Destiny Shadowkeep: Casual Experience
Hey folks.
It has been a while since I have posted anything on this platform. Life gets in the way from time to time. And don't forget about Burnout. So I am diving back in after many months with a piece about a game I absolutely love.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
With the release of Shadowkeep as well as the core Destiny 2 experience going free to play. There will be quite a few new Guardians entering the Tower. If you are a returning player. You'll almost be immediately overwhelmed depending on when you decided to dip out of D2. You're absolute best bet is to completely ignore everything and fly straight to the moon to start Shadowkeep as all your existing characters are going to jump straight up to Power 750.
As a player who used to play primarily in a large group in the original Destiny and into Destiny 2, I have since opted to play more solo or with one to two friends. This is caused mostly by the unknown times I get to play, as well as I enjoy watching Netflix or listening to music/podcasts while I am gaming.
The biggest piece of advice I will will to new and returning players is to ignore raiding if you are a solo player.
In Destiny 1 and the early days of D2, the raid is what you sought. It's all you were playing to achieve. Forsaken changed that by introducing Triumphs, Gambit and Seasonal content. When I returned for Forsaken I became obsessed with Gambit, then Gambit Prime. It was never enough to keep me invested for months straight, but it kept me coming back because I knew Gambit was game mode that I enjoyed thoroughly.
You are going to have many, many items to chase now that you're back. Weapons, armor, triumphs, and now with Armor 2.0; Mods. Mods always existed, but were small upgrades that added very little to your play style. Now you'll be upgrading your favorite pieces of armor to hold these mods which will boost your stats, and even add benefits to the new Vex Invasion modes.
My absolute favorite addition in Shadowkeep is hands down, the Battle Pass structure to the seasonal content roll out. This addition makes absolutely every single activity you do worth your time. You no longer absolutely need to weigh your options for which activity you wish you play. In days of old if you ran our of Gambit or Crucible bounties, you would switch to something different as you would hardly gain enough experience to rank up you Valor/Infamy. Now, ranking up your Valor/Infamy isn't the only thing you will be doing in these activities. You will be leveling up your Battlepass, earning Armor and increasing power levels, crafting materials, new weapons and some great cosmetics and shaders. No amount of experience gained feels wasted. This alongside the option to purchase new bounties from their respected vendors makes progressing so much smoother and less of a headache in previous years of Destiny. This teamed up with a seasonal Artifact that will continuously level throughout the season with no level cap, and giving you access to new mods for your weapons and armor, all of this together amps up the replay ability of all the new content you'll have on your hands. So get to grinding that seasonal pass and artifact!
Bungie has dropped all pretense and is declaring Destiny an MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game. And if you are a new player jumping in for the first time with Shadowkeep, it will absolutely feel like one. You'll be overloaded with quests, locations and activities to do that I guarantee it will be overwhelming. But if you are a solo player and no real end goal for what you want to be doing in the game, just play. Play through the main campaign is the easiest way to get your barrings. Don't feel like if you enjoy Crucible, you're wasting time by not playing other game modes.
Obviously like any MMO, if you have a group to play with, you will reach end game faster, do more activities and experience Destiny in a whole different view than if you are a solo player. What I am trying to convey is that if you are coming back as a Solo player, or a group player, you will absolutely have a great time if you have ever enjoyed the core gameplay mechanics of Destiny.
Those are my basic thoughts on Shadowkeep and Destiny as a whole. Just a quick post to shake off the rust. I hope I hear some feedback, and also I'd love to hear other players thoughts on Shadowkeep.
With the release of Shadowkeep as well as the core Destiny 2 experience going free to play. There will be quite a few new Guardians entering the Tower. If you are a returning player. You'll almost be immediately overwhelmed depending on when you decided to dip out of D2. You're absolute best bet is to completely ignore everything and fly straight to the moon to start Shadowkeep as all your existing characters are going to jump straight up to Power 750.
As a player who used to play primarily in a large group in the original Destiny and into Destiny 2, I have since opted to play more solo or with one to two friends. This is caused mostly by the unknown times I get to play, as well as I enjoy watching Netflix or listening to music/podcasts while I am gaming.
The biggest piece of advice I will will to new and returning players is to ignore raiding if you are a solo player.
In Destiny 1 and the early days of D2, the raid is what you sought. It's all you were playing to achieve. Forsaken changed that by introducing Triumphs, Gambit and Seasonal content. When I returned for Forsaken I became obsessed with Gambit, then Gambit Prime. It was never enough to keep me invested for months straight, but it kept me coming back because I knew Gambit was game mode that I enjoyed thoroughly.
You are going to have many, many items to chase now that you're back. Weapons, armor, triumphs, and now with Armor 2.0; Mods. Mods always existed, but were small upgrades that added very little to your play style. Now you'll be upgrading your favorite pieces of armor to hold these mods which will boost your stats, and even add benefits to the new Vex Invasion modes.
My absolute favorite addition in Shadowkeep is hands down, the Battle Pass structure to the seasonal content roll out. This addition makes absolutely every single activity you do worth your time. You no longer absolutely need to weigh your options for which activity you wish you play. In days of old if you ran our of Gambit or Crucible bounties, you would switch to something different as you would hardly gain enough experience to rank up you Valor/Infamy. Now, ranking up your Valor/Infamy isn't the only thing you will be doing in these activities. You will be leveling up your Battlepass, earning Armor and increasing power levels, crafting materials, new weapons and some great cosmetics and shaders. No amount of experience gained feels wasted. This alongside the option to purchase new bounties from their respected vendors makes progressing so much smoother and less of a headache in previous years of Destiny. This teamed up with a seasonal Artifact that will continuously level throughout the season with no level cap, and giving you access to new mods for your weapons and armor, all of this together amps up the replay ability of all the new content you'll have on your hands. So get to grinding that seasonal pass and artifact!
Bungie has dropped all pretense and is declaring Destiny an MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game. And if you are a new player jumping in for the first time with Shadowkeep, it will absolutely feel like one. You'll be overloaded with quests, locations and activities to do that I guarantee it will be overwhelming. But if you are a solo player and no real end goal for what you want to be doing in the game, just play. Play through the main campaign is the easiest way to get your barrings. Don't feel like if you enjoy Crucible, you're wasting time by not playing other game modes.
Obviously like any MMO, if you have a group to play with, you will reach end game faster, do more activities and experience Destiny in a whole different view than if you are a solo player. What I am trying to convey is that if you are coming back as a Solo player, or a group player, you will absolutely have a great time if you have ever enjoyed the core gameplay mechanics of Destiny.
Those are my basic thoughts on Shadowkeep and Destiny as a whole. Just a quick post to shake off the rust. I hope I hear some feedback, and also I'd love to hear other players thoughts on Shadowkeep.
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