Crucible (PvP)

So my Hunter class has reached level 8 which I believe is sufficient on take on the level 32 Warlocks, Titans and other Hunters because of the normal state of the PvP mode everything is normalized to give low level players a chance. And I have my Golden Gun by my side. First off I will post a couple of my match standings with this character then I will talk about the different kinds of matches in the Crucible because I will mainly be playing Clash as it is my favourite mode.

The crucible is a tough setting for Guardians and I certainly am one who is taken to testing my skills there. As I previously mentioned Clash is my favourite mode so far but lets talk about all the current  match types - Clash, Combined Arms, Control, Rumble, Salvage and Skirmish. But first my match standings from 3 matches -

1st match 3rd place

2nd match 2nd place

3rd match 1st place

Clash

Clash is 6 vs 6 team death match where the winners are determined by which team has the most amount of kills on their team. This is makes the mode very team dependent on teamwork because one player having a score of 5000 could mean nothing if the other team has 2000 points each and the rest of your team can only manage just about 1000 or lower each. At the end of the match you still be commemorated about being the best around but you will lose the match and some valuable points as a result. It's important to move in teams of at least two this is not a game mode for a lone wolf.

Combined Arms

A mode that is not available a lot of the time like Clash is but it is a highly entertaining one. This game mode switches between Clash and Control with one big feature - Vehicles. Yes you read that right in Combined Arms you can summon your Sparrow to fly around the map at high speed or take one of the pikes or interceptors lying around. Pikes are slower than Sparrows but they come with handy guns attached. Interceptors are bigger, bulkier, slower versions of pikes. There are also tactically placed turret guns that players can take over and use.

Control

A team orientated mode where capturing and holding zones gives you extra points for you team. Capturing zones gives you points but the best thing about these zones is that depending on how many zones your team controls your kills will get a points boost but this also applies to the opposing team so losing all the zones will nearly always result in your team losing if you cannot reclaim some of those zones as fast as possible.

Rumble

A lone wolf orientated game mode similar to clash but with 6 players and they are all against each other. No teams. No help. Just you. Against 5 other players. Trying to get the best score.

Salvage

Salvage is a game mode not usually available like Combined Arms. I, whoever, have not gotten a chance to play a salvage match so I cannot comment on what the mode is actually like. From what I've read its basically racing the other team to claim relics.

Skirmish

A mode very similar to Clash but only 3 vs 3 teams are allowed. For Valentine's Day 2015 Bungie also released the Double Skirmish match where it is just 2 vs 2 teams. Both these variations call for more teamwork than that is required in Clash seen as this game mode also has team revivals so you can revive your fallen team mates to help you out and points are awarded for revivals.

Inferno Crucible matches

These matches are much like the originals only difference is radar is gone, your super? Gone. Oh and those sweet gear bonuses you been working your ass off to get? Gone. This is a hardcore player style game mode where everything boils down to your aim and whether or not you hit your target. Inferno Control is set to debut on March 3rd. Inferno Clash on March 31st and finally Inferno Salvage is set to debut with the House of Wolves DLC.

Destiny 2nd part playthrough

Currently my Hunter is at level 12 and now I will be returning to the single player campaign and documenting it as my Hunter levels up through the missions I complete and the bounties I turn in.

My current level 12 character

I decided to play a few missions on the Moon mainly the Ocean of Storms and cleared a few Bounties. I also decided to participate in a few more crucible matches to help boosting my level along with the bounties that are associated with the Crucible. I completed beating hunters, warlocks and titan bounties as well as defeat other guardians using supers, grenades and killing them from behind. I even attempted some Eris Morn bounties for picking up kills on the moon. The bounties allowed me to move fastly through the levels and at 16 I was able to use my Stranger's Rifle. At this level its really useful and powerful seen as I am leveled up past the level needed for these missions because of my Crucible matches and bounties. I moved onto level 20 which allows me to equip my Ghost Angel Chest Piece. I also equipped the Polar Oak shader to my hunter's uniform to make it look like camouflage.

