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Destiny |OT3| Oh sweet a Legen- wait never mind, it's a rare.
- Thread starter GraveRobberX
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Drink some coffee. It's ON!
I had a legendary engram drop last night. Super exited, pick it up. Class item engram.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Using it and some xp from certain things levels it up. Seems to me turning in bounties levels up your equipped armor and weapons pretty quickly.
But wasn't our character dead for 100 year. Where is our ghost. Is game of thrones dude ghost our old ghost or a new one?
Fusion Rifle owns close and mid-range.
The Librarian
Banned
I wish we could matchmake strikes by a particular difficulty.
That happened to me .. turned out to be 3 Strange Coins. One of the best outcomes, haha.
AmateurHour212
Member
Sorry man, we just played... level 20 hunter... it was rough for me... sorry.
Ardenyal
Member
It's not. The slow fire rate during ADS makes it worse at mid range. It will lose to any AR with high fire rate at that range.
Nice.25 dude
Oni Link 666
Member
Cømet;130491590 said:Too late
I've got a fair few ascendant energies I've no use for yet though....they for ledge/exotic weapons I'm guessing?
H...uh. The new problem being I'm GMT, what timezone are you? I'm cool with them being the same bounties if I can do them twice a day, getting vanguard up to level 2 could be done tonight!
I'm on Eastern time.
NullPointer
Member
Dinklespark forged your formerly dead ass out of light. Forged out of light = Guardian, capable of wielding light as one of several varieties of firearm along with certain super abilities. Ghosts pick their guardians and Dinklebot picked YOU. Even wove your noob clothes out of glimmer.
Yes, I've been trying to make sense of the world.
And yes, that sometimes it hurts parts of my brain. And yes, I might have some stuff wrong.
That's good to hear. I'm level 25 and thinking about going it solo very slowly if I can't find anyone for it. Gotta get that exotic weapon.
Me too! Went from pissy/slightly bummed to stoked immediately.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
Well, thsts interesting. Strikes are apparently drop in drop out matchmaking. I just came into a strike right at the end.
Aaaaand I got a rare warlock helm. Wat? Guess I got his loot table.
Aaaaand I got a rare warlock helm. Wat? Guess I got his loot table.
I think you died. Then the ghost "found" you because you have "the light" and was able to revive you to be your ghost?
yes this has happened to me a few times, it can be a blessing if all you want to do is farm the boss battle.
The same thing happened to me! I thought once a person left you were screwed. At least that was always my experience until I was dropped at the end of someone else's strike.
MidEvlDed
Member
If you're willing to roll the dice, you can buy an exotic armor engram from Xur, but it can be for any class. If he's selling an exotic weapon engram this weekend instead then it's probably worth it. I'm not willing to spend 23 on the armor engram because there's a 66% chance it will be for a class other than my own. You can also spend motes on bonds/capes/towel things with the speaker.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
You can, level OP more m
It's nearly the only scenario I have seen the drop in matchmaking work, though. Like when someone drops at the start of a strike, I have only ever seen that spot filled when the last boss is engaged. Similarly I have been dropped many times into final boss fights in progress, but I can't think of hardly any times I've come into an in-progress strike earlier than that.
I'm still up for it
PSN: bearsohmy
I'm down, level 26 hunter.
Psn biggy70686.
Thanks for the help sephirus1337 and mrtexor you guys are amazing.
So who the fuck builds the ghost? Does someone sent Dinklebot to get us?
Fuck this game shitty story.
The card for the crucible says that's it's actual live fire, and the guardians are all dying and being revived by their ghost.
unknownstranger
Member
Meh bought a legendary piece from the Warlock vendor but it didn't get me to 26.
ProvenDeadly
Member
Just reached level 20....
What are Motes of light for? And what are the best ways to get armor with light?
What are Motes of light for? And what are the best ways to get armor with light?
PLEASE READ IF YOU ARE A NEW LEVEL 20, FRUSTRATED LOOT FARMER, OR ANYONE GETTING ANNOYED BY RNG IN GENERAL
First off, if the above doesn't apply to you, and you're just having fun, and feel like you can keep playing the game until you stop having fun, then ignore all of this. Rewards will come as you play, even without realizing it, and before you know it you'll be able to get sweeeeeet loot all your own.
Now then...
