Hi-lights & Low-Lights from my D2 Misadventures. Musings, Oddities, and Weekly Reset Updates.

The Final Grind:

Season of the Forge - End of Season Mega Update

Weekly Reset - Feb 5th Feb 12th 2019

My Turn for Jotunn:

Double Update - Jan 23rd - Feb 5th 2019

The Last Word:

After getting increasingly tired of being fanned down on my crucible grind, by an increasing number of twitchy-bois with The Last Word hand cannon, I was as finally able to finish up all the steps myself and get the gun. The draw mechanic that this mini story mission used was kinda neat, but I sucked at it for quite a while before I was able to dial it in (the large number of random blue engrams littering the level in the clip above does something to betray the 36+ deaths I took in this one segment alone. All that said though, it did make the completion of the quest and the weapon drop extra satisfying. Excited to try out The Last Word out in the crucible, hopefully it will help me with speed through my last few Redrix steps before the end of the season.

I was also fortunate to RNG my way into two of the last outstanding random drop exotics I needed - Lord of Wolves, and Black Talon. I dont use swords that much, mostly only sword hilts to goon around in 3rd person and pretend I’m CammyCakes corner peeking people in quickplay until I’m quickly killed and bagged - Black talon may be the sword that changes that. The blade beams it puts out are fun to toss around, and its void damage fits in well with a number of Voidwalker builds I like to use. I have been using it for a lot of easier PVE content, and have been enjoying it quite a bit.

Overdue Double-Update Jan 1st-23rd 2019

Iron Banner:

I have been working hard on my PVP game. I am admittedly still pretty middling, but I am definitely improving, and every now and then I even put a good game together. This montage includes two of my top PVP moments of all time, with a flawless game, as well as an Iron Legend streak complete with the bad ass speech from Lord Saladin. I’m working pretty doggedly toward my Redrix, I’m currently at valor 4 rests, and just started into the 25 QP, 25 Rumble, 25 Comp Step - Wish me luck. Eyes up guardians - keep on swingin’.

Black Armory Weapons

Weekly Reset Hi-lights - Dec 25th - Jan 1st 2019

Iron Banner:

Managed the full armor set on each character for the first time in my personal history. Some of my best plays (mostly trash spamming grav lance and NovaWarp like a scrub) are included in the video above.

Gifts of the Dawning: Shards and More!:

In a true Dawning miracle, I checked my postmaster early in the AM of the 26th after having sessioned some late-night Iron Banner on boxing day with my hunter to find one of my most anticipated outstanding Forsaken Exotics - Shards of Galanor waiting there for me. These pair with the blade barrage super and give back super energy based upon blade hits and kills. When pared with the right mods, or when holding a harmony orb in the blind well, you basically have your super available to cast, back-to-back-to-back (see above) - nasty!

I also used some of my holiday break to work away a bit more at the forges - Completing Gofannon a few more times, and finally netting myself a decently rolled Kindled Orchid in the process - RNG also granted me Le Monarque, which is a pretty decent looking exotic bow I’m interested to play around with a bit more - interested to see how it compares to my currently favourite roll Subtle Calamity with dragonfly which is surprisingly potent for mass add clear.

Weekly Reset Hi-lights - Dec 18th - 25th 2018

This was a pretty lean week for me - The new forge requirements seemed overwhelming, and so I just got it in where I could I kept on the grind toward 650. I was pretty close to my second Gambit rank reset, so I decided to grind that out - forgetting that you only earn XP from wins once you reach legend rank. Took forever, and sapped my will to play gambit for a bit in the same way the breakneck grind did a few weeks ago. In the final game - right as my spirit was breaking we squeaked out a win, and I finally snagged a Queeenbreaker - which Ive been domed by enough times to be anticipating taking on some invasions whenever my will to Gambit returns. Finally, I made it 650 with my Warlock right in time for Iron Banner next week - getting fired up now. Peace be upon you this Dawning guardians - Eyes up.

Weekly Reset Hi-lights - Dec 11th - 18th 2018

Forge Grind, Power Grind, and The Dawning

The new endgame activities - forges - debuted this week, and even with the quick behind the scenes tweaks in the first 24hrs to lower the required light level, the forges are tough! The good news is they feature new weapon drops, and provide access to new powerful weapons you can forge through a multi-step process. The bad news is the grind for all this is pretty unreal, even going in at 600LL on day one.

The Dawning is also upon us, bring with it the return of Eva Levante with an oven you can use to bake treats for all your companions, and trade in for loot and materials. There is also a quest line where you upgrade a seasonal sleigh-style sparrow, and a pretty short and straight pathway to a new Suros Avalanche machine gun, which is pretty neat, and worthwhile at least for the time being with only 3 total MG archetype weapons currently in the game.

