Review: Forza Horizons 2

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Swaggers

Forza Horizon 2

Cost
$59.99
Format
Digital & Disc
Size
36.57 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], Xbox 360

Release Date
9/30/14
Developer
Playground Games
Publisher
Microsoft Studios
Modes
Single & Multiplayer

Forza Horizon 2 is a open world car racing game where you are a racer in the fictional Horizon Festival. This year we are racing around 4 cities in Europe competing in a 168 4-race championships utilizing over 200 different cars. Yes, there are over 168 championships this year and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The best part of this game is the real variety in tracks and events. Forza 5 to me was stymied by each series being the same tracks just with a different class of car. I’m glad people like to race on “Sebring International” since it’s a real track. I did too… the first 15 times I raced it. Then it’s just tedious repetition with a car that goes slightly faster or slower than the last one. Horizon’s open world allows them so much more variety in both length and scope, but also the type of race. Not just limited to laps around a track, Horizon adds a ton of more options like point to point street racing, rally races over the countryside, along with both open street (I.E. with traffic) and close off circuits. Plus with each circuit being just 4 events you are moving on and changing cars and classes frequently enough that it keeps it fresh.

They even make getting to the races more enjoyable. You are not simply thrown into the next Championship, you drive there. You explore, you earn xp, you earn perks. It’s the journey, not the destination. How fast can you blaze through that Speed Trap? A friend’s Drivatar is nearby, why not challenge them to a quick point to point race? There are 30 Bucket List challenges (with more to come) where you use some of the most iconic cars in existence trying to complete timed races and skill score earned in a set time, among many others. Hidden XP boards to locate. It’s really crazy the amount of stuff you can do just trying to get to the actual event. “But swaggers, I just want to race!” Well that is an option also as you can fast travel to the events and just get your race on (But it does costs you credits to fast travel and you do also need a skill (more on skills a little later!)).

Horizon has an XP system like Motorsports 5 but with a more random reward system. Each level you earn you get a spin on the Horizon Wheelspin. Instead of a set amount of CR you earn either a random amount of CR or a car direct to your garage. One thing that is missing is the leveling of car manufacturers. I don’t miss the obnoxious achievements that went with it, but it was nice to get little bonuses for sticking to a manufacturer. Along with XP and levels to earn in Horizon there is also a perk system. There are 25 Perks to earn. You start at the middle and work your way out, with each layer costing more SP than the last. These are things like Hot Lapper; you earn 10% more credits in Rivals event or Paparazzi; An icon appears above cars you need for Horizon Promo. Promo being one of the many side activities where you are charged with photographing 100 unique cars for credit bonuses and an achievement. You earn SP to buy Perks by doing well and chaining abilities in both the open world and races. Things like near misses, burnouts, and speed all contribute to your SP. But hit a wall or another car before banking the points and it’s all lost. This is the major flaw in the system. Getting smashed from behind by a less than stellar player is counted against you when there is nothing you can do about it. In the Open World it seems like the AI Drivatars are out to get you. Wandering into your lane as you drive 150 mph down a open highway with a suicidal determination to destroy you both.

Online in Horizons 2 is handled in two different modes. The main mode is Road Trip. This puts you in a standard 4 race championship with some more multiplayer types games like King and Infected thrown into the mix along with some Team Based Races. The kicker here is that between each of the 4 races you have a full on rally race to the next event that also scores XP. After each series everyone in the game gets to vote on the next series from 3 options choosing car class and the types of races. Unfortunately if the group votes on a class you don’t currently own you don’t get a chance to buy a car, you’ll be thrown into a stock car of almost always sub-par stats. With the amount of loading and free roaming going on it seems there is plenty of time to allow someone to buy whatever they want before the first event starts. The other type is to just go into Freeroam with some friends and pick and choose events or bucket list challenges to do. Even though this is Freeroam there are still limitations between playing Solo or in a Party. Some freeroam activities like Barn Finds just cease to work in Multiplayer so make sure you know what you want to do before joining up.

The Forza series are a little less forgiving than other racers. Ability matters and car ranks definitely matter. In Solo this is offset by difficulties and assists, but in Online put two people with the same skill together and the one with the better car will always come out on top. Due to the random nature of the online you need to have a series of cars pre-tuned for all levels of play as you are given zero time in multiplayer to tweak. As I mentioned before if you come into a S1 series with no tuned S1 car you’ll be 30 points behind before the race even begins.

