A few thoughts on Shadowkeep *SP* (Destiny)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Thursday, October 17, 2019, 13:06 (1871 days ago) @ Grizzlei

[*]Shaders — Feels like nothing substantial has been updated with these items since the vanilla game dropped. The new Armor 2.0 system feels a lot more accessible than any previous iteration; There are certain exotics I won't even bother with now that I can tune a god roll to my liking. Only thing that's let me down is how I've bled some of my favorite shaders—ones I've retained some 30-40 quantity for months now. Kinda confuses me why shaders haven't transitioned from quantitative random drops to a permanent item like armor and gun mods.

The one thing that has changed is that you can pull them from collections now. It used to be that if I ran out of Tarnished Copper, I was just SOL unless more dropped. Nowadays once I have a shader, I can always get more of it on demand. It costs some minor resources, but at least I can get more when I want it, which is important to me since I try to have a consistent visual theme for each build.

[*]Armor Ornaments — I'm very picky when it comes to outfitting my Guardian. Her aesthetics matter just as much as how she plays. You can't fight Darkness if you ain't cute. Armor 2.0 was a chaotic grind for me but damn if the new armor ornament system wasn't my saving grace. Legendary armor drops were plentiful because of Season of the Undying so I seldom worried about not having some look of my own making representing me on Luna. Honestly this new system encouraged me to embrace the grind. That's how you do it!

It's an overload of riches now. I have so many armor pieces coming in, and because I only have a few mods, I don't yet have a good sense of which ones will be good for which setups. It's difficult to know what to keep. BUT that's a minor problem compared to searching endlessly for a certain perk combo and never finding it.

[*]Living Worlds — I tend to play alone. It's a lonely ass Hunter thing, but also few of my besties are playing on PS4 now. Unless I'm teamed up with them, or encounter a band of genuine, kind folk, I found most Destiny destinations to date remarkably lifeless. Public Events lost their luster in 2014, HVT's pose little threat, and only a roaming band of Pikes only ever added a little flavor for me. Everything seemed orderly and thus unnatural. Shadowkeep changed that for me in a big way. Environmental storytelling paints a picture of an ever evolving Lunar surface ravaged by countless wars and mythical cataclysms. Our own individual backgrounds as Guardians adds to the feels. Everything on the Moon feels like the earned culmination of a five year grind. Came back to the Tower a few days later to something I've anticipated for years now: A stake in the narrative. The Black Garden Gate being slowly constructed in the Bazaar is given gravitas by Ikora. I trust her wholeheartedly. Now I just want to see where else Bungie goes in the Tower. There's a whole lot of obnoxiously empty stalls and doors that should lead somewhere. Can't wait!

I'd offer to help but I don't have a PS4. I, too, am encouraged by the construction going on. Feels like they're finally starting to figure out how to develop the world as we play.

[*]Eriana's Vow — It's great. Too great. This gun properly introduced me to Hand Cannons, a type I had sworn off ages and ages ago. Now I'm often running a six-shooter exclusive Hunter build with the big girl and Duke Mk. 44 for Crucible. Having her drop immediately in the season rewards progression feels so damn cheap. The daunting catalyst quest certainly makes up for it. You're not going to be shorted with good stories. I just don't know why my ugly, grinding rare-armored ass is even allowed to us such a remarkable gun.

I was definitely impressed with it, although other pursuits have seen me using it less after the first week. It's definitely a beast, but I feel like the limited ammo and slow reload balance it out OK.

[*]Finishers — I thought I'd never bother with these lol

Now that I've acquired a few of the finisher mods and leveled up enough for it to be worthwhile putting together sets of armor and gear for particular class builds, I'm finding it really useful. For example, my current fun build is using the Code of the Missile Striker subclass with the Skullfort exotic helm. You can repeat the skydive ground-pound melee ability infitely provided you get at least one kill per dive. And it's healing you each time, again provided you get a kill. It's great, until a teammate "helpfully" kills your target and the loop ends. But now I'm running that build with a finisher mod to instantly recharge my melee, so I have a way to get back in that groove relatively quickly. The small amount of super it costs is very worthwhile to get the loop going again.

[*]Power Level — Until Shadowkeep I'd hit the soft peak light level with a new installment and all progression just died. Raids weren't accessible given my fussy rural internet and the lack of a team. So my Guardian would essentially give up after the story and any other quests, and that's that. Now the pinnacle gear drops feel so bountiful. There's always some kind of activity to do be it PvP or PvE to accommodate whatever I'm in the mood for. I'm never at the same power level I was at the beginning of my session. The new Fornite-like season progression system is right up my alley. I'm never going to hit Rank 100 so there's surely always something for me to strive for.

I don't have a lot to say about leveling, except that it didn't seem to take nearly as long for my second and third characters to catch up as it has previously. Exactly why, I'm not sure.

[*]Pulse Rifles — Since when did this entire gun type become useless?

Is it? I have a bunch of them that I like. Inaugural Address 4 lyfe. To each their own, though. At least you have hand cannons to enjoy now.

[*]Eris Morn — Damn. Wow. Great character work, Bungie. She has become a fully-fledged star with this expansion. I remember I spawned in on her Lunar surface base, interacted with her, and walked away. A few minutes later I came back to play and Eris had asked me to step away. No video game character has ever made their displeasure of my presence known so effectively. Just standing within earshot of her, I got a better grasp of her being than nearly everyone who's ever inhabited the Last City.

For real. The writing and voice acting for her in this expansion might be my favorite thing Destiny has ever done with any character.

[*]The Future — Destiny 2 feels like a whole package now. I wouldn't mind if Bungie just keeps on building on this platform for the next year or two with another whole-assed expansion and annual pass thingy. The next game deserves to hit the ground running strong. The coming seasons should serve as testbeds for where Bungie would like to go in the years to come. I don't mind seeing fresh, albeit rough new additions when they've got the intention to make something more out of it. Imagine where Destiny would be if ODST hadn't had its formative Firefight mode. Go crazy and see what sticks.

Indeed. I always assumed there would be a Destiny 3, but I don't know if there really needs to be at this point. The only thing I really want changed which might need a new game to accomplish would be for it to stop exiting the menus every time I load into a new area. :)