Destiny 2 : Is it a good time to jump in?

[Mars People]

So I have never played Destiny 2 but I have always had an interest in it.

With Bungie now flying solo again and apparently working on improving the game I wondered if now was a good time to bite.

I also heard it was going free to play in some way. Is that up to a certain level?
Is it free to play now?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Aztorian]

Free to Play launches along the new expansion on October first. You will begin at level 30 with a high enough Light Level to join your friends (if you have playing friends). You can play everything from year one, but you will have to buy Forsaken if you want to play through its story.
So you basically only need Shadowkeep to be in the latest after October first.

 

[BrunoLouviers]

It's always a good time to jump. There's tons of things to do even before the new expansion drops. Beware of the time it takes to have the best stuff and that there's always new weapons, missions and activities droping. If Destiny 1 had lots of content droughts, since Forsaken dropped in september, there hasn't been a single week without something to do. So it feels like a second job sometimes if you are a completionist and you love the game. Been playing since 2014 and can't wait for new things to come.

 

[hydruxo]

Vanilla D2 + year one content (Curse of Osiris and Warmind) will be F2P when Shadowkeep launches on October 1st. That's probably going to be the best time to jump in if you want to try it out and see how you like it. Then if you're enjoying it you can pick up Forsaken and/or the year two annual pass + Shadowkeep.

 

[Arkanius]

It's a good time as ever, there is a megaton of content right now.
Don't forget that the new Expansion releases this October.

D2 base game + Y1 DLCs will be free
Y2 Expansion (Forsaken) will be around 30€
Y3 Expansion (Shadowkeep) is 40€

 

[Conkerkid11]

Always.

 

[astro]

Yes.

Also, you could have asked this in the very active OT.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/destiny-2-forsaken-ot4-royal-whine.120302/

 

[Fatmanp]

I took some time off from D2 around February but picked it back up again when the most recent season was released. The game is in a good state and Bungie are always looking to improve the game. Right now is a great time to jump in as it is pre f2p/expansion.

 

[Thiago]

Yes.

Welcome, new Light.

 

[Crooked Eye]

Whenever you do decide to jump in make sure you sign up to the DestinyEra Discord. Lots of awesome people over there willing to help anybody out.

 

[Tremorah]

Its in a good place right now in terms of how much you need to grind to keep that number going up, theres also plenty of different ways to do that, both PVP and PVE and PVEP

If youve got a few hours to spend each week its quite enjoyable to play, best gunfeel and movement atm in a FPS game and id say friendly to new people coming in

 

[Kyuuji]

It continues to be the in the best place it's ever been in. You should definitely jump in.

 

[Scuffed]

It's a really good game right now so why not. I might recommend waiting until Oct 1st but characters are persistent so there are tons of thing you can do now that will benefit you when the expansion hits.

 

[Wahad]

I am still thinking of jumping back in. Finished everything including Forsaken (except raid) but I find hard to go to back for some reason...

For new players, maybe it's ideal timing to jump in because of Shadowkeep coming later this year.

 

[Turkoop]

Do not start playing if you're thinking this is a game good by playing alone. You need friends for this game

 

[tomwarren]

Definitely a good time to jump in. Lots of content, and since Forsaken it has been a solid game.

 

[astro]

Do not start playing if you're thinking this is a game good by playing alone. You need friends for this game

Click to shrink...

You do not.

I play mostly solo, and it's a great experience. If I need people for actitivites, I ask in the discord LFG and always find players.

And our community is really, really great. You will make friends if you get involved, so it will resolve itself over time anyway.

 

[ProstatePuncher]

I played maybe 80 or so hours when Warmind released. Here's my play stats since I started up again this June.

I have a problem, I guess.

 

[astro]

I played maybe 80 or so hours when Warmind released. Here's my play stats since I started up again this June.

I have a problem, I guess.

Click to shrink...

42 hours of strikes.

Mans got issues.

 

[glaurung]

I have a problem, I guess.

Click to shrink...

Oh please. Want me to post my stats?

Also, jumping in right now is a good idea, but do not kill yourself with the Solstice grind. That stuff ends on the 27th.

 

[Novocaine]

You do not.

I play mostly solo, and it's a great experience. If I need people for actitivites, I ask in the discord LFG and always find players.