The game is just straight up gorgeous. The cars are amazing, the scenery is amazing, even the people are a lot more lifelike than even Motorsports 5. The rain and the weather, beside looking amazing, also effect your cars handling which adds a nice touch. If you had to nitpick anything there are minor issues, but completely minor. Things like tree branches overhanging highways. The whole world just looks alive and vibrant.

The biggest strength of Horizon 2 is the depth of activities. You get bored with racing, you go search for some XP boards, you get bored of that you go do a couple Bucket List challenges, get bored of those and you’re back to racing, all in a stunningly beautiful world. If you’re a race fan you’re going to love it, if you aren’t, well Horizon 2 is the game that will make you a race fan.

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Huge world
2) Varied races and events

CONS:
1) Multiplayer integration weird
2) Drivatars in Open World do little except get in the way

9.2
Excellent

Insignia Guide: Styx: Master of Shadows

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series Styx: Master of Shadows

Great power… – 90gs – Unlock all skills

So you want to unlock all the skills and get the full 1000gs in Styx: Master of Shadows? Well you need to complete every single side-objective and every single Insignia (Shadow, Mercy, Swiftness and Thief) and you will JUST have enough SP. So here is a little guide to getting all of the Insignias.

Your best bet is going to be doing 2 runs at each level.
Your first run is to get Shadow, Mercy and Swiftness. Get the levels done quickly with no alerts and no kills.
Your second run is to get Side Objectives, Relics, and the Tokens. A lot of the Side Objectives take precious time and doing them without alerts or kills can be anywhere from hard to impossible.

Shadow, Mercy & Swiftness

Found this YouTuber who is doing full runs getting all three Insignias.

REMINISCENCES

AKENASH’S ATRIUM

MASTER KEY

DELIVERANCE

THE CREATOR

THE ARCHITECT

CONFLAGRATION

RENAISSANCE

Thief, Side Objectives & Relics

Once unlocked, the Predator skill Omniscience (300 skill points), allows you to see all tokens and enemies even through walls. Here are some videos we’ve been working on showing the exact locations of all the Tokens. Work In Progress. We’ll try to get everything uploaded ASAP.

ALL RELICS

REMINISCENCES

AKENASH’S ATRIUM

Achievement Guide: Styx: Master of Shadows

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series Styx: Master of Shadows

Skill Based Achievements

These all require you to earn enough SP to unlock them by completing objectives and earning insignias in missions. Then you can spend the SP on skills while at the hideout.

Wrong turn – 15gs – Kill an enemy with a covered kill

Skill KILL – then it’s the first ability, COVERED KILL. It costs 40 SP. Simply use RT to hug a wall, as a guard walks past you will get the option to use X to do a kill.

Goblin-tossing – 15gs – Kill an enemy with an aerial kill

Skill KILL – then it’s the second ability, AERIAL KILL. It costs 60 SP. Then get above an enemy and jump towards them. While in the air hit X to perform a aerial kill.

Dodge this – 15gs – Kill an enemy who was bound by a clone

Skill CLONING – then it’s the first ability, BIND. It’s costs 30 SP.
When you get close to a enemy as a clone you can press X to Bind them. Then switch to Styx and run over and kill the guard while he tries to wrestle your clone off.

Suicide mission – 30gs – Eliminate a guard with a booby trapped clone

Skill CLONING – then it’s the second ability, POUNCE
Spawn a clone and then have them enter a closet or chest. Then either wait for a guard to wander by on his own or alert him and lead him to your clone.

Like looking through a wall – 30gs – Manage to disable three guards, or more, inside a clone’s smoke bomb

The 3rd ability in the Clone skill tree is an Advanced Smoke Bomb that will make this easier to get. Then round up 3 guards, set off the smoke bomb before they can kill your clone. That’s it. I thought you had to eliminate the guards but it unlocks right as you set off the smoke bomb.

Reload Based Achievements

All of these can be accomplished once you find a suitable spot by saving your game, doing the requirement once and then reloading and starting over. All of these will also of course unlock over the course of the game but you wouldn’t be reading an achievement guide if you didn’t want your achievements ASAP.

