DAY ONE - July 19th - WARLOCKS WAVE TWO (Destiny)

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Thursday, July 27, 2017, 21:00 (2675 days ago) @ INSANEdrive

If you can't take the heat, get out of the furnace.

So after stepping away from my Xbox for a bit to do life stuff, I come back and do some more Destiny 2 Beta stuff. Just mess around and figure out how things work.

1 - Just as it says on the tin. Some of you might get a kick out of this clip. Having played this strike a number of times now, I'm aware of the game play mechanic that causes this. I didn't here, and I pay for it.

2 - My First Use of the Void Bomb on a Boss. Needless to say, I'm unimpressed.

3 - My First Destiny 2 Beta PvP Game. For those of you somehow not in this know, I don't play PvP. I'm very much a PvE player, so you can bet I was playing PvP as if it was PvE. What could possibly go wrong?

4 - My First Destiny 2 Beta "Countdown" Bomb Defuse PvP Game. Spoilers: This game runs downhill the entire way. Also note my "rift" use. It will be important later on.

5 - Second half of Destiny 2 Beta "Countdown" Bomb Defuse PvP Game. Did I say hill? At this point I might as well of said mountain. What is the DEAL with my rift not working?

6 - Just like it says on the tin. Everything still feels really awkward. I shoot and there's no... Oomf! I mean yeah, the health is dropping, it's just unsatisfying to do. Also - here is where I really trip up with my rift, as it still hasn't occurred to me what is going on. It still hasn't occurred to me that when I was playing around with my load out settings (not shown) before hand I switched to the rift that gives a Damage Buff. I then switched to Dawnblade and switched to Healing Rift. So when I switched back to void, in my head I was still thinking it was a Healing Rift. Yes - even though it wasn't healing and there is a buff verbiage telling me that it is an "empowering rift". I just got here - to me empowering means the same thing as healing. Why? Say it with me Devs - because - the - player - is - stupid. Really? No. But put a controller in a persons hand and you can WATCH the IQ points drop. This is why it's so important that the game communicates "HEY THIS IS HAPPENING", because we don't have all out sense to guide us - just sight mostly. To that end, I need to admit something. Ya'll - 85 percent of the time text comes on the screen telling me it's a buff or nerf, I have no idea what it is actually doing. It's usually easier to figure out with the nerfs instead of the buffs through. This is why this image from the first wave is so important. I see the Buff and my Gun is glowing. As an extra bonus, it's not some fancy verbiage, it's "Kill Clip". To me this means extra damage. If it is - GREAT! Thank you BUNGIE! If not well, at least it's some progress.

So here is my suggestion for the rift. It needs some particle/shader effect that implies healing or damage buff as need be. This has TWO benefits! One - makes it harder for the player to be dumb in this instance. In theory. Two - Makes sure that OTHER players know what they are running in to. I have had a moment in a strike, and this was captured, where I was low on heath as a hunter and in the middle of this slightly open area was a rift. I needed a boost to my health. I've been jumping around trying to stay alive, and I, seeing the rift stopped jumping for a second or two. Yes you guessed it! It wasn't a healing rift, but an empowering one. I'm now in the "open" with low health, and the weapon buff isn't going to help me. I'm dropped. Had I known - I wouldn't have stopped jumping around. There was only one way for me to find out, and I payed for it with my guardians blood. Or... whatever it is. The Arcstrider after being revived was pretty cool through.

As for whether or not I LIKE the warlock rift power. Um - well. Let's leave that for the end of this post.

7 & 8 - IT'S DA PIKE!

9 - MORE PIKE! Also - Dawnblade. I mean - get that it isn't meant for this sort of range NOW, but - Dawnblade.

10 - I'm still not sure what did it. My heath was regen'n. I've broken the fall with my jump ability. Did the burn damage mix with the minimized fall damage? Also - TRIPLE KILL!

11 - Nothing really to say here. Enjoy.

12 - So just as I said in #6, SHOW WHAT IS HAPPENING! In this clip, I haven't realized that this Grenade Charge uses my Super Charge. We see yellow for gain, why not red for drain?

13 & 14 - Nothing really to say here. Enjoy.

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And that concludes may DAY ONE play which was focused on my OG Destiny Main - WARLOCKS! Thus here are in full my thoughts on how WARLOCKS are in the Destiny 2 Beta. This conclusion comes from ALL the experiences of the week, not just from what you see here from the first day. Since this is focused on WARLOCKS I might as well put my thoughts on the class overall here too.

Thus to the brass tacks:

Bungie...

