Destiny's Change into Destiny Year 2 (Destiny 2.0)

 

Destiny is one of the very rare games that has managed to hook me deeply. I mostly played casually but regularly. As a Hunter, then Warlock and finally Titan. I still log the most hours with my Hunter because it fits my play style the best. Each offers something that I enjoy. It is hard to go wrong when I really take advantage of that.

 

Looking at Destiny 2.0, it doesn't seem much changed. Once you start playing through, the differences are very apparent. The game has made its RPG elements more obvious and it works well. The expansions and additions to the game add a lot to the game.

 

Now, Destiny 2.0.0. It really does feel like the first year of Destiny was simply to establish the world and give us a taste of what will be coming. Already, with just 2 days of play, it is very clear the game has undergone some very drastic changes. I would hope as much having to deal with a 17 gb update! I know a lot of that was preparing things for the upcoming Expansion “The Taken King” but still! Was it worth the 8+ hours of downloading? So far it definitely feels like it.

 

The Quest system makes it easier to just feel a more consistent flow. Being able to track things is so much easier as well. “How many kills do I have” for any bounty or any progress on one is just that much easier to see. Mix in that I no longer need to return to the Tower to turn in my bounties makes my life a lot easier. Having revamped a lot of things makes for a more seamless experience when on patrol or out doing a string of missions.

 

The biggest change I've seen is in the bounties and the Quests. The characters we are working with now have their own really unique personalities. We all got to know them to some degree working with them over the past year. Now though, I expect Cayde-6 to give me some sass and point me in the right direction. Just don't make any bets with him.

 

New to Destiny? Join in on the Taken King. This gives you an item that will automatically level your character to Level 25 and give you appropriate level gear as well. It takes a lot of the grind out of the game. You will still have a lot to do in terms of what the game has you do leveling.

 

Preparation For Year 2

 

The preparation for Year 2 give me a lot of incentive to try different things. The Moments of Triumph giving me a real push to dive into Raiding. Before it had been been a friend would ask if I wanted to join in. My few raids did give me some nice guns and there are more that I want to collect. That showed me a lot more about the game of Destiny that I had not known about. Mix in having to complete the 6 Round “Skolas's Revenge”, I had some challenging items on my plate.

 

The other challenges can be summed up simply:

 

Collecting the Golden Chests was part of my job so I had that done within the first week of Destiny. Learning the locations just took some research.

 

Reaching Level 20 that first time was a real challenge. After that, getting there was simple enough. Now getting to level 30+, that's another story, involving the Queen's first event in Destiny. Then getting the right gear from other sources. It was not until House of Wolves that I had good enough gear to start into the Prison of Elders that I finally reached the level cap. Then, because I could, I got all 3 to level 34 to prepare for The Taken King. The Warlock and Titan still have work to be done on them compared to the Hunter. Just not enough fully prepared gear on them.

 

Defeating the Heart of the Black Garden, it took a few tries but well worth the effort. The same could be said for preventing the Summoning of Crota's Soul. That took some tries. Now it would be a lot easier because I have far better armor and weapons. Capturing Skolas, I had to research a little for a quick game but it was a good challenge. 50 Public Events? I had to play a lot of those for the chance to get the original upgrade materials needed to improve my armor. The Crucible I was drawn into out of curiosity and because I got the Thorn Exotic Bounty. On my Hunter. That was a long fight. Then taking out the final strike ...

 

On the Vault. Everyone has something to say about the Vault. Before I was not using it much, aside from materials. That was close to full as soon as I had 3 characters. I never came close to filling it up for Weapons or Armor until more recently. Even then, it was just the Legendaries and Exotics that I liked or wanted to collection. That was likely because I was not raiding so had little need for a lot of gear.

 

On the Crucible, they have added 2 new modes and a number of new maps. The new modes are Rift and Mayhem. Both of these are just so different from the other modes of play. Mayhem gives us a fast recharge on grenades, melee and Supers. This just turns the game into a truly chaotic experience. A fun and crazy one. Now, Rift, offers something different. It is very much coordinated mode of play. You need to work with your team to either take the ball and slam it into the rift or to defend your rift against the opposing team trying to do the same. While it can be fun without chat, chat adds a lot to it and makes it a lot easier.

 

Destiny is feeling fairly different. There is a lot of new content added into the game. More than just a few hours of play can cover. It is a great experience through and something that should be enjoyed if you have played it previously. The game has improved and offers some thing slightly different than what the game started as.