Army of clones – 15gs – Create 30 clones

Expendable – 15gs – Let 15 clones die

Unquenched thirst – 15gs – Drink 20 vials of amber

You should work on these 3 together. Make sure you have 2 Amber Vials and save the game near a guard. Summon a Clone with LT+A getting 1 create. Run the clone into a guard getting 1 death. Then drink 1 potion for Unquenched. Do that pattern once more, then reload.

Born in the shadow – 15gs – Extinguish 30 torches

Some flames can be extinguished just by walking up to them and pressing Y. You can also use the Sand item to extinguish from a distance. This is not something you need to worry about though. You will get near the entire 30 just in the opening mission if you makes sure to do it every chance you get. There are some flames that can not be extinguished.

Passkey – 15gs – Unlock 20 doors

Lots of doors in the Intro mission. If you really really really want this one bad just save before a door. Unlock and open it, reload, repeat, etc.

Sticky-fingered – 90gs – Pick pocket 15 guards

Sharpshooter – 30gs – Kill more than 40 guards with throwing knives (secret)

You will visually see if a guard has an item you can pickpocket. If they do get close and hit Y to grab it. You have to have room for the item to be able to grab it. Also, if you kill the guard first the item is destroyed.
Near the start of the second mission, Akenash’s Atrium, there is a guard going up and down some long stairs that has a Throwing Knife to pickpocket. He’s on the right side of the level right near a wooden platform you can hide under. Have one on you when you get here so you have room to pickpocket one. Save the game and then use it on him and another nearby guard. 1 Pickpocket and 2 Throwing Knife kills.

Sudden Silence… – 30gs – Kill 50 enemies without making noise (secret)

Only the Muffled Kills you get from sneaking up on an enemy and holding Y count for this achievement.

Serial Killer – 30gs – Eliminate 200 enemies (secret)

Throwing Knifes, Chandeliers, Muffled Kills. Whatever you want to use. Just make sure it adds up to 200.

Outstanding duelist – Kill 20 enemies in duel (secret)

Any open combat is considered a duel. Simply Parry until you get the Kill with X option.

One Time Achievements

All of these are for doing specific requirements at a specific time. We’ll tell you an easy place to do them. You just go there and do it!

Music Lover – 15gs – You looked at the World Tree a bit too long… (secret)

Intro mission Reminiscence. Right after you get your dagger you will come out and face the World Tree. Climb up to the first beam and head out to the edge looking at the World Tree and a song will start. It’s about 2 minutes. Just wait out the song for the achievement to unlock.

Watch out below! – 15gs – Kill two or more enemies by making a chandelier drop on them

Mission 1: Akenash’s Atrium, Section 1. You will be given a sub quest by your friend in the hideout to kill Godebert. You will find him on the way through the mission conveniently standing under a crate. Simply climb the sacks beside him and unfasten the crates. It will kill both Godebert and his friend giving you the achievement but since his friend also dies it will count against No Kills.

Indigestion – 15gs – Kill an enemy by poisoning the food

Mission 1: Akenash’s Atrium, Section 3. As you start to follow Ector you will go up some stairs. At the top is a food bag you can Poison. Then move slowly towards the 2 guards we are talking. When they finish talking one with path around and eat the food and after a bit drop dead giving you the achievement. Reload to a previous save if you are going for no kills.

Dose of His Own Medicine – 30gs – Kill a torturer in a duel (secret)

First one I found was in mission 3, Deliverance in Section 3, Laboratories. You will come to a section that is most definitely a torture chamber. Save the game before engaging the enemies. There was a basic white robed enemy, a black robed torturer and a knight. I throwing knifed the basic enemy and engaged the torturer to a duel. Once he was down the achievement unlocked. Then die to the knight and reload so you don’t have a kill on this mission.

Goblin snack – 15gs – Give an orc one of your clones to eat

Immediately after the torturer area in Deliverance – Laboratories you are introduced to orcs. Simply create a clone and walk it up to a orc in a cell. The orc will reach through and grab it and achievement unlocked.

Mission Achievements

These all relate to finishing missions in specific ways. For the most part you want to try for no alerts, no kills for your first run. Then murder everyone to get them out of the way and search for those tokens.

Reminiscences – 15gs – Finish the introduction

Akenash’s Atrium – 15gs – Finish Mission 1

Master key – 15gs – Finish Mission 2

Deliverance – 15gs – Finish Mission 3

The creator – 15gs – Finish Mission 4

The architect – 15gs – Finish Mission 5

Conflagration – 15gs – Finish Mission 6

Renaissance – 90gs – Finish Mission 7 (secret)

These all will unlock at the ending stat screen for the missions.