My level 20 Hunter

So to talk about everything thats happened since - I feel like I over-leveled my character way too fast because hitting level 20 was not hard at all thanks to my addiction to the Crucible and gained very few noteworthy items but I had most things traded over from my Titan class to suit up my Hunter for war. I also bought the cloak from New Monarchy so I could increase my rank with that faction so I can obtain some new unique shaders from them which I think will be really cool to have such as -  Barrier Ethos, Cleopatra AK, Nefertiti AK and Themisto.

Also my Titan now has a legendary helmet (at last!) and I gave it the Shader Jester Apogee along with the Mark of Chaos from the Future War Cult faction to not only match the shader but increase my  reputation with them in order to get myself some new leg greaves called Astrolord Greaves.

Current level 29 Future War Cult focused Titan

If you feel like learning more about Destiny then follow these 2 links to Destiny's official site and the wiki centered around Destiny - Destinypedia.

Strikes and Raids

Strikes and Raids are the most popular modes currently in Destiny because of their high risk high reward gameplay and are the modes the current community are yearning for Destiny to expand upon as most players see only two real tough tests of skills - The Vault of Glass and Crota's End.


Strike

Strikes are a 3 player based team set up where 3 players will take on a level that is very tough to clear on its own and requires some reviving. This mode can be attempted by a fireteam of friends or a team that has joined each other in the tower. The missions themselves are very long usually taking between 30 and 45 minutes to complete on average. At the end of the strikes players will receive loot as a reward and usually because of the added danger here the loot is equally rare. After 50 strikes the extra armour bits are added to the table - Titan's mark, Warlock's bond and Hunter's cloak.

Vanguard Strikes
Also known as the Strike playlist is a mode where players ply random strikes with increased difficulty in order to gain reputation and marks from their vanguard and maybe earn some gear too. The current difficulties are Eagle (level 18), Viper (level 20), Wolf (level 22),  Tiger (level 24) Roc (level 26). Attempting at higher levels will of course yield better rewards.

Weekly Heroic Strike

Every week a random strike is chosen for players to attempt at level 24 with certain modifiers active to give players more/ less of a chance e.g. Solar Burn: Solar weapons do more damage will all others do less damage. A challenging prospect that yields better rewards. Matchmaking has been recently added to his mode so you can attempt it with random people. Guardians can, if they want, choose to attempt a harder level which will reward more Strange coins, an odd item in Destiny that can be traded to Xur for exotic weapons, armours and shards.

Weekly Nightfall Strike

Very similar to the weekly heroic strike except the Nightfall is played at level 30 no lower and it always includes the Epic and Nightfall modifiers alongside some extra ones the heroic strike didn't have to give it an extra kick. Also matchmaking is no available fr this mode as Bungie (Destiny's developers) have said the mode is too hard to be playing with unorganized teams so it has to be a fireteam of friends who attempt it in order to show co-operation. This mode has a big chance to drop legendary or exotic equipment compared to others along with Strange coins and 6-12 Ascendant Materials. Completing this difficult mode also give Radiant Light, a buff which lasts until the Tuesday weekly reset for Heroic and Nightfall strikes that awards a 25% bonus to all reputation and experience gain (except the Iron Banner Tournament)

Raid

Raids do no have matchmaking mechanics because the mode is far too hard to progress through without some co-operation between the team members. This mode focuses on telling Guardians nothing and they have to figure the way to proceed themselves so communication is key. The raid can be played on normal or hard - normal allows players time to figure out how to move forward and learn how the raid works and strategizing with team members. Hard mode throws deadlier enemies, new behaviors for raid mechanics and a harsh death penalty. However, you cannot choose to attempt a raid straight off in hard mode it must first be completed in normal. On Tuesday however all progress is reset. Raids offer their own exclusive loot to tempt players to attempt these modes and as such has caused a lot of the community to want more raids for more exclusive loot. Both normal and hard mode only drops 1 set of loot each per week so re-attempting the raid again on that difficulty setting is pointless until the reset on Tuesday when you can gain another set of loot. Currently in Destiny there are two raids - Vault of Glass and Crota's End both are highly received for their difficulty and their rewards and will most likely be he mode that is most expanded upon in the future thanks to community feedback.

