, I'd have a chest and armor piece, be able to see the Raid, and get Raid items. I'd be able to do Nightfall strikes and be able to have the progression bonus. And most importantly, I would be able to tinker with a Legendary item so I would know what I want to buy.

 

[KINGofCRA5H]

Just got a exotic machine gun (thunderlord) with my first legendary engram.

Grimoire 1310. lvl 24.

Now THAT is some luck right there...

 

[AmateurHour212]

Is the best farming spot for engrams still the "We've woken the hive!" spot?

 

[Xevren]

Honestly all I want to change for legendary engrams is for the ability to get a blue removed and just make that be more materials instead. At least they would be usable. They drop so rarely that they should always be looked forward to.

 

[Papercuts]

Huge thanks to slammin and ryouji for helping me get the thorn. That mission was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen in a game, lol.

 

[squidhands]

Lets do a little experiment.

Post your level, your grimoire score, and how many legendary items and/or engrams you've gotten.

I have a feeling the higher the grimoire the more legendary drops you get.

I'm 1355, Level 24 and I've only ever gotten ONE legendary engram. Haven't seen anything purple before or after

You should add "time played" to your study......

• Level 22
• Grimoire Score : 1365
• Legendary Engrams: About 0
• All Game Modes Played: 1d 5h 9m (seems like I've played longer, but whatever)

 

[sploatee]

Just to weigh in on the loot drops - I tried farming but I find the grind outweighs the fun. I've never received any legendaries through it. But by getting marks and rep I bought my first legendary today and tomorrow with a few strikes should be able to get another.

Good behaviour, gold star yadda yadda yadda. Most importantly, it's just more fun.

It's still good to know the farm spots though. The moon one helps with the fusion rifle bounty

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Special weapons are killing the Crucible for me right now. The amount of ammo available is freaking ridiculous.

 

[The Librarian]

Special weapons are killing the Crucible for me right now. The amount of ammo available is freaking ridiculous.

ARs are kinda annoying too.

 

[darkwing]

Special weapons are killing the Crucible for me right now. The amount of ammo available is freaking ridiculous.

nah, it's the map that is encouraging short range weapons

 

[Union Carbine]

As I said in a previous post, I think it's fine the way it is if they would get rid of the armor going to a different class. If that didn't happen, I'd have a chest and armor piece, be able to see the Raid, and get Raid items. I'd be able to do Nightfall strikes and be able to have the progression bonus. And most importantly, I would be able to tinker with a Legendary item so I would know what I want to buy.

So basically they should change it because RNGesus didn't favor you?

 

[ComputerMKII]

Just to weigh in on the loot drops - I tried farming but I find the grind outweighs the fun. I've never received any legendaries through it. But by getting marks and rep I bought my first legendary today and tomorrow with a few strikes should be able to get another.

Good behaviour, gold star yadda yadda yadda. Most importantly, it's just more fun.

It's still good to know the farm spots though. The moon one helps with the fusion rifle bounty

What's the most effective way to get rep?

 

[todahawk]

i didn't even know they still existed. that is a high score.


I understand the frustration, but I keep thinking about all the times I went to ask about something perplexing in the Demon's Souls thread on my first playthrough. I got confused and frustrated sometimes, for sure. But I also got answers. And help. And learned stuff I didn't even realize I wanted to know. And eventually even made friends with people, because there was so much to talk about.

I get that things are cryptic, different than expected, even arcane for a lot of people, but that doesn't necessarily make them bad. Nor is it bad to turn to a community for assistance. Feel free to add Hawkian on PSN, for that matter.

In time it will all be common knowledge. In time, it will be considered silly for newbies to think certain things that are being taken for granted right now. but some of us actually enjoy these early days of figuring stuff out on our own- bizarre and frustrating as it might seem to you.

I hear ya and I even thought about Demon's Souls when I was typing up my post but the frustration in DS was different. If I died it was because I got greedy or screwed up in some way. The world tendancies were confusing but leveling and upgrading were much more straight forward. maxing out certain weapons and having to farm crazy and rare items weren't necessary for endgame. I get what you're saying though.

I really like Destiny and I'm an extremely patient and forgiving gamer but I think the level 24 plateau is something that needs to be addressed. unless you know what you're doing you're going to be stuck. and stuck to the point where you can't do raids because your gear isn't good enough. i'll say it again... you can play the game a lot of ways but when what you're doing works for the first 24 levels and then suddenly doesn't, something's wrong. that's a design flaw or a lack of communication of game mechanics at the very least. so many people (myself included) saw drops and mission rewards as their way to get better gear. it worked with greens and blues for a very long time. I didn't buy anything from the vendors because i never needed to and like DS, didnt think I'd ever need the vendors.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

Just thought I'd share but I just hit level 24 and was getting frustrated at not finding games with people in for the Weekly Strikes (Level 24, of course). After a while of searching and getting into single games I thought 'fuck it' and thought I'd just play the level until more people joined (It was the Sepkis Prime strike) and not only did I complete it solo but I didn't die a single time.

I know you guys have probably done shit like this all the time but I'm pretty proud of myself right now.