My precious – 90gs – Gather all the treasures

This is for getting all the Relics in the game. Each mission contains one Relic. Under the Pause menu you can tab over to the Relic section and get a visual clue as to where the Relic is in the level.

Tidy up your room! – 15gs – No body found during a mission

This is fairly simple on any mission because you can save and reload as much as you want. Very easy during the Intro mission. Obviously if you are going for a no kill run then you get this since there were no bodies to be found. If you do have to kill someone just make sure to hid the body in any of the billion hiding spots that are everywhere.

Great power… – 90gs – Unlock all skills

You will need ALL of the available SP for this. 1330 SP to fully unlock the first 6 sets of skills. The Predator set unlocks by completing 2 complete sets of skills. This set contain 4 really powerful abilities but cost you another 990 SP. You must complete ALL side objectives and ALL Insignias for this. Every single point is required.
Check out our separate page for Insignia Video Guides right here: Insignia Guide: Styx: Master of Shadows

Pretentious – 30gs – Do not use any item during a mission

I did this on Mission 2, Master Key. Just don’t use any items. You can call your Clone, but don’t drink any Amber, don’t drink any Life, etc, etc.

Unseen, unknown – 100gs – Unlock the Insignia of the Shadow for each mission

There are 4 Insignias you can earn at the end of each mission. This includes Reminiscences, the intro. Shadow is for have no alerts triggered. Only RED alarms matter. You can go Yellow and Orange all you want. You can use a TON of saves and just reload if you get seen. If you miss it on the first playthrough of a mission when you replay in the pause menu you can see how many alerts you have set off. Only Human and Elf alarms matter and alarms for your clone don’t count against you. Although not mentioned, Clone alerts on The Creator and Renaissance count against you also.

Review: Styx: Master of Shadows

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series Styx: Master of Shadows

Styx: Master of Shadows

Cost
$29.99
Format
Digital
Size
6.48 GB
Available On
Xbox ONE [Reviewed], PS4, Steam

Release Date
10/8/14
Developer
Cyanide
Publisher
Focus Home Interactive
Modes
Single Player

Styx is a stealth game that is billed as a story prequel to Of Orc and Men. You play Styx, the first Goblin, who was one of the NPC characters in Of Orc and Men as he tells his story of trying to steal the heart of the World Tree. Styx: Master of Shadows is told over 8 missions and is a digital only game that costs $30 on Xbox ONE. Each mission runs about 30 or so minutes but takes about 2 to 3 hours each because of the shear number of deaths and reloads. Being a stealth game though if you follow someone’s perfect guide its going to go a lot faster. Digital only games over $15 are a hard sell as people are just getting used to the idea that on the ONE there is no distinction. There are just games, big and small, cheap and not so cheap. So does Styx: Master of Shadows have enough quality gameplay to justify the $30 price?

Styx is a pure stealth game in that there is no run and gun option. You can kill enemies in stealthy manners, like from behind or hidden from a chest, but direct confrontation is a recipe for death. When you are seen and attacked you have to successfully parry several attacks, with the harder the enemy the more parries needed, before you are given a direct kill option. Which seems fine since you are just a little hunched over Goblin and not made for direct contact with Humans UNTIL you see Styx pick up these fallen enemies and just toss them about like rag dolls so he definitely has the strength to just win any battle. So chalk that up to a thematic choice to keep with the straight up stealth style of the game but a blunder none the less. The thing that Styx excels at is little touches that other stealh games miss out on. The biggest is accidents. Accidents don’t count against you and don’t make guards freak out and instantly start searching for a spy in their midst. Don’t get me wrong, they react, but in a realistic fashion. Worried about what happened, but not insane about it. Noise levels are handled extremely well. Knocking over broom and kicking pots is going to make some noise and get people investigating as it should.

As far as the story is concerned, let’s play a drinking game. Every time Styx has a line of dialogue where he mentions his headache, take a drink. You’ll be dead before the end of the first mission. The story is told in cutscenes and in game audio dialogue. The story does luckily pick up in the first mission but it’s presented in a weird fashion. The opening level story is told in a in-game rendered cutscene. This is followed up by in-game dialogue as you go through the mission. But after you finish a mission the wrap up, which is technically a continuation of opening story, is told with audio over paintings. It just comes off weird because it’s all part of the same scene where Styx is relaying the story so why such a huge change in style? Then we start the next mission and it’s back to cutscene.