And our community is really, really great. You will make friends if you get involved, so it will resolve itself over time anyway.

Click to shrink...

Seconding this. Most of my time is played solo. You can do both. It's an excellent game give it a try for sure.

 

[Altair]

Absolutely great time to jump in, but your best time would be on October 1st when New Light and Shadowkeep launch. New Light will be completely free to play and will give you access to the base game as well as every expansion up to but excluding Forsaken. You'll automatically be raised to the max power level cap of the previous season (which is the current season) and that's 750. This will allow you to jump in to Shadowkeep immediately if you want to. If you just feel like playing through the base game as well as Curse of Osiris and Warmind then you can do that as well. You'll still have to purchase all of the content as of Forsaken and onward.

 

[Camwi]

It absolutely is. The amount of content that is there, between the expansions and the annual pass, is fucking insane. I've been hopelessly addicted after returning to the game a few weeks ago for the first time since launch.

Yes.

Also, you could have asked this in the very active OT.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/destiny-2-forsaken-ot4-royal-whine.120302/

Click to shrink...

Funny enough, I tried asking a pretty simple question as a returning player in that thread. As I watched the thread for the next day or two, waiting for a reply, I noticed that other newbie questions were being ignored too, as all the regulars just talked about endgame stuff.

At least that lead me to the Reddit Destiny page, which actually is really helpful to newbie questions.

 

[Deleted member 45130]

I'd really like to know whether or not you need ps plus to play the F2P version come September. I asked in another thread but I don't think anyone knows yet.

If it's a case of being able to buy the expansions and still play without ps plus, I'll definitely jump in again.

 

[Iucidium]

So I have never played Destiny 2 but I have always had an interest in it.

With Bungie now flying solo again and apparently working on improving the game I wondered if now was a good time to bite.

I also heard it was going free to play in some way. Is that up to a certain level?
Is it free to play now?

Any advice appreciated.

Click to shrink...

You can always jump in when October rolls around - it'll be free to start.

 

[astro]

Funny enough, I tried asking a pretty simple question as a returning player in that thread. As I watched the thread for the next day or two, waiting for a reply, I noticed that other newbie questions were being ignored too, as all the regulars just talked about endgame stuff.

At least that lead me to the Reddit Destiny page, which actually is really helpful to newbie questions.

Click to shrink...

People consistently respond to newbie questions in the OT whenever I browse, and I always have my questions answered.

*shrugs*

 

[Camwi]

People consistently respond to newbie questions in the OT whenever I browse, and I always have my questions answered.

*shrugs*

Click to shrink...

Fair enough. Maybe it was an off time.

 

[Bold One]

I would say the water's fine, but we have a shark in there and he's harmless, but quite unreasonable.

 

[Matzpxl]

Well, the folks here already gave you a solid answer and I totally agree.

But... As a solo player, it can get pretty lonely most of the time. I don't like *at all* to raid (and do most non-matchmaking activities and exotic quests like Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected) with strangers. So I always lag behind regarding these top tiers weapons and gear. If you're like me, consider playing with friends, at least a duo.

But if you don't mind this ''issue'', jump in. The game's in a great form nowadays.

 

[MazeHaze]

Even as somebody who bought Destiny 2 day 1 I feel like it's hard to jump in for me now personally. There's just so much it's extremely overwhelming and difficult to parse. They completely changed the infusing and a lot of the systems. I feel like I need to spend an hour or two reading wikis and faqs to even understand it, and I've played like 100 hours of it. I dropped it halfway through Forsaken, I'd still like to go back someday, but here's a LOT to take in and most of it isn't really properly explained imo.

 

[astro]

Even as somebody who bought Destiny 2 day 1 I feel like it's hard to jump in for me now personally. There's just so much it's extremely overwhelming and difficult to parse. They completely changed the infusing and a lot of the systems. I feel like I need to spend an hour or two reading wikis and faqs to even understand it, and I've played like 100 hours of it. I dropped it halfway through Forsaken, I'd still like to go back someday, but here's a LOT to take in and most of it isn't really properly explained imo.

Click to shrink...

I felt this way when I returned, but it doesn't take long to parse.

The route is pretty simple:

Get to the end of Forsaken, unlock the Dreaming City, and hit level 50.
Take the invitation quest from Werner on Nessus for your 690 gear.

