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Lttp on Destiny, is there a way to avoid the grind?

That juxtaposition, though:

XQ9SqdI.png
 
ITT people think "grind" means the act of playing a game

Earning one of the exotic TTK swords is a grind. A real grind. And totally optional.
 
If you can play with friends it well help a ton with the grind making it feel less like a chore. However for the most part you have to deal with the grind at some point.
 

EGM1966

Member
Play it like a regular FPS and never repeat content and pay no attention to what gear you've got just use whatever falls into your lap as best fits. When you hit the point you have to repeat content and start grinding to target specific gear stop playing immediately and never touch it again.

Grind avoided.
 

Arrrammis

Member
I'm wondering since I bought the collection that includes the two expansions, can I beeline my way through to that stuff, or are you still forced to grind the base game's content like I kept hearing about to reach any of it? That's one big thing that kept me from playing the whole thing, that the base content was boring and forced repetition of it was beyond boring. But the collection was $29, can't argue with that as long as they don't gate all the good stuff behind a lot of tedium...

As some others have mentioned, the collection gives you a booster you can use to jump to max level and unlock all missions. Otherwise, you should hit lvl.30+ from doing the story missions from the base game+first 4 expansions, and there are a ton of quests and other things that will push you to 40 (max level) and get you very well geared. At that point, the grind starts for endgame gear, and it pretty much unavoidable. But the gameplay is great, many others and I don't mind the grind very much because of how fun the moment gameplay is.
 

Gator86

Member
If you're just going through story missions, you will not have to repeat any content INCLUDING RoI stuff.

Old raids never advanced in light level. You can do the first one at level 30? I think? And the second one at 32, and the third one at level 40 with light level 290 or higher. The fourth raid recommends 365 which like almost no one is at yet. So basically you can do all the story missions and the first three raids without repeating any content. If you want to do the current raid you gotta get that LL up which does require repeating endgame content.

I think you're confused. We're talking about story missions, and exotic quests and PvP quests do not affect the story at any point in time.


And I'd say a more apt analogy would be "pie lovers love the crust and eat it often," which is true. Did I just blow your mind?

Sorry, I didn't realize the conversation was only about things you decided to include that would make your assertion accurate. I already stated the campaign only progression is relatively grinds free. It seems like a question about whether Destiny still features a grind might include grindy quests that come before the RoI endgame, but apparently not. Duly noted.
 
Sorry, I didn't realize the conversation was only about things you decided to include that would make your assertion accurate. I already stated the campaign only progression is relatively grinds free. It seems like a question about whether Destiny still features a grind might include grindy quests that come before the RoI endgame, but apparently not. Duly noted.

Op said:

But not having to repeat missions is all I really feared.
 

Psyfer

Member
As some others have mentioned, the collection gives you a booster you can use to jump to max level and unlock all missions. Otherwise, you should hit lvl.30+ from doing the story missions from the base game+first 4 expansions, and there are a ton of quests and other things that will push you to 40 (max level) and get you very well geared. At that point, the grind starts for endgame gear, and it pretty much unavoidable. But the gameplay is great, many others and I don't mind the grind very much because of how fun the moment gameplay is.

I've just hit 40, and sitting at LL 288. Should I just work my way through TTK's content to get into the 300s? Or should I just start doing RoI stuff?

I wish my old exotics were still useful. I miss my Thorn and Mythoclast already.
 
I've just hit 40, and sitting at LL 288. Should I just work my way through TTK's content to get into the 300s? Or should I just start doing RoI stuff?

I wish my old exotics were still useful. I miss my Thorn and Mythoclast already.

It's your call. If you are enjoying doing the Taken War quests, stick with them. If you feel like a little change up, head over the Felwinter Peak to start the RoI quest chain.

You can always go back and do one or the other at any time.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Anyone dropping by to note something like, "the game is the grind" from this post on is getting banned, BTW. The OP is asking about the Destiny collection on sale right now, not your recollection of the game from two years ago.

I've just hit 40, and sitting at LL 288. Should I just work my way through TTK's content to get into the 300s? Or should I just start doing RoI stuff?

I wish my old exotics were still useful. I miss my Thorn and Mythoclast already.

Going through the TTK content will get you into the 300's comfortably. The drop systems are designed to keep moving you higher at the same clip, despite hitting level 40, and you'll be buying level 350 gear from the tower before much longer.

But as Kor said, you can skip around if you want as well.
 

iFirez

Member
I'm into my sixth character across Xbox one and PS4. They're all level 40 and over 300 light except this new guy I started at the weekend. I'm now level 30 and I've only done the main missions/quests and a couple of strikes. I've also done this in a fairly short amount of time, an hour or two each week night after work.

I got the Destiny itch again after RoI but really need to pull back and get back to Forza Horizon 3 before Gears 4 next week.