I've seen a lot of confusion, frustration, misunderstanding, and even misinformation with regard to gearing up post-level 20 in Destiny. I wanted to at least prepare a guide to demonstrate how, with relatively minimal effort over a short period of real time, you can reach Level 26 without needing to rely on RNG at all. Again, everything prescribed in this guide is completely and 100% divorced from any RNG/random chance/luck. Can't stress this enough and how important it is to enjoying the game- I have received zero "lucky drops" so far, yet I'm currently about 3 or 4 points of Light from my goal, 8 days from release (or one day after the raid unlocked).
To avoid getting overwhelmed, focus on one mini-goal at a time (each is in red like this). You can skip down to the first one if you'd like. Everything else is just helpful surrounding info.
If you're used to traditional loot games- anything in the vein of Diablo or Borderlands- a lot of this is going to seem counter-intuitive and even infuriating. You have to unlearn a LOT of habits to get the most from it. But as someone who has been playing with an open mind and enjoying myself every step of the way so far, I have to say that my overall impression of the system at this point is highly positive. It's satisfying, it's simple to make significant progress, it has tangible impact and (maybe most importantly) it is totally accessible to casual players.
The first thing we need to discuss is the difference between XP and Light.
Light versus XP
Reaching level 20 in Destiny via XP is relatively simple and quick. However, as soon as you do, you'll notice that your XP bar is no longer going up toward level 21 as you kill things, turn in bounties, etc.
First of all, you ARE still gaining XP at this stage, make no mistake!
XP after level 20 offers the following:
So that's all good stuff! But it won't get you to 21.
Light is a stat on Rare-or-better armor (NOT weapons, ever) that has no impact on anything except raising your light level. It is independent of the character-stats on the gear. I have nothing really to compare it to, personally. I haven't played every game with gear progression but I just don't know any examples that wouldn't just confuse the issue to bring up. I wouldn't say it's "groundbreaking" or "revolutionary" by any stretch of the imagination, but I do consider it unique.
Basically, instead of making steady progress via XP to your next level, you make steady progress toward your next piece of gear or gear upgrade- which then provides you a huge chunk of "XP" all at once. It's entirely possible and likely that during your quest to 26, you'll jump an entire level and be partway to your next one in an instant, and may immediately feel the effects.
Your level (and thus your "Light level") has two primary impacts:
Of course, your level also signifies if you are or aren't ready for higher-level content, such as the Weekly Nightfall, and of course the Vault of Glass.
Here are the breakpoints for each level- it takes 20 light to get from 20 to 21, 12 from 20 to 22, and 11 for each light level thereafter:
"So how do you get it?"
Equipping Rare (blue) gear that has light on it will immediately show some progress toward level 21.
The base level of a rare item determines how much light it can potentially have. Furthermore, when a piece of gear with light on it gets upgraded with an armor upgrade (the one that increases defense), its light will also go up.
So the ideal rare set is all four pieces with a base level of 20, and all four fully upgraded. That will make 4x15 = 60 Light, putting you squarely into Level 24.
Where do you get rare gear? Rare engrams, which can drop anywhere at all (decrypt at the cryptarch), or outright rewards from a chest, Strike or Crucible match. For now don't worry about the stats on a drop besides the Light. If it is a higher base level or has higher +Light, replace what you're currently wearing. Little by little you'll make your way to a full set of maxed 20 blues.
"Wait a minute, that's random drops! You said literally no RNG was needed!"
Continue/finish off the story missions, complete bounties, do the side stories, do the daily heroic, hop in some strikes, do some PvP if it interests you, help out friends with their stuff. In gameplay terms, 20-24 is a great period to really come to grips with the advanced capabilities of your subclass while unlocking its last few abilities.
As you do the things that you'll want to do to put yourself on the path to legendary gear, you are likely to hit 24 in the process. Either way- whether you have a full set of maxed rares or not- you can start on mini-goal #2.
Mini-goal #2 (Level 25): Earning Your First Legendary
Now we're talking... Legendary gear. You want it, I want more of it, players are farming the same exact areas a dozen hours over for a chance at it.
How do you get it reliably and concretely? By earning Reputation, which allows you the right to purchase it from certain vendors in the Tower, and Marks, the currency that you will use to buy it. You will earn and choose the exact gear that you want for your character, and be able to buy and equip it immediately once you have Rank 2 at the vendor, and the requisite marks. This will be your piece of gear, that you chose and earned without relying on luck.
Here are the Vendors that will sell you Legendary Armor:
By earning Reputation with either the Vanguard, the Crucible, or one of the Factions, you'll be on your way to your first legendary armor piece.
To purchase it, you'll need (for the vendor of your choice):
Rank 2
65 Marks (this will get you gauntlets, boots, or a chestpiece. Helms, for some reason, are 120.)
Let's take a look at the difference between Rep and Marks, and how you get what you need of each.