Current and Planned DLC

Currently in Destiny there are 2 planned DLC's as part of the expansion pass which gives both The Dark Below and House of Wolves. The Dark Below is already out while the House of Wolves is due for a May release. There are also 4 "Comets" as per the Bungie-Activison contract and these "Comets" are bigger expansions packs for Destiny coming out once per year.

The Dark Below

The Dark Below is a DLC in which the story follows Eris Morn, a Guardian who appears in the Tower now clearly drained of all her light and left in what appear to be a Hive transformation state. Eris Morn and her fireteam were on a mission to defeat Crota, Son of Oryx. They descended into the Hellmouth, home of the Hive on the moon, which they have claimed as their own. Eris is the only surviving member of the team that assaulted Crota. She has come to the tower to gather other Guardians strong enough to defeat Crota once and for all. She offers several bounties and as the player's rank increases with her she will also offer emblems, armour and some shaders. Along with Eris, The Dark Below adds hundreds of new weapons to the pre-existing vendors and some more that can only be obtained through loot. The Dark Below brings in its pack - 4 story missions, 2 strikes, 1 raid, 3 multiplayer maps and a new sparrow for people who downloaded the game. It also raises the level cap to 32

House of Wolves

Not much is known about the new DLC coming out but it is to be expected that it will rival The Dark Below in terms of content - hundreds of new weapons and armour, story missions, strikes and a speculated raid called Reef raid so far as well as more multiplayer maps and maybe even a light level increase (to level 34/35 this time?). What is known is that the DLC will come with the first Inferno Salvage match mode for multiplayer as well as accompany the other two newly introduced (When House of Wolves comes out) Inferno matches. A rumour also states that there will be a new social space opening up in The Reef to give guardians an alternative to the Tower. Hopefully this will also include more vendors selling the new armours and not just give the old vendors the new armour to replace the older stuff. Right now the Reef is an empty void in Destiny, nothing can be done there. The rumoured story revolves around The House of Wolves rebelling against the Queen of the Reef and winning their freedom back by spilling Awoken blood. A new Warlord rises. This will be exciting to see as it changes many of the relationships currently in Destiny. In might even have the House of Wolves controlling the entire Reef. Obviously apart from the Social space where I'd speculate the remainder of the Queen's forces will be held.

Comet: Plague of Darkness

The first of the planned bigger expansions. Nothing has been revealed about this project yet even the name might change before it hits the shelves. All we know is that this comet will land within or close to a year after Destiny's initial release September 9th 2014 as per stated in the Bungie-Activison contract 1 comet will come out every year within 1 year of the previous so that puts the first comet landing in before September 9th 2015.

Destiny 2

Destiny 2, which most rumours speculate will happen after the DLC's of Destiny come out. Its an interesting topic to be speculating about already but lets talk about a few ideas here.

 

As this image already showed earlier there are some planned DLC (names and content may change) as well as 1 of the 4 Comets displayed called Plague of Darkness. There are suppose to be at least another 3 comets after this but the current speculation now is that after the fourth DLC pictured above (Forge of Gods is a temporary title) is released then Destiny 2 will be coming onto the market. Destiny 2 is said to be a pure single-player game where you transfer your current Destiny characters to Destiny 2 to play the game and then return those characters back to the original game for the online experience (which might/ might not be exclusive to Destiny) for more DLC's and the other 3 Comets.

So far this is all speculation and anything can change between here and there Destiny 2 could be a full sequel with its own online and people may never return to the original Destiny. All that can be said is there definitely will be a sequel. The game currently has 16 million players (without a PC port) playing total daily and has accumulated half a billion dollars in sales so there is no reason not to release a sequel with that kinda cash around and if half as many buy the second Destiny then this franchise will surely establish itself quick.

