Topic: Destiny 2 - Guardians Unite

@BAMozzy thanks for the explanation friend, I believe we're taking a strong fireteam with us, we'll pull this off then

@Cyph0Lax Even a team of 300+ Guardians can struggle to pull this off in a hour - especially if those 6 are made up of LFG players - even if they have beaten the Raid before and know all the mechanics. Its easier if you are part of a regular group of 6, all know their roles and used to each others communication but even then it can also trip people up and cause a few 'restart's' of certain encounters.

I assume that you haven't attempted or beat the raid yet. I won't spoil any of it for you and wish you good luck but its much more difficult than a 'nightfall' and requires a lot more communication and co-ordination to pull it off. Even if you do your 'job' perfectly, an error, death or even a weak link can really extend how long the raid can take. I also advise that you take a few 'different' weapon options and maybe even switch Subclasses for different parts of the raid - depending on your role in each encounter. In some encounters, it doesn't really matter on your subclass but others, it can really help or hinder your progress depending on your role.

For me, raiding in Destiny is the pinnacle of co-op gaming and can make as well as break friendships.

@BAMozzy wow, Holy sh!t, seriously I never had any idea that Destiny can be this hard, because of the timezone I guess I will be having problems here. when we want to do it, it's 12AM here and... well most of the household is sleeping and I can't really use communications, and again because of the timezone, I would be online for 2 hours at best! for I have work to do and classes to attend...
considering all you said, I bet this will be a difficult time of playing

@Cyph0Lax The Raids are really tricky - especially for newcomers and those who are not above the power level. The raid starts at 260 power level but by the Boss its scaled up to 280. so if you have any players under 280, its a big struggle. I only raid now with 300+ and even then a raid can last more than 2hrs - depending on the group of course as we are generally comprised of LFG gamers so have to get used to each others communication and co-ordination.

It really cannot be done without communication at all. At most you could probably get away with 1 person who can't talk BUT they must be able to listen and respond to confirm they know what their role is. In every main section of the Raid, a certain amount of communication is required with some roles needing to be very communicative. A certain section for example will have the fireteam split into 2 groups of three and one group of 3 will see a 'symbol' but each will see a different symbol which they must call out so the other three, who are in another area, must kill a certain enemy - the one associated with the symbol that wasn't called - if they don't kill that enemy in time or kill the wrong enemy, it kills every one of the 3 in the other area. A lot of the raids require this level of communication, co-ordination and timing to be successful although not necessarily in every stage. Opening doors for example can require very little communication - although co-ordination can still be required and its often easier if you have people talking.

This is why 'Match-making' isn't a realistic option. You can't guarantee you will get a good mix of classes, be in a group with people using Mics or even able to speak the same language - especially in the UK with European servers and so many different languages in such a small area - English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Spanish etc etc. If you got lumbered with a power 260 Guardian who doesn't use a mic and doesn't speak the same language, doesn't have the skill level or dedication and just wants to be carried through for the rewards, you are screwed.

You need everyone pulling their weight. In a Nightfall, you can virtually sit at the back whilst the other two do all the killing (well you could on older Nightfalls, these are a bit more tricky with the Time element added) - basically carried through just to get the Nightfall rewards. You can also do a nightfall with no communication at all - after all they are just a 'strike' - albeit at the higher difficulty setting. A basic Nightfall is also only at power level 240 (Prestige is 300) and the 'normal' raid starts at 260 but the boss room is 280 so 280 Ads and Majors.

I don't want to put you off because they are the best co-op experience I have had on Console. The reason though you have 'checkpoints' and these checkpoints remain with you all week is because Bungie know that they are the pinnacle of Destiny and that many people won't have enough time in one sitting to complete the raid - therefore you can pick up where you left off the next day (or whenever you can get together again). I have seen some 'groups' spend more than a couple of hours on just one section. I have been asked to help some friends finish a Raid off because their composition and 'luck' at getting the 'right' person from LFG hasn't worked out and they have been 'stuck' at the same stage for 3-4 (and more on occasion) stage - Just that stage. Like I said, having the right combination of classes, weapons and even people can make a difference and one weak link can really affect how quickly (or not) you get through it. If Destiny was just raids, I would still buy it though....