Reputation vs. Marks
This cap (which has already angered some) exists for two reasons:
When you hit Rank 2 and 65 marks, it's time to buy. Choose your gear and equip it immediately!
However, this will not put you quite to Level 25. 45 + 18 from your Legendary piece is 63- and Level 25 requires 65. To hit that, we'll need to upgrade your new Legendary's armor rating one time.
Upgrading Legendaries
Like any other item, Legendaries unlock useful upgrades as you gain XP while wearing them. On Legendary armor, there will be a number of "armor upgrades" that increase the item's Defense stat. For each of these upgrades, the item's Light will increase by 2.
At first, these upgrades will be relatively cheap and simple to do. But the later ones will require specific and sometimes rare crafting materials that come from all across the game.
To meet mini-goal #2, however, you just need to do the first one. Boom, you're 25. Fine work.
Continued in Part 2
First off, if the above doesn't apply to you, and you're just having fun, and feel like you can keep playing the game until you stop having fun, then ignore all of this. Rewards will come as you play, even without realizing it, and before you know it you'll be able to get sweeeeeet loot all your own.
Now then...
So close!
I've seen a lot of confusion, frustration, misunderstanding, and even misinformation with regard to gearing up post-level 20 in Destiny. I wanted to at least prepare a guide to demonstrate how, with relatively minimal effort over a short period of real time, you can reach Level 26 without needing to rely on RNG at all. Again, everything prescribed in this guide is completely and 100% divorced from any RNG/random chance/luck. Can't stress this enough and how important it is to enjoying the game- I have received zero "lucky drops" so far, yet I'm currently about 3 or 4 points of Light from my goal, 8 days from release (or one day after the raid unlocked).
To avoid getting overwhelmed, focus on one mini-goal at a time (each is in red like this). You can skip down to the first one if you'd like. Everything else is just helpful surrounding info.
If you're used to traditional loot games- anything in the vein of Diablo or Borderlands- a lot of this is going to seem counter-intuitive and even infuriating. You have to unlearn a LOT of habits to get the most from it. But as someone who has been playing with an open mind and enjoying myself every step of the way so far, I have to say that my overall impression of the system at this point is highly positive. It's satisfying, it's simple to make significant progress, it has tangible impact and (maybe most importantly) it is totally accessible to casual players.
The first thing we need to discuss is the difference between XP and Light.
Light versus XP
Reaching level 20 in Destiny via XP is relatively simple and quick. However, as soon as you do, you'll notice that your XP bar is no longer going up toward level 21 as you kill things, turn in bounties, etc.
First of all, you ARE still gaining XP at this stage, make no mistake!
XP after level 20 offers the following:
- Continues to level up your class abilities; once you have maxed your chosen subclass, remember you can switch to the other and continue leveling that up too. You can switch between them at will, even mid-combat if needed.
- Continues to unlock your equipped gear's upgrades
- At every instant when you would have "leveled" from XP, you instead get a Mote of Light (a currency, explained later)
So that's all good stuff! But it won't get you to 21.
Light is a stat on Rare-or-better armor (NOT weapons, ever) that has no impact on anything except raising your light level. It is independent of the character-stats on the gear. I have nothing really to compare it to, personally. I haven't played every game with gear progression but I just don't know any examples that wouldn't just confuse the issue to bring up. I wouldn't say it's "groundbreaking" or "revolutionary" by any stretch of the imagination, but I do consider it unique.
Basically, instead of making steady progress via XP to your next level, you make steady progress toward your next piece of gear or gear upgrade- which then provides you a huge chunk of "XP" all at once. It's entirely possible and likely that during your quest to 26, you'll jump an entire level and be partway to your next one in an instant, and may immediately feel the effects.
Your level (and thus your "Light level") has two primary impacts:
- The damage you deal to, and damage you take from, monsters below, at, and above your level. I unlocked an armor upgrade in the middle of a strike which put me over to 25, and I could immediately feel more damage being done to the now-below-my-level enemies.
- Your loot drops. The personal loot table that the game rolls against seems to be completely tied to your level at the moment the roll occurs. I didn't see a single piece of base level 20 rare gear, for example, until hitting level 22.
Of course, your level also signifies if you are or aren't ready for higher-level content, such as the Weekly Nightfall, and of course the Vault of Glass.
Here are the breakpoints for each level- it takes 20 light to get from 20 to 21, 12 from 20 to 22, and 11 for each light level thereafter:
"So how do you get it?"