So what does Styx add to the stealth genre? The whole game is about finding and drinking Amber to power Styx’s abilities with the main ability being that Styx can clone himself and use the clone for various activities. Most of which revolve around the clone being able to squeeze through small areas to activate doors for Styx to go through. The big problem with the clones is that only Styx or the clone can act at once. If you need to move Styx, the clone is just standing around waiting. Then you have Styx wait while the clone moves. There is no go do this while I do this other thing. The clones has 4 abilities but the best abilities are all attack oriented and this is in a non-combat oriented stealth game. This leave you with using the clone as distraction so you can sneak past. The thing that is nice is the game doesn’t count clone alerts against you for the sake of stealth. All in all the clones felt like more of a hindrance and kind of gimicky then something that helped me move forward in the game mainly because of the time it take to switch between the two. The guards would already be in the process of resetting before I could even get Styx to start to try to sneak past them.

This comes to Styx: Master of Shadows best point. Pathing. There are a multitude of ways to get from A to B in this game. There is almost always ways up, through, or under any obstacle. Some are quite obvious, but the best ones need to be scouted and discovered. Your Amber Vision points out things that can be grabbed and showcases graphical hints that certain ways may lead to collectibles or simpler travels. One of the issues with the game is Styx’s movement through these levels. Since we are going for stealth precise jumps are extremely important to the game to navigate the ledges above the enemies, Styx’s movement through the game is kind of stiff. I find myself saving quite a bit as even the slightest misstep could send you 4 levels down to either your direct death, a crowd of enemies, or just the inconvenience of having to do everything over again. When most of the best routes are above the ground it adds a false level of difficulty just based on how awful the jumping is.

Styx uses the Unreal engine for graphics and it’s presented in what I would call a dumbed down Dishonored. They have a very similar look but Dishonored was just so much crisper. Styx also suffers highly from the Stormtrooper problem. There only seems to be 4 or 5 guards models so you’ll be stabbing or sneaking past the same guy about a billion times. The lip sync on cutscenes is also just enough off to be distracting. The graphics are definitely above average, just not as clean as I’ve know the Unreal Engine can be. The levels themselves are pretty good looking and are extremely varied so although the enemies repeat, the level design is fresh.

Styx does feature a skills progression system. There are 5 categories and each category contains 4 upgrades. When you complete objectives in the game or finish a mission with special criteria, like no alerts or no deaths, you earn Skill Points. You can spend these back at your Hideout between missions to improve Styx. Things like producing less noise, using a visions ability to find collectibles or being able to do a death from above kill. You can also upgrade your clone so that he can grab enemies for you to run up and get the quick kill or even cooler is you can place a clone in a chest or closet and he will kill any enemies that happen to wonder by. Besides the 4 clone abilities they are all typical stealth skills that every single stealth game in the universe is using.

The collectibles are horrible. Each level seems to have 10 Tokens / Coins you need to find per section. These must be found in one playthough of a mission to unlock the thief insignia for that level. Until you get all the tokens in all sections of a level restarting a mission will reset your progress for that level. I’m sure people will come up with 100% stealth, no kill, get all coins videos but for your average gamer you are going to be doing a lot of playthroughs of a mission to get everything completed. Most of the coins are right next to enemies almost forcing you go on the attack if you want to get them all.

All in all Styx is a fine game and a generally good time. It simply doesn’t push the stealth genre to anything new or exciting. If you come to Styx as a Run and Gunner stealth player you’re going to have a hard time adjusting to this sneaky combat system. You’re going to die a lot. This game is set up more towards Outlast where you are punished for being seen. It is possible to escape and hide, in fact like most stealth game enemies give up pretty quick [like seriously? If you see an enemy combatant in your base you just figure you were day dreaming if you don’t catch him in 2 minutes? This is ALL stealth games], but the name of the game is stealth. If you are a pure stealth fan than it is worth the $30.

NOTE: If you are playing Styx and need help we do have an Achievement Guide right here on GameGuideCentral!