From there, do daily and weekly challenges for powerful gear.

As you hit the required levels, do the activities available. Zero Hour, Whisper of the Worm, Shattered Throne....

Look through your exotic and pinnacle quests and choose which you want to focus on first.

Gear up for raids.

While the game is a little obtuse, and the UI really doesn't help it, with a little bit of focus you will easily slip into a groove.

 

[Ambient80]

Definitely a good time to jump in. Lots of content, and since Forsaken it has been a solid game.

Click to shrink...

OT, but Shit I didn't know you had an account here, what's up Tom? I dig your articles on The Verge

ontopic, yeah it's a great time, especially once Shadowkeep launches and the first several DLC's and such become free. Once you get through those you can do the catch-up quests and be ready for Shadowkeep content pretty quickly. That would be a boat load of content. And yeah like someone else said, join up on DestinyERA Discord! We talk about stupid shit and sometimes play D2 lol

 

[MazeHaze]

I felt this way when I returned, but it doesn't take long to parse.

The route is pretty simple:

Get to the end of Forsaken, unlock the Dreaming City, and hit level 50.
Take the invitation quest from Werner on Nessus for your 690 gear.

From there, do daily and weekly challenges for powerful gear.

As you hit the required levels, do the activities available. Zero Hour, Whisper of the Worm, Shattered Throne....

Look through your exotic and pinnacle quests and choose which you want to focus on first.

Gear up for raids.

While the game is a little obtuse, and the UI really doesn't help it, with a little bit of focus you will easily slip into a groove.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I mean I know I COULD get back into it, but whenever I consider I just think about like 20 different forms of currency that I'm not sure exactly what they do until I realize I need one for something I want to do, and all of those multi-step quests where you like, get a certain amount of headshots with certain guns or whatever and weird unexplained quests and a cumbersome UI/menu and not understanding escalation protocols because they don't explain it to you, and a bunch of bounty cards or whatever, and not understanding how to trigger the legendary parts of new public events and a bunch of other shit. It's pretty overwhelming, I can't even imagine jumping in completely new to it.

 

[Mars People]

Thanks guys seems like waiting til October the 1st is a good idea.

 

[astro]

Yeah I mean I know I COULD get back into it, but whenever I consider I just think about like 20 different forms of currency that I'm not sure exactly what they do until I realize I need one for something I want to do, and all of those multi-step quests where you like, get a certain amount of headshots with certain guns or whatever and weird unexplained quests and a cumbersome UI/menu and not understanding escalation protocols because they don't explain it to you, and not understanding how to trigger the legendary parts of new public events and a bunch of other shit. It's pretty overwhelming, I can't even imagine jumping in completely new to it.

Click to shrink...

The currencies really aren't that confusing and won't take very long to learn, I promise you.

And if you join the discord and just ask peeps, it really won't take long to learn everything else.

If you're feeling like you would enjoy playing but are put off by all of this, don't be put off! Jump back in and join the discord, the community is super helpful and you'll find your feet in no time.

 

[MazeHaze]

The currencies really aren't that confusing and won't take very long to learn, I promise you.

And if you join the discord and just ask peeps, it really won't take long to learn everything else.

If you're feeling like you would enjoy playing but are put off by all of this, don't be put off! Jump back in and join the discord, the community is super helpful and you'll find your feet in no time.

Click to shrink...

Right on, thanks for the suggestions. Maybe I'll give it a go. I remember also getting REALLY turned off when I bought Forsaken, and then it was immediately telling me there was content locked behind an additional season pass (I've spent like 150 dollars on this damn game already). Is it still like that? How crucial are the season passes? Also what are raid layers? I did the calus raid, thought it was great, but all my friends stopped playing after that, so I never was able to do any more raid content. Are there other raids now? Do they still take like 6 hours?

 

[astro]

Right on, thanks for the suggestions. Maybe I'll give it a go. I remember also getting REALLY turned off when I bought Forsaken, and then it was immediately telling me there was content locked behind an additional season pass (I've spent like 150 dollars on this damn game already). Is it still like that? How crucial are the season passes? Also what are raid layers? I did the calus raid, thought it was great, but all my friends stopped playing after that, so I never was able to do any more raid content. Are there other raids now? Do they still take like 6 hours?

Click to shrink...