To answer that, let's introduce our first short-term goal:
Mini-goal #1 (Levels 20-24): Obtain a Set of Maxed Lvl. 20 Rare Gear
Equipping Rare (blue) gear that has light on it will immediately show some progress toward level 21.
The base level of a rare item determines how much light it can potentially have. Furthermore, when a piece of gear with light on it gets upgraded with an armor upgrade (the one that increases defense), its light will also go up.
So the ideal rare set is all four pieces with a base level of 20, and all four fully upgraded. That will make 4x15 = 60 Light, putting you squarely into Level 24.
Where do you get rare gear? Rare engrams, which can drop anywhere at all (decrypt at the cryptarch), or outright rewards from a chest, Strike or Crucible match. For now don't worry about the stats on a drop besides the Light. If it is a higher base level or has higher +Light, replace what you're currently wearing. Little by little you'll make your way to a full set of maxed 20 blues.
"Wait a minute, that's random drops! You said literally no RNG was needed!"
That's true, you got me. Rare (blue) gear you will find from random drops. But I get a pass because:
- Unlike Legendaries and Exotics, and despite the name, Rares are... not that rare. I'm already deleting them on the regular even though I don't have legendaries in the slots they're for.
- Technically, you COULD skip this mini-goal altogether. Unless I've missed something, you could save up, and go from wearing all greens to Legendary gear directly, gaining 3+ levels in one fell swoop.
Continue/finish off the story missions, complete bounties, do the side stories, do the daily heroic, hop in some strikes, do some PvP if it interests you, help out friends with their stuff. In gameplay terms, 20-24 is a great period to really come to grips with the advanced capabilities of your subclass while unlocking its last few abilities.
As you do the things that you'll want to do to put yourself on the path to legendary gear, you are likely to hit 24 in the process. Either way- whether you have a full set of maxed rares or not- you can start on mini-goal #2.
Mini-goal #2 (Level 25): Earning Your First Legendary
Now we're talking... Legendary gear. You want it, I want more of it, players are farming the same exact areas a dozen hours over for a chance at it.
How do you get it reliably and concretely? By earning Reputation, which allows you the right to purchase it from certain vendors in the Tower, and Marks, the currency that you will use to buy it. You will earn and choose the exact gear that you want for your character, and be able to buy and equip it immediately once you have Rank 2 at the vendor, and the requisite marks. This will be your piece of gear, that you chose and earned without relying on luck.
Here are the Vendors that will sell you Legendary Armor:
- Your Class Vanguard (or the Vanguard for another class if buying armor for another character). For example, Cayde-6 for Hunters.
- Lord Shaxx, Crucible Handler
- Faction vendors:
- Executor Hideo, New Monarchy
- Lakshmi-2, Future War Cult
- Arach Jalaal, Dead Orbit
By earning Reputation with either the Vanguard, the Crucible, or one of the Factions, you'll be on your way to your first legendary armor piece.
To purchase it, you'll need (for the vendor of your choice):
Rank 2
65 Marks (this will get you gauntlets, boots, or a chestpiece. Helms, for some reason, are 120.)
Let's take a look at the difference between Rep and Marks, and how you get what you need of each.
Reputation vs. Marks
Reputation is earned primarily by doing bounties.
Strikes and beacon missions (patrol) will also earn you small amounts of Rep.
Vanguard bounties offer Vanguard Rep and Crucible Bounties offer Crucible Rep. Strikes and beacon missions provide Vanguard Rep.
If you wish to get Faction gear, buy a Faction's class item from its vendor for a small amount of glimmer and equip it. At that point, any bounties, strikes, or patrols you do will be earning you Faction rank instead.
Earning enough reputation for either the Vanguard, Crucible, or your Faction will eventually level them up to Rank 2 (you can check this at the same vendor). At this point, all the armor they have is unlocked for sale, permanently.
Strikes and beacon missions (patrol) will also earn you small amounts of Rep.
Vanguard bounties offer Vanguard Rep and Crucible Bounties offer Crucible Rep. Strikes and beacon missions provide Vanguard Rep.
If you wish to get Faction gear, buy a Faction's class item from its vendor for a small amount of glimmer and equip it. At that point, any bounties, strikes, or patrols you do will be earning you Faction rank instead.
Earning enough reputation for either the Vanguard, Crucible, or your Faction will eventually level them up to Rank 2 (you can check this at the same vendor). At this point, all the armor they have is unlocked for sale, permanently.