I would say that the game is fairly grind free at this point if you just want to enjoy the linear quest lines and strikes. If you want to become the biggest and best, you'll need to grind, repeat strikes and play missions on higher difficulties once you have enough light to get better/rarer drops and hope the cryptarch gives you some good loot from those drops.

Edit: By the time you're done with TTK you'll be ready for ROI and by the time that's done you should be ready for the Seva Crisis strikes and such.
 
There's no grind until you hit level 40. Until then just do story missions and you will automatically level up and equip new gear as it drops, I don't consider just running a campaign a "grind". There are a good 20+ hours of story missions from 1-40, through all the DLCs, to run through. If anything requires matchmaking (strikes) you can try it or probably just skip it, I don't think the main story REQUIRES multiplayer at all.

The grind is only when you hit level 40, finish the Rise of Iron story, get your 340 light gear, and then want to hit light level 360+ to do the raid.

I'd also save that spark thing you get (should be at the postmaster) for a second character, use it to instantly level an alt to level 40. But your first character imo should just be done the story, its not a terrible story and will introduce you to all the factions, characters, motivations, etc. Sort of. Its kind of confusing, to be honest.
 
There's no grind until you hit level 40. Until then just do story missions and you will automatically level up and equip new gear as it drops, I don't consider just running a campaign a "grind". There are a good 20+ hours of story missions from 1-40, through all the DLCs, to run through. If anything requires matchmaking (strikes) you can try it or probably just skip it, I don't think the main story REQUIRES multiplayer at all.

The grind is only when you hit level 40, finish the Rise of Iron story, get your 340 light gear, and then want to hit light level 360+ to do the raid.

I'd also save that spark thing you get (should be at the postmaster) for a second character, use it to instantly level an alt to level 40. But your first character imo should just be done the story, its not a terrible story and will introduce you to all the factions, characters, motivations, etc. Sort of. Its kind of confusing, to be honest.

He'll hit level 40 before he even reaches the Rise of Iron Missions, most likely. So he wont really be grinding for light level. He'll just have more game to play.

The "Grind" or rather, the reduction in Light Level gains per item, kicks in around LL340. But up to that point, there should be plenty of activities to just play and enjoy as you go.

On top of that, a lot of strikes have variable encounters. So if you DID happen to run the Cerberus VAE strike more than once, for example. You may play the version that has a Tank for a miniboss, or you may play the version that has a giant taken Minotaur for a miniboss.
 

Psyfer

Member
It's your call. If you are enjoying doing the Taken War quests, stick with them. If you feel like a little change up, head over the Felwinter Peak to start the RoI quest chain.

You can always go back and do one or the other at any time.

Going through the TTK content will get you into the 300's comfortably. The drop systems are designed to keep moving you higher at the same clip, despite hitting level 40, and you'll be buying level 350 gear from the tower before much longer.

But as Kor said, you can skip around if you want as well.

Thank you both :)
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
I don't really know if things have changed since I haven't played since beating the raid in taken king a couple times when it came out, but I've never really understood the grind complaints about destiny. If you just do the story and balance that a bit with strikes, mp, and raids, and side quests you will hit max level. Or that was my experience anyway.
 
I don't really know if things have changed since I haven't played since beating the raid in taken king a couple times when it came out, but I've never really understood the grind complaints about destiny. If you just do the story and balance that a bit with strikes, mp, and raids, you will hit max level. Or that was my experience anyway.

It's just outdated information.

Destiny, Pre-Taken King, was known to involve grinding in almost every aspect of the game.

Planetary resources are a prime example. The original only way to get these was to load up a patrol and farm them for a few hours. The didn't drop from bounties, they weren't available for purchase, and every weapon/armor node required 25 of them for the upgrade.

Granted, this was one of the first system corrected by Bungie, but it still left a bad taste for a lot of launch users. Problem is, most of the grind systems are gone or diminished, and people haven't kept up to date on the changes.
 
You'll avoid most of the grind by playing naturally and doing what you like, rather than playing keeping up with the Joneses. Some players will spend hours and hours a day grinding, just so they can see their light go up. That's OK if you like that sort of thing. DGAF is good people, and no matter your light level, there's always someone willing to help you out.

I play quite often, but I really only do the stuff that I like. I've become quite fond of Challenge of Elders & Archon's Forge, so I do those quite a bit. I also play a ton of PvP. I've had no issues reaching the light level cap, albeit a bit slower than others.
 

Phazon_Chaos

Neo Member
Not to the RoI content, through it. You can complete most of Rise of Iron with no grinding necessary.

You don't need to grind for older raids at all. Older raids were left in their older state, so they've been out-leveled pretty regularly. To the point there are videos out there of people completing one of the raids solo with a rock band drum kit.

The LL req for the first raid, for example, is like LL160. Which you'll hit without trying.