 

What could we see in Destiny 2? For me personally I would love to explore the planet system more. Currently in Destiny you can explore a lot of planets in our own Solay System - Earth, Earth's Moon, Mars, Venus and Mercury. In Destiny 2 we might be able to visit the Moons of those planets or even venture out to Neptune, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus or maybe to the dwarf planets as well - Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Haumea and Makemake. A smart move I believe would be to introduce the home planets of The Fallen (Possibly challenging different Houses), Hive (Maybe fighting Oryx), Vex and Cabal. As a avid player of Destiny I would really love to see a planet based around The Ahamkara because currently there is only armor dedicated to them and I would love to see live representations of them in the game and it would be something really new to the game and exciting for players to take on a whole new race of enemies deep in space.

Skull and Spine of a young Ahamkara

Claws and Feathers of Ahamkara

The head of a Ahamkara

Hunter vs. Titan Comparison

This post is just about my personal experience playing as both the Hunter and the Titan classes and I will now compare and contrast the two against each other in abilities in 2 subclasses that they currently have and compare the differences in their armour. Lets overview the 2 classes I played most with.

Titan Striker (I prefer this over Defender)

Grenades - Flashbang, Pulse or Lightning

Flashbang does exactly what it says on the tin, it blinds enemy view - whiting out an enemy player's screen so they can't see while also damaging them a little bit.

Pulse - A grenade that periodically dispels about three bursts of lightning on the area in a radius where it is thrown at and it damages enemies heavily.

Lightning - A grenade that sticks to any surface and emits bolts of lightning at regular intervals towards anyone who steps near it for a certain amount of time.

Personal Opinion - I prefer the pulse grenade over Flashbang because of its superior damage and over the Lightning grenade because it can does not require a surface to stick to so it can thrown straight at an enemy.

Movement Abilites

- Lift is the basic form of Jump for Titans

Increased Height - provides a better maximum height on each jump

Increased Control - provides better directional movement while jumping

Catapult - Initial burst of momentum when jumping

Personal Opinion - Increased Height is the best bet because it allows you to jump over obstacles that normally can't be scaled and even hit the height limit on some maps which is very advantageous for Snipers who find high spots to pick off targets (Yes I prefer Sniper Rifles as my second weapon).

Super Ability

- Fist of Havoc - A devastating ground smash that dissolves everything caught in its wake. Basic Super ability for Striker class

Aftermath - leaves a damage dealing radius in its wake that bursts 3 times

Death from Above - After jumping Fist of Havoc can be aimed at enemies below

Shockwave - sends a wave in the direction the titan is facing 

Personal Opinion - Aftermath is the ability I prefer as a lot of postmortem kills can be achieved through its three bursts.

Melee

- Storm Fist - A punch that deals bonus damage. Basic melee attack for Striker class

Overload - chance to immediately reset cooldown of Storm Fist

Discharge - chance to cause an area of damage effect around target

Amplify - Storm Fist kills reduce cooldown of Fist of Havoc

Personal Opinion - Ampliy is the only ability here that is consistent all the other only have a chance to happen

Class Modifiers

Titan Codex I - Boosts Armour, Recovery and Agility

Titan Codex II - Boosts Agility and Armour significantly

Titan Codex III - Boosts Recovery and Agility significantly

Personal Opinion - Titan Codex I is the one I use but if I had a choice here i'd take one that doesn't add Agility because Titans are slow anyway.