There are more, and they take varying lengths of time depending on the group's experience. Raid layers are just smaller raids that release in-between the primary ones.

If you went in blind or with a group of mostly new players learning the mechanics, it could take that long sure. If you go in as the only new player with an experienced group, it would take much less.

Regardless, you will be able to find a group if you want to raid and you have the time.

Season pass is crucial if you want all content for Y2. This is how most MMO type games work though, you will need to pay for each new expansion. I think you shouldn't look at I've spent X on Destiny" and rather look at each expac and see how much value you found in that. In a game like this, over time, you will spend hundreds... but you will also get hundreds of hours out of it potentially, and D2 has a lot of unique content now.

Maybe jump back into Forsaken and try the content you have and see if it grabs you before you decide? You will have enough to get a feel to see if spending would be a good idea for you.

 

[MazeHaze]

There are more, and they take varying lengths of time depending on the group's experience. Raid layers are just smaller raids that release in-between the primary ones.

If you went in blind or with a group of mostly new players learning the mechanics, it could take that long sure. If you go in as the only new player with an experienced group, it would take much less.

Regardless, you will be able to find a group if you want to raid and you have the time.

Season pass is crucial if you want all content for Y2. This is how most MMO type games work though, you will need to pay for each new expansion. I think you shouldn't look at I've spent X on Destiny" and rather look at each expac and see how much value you found in that. In a game like this, over time, you will spend hundreds... but you will also get hundreds of hours out of it potentially, and D2 has a lot of unique content now.

Maybe jump back into Forsaken and try the content you have and see if it grabs you before you decide? You will have enough to get a feel to see if spending would be a good idea for you.

Click to shrink...

Cool. Yeah I don't mind putting money in, it just felt kind of shitty spending $30 for the expansion, only to load into the game and have them tell me I needed to spend 20 more dollars immediately.

One last question, I was pretty certain light level and weapon level didnt matter in competitive, but I loaded the game up a few months ago to play some Gambit and it seemed like none of my weapons did hardly any damage and it wasnt fun at all. Is that just how the damage values are, or do I need to level up and get better gear to have fun now?

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

I'm glad this thread popped up. I should reinstall this!

 

[hoserx]

I just got back in a couple weeks ago. Stopped after finishing the main story campaign. I've completed curse of osiris, warmind, and I am almost done with forsaken. I've played lots of multiplayer stuff, too. There's so much content that I haven't even paid any attention to the season of opulence stuff that's going on or whatever. I'm literally overwhelmed with things to do in game. Great value, I got the forsaken pack for like 22 bucks at cdkeys.

 

[CatAssTrophy]

I still haven't gotten Forsaken because of price, and never even started D2 until this past weekend.

I'm around level 12 and so far it's been a mixed bag for me. I played a ton of D1 sans the last expansion because of the light level grind. D2 feels a little sluggish as far as the controls, and even though the graphics look better it suffers from the framerate. Also, it randomly causes my tv to turn off.

There's a lot of changes to the core systems that left me scratching my head, and the game has done little to guide me or instruct me on how to do some of those things, so I'm left poking and prodding around to figure out how things work. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal but with how slow progress has been it makes it a chore.

Overall it feels pretty good but I'm still going to wait for Forsaken to go on sale before buying it. Hopefully before F2P happens they put it on sale to try and pull more people in for that launch.

 

[tommy7154]

Do not start playing if you're thinking this is a game good by playing alone. You need friends for this game

Click to shrink...

I havent played in forever and I'm sure I said I'd never play D2 again at some point...but when I did I played solo all the time. Loved it. I mean yeah for the strikes and such I random matched but I still barely ever played with friends or did raids and such. Played both D1 and D2 that way and loved it to death.

 

[astro]

Cool. Yeah I don't mind putting money in, it just felt kind of shitty spending $30 for the expansion, only to load into the game and have them tell me I needed to spend 20 more dollars immediately.

One last question, I was pretty certain light level and weapon level didnt matter in competitive, but I loaded the game up a few months ago to play some Gambit and it seemed like none of my weapons did hardly any damage and it wasnt fun at all. Is that just how the damage values are, or do I need to level up and get better gear to have fun now?

Click to shrink...

Light level is normalized in gambit and pvp, but I believe it's enabled vs invaders in gambit and it's enabled by default in Iron Banner.

