Destiny 2 [PS4/XBONE/PC] (Sept. 6, 2017)

[Krandor]

I'm biased since I know them personally, but the people who made the year 1 raid weapons are different from those who have been in charge since then, and the raid weapons in King's Fall/WotM were generally pretty damn good imo.

[Obsidian]

Most of the Wrath weapons are okay to good, but the King's Fall guns are pretty much universally garbage except for the Quillim's Terminus. But then, the Wrath weapons tend to be good in spite of their perk options, not because of them. Genesis Chain and Chaos Dogma are good because of Focus Firefly and whatever the double tap perk is called, their middle column options all blow and their ballistic options aren't great.

I just have a real hard time putting faith in a team of people who invented Guerrilla Fighter, Exhumed, Secret Round...

[Kaslo]

Most of the Wrath weapons are okay to good, but the King's Fall guns are pretty much universally garbage except for the Quillim's Terminus. But then, the Wrath weapons tend to be good in spite of their perk options, not because of them. Genesis Chain and Chaos Dogma are good because of Focus Firefly and whatever the double tap perk is called, their middle column options all blow and their ballistic options aren't great.

I just have a real hard time putting faith in a team of people who invented Guerrilla Fighter, Exhumed, Secret Round...

I like the WotM Pulse too.

[Obsidian]

I left the Steel Medula out because it actually has decent middle tree options. It is a good gun though, but I like my Smite of Merain with Firefly better.

[Serra]

You can argue about some of Bungie's perks (secret round is a great example of tool tips not matching the actual effect and exhumed is a great of example of actual garbage), but Guerrilla Fighter, really? Guerrilla Fighter is honestly an example of good game design -- it informs players of a gameplay feature that most were not using/aware of in the first year of Destiny. Is it totally useful all the time? No it's not, but I don't think perks need to be useful 100% of the time to be good perks.

[Obsidian]

They don't need to be useful 100% of the time, but they should be useful 1% of the time and Guerilla Fighter just flat out isn't. And if you need to create a gun perk to inform your players of a mechanic that has existed the entire time, maybe you should re-evaluate the mechanic. And even ignoring that, the perk itself is just not effective.

And for more reason to be wary of their weapon design, just look at the Immobius.

[Boyiee]

I don't think the game needs random loot rolls, personally I never loved them because I always got shit.

Now you'll have a boss with a specific set of loot, put the really good shit at really low rates, you still have a grind to do. Instead of Diablo it's wow. Perfectly fine with that.

[Kaslo]

I will say I preferred knowing when I got a Vision or Fatebringer it would be good, instead of simply hoping it would have decent rolls.

[Serra]

Combined with the changes to classes, it seems that D2 is going to have a lot less flexibility, so that's somewhat concerning. I think random roles are good in some ways, but bad in others. I agree, some things (raid weapons, trials weapons, etc) should have static perks, but I liked the flexibility that the D1 system provided. But yeah, the tradeoff is that you sometimes get shitty perks (or get an almost perfect roll ruined by a terrible perk..). I feel the Gunsmith system and the AoT change where vendors' lineups change every week helps a lot and gave people more options to acquire weapons with differing roles -- disappointing that it took till the end of Destiny to get there though..

[Obsidian]

They're clearly doing static rolls because they can't balance every gun around a random combination of perks. They want to avoid situations with guns/perk combos that blindside them like Felwinter's Lie.

[Serra]

That site is doing a month of D2 info (sounds like what GameInformer did with TTK and RoI), so expect a bunch of paraphrased new info this week without citations.

[Boyiee]

Did anyone buy the $100 version? The one with the expansions is 90 already so it's only 10 more.

[Tomiko]

That's the version I preordered.

[6souls]

[Boyiee]

That's the version I preordered.

Literally the only catalyst I needed to pull the trigger on it was someone else here saying they did. Immediately ordered that version when I saw your post lol.

[Serra]

Today's update from that site was an interview with Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy (can find it on youtube pretty easily) The wording suggests (or pretty much confirms) that each numbered entry will start over. Also, some events will be loadout locked -- once you start, you can't change your loadout. They were talking about the hardest content at the time, so HM raids, perhaps (it would make sense given some of the earlier comments they've made about wanting players to play a certain role while others play other roles)?

Weekly Update:
https://www.bungie.net/en/News/Article/46024

About the beta:

What you should expect:

Homecoming: The opening mission and cinematics from Destiny 2’s Campaign.

Countdown: Enter the Crucible to battle other Guardians in a brand new mode. Attack or Defend the base on a new map custom-built to support this new game type.

Control: The original standard for Crucible combat is back, with some impactful changes. Control the zones on another new map built with this objective in mind.

The Inverted Spire: Strike at the heart of a Vex stronghold. Bring two willing allies, or let Matchmaking introduce you to a Fireteam of Guardians.

New Subclasses: The new fighting style for each Class will be at the ready. Choose from the Dawnblade Warlock, Arcstrider Hunter, or Sentinel Titan.

The Farm: For one hour, on Sunday, July 23, we’re inviting you to tour the new social space in Destiny 2. Starting at 10AM Pacific, you’re welcome to kick the ball into the net or befriend a chicken. Most vendors and services will be offline. Our goals are to see how many of you it can accommodate at once.

What you should not expect:

Clan Support: It’s true that Clans will be supported in Destiny 2, but those features are not a part of this test.

Character Progression: You’ll receive rewards for defeating your enemies – be they Cabal, Vex, or other Guardians – but the Beta does not represent how your characters will evolve in Destiny 2.

Character Continuity: Destiny 2 is a fresh start. Nothing we do in the Beta will carry over to the final version of the game on September 6. Of course, for every rule, there is an exception…

And beta emblem:

[Wulfgang]

Alright, just preordered. My birthday is July 19th; ready to shoot some beta mans.

[6souls]

White PS4 Pro bundle announced

The beta for Destiny 2 kicks off very soon (July 18, to be exact), but we’re starting the celebration a bit early with the reveal of our Limited Edition . This bundle will be available alongside the game’s launch on September 6. It includes a Glacier White PS4 Pro with a 1TB HDD, matching DualShock 4 Wireless Controller, and of course, Destiny 2. You’ll also receive a voucher for the digital content pack which gives you access to the Expansion Pass and premium digital content.

This limited edition bundle’s MSRP will be $449.99 USD/$549.99 CAN. You can pre-order yours starting today.

https://blog.us.playstation.com/2017...s4-pro-bundle/

[Takiwaki]

There are about 4 new unlinkable gameplay vids out today showing control changes etc

[Serra]

Titan video shows that skating is still in.. Disappointed to see it's still there, but maybe it has been reduced a bit -- will need to try it in the beta to know for sure.

I'm not sure what to make of the new Nova, seemed really slow, but people on reddit seemed to love it, so maybe I missed something.

The new Control map reminded me of Pantheon or Floating Gardens. Unfortunately, it looks like the maps are sticking to the fairly restricted format of D1. I really wish Bungie would go back to making maps that felt more open. (Caveat there being we've seen all of two maps, soo..)