щ(ﾟДﾟщ) WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY FAVORITE CLASS!
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

With that said - is it just me, or is every person who MAINS a certain character saying the same thing, but not about the others for the most part? Is that me? Meh. Anyway - where was I - Oh right. School shootings. The absolute murder of the warlock class et al. I know my usage of such a thing is in horrible taste, and if anyone found that description too far I apologize deeply, but that is also the point of its use. I'm not sure how else to imply the strength of my distaste, without saying something distasteful. Even then I feel there is no excuse, and I'm doing it anyway. Because I'm a monster obviously. Rawr.

First let's start with the Jump. Bungie has made my favorite jump into my least favorite, and dare I say made it into the worst jump. TO those of you whom have foolishly been saying this about the Warlocks jump in Destiny - congratulations! For the Beta - you got your wish. The jump bothered me so much, that I loosely scienced to figure out what in the world was going on. The action and method appeared the same but it felt SO different. What changed? While yes - it does feel like I'm jumping through molasses, but as far as I can tell actually, the overall speed is the same more or less. As far as I can tell what changed is the immediate start and how we fall down, not go up.

See for yourself.

You see how much more hang we have in Destiny 2 Beta then OG Destiny?

(I also tested this on VOID too, and the results were the same. No issue with Blink either.)

In Destiny we have this nice gentle predictable parabola, where in Destiny 2 there is SO MUCH HANG. It reminds me a bit of Titan skating, but FAR slower. It's as if they made Angel of Light and did the inverse! Where instead of aiming your weapon while in the air to then hold you in place for a short time, its everything EXCEPT when you Aim! Unless you have the perk on Dawnblade, called Winged Sun in the "Attunement of Sky" section. It allows a Warlock to engage weapons or grenades while in mid-glide without the penalty of gravities wrath. Then there is at least a purpose, and it seems well made for that ONE purpose. It just feels silly. I understand in my guess WHY Bungie did it, as Bungie seems to be pushing for Warlock aerial supremacy to add verticality to the Destiny Gameplay. That's my guess. At the same time, I DON'T UNDERSTAND! How do I describe this Disaster with words? For a sake of a perk, Bungie has made the whole aerial mobility as a Warlock harder, and some already find it pretty difficult for Destiny One! Bungie made my Warlocks ass into a Blimp. OH THE HUMANITY! Slow, but hangs in the air, only to crash and burn. I don't honestly believe that Bungie altered the jump for a lone perk, but it sure seems like it right now.

How to improve it?

Well. The jump needs more Kick. Like I'm being launched from a trebuchet or ballista first, THEN add the continually elevated amount of air friction. I need the ability to get out of dodge, not stay a target. Make the hang action triggerable, say when I'm in the air - switch rift with the hang. I can't use rift while in the air anyway so it's a free control slot in that moment. That way - I CAN MOVE, but also move slowly vertical if need be. It just makes more sense! In fact, stacked with Icarus Dash from Dawnblade, I could really be able to move in the air as needed. It's a lovely symbiosis. Too bad this idea is not going to be implemented, because time, and no one from Bungie is going to read this anyway. I'm ON TO YOU INTERNET!

Then there is the Warlock Ability. Now look. I get it. Titans had the most Armor, they get to make a Wall. Titan. Hunters have the most Agility, they get to Dodge. Hunter. Warlocks have the most Recovery, which means we regain lost health faster. Thus we have the ability make a temporary zone that increases the recovery of health to the point of an over shield or a damage buff to ourselves and any other friendly player. I get it. My current main issue with it, other than the "Tell me what it does" problem I mention in this section at #6, is that it in its current iteration is a death trap. Not only does it take too long to activate but as it is in the Beta, it's basically a bug bait and zapper, but for guardians. Again - ignoring the communication issue, when someone drops a rift we all want to get into it, because we want that buff. Yet - WE CAN'T MOVE, or else we lose the buff. Why even buff at all? It's too risky. Meanwhile everything is honing in on you standing like an idiot in this one spot. I don't care how much cover is nearby, it's always a lousy situation to be in. With the Heath, there seems to be a tendency to just stand there hoping you can juggernaut the moment, and with the damage buff - ha ha. More like HEY SHOOT ME I CAN'T MOVE! Plus it doesn't tell you when it stops, so your just standing in the open like an idiot.

How to improve it?

Make it act like the titan bubble sans the bubble. If you touch it you get the buff for a few seconds. OR! Make it so that the WARLOCK casts an aura around them self that does the effect. The time would be of course shorter then it is now, but at least I and my friendlies can MOVE, and the buff would no longer be redundant.

With that said we get to the main course - The Supers. TO which - a caveat. I know we only got our hands on one version out of a known two. "Attunement of Chaos" and "Attunement of Sky". That said, as a reminder, I'm going to speak of this as if that was it, simply because it makes it easier for me to speak about it.

So where do I start.

Let's start with the Void Super Nova Bomb .