Marks are earned by doing Strikes and Public Events, along with your Daily Heroic Story and Weekly Heroic Strike (for Vanguard), or PvP (for Crucible). The Faction vendors all rely on Crucible Marks for currency. You can begin earning them at level 18, but they come much faster at 20 and beyond.
You may earn a total of 100 Vanguard and 100 Crucible marks per week, with this cap resetting at 5:00AM EST on Tuesdays. You will keep all your marks after the reset, you just can't earn any more than 100 of each per week.
You may earn a total of 100 Vanguard and 100 Crucible marks per week, with this cap resetting at 5:00AM EST on Tuesdays. You will keep all your marks after the reset, you just can't earn any more than 100 of each per week.
This cap (which has already angered some) exists for two reasons:
- To incentize you to return next week, rather than, necessarily, tomorrow
- To artificially limit the rate at which those with the most time per day to devote are able to progress. This has proven upsetting to people who do have the time, but for the playerbase and game at large it is a good thing. Making it simply take less real-world time- not less time spent in-game, but fewer calendar days- to "max out" a character is not actually beneficial to the community, even though it seems like a great idea to the individual.
When you hit Rank 2 and 65 marks, it's time to buy. Choose your gear and equip it immediately!
However, this will not put you quite to Level 25. 45 + 18 from your Legendary piece is 63- and Level 25 requires 65. To hit that, we'll need to upgrade your new Legendary's armor rating one time.
Upgrading Legendaries
Like any other item, Legendaries unlock useful upgrades as you gain XP while wearing them. On Legendary armor, there will be a number of "armor upgrades" that increase the item's Defense stat. For each of these upgrades, the item's Light will increase by 2.
At first, these upgrades will be relatively cheap and simple to do. But the later ones will require specific and sometimes rare crafting materials that come from all across the game.
To meet mini-goal #2, however, you just need to do the first one. Boom, you're 25. Fine work.
Continued in Part 2
NullPointer
Member
Ghosts came from the Traveler. Last thing the big ole orb did was emanate those lil bots before going to sleep/coma/meditation/death/stasis/whatever state its currently in. Sent them out to reforge dead guardians or make guardians out of the dead, or otherwise fight the darkness with guns and space magic.
Ghosts actually work for the darkness and alert all enemies to your current location as soon as they start a "scan". Don't fall for it!
Ok its not that bad but no way I'd recommend doing it alone lol
Mini-goal #3 (Level 26) Let's Get Raid-Ready
To hit level 26, you'll need to get to 76 light. That's 11 more than you've got after your first upgrade.
At this point, you're probably starting to figure out what you can do on your own. You've got options as to how to proceed:
Okay so great. You did it! You're 26, without a single shred of RNG required to get there. If you did happen into a lucky drop at some point and already have an exotic or legendary on you, you're already well on your way past 26 into the upper levels.
"Now what?"
"No, no! I mean..."
Mini-goal #4 (Level 26+) Collect 13 Strange Coins and 23 Motes of Light
This is Xûr. This dashing creepyface will show up at the tower every Friday and Saturday with a fresh haul of absolutely incredible gear- Exotics, the best gear in the game so far. I have no idea why the tiers were named this way, but Exotics have far more unique qualities than Legendaries, and only one Exotic armor piece and one Exotic weapon may be equipped at a time. They are beastly.
Xûr will sell you:
Any of 3 available exotic armor pieces for 13 strange coins <- this is your ticket to guaranteed light progression
1 available exotic weapon for 23 strange coins
1 available exotic engram, which is guaranteed to be exotic, for 23 motes of light <- warning, there is potentially a 66% chance this item will be for another class
Exotic armor pieces have even more base Light than Legendaries and upgrade to feature even more bonus Light. You know what to do.
At this point in time, one Exotic armor piece and three Legendaries, fully upgraded, will bring you to level 29. To reach 30, you'll require raid gear with bonus Light on it that must be earned inside the Vault of Glass. But don't worry about that for now.
Get all legendaries from your Vendors, plus an Exotic from Xûr... get on the upgrade grind, and you're headed for 30.
"Whew that was a lot of information. So when-"
Loot as a Reward for Challenge
When it comes to loot drops governed by RNG, I've frequently heard the complaint that loot is not awarded consistently for tackling difficult content, and thus doing easy content for reward chances is just as efficient if not moreso as the toughest.
This will no longer be accurate once a certain echelon of content is attained.
By all accounts, the Weekly Nightfall (a very tough strike in which your fireteam gets punted to orbit if you die, rated at level 28 but has been completed at 26) and the Raid itself have far higher chances of rewarding players with difficult-to-obtain Legendaries and Exotics.