If you're just going through story missions, you will not have to repeat any content INCLUDING RoI stuff.

Old raids never advanced in light level. You can do the first one at level 30? I think? And the second one at 32, and the third one at level 40 with light level 290 or higher. The fourth raid recommends 365 which like almost no one is at yet. So basically you can do all the story missions and the first three raids without repeating any content. If you want to do the current raid you gotta get that LL up which does require repeating endgame content.

Cool, thanks for the info! Looking forward to jumping in later this year.
 

taaakun

Member
So I just bought the game last week, was playing around and now I'm at level 40, light level 240 or so. It's been great!

One problem I have is that I don't have any friends that play Destiny, and I'd like to try the raids that everybody says are the best part of the game... How can I get people together to try an old raid? Nobody on those destiny LFG sites are doing old raids.

Is it something I can solo when I get to say, LL330?
 

blamite

Member
Yeah, even thought there are still some issues with progression, they really won't kick in until you've put in a ton of hors adn gone through almost everything else. You're only really "grinding" (as in replaying missions over and over again and not necessarily progressing much each time) once you're around Light 340 and you're waiting on incremental drops i each slot to get up to 150. But even those aspects of the game should be improving quite a bit soon when Iron Banner returns and the levels of the drops you get increase when the Hard Mode raid releases.

So I just bought the game last week, was playing around and now I'm at level 40, light level 240 or so. It's been great!

One problem I have is that I don't have any friends that play Destiny, and I'd like to try the raids that everybody says are the best part of the game... How can I get people together to try an old raid? Nobody on those destiny LFG sites are doing old raids.

Is it something I can solo when I get to say, LL330?

The only raid you can solo these days is Crota's End, and only by using some pretty cheesy methods. All the other raids require larger fireteams.

For finding groups for older content, the Recruitment page on Bungie.net / the companion app is actually pretty good at this. It can still take a little while, but if you make a post for Vault of Glass or Crota's End, you can still pretty reliably find a group in my experience. I'd assume King's Fall is even faster to find groups for.
 

labx

Banned
Destiny is nothing like it was when it first released. You'll be good. Enjoy all those missions!

And when you complete them all, hit us up in the OT with some requests and we can do endgame stuff together!

Can I be invited too? I'm about to finish house of wolves... Then the other 2.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
So I just bought the game last week, was playing around and now I'm at level 40, light level 240 or so. It's been great!

One problem I have is that I don't have any friends that play Destiny, and I'd like to try the raids that everybody says are the best part of the game... How can I get people together to try an old raid? Nobody on those destiny LFG sites are doing old raids.

Is it something I can solo when I get to say, LL330?

Hit up the very active Community thread. I haven't been active for a while, but I still have 4-5 pages of active friends on a given night.

Everyone is doing RoI right now, but you'll be able to build a lot of friends and get groups together there.
 

III-V

Member
The thing is, jumping in right now- and its the same for vets as well - is that certain parts the 'old' game has been trivialized each new release.

So its easy to get up to speed each new iteration.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Buy one of the class unlocks that fully levels up one subclass. Then start the first mission at 280 light.

Playing through the main game will be a breese and you will hit the light cap comfortably just through regular playing. Then as you gain experience/tick off bounties switch to your unleveled class and cash in the experience points to level up the movement options without playing as that class.

Once its mostly done switch to class 2 for some variety and finish leveling it up. This should take you to the start of TTK content with close to 2 fully leveled subclasses on your character.

Repeat the process for the 3rd class as you play through TTK. Do this and there will be very little grinding especially if you like PvP for 50+ hours.

Class to buy
Either Defender Titan or Sunslinger Warlock. Since both classes make you a great team mate for Raids/Trials of Osiris.
 

vctor182

Member
So I just bought the game last week, was playing around and now I'm at level 40, light level 240 or so. It's been great!

One problem I have is that I don't have any friends that play Destiny, and I'd like to try the raids that everybody says are the best part of the game... How can I get people together to try an old raid? Nobody on those destiny LFG sites are doing old raids.

Is it something I can solo when I get to say, LL330?

The GAF community is really great, there's weekly raids for first timers, pvp parties, strike parties and because patrols are great now, patrol/pve parties.
 
This thread has surprisingly almost convinced me to finally jump back in to Destiny. I last played at launch when the game was more frustrating grind than fun, but it sounds as if the game with all the changes and expansions is much closer to what I expected of the original release.

To OP: Where did you find D: The Collection for $29? Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy are all $60 at the moment. D: The Legendary Edition appears to be on sale, but that version doesn't include RoI. If I can find the Collection/full game for ~$30 then I'm def getting onboard....
 

jg4xchamp

Member
Game is a bore. So many boring and uninteresting missions until the taken long content presents something actually fun.
 