Ability Modifiers

Headstrong - when running Fist of Havoc has greater leap distance

Aftershocks - Extends duration of pulse and lightning grenades as well as Fist of Havoc aftermath

Transfusion - Melee kills provide health regeneration

Personal Opinion - Aftershocks is definitely the most handy as 4 bursts instead of 3 can overwhelm a lot of enemies because of the power of Fist of Havoc and Pulse/ Lighning grenades

Attribute Modifiers

Titan Codex IV - Training focused on all attributes

Titan Codex V - Train solely on Maximum Recovery

Titan Codex VI - Train solely on Top Agility

Personal Opinion - Titan Codex V is my main go to modifier here because recovering health as quick as possible can be a life saver.

Ability Modifiers II

Unstoppable - Harder to kill while using Fist of Havoc

Shoulder Charge - After running for a short time, unleash this devastating melee tackle

Juggernaut - Gain a protective shield after running for a short time

Personal Opinion - I always use Shoulder Charge especially since I have MK. 44 Stand Asides which boost the duration of when you can shoulder charge.

My so far final Titan class at level 29

Hunter Gunslinger (I prefer this over Bladedancer)

Grenades - Incendiary, Swarm or Tripmin

Incendiary - Explodes and sets close enemies on fire which causes extra damage over time.

Swarm - Detonates on impact and sends a swarm of drones after enemies that are too close to them

Tripmine - Sticks to any surface and explodes when someone trips the laser on it

Personal Opinion - For me the Swarm grenade was definitely my favourite because if enemies were far too close to me and I knew I was about to die I would just throw a Swarm grenade and it would take them out too because all the drones would focus on them.

Movement Abilites

- Double Jump is the basic form of Jump for Hunters

Better Control - Provides a better directional control on each jump

Triple Jump - Provides a third jump while jumping

Higher Jump - Better height provided for double jumping

Personal Opinion - The triple jump was the best one for me all around because it made it way easier to jump between platforms even while falling and allowed me to avoid falling damage a lot.

Super Ability

- Golden Gun - A solar light gun that disintegrates anyone caught in the bullets path. 3 shots only

Deadeye - Better accuracy for Golden Gun

Combustion - Enemies explode after being shot

Gunfighter - reduces cooldown of Golden Gun

Personal Opinion - Gunfighter was the best for me because I wanted to use the ability as much as possible.

Melee

- Throwing Knife - Throws a knife from distance but also knifes enemies at close range

Circle of Life - Killing an enemy with a throwing knife while Golden Gun is active extends its duration and adds +1 armour.

Incendiary Blade - Throwing knife catches enemies on fire dealing additional damage over time

Knife Juggler - Precision throwing knife kills reset its cooldown

Personal Opinion - Incendiary Blade was the ability of choice for me here because my throwing knife skills are not great but the times it did catch some one this ability would ensure their demise.

Class Modifiers

Path Forgotten - Boosts Armour and Agility +2 to both

Path Forbidden - Boosts Agility and Recovery +2 to both

Path Unknown - Boosts Recovery and Armour +2 to both

Personal Opinion - Path forbidden was the best way to go for a Hunter who lack armour skills.

Ability Modifiers

Scavenger - Picking up ammo reduces the cooldown of grenades and throwing knife

Keyhole - Golden Gun overpenetrates and can damage multiple targets

Gunslinger's trance - Precision kills increase weapon stability. Stacks up to 3 times

Personal Opinion - I found scavenger to be the best ability for this class because grenades are very useful for PvP and PvE.

Attribute Modifiers

Way of the Drifter - Training focused on all attributes. +1 Recovery, +2 Armour and +2 Agility

Way of the Fearless - Training focused on armour above all else. +5 Armour.

Way of the Nomad - Training focused on Battle Recovery. +4 Recovery, +1 Agility.

Personal Opinion - I prefer the Way of the Drifter because it gives more agility to Hunter's which specialize in agility.

Ability Modifiers II

Chain of Woe - Similar to Gunslinger's Trance except it stacks reload speed.

Over the Horizon - Increases range of Golden Gun and +1 recovery

Gambler's dagger - Gain an additional throwing dagger

Personal Opinion - I tested these out extensively and I would personally recommend Over the Horizon because of the bonus to recovery.

My final level Hunter