You may have heard that the raiders got "no loot" for completion. There's not much data to go on yet- but I have heard consistent reports of Legendary item drops- not engrams, the items outright- along the way. Some reports seem to apply that boss loot actually goes directly into your inventory.
These can be done once a week; if/when you can do them reliably, expect your piles of loot to grow.
If you're anything like me, these are what you're gearing up for.
"Anything else?"
Class items can drop as a bonus for having crossed a certain threshold of total completions. Rank 2 and 3 are a mystery to me so far.
They get reallllllly detailed and nuanced with these grimoire rewards, even if you'll never necessarily even know they're happening as a player.
(VIP Kill beacon missions, where you're guided to a tougher-than-usual mob to kill on Patrol, contribute to an "additional resources" bonus for completion of ALL beacon missions, and then... who knows what else. This could eventually speed up the acquisition of mats for upgrading legendaries/exotics, etc.)
"Holy crap. Why did they even bother going to all the trouble?"
"Okay, this was all well and good, but the freaking engrams..."
What the Hell is Up with Engrams?
Engrams seem exactly like unidentified item drops in Diablo. They show you what kind of item it is. They show you a rarity. You can't pop it open until you get back to town to see what magical goodie you have received. Your palms begin to sweat and you gesticulate wildly in anticipation as you get back to the Cryptarch and get...
...nothing. Junk. A blue or some crafting materials, or an item your class can't use. Then you get resentful, like the game tricked you upon finding the drop. Why would they tease me like that?! Ugh.
Here's the thing. Engrams are not unidentified Diablo items. They're a roulette spin. They're lotto tickets.
Imagine if purple engrams were white or multicolored or something. They weren't called "Legendary Engrams" but "Corrupted Engrams" (thanks Wallach) which need to be decrypted to see their rarity and not even an item type. Now imagine that you're told these corrupted engrams have a random chance of being anything- from a Rare to an Exotic with all manner of special materials and currencies in between. Think you'd be a little less pissed when you opened it and a blue popped out?
This is a much more fair representation of what Legendary engrams are in the structure of Destiny. While you're playing through content, working on your next goal, every so often you'll have one of these pop out of a Dreg's head. You'll bring it to the Cryptarch and get something useful, even if not something exciting, and have a teensy chance of getting something amazing. They are largely tangential to your experience as a hero progressing with painstaking effort to your next conquest. They are not intended to be a primary route for character progression in this game.
Now, that said, Bungie did screw the pooch on this one...
PSA with regard to farming: I'm not going to tell anyone not to farm in this game. It's the kind of game that lends itself to farming, in general. Mindless tasks you can execute between more demanding ones- whether at home or on your Vita through some sort of Magic Voodoo Link- are totally something I can get behind.
However, and this is big, farming is not a viable method of gear progression in Destiny, no matter how good the farm is. A lot of that has to do with the additional variables of purple engrams (chance to be a blue, chance to be something other than weapon or armor, chance to be for one of the two other classes), but it also has to do with RNG in general. It doesn't matter if the person who told you about the farm got 3 legendaries in 20 minutes- you could try for 10 hours and wind up with two blues and two greens.
If you attempt to do this to gear up in Destiny, you are introducing RNG to your experience when it was not necessary before. Farming is great because it gets you tons of items to break down into useful mats, tons of glimmer, tons of XP, and lots of small chances at something great- but trying to rely on it to advance is a little bit like trying to pay your rent by searching through a dumpster for lotto tickets.
*deep breath* "Jeez man. I got it."
--
TL; DR: Players are intended to control their own progression with Reputation and earnable currencies. Engrams are not meant to be an alternative to this path but to compliment it.
Thanks for reading. Until next time!
To hit level 26, you'll need to get to 76 light. That's 11 more than you've got after your first upgrade.
At this point, you're probably starting to figure out what you can do on your own. You've got options as to how to proceed:
- Continue upgrades on your first Legendary. A fully upgraded legendary will give you another 8 Light, putting you 1 Light away from 26. The later upgrades can get intense, though. If you highlight the upgrades in your menu, you can see what they require, and if you like, try and include a little patrolling on the necessary planet (i.e. Venus from Spirit Blooms) to gather in between your other activities. How to get the advanced mats is outside the scope of this guide, but you can hit 26 without needing every single update on the thing.
- Purchase and upgrade another Legendary with marks after the weekly reset. This is the easiest way, and really just requires patience. Buying another Legendary and upgrading it once will put you at 75 light- 1 away from 26. Upgrade either one a second time, and you're there.