Dalek

Member
If you're of a certain mindset the game will not get boring for you. I can do the same strikes over and over but because of the gameplay and my variety of classes + weapons it's always fun.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Anyone dropping by to note something like, "the game is the grind" from this post on is getting banned, BTW. The OP is asking about the Destiny collection on sale right now, not your recollection of the game from two years ago.

I literally just started as the Iron whatever dropped cause my son has been begging me to try it for like a year. You can go back and check the Destiny review thread

Yes the game is the grind.

I'm like level 7 so far. That's kinda what the game is. Granted we have a TTK copy + expansion so my spark of light offering is only to 25, but I skipped it. I just want to experience the game. I'm sorta taking this approach.

Play it like a regular FPS and never repeat content and pay no attention to what gear you've got just use whatever falls into your lap as best fits. When you hit the point you have to repeat content and start grinding to target specific gear stop playing immediately and never touch it again.

Grind avoided.

Basically this. I'm just playing to play, experience the story, and gonna see how long I stick with it. I'm not teaming up with people or hunting for gear or asking for people to power level me.

I'm just treating it as a pseudo single player fps. When I get to the level cap and have to raid I'll probably just bail.

I'm fine with that. I don't need it to be more than that. It helps that we have PS+ just in general so unlike an MMORPG I'm not feeling the need to get my monthly payment worth.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
This thread has surprisingly almost convinced me to finally jump back in to Destiny. I last played at launch when the game was more frustrating grind than fun, but it sounds as if the game with all the changes and expansions is much closer to what I expected of the original release.

To OP: Where did you find D: The Collection for $29? Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy are all $60 at the moment. D: The Legendary Edition appears to be on sale, but that version doesn't include RoI. If I can find the Collection/full game for ~$30 then I'm def getting onboard....
Target, it seemed like the new price too.
 
I will never understand the level of shitposting Destiny gets.

Yes, there is an aspect of grinding that is inherent in every single MMO or MMO-lite in this case. I am really not sure what the detractors think would fix the problem.

Vanilla Destiny had a big problem mostly because of shitty drop rates and crap vendor choices, but they have continually improved that aspect of the game for the better and I don't think it is a problem at this point.
In fact, I can't think of a single game that does it better.

I have said this before, but I really wish I could sit the core design team of Destiny in a room and make them play PSO2 for like 12 hours. There are a lot of missed opportunities for emergent gameplay in Destiny that PSO2 already does and I feel like the framework is already there with things like Public events.

There is still a level of repetition in the game that is just inherent in the type of game they are making.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
One thing that I find weird coming to this game fresh is the empty landscape downtime in between your checkpoints. There's these huge empty environments to run through with no real incentive to explore, and they seem to make you do it repetitively. I would have at least expected lots of firefights in the middle of those. Environments that aren't the arenas just feel so empty
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
One thing that I find weird coming to this game fresh is the empty landscape downtime in between your checkpoints. There's Hesse huge empty environments to run through with no real infinitive to explore, and they seem to make you do it repetitively. I would have at least expected lots of firefights in the middle of those.

I kinda had a similar thought? Like either make it full on MMO landscape where you might encounter some empty landscape cause it's just one big world ala WoW or else if they are gonna make it level type quests you load down to focus the areas more like PSO.

I'm not even level 10 yet though so my opinion is subject to more play time this weekend.
 
Avoiding grind in Destiny is like avoiding grind in any given MMORPG. It's sort of part of the point.

But I mean, you can totally play it passively, doing the odd strike and crucible match after work. But the grind is there, especially if you want to increase your light level.
 
As someone who loves Destiny, I find it odd when people say there is no grind. Shoot, I'm was doing patrols, bounties, crucible, and strikes just to get my light level to 350 for days this last week. And the recommended light level is 360 for the new raid at minimum.

If you are looking for a story progression single player game then go buy an Xbox and play Halo. Destiny, at its core right now, is about redoing missions, patrolling the same areas, and teaming up with people to do raids and nightfalls (all of which are repeatable each week).
 

Truelize

Steroid Distributor
The grind to get to Rise of Iron content is pretty horrible. Basically just grinding out the god awful PVP for legendary marks and buying gear as you go.

Maybe you list your gamertag so we can confirm your vast experience of grinding PvP for marks....
Seeing as PvP hasn't handed out marks post match for over a year now. The daily PvP is there for 15 marks per day (one game per day gets you 15 marks) and the weekly PvP gets your 10 marks per win (for a max of three wins per week)

Kinda hard to talk about the grind to get to ROI if you haven't played the game in at least 13 months
 

B-Genius

Unconfirmed Member
For $29 you'll probably get plenty out of it without feeling the need to grind.

Remember there's co-op and MP too, so as long as you enjoy the core mechanics you'll be A-OK.
 
Just play the SP missions and strikes, then move on. If someone wants to take you through the vault of glass do that because it's still the best content in the game.
 
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