FINAL VERDICT

PROS:
1) Strong level design
2) Strong stealth mechanics

CONS:
1) Minimal enemy differences
2) Large sections of non-precise jumping

7.5
Good

Destiny – Weekly Nightfall Guide and Run Through Service

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Destiny

Schedule

We will be doing Nightfall runs tonight (10/1/14). Exact times and the Twitch feed will be updated later.

Weekly Nightfall Strike

Why do you want to do the Weekly Nightfall Strike? For one, on completion you get Radiant Light until the weekly reset. This give you bonus XP on EVERYTHING you do. This is a 20% bonus that includes Faction and straight up XP, so it really is everything. Second, competition gives you some pretty sweet rewards. Straight up Exotics, Legendaries, 9x Strange Coins, just really nice stuff. The problem is there is no matchmaking and you really need to be level 28 with a good fireteam. Well Bam and I have gotten pretty good at running it and so we are offering a service where we will run through the entire Nightfall event and then invite subscribers right before we finish the final boss. We do the work and you all get the benefits!

Weekly Nightfall Strike Service

Some rules:
1) Only subscribers of GameGuideCentral.com on YouTube will be invited.
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/savgcom/
2) This is only for people who have not completed the Nightfall this week. You get NO rewards for completing it multiple times so anyone asking for invites after already completing it that week will be banned from later Nightfalls.
3) We will be picking via random number generator. Donations are NOT required but you will get an extra slot for each dollar donated.
4) We don’t have set times for when we will be doing this. Most likely on Tuesday so people get most benefit from the extra XP.
5) You must be Live in Twitch and must be in Destiny and ready to go when your time comes.

Destiny – Iron Banner Event

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Destiny

So the dates of the first Iron Banner event are now known. Oct 7th to the 14th. So starting 1 day after the now gutted Queen’s Wrath event ends and running for just 1 week. Iron Banner is a PvP event where level advantage is ENABLED. Meaning bring your best gear and Attack and Defense ratings matter.

As with the Queen’s Wrath event the Iron Banner has it’s own set of bounties to do that add to your Iron Banner rep. Yeah! Yet another Faction to work on!

Rank 1 – 1000 (Unlocks Iron Banner Emblem and Shaders. Emblem and Shader each provide stacking 10% boosts to Iron Banner reputation gains)
Rank 2 – 3000 (Unlocks Iron Banner Class Items. Class Items provide stacking 10% boost to Iron Banner reputation gains)
Rank 3 – UNK (Unlocks Iron Banner Armor Items. Unlocks additional Iron Banner Emblems and Shaders)

WTF?

So this is the graphic on Bungie’s site about the Iron Banner event:

So why is it when I play the Iron Banner a level 2 with Green weapons is two shooting me? Any why isn’t my Exotic one hit kill on him? This is so pathetic. Go into PvE against enemies 4 levels lower that you and you DESTROY them, go against 4 levels above and you get DESTROYED. What the F is going on here? Is this seriously how they planned the Iron Banner to be?

Destiny – Xur, Agent of Nine Exotic Stock

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Destiny

10/31/2014

Hall of Guardians, by Crucible Quartermaster

NOTE: You can purchase Flight of Shadows this week for 1 Strange Coin by having Jackolyte enabled while browsing Xûr’s stock!

The Armamentarium – Titan Chest – 13 Coins

Lucky Raspberry – Chest – Hunter
339 – 439 Defense
Light +21, INT +103
Arcbolt Grenade chains further. Spawn with grenade energy.
Carry more ammo for Heavy Weapons.
Carry more ammo for Fusion Rifles.

Voidfang Vestments – Warlock Chest – 13 Coins

Patience and Time – Sniper Rifle – 17 Coins

10/24/2014

The Armamentarium – Titan Chest – 13 Coins
Crest of Alpha Lupi – Hunter Chest- 13 Coins
Voidfang Vestments – Warlock Chest – 13 Coins
Suros Regime – Auto Rifle – 23 Coins
Exotic Gloves Engram – 23 Motes of Light

10/17/2014

Xur is located on the balcony when walking to Dead Orbit / FWC

The Armamentarium – Chest – Titan

Achlyophage Symbiote – Helmet – Hunter
311 – 402 Defense
Light +21, DIS +95
Increased grenade throw distance.
Golden Gun gains one additional shot per use.
More Super energy from Grenade kills.