@Cyph0Lax im hopefully running the raid tonight at 9pm so we can have a better idea of what to do next week. If its too late we will organise a day when im off and hit it earlier.

@themcnoisy The rotation of the 3 main areas changes very week. The principal of accessing each area doesn't change - just the position depending on the order. If/when you do make it into the first room, next week should be a different encounter. That being said, it's not a bad idea to see an example of what you will be facing and how tough/easy it is to kill the enemies and how strong/weak you feel against them.

Anyway, have fun...

If when the Price drops, I may be tempted to pick it up on PS4 so I can play with you all but I struggled to keep 6 Guardians going through the first 3 yrs of D1 and it got expensive buying all the DLC Expansions on both which has kind of held me off from picking it up on PS4 so far. I may be craving more D2 content now and could easily get my characters to max level and a decent power level too, but with a lot of new games on the horizon, maintaining 6 guardians maybe again be a bit too much...

@BAMozzy Thanks for the info brother, strikes me as if Raids are the hardest things I've seen in multiplayer games. I have no problem with difficulty, in fact, I'm obsessed with hard games like Dark Souls/Bloodborne or Nioh, but true, maintaining a group and constantly communicating is nothing like those games. I think I need to lvl up too. I haven't hit 280 yet... 275 or something... well... I hope it all be okay lol.

@themcnoisy Nice, keep me posted about it, that would be a great idea

@Cyph0Lax The difference between games like Dark Souls etc is that if you mess up, its just you that is effected but if you mess up in Destiny, you could end up killing all your team mates too but at the very least more likely to make that encounter more difficult. 275 power level is 'doable' but you are quite squishy. My advice would be to do all the 'powerful gear' reward activities you can that week before jumping into the Raid to see if you get some gear you can use or infuse. Hopefully you may get a few items during it too to boost you up a bit too. There are ways to protect lower power levels a bit more during phases, by assigning them certain roles so its not too bad for them but most of these require more communication.

we tried the raid last night and that was mostly pushsquare clan members and we failed miserably at the gauntlet I dont think we managed to get through 2 phases of it so under an hour is really pushing it i think

Can one of the clan admins pm me the info about joining the clan please ?

@BAMozzy I'll make sure I do the activities before going for the raid, thanks for the advice man

You guys think the IB season reward will be worth the time? I'm at 50% and debating going for it but it's time-consuming.

honestly no i do not I am a tad annoyed with the IB this season lets hope its not the same next season

@Cyph0Lax No probs - just hope you have a great time and fireteam. Even if things don't go well, its better if you have a good fireteam and can at least enjoy the experience.

My first Raid (Vault of Glass) took my fireteam about 3 days which accounted for around 10-15hrs but we still had a good laugh doing it.

@BAMozzy sure, I value the playtime more than the objective. if it's not enjoyable I honestly see no point in doing it. our fireteam consists of cool people, pretty sure we'll have a great time playing.

If it was the raid i joined late the problem was no leadership and no communication, poor party set up, low volumes, echoes. Sort out the party, get a fireteam with functioning mics. I asked for instructions constantly and nobody said a word.

I couldnt hear you at all mate, the volumes were to allow dark angel to play I believe he has hearing issues so we were struggling a bit it was my first time doing it and I found it very very confusing

@Cyph0Lax are you studying or busy at the weekend? I fancy running trials of the 9. We will hopefully beat the nightfall later and then i can get on earlier on saturday and sunday to try some trials of the 9.

@Ypmud do you want to join us for trials of the 9 this weekend?

Sorry about Saturday. I didnt realise anyone was messaging me. I had turned message notifications off due to another incredibly active message thread with constant popups. So when i started destiny I didnt get any messages and thought everyone had binned the raid off.

Sorry team, felt a right muppet.