It's not satisfying. It's DEFINITELY a SUPER, but it's so - underwhelming. The sound and animation doesn't match what I see for one. It looks like I'm about to bat out a fast ball, only to have this thing blob towards my foe. Of course my first reaction to this was - "What the hell was that?" - and rightly so as I was expecting a good 'ol nova arc. With time through, I can see its usefulness. This is a very close quarters styled indoor super. It's still wicked unsatisfying to cast, but shoot - it's still Nova Bomb. You get a group of foes and its rewarding, period. Warlock want like to make BIG boom. It's a very environmentally situational super, that needs ALOT of tweaking to feel right.

It's...almost like I'm playing an old build beta - or something. This situational nature of my super is also why I HEAVILY DISLIKE this whole "SLOT OF 4"... "Play this way or Play this way"... Thing!... I for-mentioned at the very beginning of this post as a whole. I REALLY like Chaos Accelerant! It's really cool, and feels powerful. I mean there are a few things that could be tweaked, such as yet again telling the player what this charging up is changing/doing and so forth, but it's overall pretty cool. It's defiantly a Warlock thing to overcharge grenades - because Power. Yet - I'll "never" be able to use it because of the aptly named Cataclysm.

"Nova Bomb travels slowly and seeks enemies. Detonations shatter into smaller seeker projectiles. Fire your weapon at the Nova Bomb to detonate it early".

Well if I'm in a big open space where Cataclysm might not be the best selection, which I'm Obviously TOTALLY SURE won't be a big thing for Destiny 2 (/s), well then sorry buddy. No Bloom, Entropic Pull, and Chaos Accelerant for you!

Ha ha! No. That's just Bullshit.

ALSO! Before I switch to the Solar Super; Fire your weapon at the Nova Bomb to detonate it early? Seriously? I mean - it's interesting. It's defiantly an... interesting game play choice. But. If I'm casting my Super - I'm not going to waste time and SHOOT AT IT. My concern is the thing or things trying to drop me. Have me "cast" my super again to detonate it. There. Done. Next.

Dawnblade.

...

Oh boy... we lost the ability to self revive... FOR THIS!?! Holy shit. THAT experiment apparently backfired. Heh. Backfired. Heh heh.

Where do I start! You know what. I need time to figure out what to say here. Scroll past the random meaningless images I found off the interwebs, and watch some of the below video and by the time you are done I'll be ready.

I know I know. Hawk Girl is so OP. She also is A Total Certified Badass! It's... kind of like how a Super should be. Right? Just... things to keep in mind as we move forward here. We are talking about a so called "SUPER" after all.

SO where were we. Oh! Right. The "SUPER" of Dawnblade. It's called Daybreak.

"Weave Solar Light into blades and smite your foes from the skies.

It is just me or does from the skies seem to imply you are shooting things out of the sky? Yet if it was "from the sky" it would denote YOU doing the flying. I don't know. Words and my head. Anyway... so let me get this straight.

We can fly, well not actually... flies like Astronauts in a spacewalk can "fly". It's falling - but with style. While in our super we get a flaming sword of light. With it we cast huge swaths of flame towards our foes! Well that does sound like a cool super. How much fun is it? It's BOOOOOOOOORING! I don't know HOW YOU DID IT Bungie, but somehow you made a super that is WORSE than may least favorite super - Golden gun - with the catch being Daybreak is not only disgustingly inaccurate but makes you into a giant target both in and after you use the so called Super.

I quite honestly don't understand how this got past the testing phase. Sounds really cool on paper, but hell - does this super SUCK! And it's on my favorite class of OG Destiny. FUCK! At least I could ignore Goldengun, as it's on my least favorite class of OG Destiny. Hint Hint for those of you who have read these posts in its entirety up to this point. Hint hint of the incoming next post about my day with the Destiny 2 Beta Hunter.

So what could Bungie do to make it worth casting?

For starters can I get an over-shield after my super stops? Or better yet - give me a variant of that front facing shield Titans had that lasts during the super and a few seconds after the super is done. Something that helps me survive CASTING the darn thing. Second - well, guess. We have a flipping flambéing sword of light and wings - LETS BIRD OF PRAY THESE FOOLS! You say smite? Bitch - I want to REAP! I want to get Biblical all up in here, and make it good.

What you got here in the Beta? It's a joke. Plan and simple. ...and it's a dam shame there is likely not enough time to change it.

Looking forward to Phoenix Dive through.

In all - This to me was the Destiny 2 Beta Warlock. I don't know what else to say, other to end with saying how deeply disappointed I am that my favorite class as is, in game play, my least favorite of the three.

Ow.

Shit.

Geez. Gamers eh. Am I right! :P Heh heh heh.