What weapons were you using? Some are a little underpowered in the current sandbox.

 

[MazeHaze]

Light level is normalized in gambit and pvp, but I believe it's enabled vs invaders in gambit and it's enabled by default in Iron Banner.

What weapons were you using? Some are a little underpowered in the current sandbox.

Click to shrink...

Oh I'm not sure. I'm still at a point where I basically change guns whenever I get new ones. I just remember getting bored completey unable to figure out how to damage the final boss shadow thing. Once we summoned it, I would unload everything I had on it and do basically no damage, while it would just one shot me over and over as the rest of my team fought it for real. I didnt remember it feeling like that when Gambit first launched so I figured they changed something.

 

[astro]

Oh I'm not sure. I'm still at a point where I basically change guns whenever I get new ones. I just remember getting bored completey unable to figure out how to damage the final boss shadow thing. Once we summoned it, I would unload everything I had on it and do basically no damage, while it would just one shot me over and over as the rest of my team fought it for real. I didnt remember it feeling like that when Gambit first launched so I figured they changed something.

Click to shrink...

If you were in prime you need to be standing in the aura the third wizard drops to do damage.

In standard Gambit, you have to kill the envoys first then wait for the dmg bonus to stack or you'll be doing very little damage.

So it might be something there.

 

[MazeHaze]

If you were in prime you need to be standing in the aura the third wizard drops to do damage.

In standard Gambit, you have to kill the envoys first then wait for the dmg bonus to stack or you'll be doing very little damage.

So it might be something there.

Click to shrink...

Ah that's probably it. Destiny 2 is a really great game, but it does a fucking shit ass job explaining any of it's hundreds of mechanics and just assumes you know everything.

 

[ZeoVGM]

No. Destiny is trash. It has always been trash and always will be tra--

--oh my god what am I doing

 

[Komo]

It absolutely is. The amount of content that is there, between the expansions and the annual pass, is fucking insane. I've been hopelessly addicted after returning to the game a few weeks ago for the first time since launch.


Funny enough, I tried asking a pretty simple question as a returning player in that thread. As I watched the thread for the next day or two, waiting for a reply, I noticed that other newbie questions were being ignored too, as all the regulars just talked about endgame stuff.

At least that lead me to the Reddit Destiny page, which actually is really helpful to newbie questions.

Click to shrink...

Yeah the subreddit is pretty dang awesome.

 

[astro]

Ah that's probably it. Destiny 2 is a really great game, but it does a fucking shit ass job explaining any of it's hundreds of mechanics and just assumes you know everything.

Click to shrink...

The drifter does sometimes yell to "burn envoys first", but I don't believe the full mechanics of Gambit are ever explained.

There should be a tutorial mode you run through before you can access your first match, imo.

You see players ignoring envoys, running around killing mobs with 15 motes, and farming for more despite the Drifter yelling "bank to summon a primeval!"

This goes back to your original point though, while I do believe some players are clueless regardless, I know plenty of able players who found Destiny's systems obtuse to begin with.

I would recommend looking up each mode before you play. I know it's a bit annoying having to google how to play as the game should show you, but you will only need to do it once.

Then you can join the rest of us in cursing the average team mate who has clearly never done this. :p

 

[Camwi]

Yeah the subreddit is pretty dang awesome.

Click to shrink...

It really is. I've found myself regularly checking the Daily Questions threads because of how many things I've learned from them.

The drifter does sometimes yell to "burn envoys first", but I don't believe the full mechanics of Gambit are ever explained.

There should be a tutorial mode you run through before you can access your first match, imo.

You see players ignoring envoys, running around killing mobs with 15 motes, and farming for more despite the Drifter yelling "bank to summon a primeval!"

This goes back to your original point though, while I do believe some players are clueless regardless, I know plenty of able players who found Destiny's systems obtuse to begin with.

I would recommend looking up each mode before you play. I know it's a bit annoying having to google how to play as the game should show you, but you will only need to do it once.

Then you can join the rest of us in cursing the average team mate who has clearly never done this. :p

Click to shrink...

That's what I did before I tried Gambit for the first time. Watched a good tutorial video on it. Was still intimidating the first time I tried it (felt horrible the first time I died via the mining drill while holding 15 motes), but now I fucking love Gambit to death.