Destiny 2 Ascendant Challenge Solo Guide - Week 16

With this week being all about getting that power up to more effectively complete the forges I was definitely completing every powerful drop opportunity at my disposal, including both of Petra’s bounties in the Dreaming City. My solo walkthrough video was pretty successful (by my standards) last week, so I threw another one together for this week’s ascendant challenge. Check it out below.

Weekly Reset Hi-lights - Dec 4th - 11th 2018

Forge Completion, Hammerhead & Some Lucky RNG:

After grinding my power level up into the 610-15 range and working my way through the initial forge quest steps along the way, on the final day of the reset cycle I was able to complete the Volundr forge in the EDZ and finish the the initial black armory quest. In the process of grinding all this out, I was blessed by RNGesus - I got my 10th forsaken exotic (Cerberus+1) and a God Roll Duke Mk. 44, both of which shred in their own way.

Finishing the forge for the first time unlocks Hammerhead, which is a legendary machine gun, with a unique feature which allows the player to view hidden runes in the environment when ADS.

Players have already used this to find a number of hidden runes throughout the game world. While they will likely have to do with the raid, the solo player in me is hopeful for some sort of world based collection and exploration quest similar to tokens on mars which led to Worldline Zero. Looking forward to exploring, and seeing what the community is able to find.

Week 14 Ascendant Challenge Solo Guide:

With this week being all about that power grind toward 650, I went above and beyond with my power drops, making sure to complete the Ascendant Challenge. The challenge this week was a repeat of the first one I ever completed, so I decided to take a bit of extra time to toss together a brief walk-through, since I actually knew what I was doing this time.

Vanguard Season 5 Weapons & Pinnacle Weapon:

This season Zavala had 2 weapon bounties available to complete. The first, and most straightforward required completing any 30 Vanguard bounties, and rewarded a Season 5 version of the Nightshade pulse rifle. The second and most involved bounty required 500 FR kills, 100Arc kills, and 40 Strike Completions, and rewarded a fully masterworked Loaded Question fusion rifle. This FR has the unique perk Reservoir Burst which causes the first shot of a full magazine to deal extra damage, and cause enemies to explode on death, making it a useful weapon for clearing groups of basic enemies. As was the case with the grind for Breakneck last week, the most difficult part of this was the 40 completions, the other requirements are easily achievable within that many strikes if you select an appropriate loadout. I ran Breakneck as my primary, Main Ingredient as my energy weapon, and rocked my Arc subclass - Thunderlord & Sleeper in the heavy slot.

Weekly Reset Hi-lights - Nov 27th - Dec 3rd 2018

Pre-Season of the Forge Sandbox Update

Gambit Pinnacle Weapon - Breakneck

Season of the Forge brings 3 new Pinnacle weapons for each of the major activities (Strikes, Crucible, & Gambit). After watching a few videos from maverick guardians who unlocked all of these on day 1, I decided the one I wanted to grind for first was the Gambit weapon - Breakneck. This is a 450rpm auto rifle with Rampage, and the unique perk Onslaught, which causes rate of fire to increase with each stack of rampage. With 3 stacks of rampage, this hits with the damage of a 450rpm auto rifle, but with a rate of fire approaching 900rpm. At the moment its arguably the best non-exotic kinetic weapon in the game - def worth the moderate grind to get. All that is required is a bunch of auto rifle kills and kill streaks, and 40 match completions. Rocking a load-out with 2 auto rifles (I ran Horror Story, and a Misfit) you can easily knock it all out within the 40 required gambit match completions.

All 3 Characters at 600!

This reset cycle marks the first time I have ever had 3 characters at the light cap at once. I’m making it in just under the wire with a likely level raise coming on Dec 4th. Was pretty fired up when the final piece (gauntlets) dropped for my Titan. Here is the current state of my characters on this most momentous of occasions.

Warlock

My Main is a Human Male Voidwalker Warlock. I’m super cool so I match my color scheme to the elemental alignment and super that I use the most with each character - Lots of Nebula Rose shaders in effect here. This was the first character I ever got up to the power cap in either Destiny or D2.

Titan

My Titan is an Exo Male Code of the Missile Striker, although I usually rock the hammers in Crucible. This is the character I use the least, and was the last I brought up to the light cap. The other member of my mighty ass 2 man clan [HYP3 Bringerz] is a Titan Main, so this guy gets neglected.

Hunter

My Hunter is a Human Female Blade Barrage Gunslinger. I really enjoy the hunter playstyle, especially with higher mobility stats - I’ve been turning to this character more and more in the Crucible.

Weekly Reset Hi-Lights - Nov 20th - 27th 2018

Iron Banner Contention

This reset was all about Iron Banner for me. I’ve never had characters at, or even really close to the light cap during previous IBs so the opportunity to be in contention was something I was quite excited about. I managed to get all the weapons, and complete the armor sets on all three of my characters (minus the titan helmet). In honour of Lord Saladin here is a hi-light reel of one of my best matches from the week (a rare instance where I’m rolling, and not being rolled on Equinox)