- Rank up and earn marks for the other Vendors (Vanguard if you first bought from Crucible/Faction, and vice versa), and purchase an additional legendary from them. Upgrade once, etc.
Okay so great. You did it! You're 26, without a single shred of RNG required to get there. If you did happen into a lucky drop at some point and already have an exotic or legendary on you, you're already well on your way past 26 into the upper levels.
"Now what?"
Well, you can also save up your marks for Legendary weapons from these vendors. While weapons have no Light on them, they do enable you to hurt things more.
"No, no! I mean..."
Jeez! Getting to 26 without any RNG wasn't enough for you? You want to get to the higher levels with zero RNG too? Fine. Cause you can.
Mini-goal #4 (Level 26+) Collect 13 Strange Coins and 23 Motes of Light
This is Xûr. This dashing creepyface will show up at the tower every Friday and Saturday with a fresh haul of absolutely incredible gear- Exotics, the best gear in the game so far. I have no idea why the tiers were named this way, but Exotics have far more unique qualities than Legendaries, and only one Exotic armor piece and one Exotic weapon may be equipped at a time. They are beastly.
Xûr will sell you:
Any of 3 available exotic armor pieces for 13 strange coins <- this is your ticket to guaranteed light progression
1 available exotic weapon for 23 strange coins
1 available exotic engram, which is guaranteed to be exotic, for 23 motes of light <- warning, there is potentially a 66% chance this item will be for another class
Exotic armor pieces have even more base Light than Legendaries and upgrade to feature even more bonus Light. You know what to do.
At this point in time, one Exotic armor piece and three Legendaries, fully upgraded, will bring you to level 29. To reach 30, you'll require raid gear with bonus Light on it that must be earned inside the Vault of Glass. But don't worry about that for now.
Motes of Light are earned by simply earning XP. Bounties, beacons, PvP, killing stuffs, everything. At every point you'd have leveled prior to 20, a mote will be generated and pop right into your inventory. Additional random chances for Motes of Light come from completing Crucible matches, completing Vanguard Strikes, in loot chests, or in any type of engram.
Strange Coins are earned by completing the Weekly Heroic Strike. Depending on the difficultly level you complete it at, you may earn up to 9 (with a minimum of 3) coins per week. Additional random chances for Strange Coins come from completing a Public Event, Crucible match, or Story mission, decrypting engrams, or loot chests.
Strange Coins are earned by completing the Weekly Heroic Strike. Depending on the difficultly level you complete it at, you may earn up to 9 (with a minimum of 3) coins per week. Additional random chances for Strange Coins come from completing a Public Event, Crucible match, or Story mission, decrypting engrams, or loot chests.
Get all legendaries from your Vendors, plus an Exotic from Xûr... get on the upgrade grind, and you're headed for 30.
"Whew that was a lot of information. So when-"
I wasn't finished! It's important to note that your rate of acquiring legendary/exotic gear may rapidly accelerate over time.
Loot as a Reward for Challenge
When it comes to loot drops governed by RNG, I've frequently heard the complaint that loot is not awarded consistently for tackling difficult content, and thus doing easy content for reward chances is just as efficient if not moreso as the toughest.
This will no longer be accurate once a certain echelon of content is attained.
By all accounts, the Weekly Nightfall (a very tough strike in which your fireteam gets punted to orbit if you die, rated at level 28 but has been completed at 26) and the Raid itself have far higher chances of rewarding players with difficult-to-obtain Legendaries and Exotics.
You may have heard that the raiders got "no loot" for completion. There's not much data to go on yet- but I have heard consistent reports of Legendary item drops- not engrams, the items outright- along the way. Some reports seem to apply that boss loot actually goes directly into your inventory.
These can be done once a week; if/when you can do them reliably, expect your piles of loot to grow.
If you're anything like me, these are what you're gearing up for.
"Anything else?"
Yup. There is a level of depth to the reward structure for things like Strikes that the community just doesn't even comprehend yet.
On Bungie's Grimoire, under Activities->Strikes, you can see this:
Class items can drop as a bonus for having crossed a certain threshold of total completions. Rank 2 and 3 are a mystery to me so far.
They get reallllllly detailed and nuanced with these grimoire rewards, even if you'll never necessarily even know they're happening as a player.
(VIP Kill beacon missions, where you're guided to a tougher-than-usual mob to kill on Patrol, contribute to an "additional resources" bonus for completion of ALL beacon missions, and then... who knows what else. This could eventually speed up the acquisition of mats for upgrading legendaries/exotics, etc.)
"Holy crap. Why did they even bother going to all the trouble?"
I have no idea.
"Okay, this was all well and good, but the freaking engrams..."
Yeah, I know. If Bungie made one giant misstep in communicating its systems to the player, it was coloring purple engrams purple.
What the Hell is Up with Engrams?
Engrams seem exactly like unidentified item drops in Diablo. They show you what kind of item it is. They show you a rarity. You can't pop it open until you get back to town to see what magical goodie you have received. Your palms begin to sweat and you gesticulate wildly in anticipation as you get back to the Cryptarch and get...
...nothing. Junk. A blue or some crafting materials, or an item your class can't use. Then you get resentful, like the game tricked you upon finding the drop. Why would they tease me like that?! Ugh.
Here's the thing. Engrams are not unidentified Diablo items. They're a roulette spin. They're lotto tickets.
Imagine if purple engrams were white or multicolored or something. They weren't called "Legendary Engrams" but "Corrupted Engrams" (thanks Wallach) which need to be decrypted to see their rarity and not even an item type. Now imagine that you're told these corrupted engrams have a random chance of being anything- from a Rare to an Exotic with all manner of special materials and currencies in between. Think you'd be a little less pissed when you opened it and a blue popped out?
This is a much more fair representation of what Legendary engrams are in the structure of Destiny. While you're playing through content, working on your next goal, every so often you'll have one of these pop out of a Dreg's head. You'll bring it to the Cryptarch and get something useful, even if not something exciting, and have a teensy chance of getting something amazing. They are largely tangential to your experience as a hero progressing with painstaking effort to your next conquest. They are not intended to be a primary route for character progression in this game.
Now, that said, Bungie did screw the pooch on this one...
..and so many people are bitching about this that I'm just stockpiling any that I find in case they do cave in and make them more valuable. But understand what they are intended to be and you'll earn +1000 Better Time.
PSA with regard to farming: I'm not going to tell anyone not to farm in this game. It's the kind of game that lends itself to farming, in general. Mindless tasks you can execute between more demanding ones- whether at home or on your Vita through some sort of Magic Voodoo Link- are totally something I can get behind.
However, and this is big, farming is not a viable method of gear progression in Destiny, no matter how good the farm is. A lot of that has to do with the additional variables of purple engrams (chance to be a blue, chance to be something other than weapon or armor, chance to be for one of the two other classes), but it also has to do with RNG in general. It doesn't matter if the person who told you about the farm got 3 legendaries in 20 minutes- you could try for 10 hours and wind up with two blues and two greens.
If you attempt to do this to gear up in Destiny, you are introducing RNG to your experience when it was not necessary before. Farming is great because it gets you tons of items to break down into useful mats, tons of glimmer, tons of XP, and lots of small chances at something great- but trying to rely on it to advance is a little bit like trying to pay your rent by searching through a dumpster for lotto tickets.
*deep breath* "Jeez man. I got it."
Sorry, I just don't want people to get pissed off at this game. It's a lot of fun.
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TL; DR: Players are intended to control their own progression with Reputation and earnable currencies. Engrams are not meant to be an alternative to this path but to compliment it.
Thanks for reading. Until next time!
MidEvlDed
Member
Agreed. I like this one.
Problem 78F (auto rifle)
"Cabal military codes allegedly refer to 'death by multiple gunshots' as 'Problem 78, Subsection F'"
Haha ok thanks, wishful thinking on my part
Victory Red
Member
What's the modifier for the weekly heroic? Anything?
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
That's actually not true.
The real issue is that Bungie left the goodies in the drop table of trash mobs which means it's a lower effort to sit on skywatch for hours than doing the nightfalls, raids, etc.
Bungie made a lot of design mistakes, but I swear some of you people are just bandwagoning.
Yeah, I dabbled in it solo for a bit and that part with the 3 waves to open the door is just not possible.
Working on that myself. Funny though, just did a Tiger level strike on playlist and got a lgendary engram, decoded as an exotic solar sniper rifle. Still looking forward to an exotic fusion rifle, but won't say no to the sniper.
I feel like this vindicated all the legendary engrams that turned out to be rares I got in the past.
Just Angry (no stagger).
Dunno if more bigass info posts will be desirable, but I've also been putting down some thoughts on Exotic Weapon Bounties (lots of questions about these), and advanced gameplay tips (elemental damage, subclass management, consumables, chaining supers, whatever else belongs).
Excellent guide dude, good work.
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