Light Beyond Nemesis – Helmet – Warlock

Truth – Rocket Launcher – 17 Coins

Exotic Chest Engram – 23 Motes of Light

10/10/2014

Xur is by the Speaker.

Helm of Inmost Light – Helmet – Titan
311 – 402 Defense
Light +18, STR +76
Reduce melee cooldown when you pick up an Orb.
Provides Death from Above and Headstrong for Fist of Havoc.
Increased melee attack speed.

Voidfang Vestments – Chest – Warlock

Ice Breaker (Sniper Rifle) – 17 Strange Coins

Exotic Helmet Engram – 23 Motes of Light

10/3/2014

Helm of Saint-14 – Helmet – Titan
311 – 402 Defense
Light +21, INT +89
Increased melee attack speed.
More Super energy from non-Guardian kills.
Ward of Dawn blinds enemies who enter it.

Achlyophage Symbiote – Helmet – Hunter
311 – 402 Defense
Light +21, DIS +95
Increased grenade throw distance.
Golden Gun gains one additional shot per use.
More Super energy from Grenade kills.

Sunbreakers – Gauntlets – Warlock
254 – 329 Defense
Light +21, INT +77
Increases the duration of your Solar Grenade.
Increased reload speed with Special Weapons.
Melee hits replenish Grenade energy.

Red Death – Pulse Rifle
260 – 300 Attack
Each kill heals you and speeds up reloads.
It’s easier to aim under fire using this weapon.

9/26/2014

Crest of Alpha Lupi – Chest – Titan
339 – 439 Defense
Light +21, INT +130
Revive teammates faster. Spawn more orbs.
Carry more ammo for Special Weapons.
Carry more ammo for Auto Rifles.

Knucklehead Radar – Helmet – Hunter
311 – 402 Defense
Light +21, STR +95
Grenade hits restore melee energy.
More Super energy from non-Guardian kills.
Radar remains visible while aiming Primary Weapons

Apotheosis Veil – Helmet – Warlock
311 – 402 Defense
Light +21, DIS +97
Melee hits replenish Grenade energy.
Replenish health when you pick up an Orb.
Activating your Super regenerates your health.

Suros Regime – Auto Rifle
260 – 300 Attack
The bottom half of each magazine deals bonus damage and has a chance to return health when dealing damage.
When zoomed, this weapon fires slower, but causes additional damage.

9/19/2014

Sunbreakers – Gauntlets – Warlock
254 – 329 Defense
Light +21, INT +90
Increases the duration of your Solar Grenade.
Increased reload speed with Special Weapons.
Melee hits replenish Grenade energy.

Gjallarhorn – Heavy – Rocket Launcher
260 – 300 Solar
Rounds fired from this weapon split into tracking cluster missiles upon detonation.
Shells fire from this weapon track their targets.

9/12/2014

No Back Up Plans
Mask of The Third Man

Red Death – Pulse Rifle
260 – 300 Attack
Each kill heals you and speeds up reloads.
It’s easier to aim under fire using this weapon.

Destiny: Patch Notes Analysis

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Destiny

Destiny – Update 1.0.2.3. – Patch Notes – 10/28/2014

Summary
This update makes Destiny a more stable experience for all players. We’re also changing the player experience in the Raid to ensure that the activity provides an endgame challenge that meets project goals for the intended level of difficulty.

General
Fixed an issue in which multiple errors reported with Zebra error codes
Errors previously reporting as Zebra will now display as their own separate codes
Fixed a rare issue related to being Kicked To Login repeatedly
Fixed a rare issue that resulted in a Kick To Orbit reported with the Cockatoo error code

Servers
Fixed an issue where some players would occasionally be erroneously kicked at the beginning of an activity due to a server error
Increased protection against account corruption

Raid
Fixed an issue where Atheon was not choosing random targets for teleport through the timestream during the final encounter on the Vault of Glass

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

To me this just seems like a straight up lie. There is no way that this section was supposed to be random and for a whole f-ing month it was the back three and they didn’t say a word. This is the same old BS where Bungie says, “Play the game your way”, but secretly that means only if your way is the exact 100% way we think you should play it. Throws strategy right out the window in a pathetic attempt to just make the damn thing harder for no reason what so ever.

Fixed an exploit where Atheon could be forced off his platform

More updates are to follow as we continue to support Destiny. Future enhancements being worked on include Exotic Weapon tuning, new features for voice communication between matchmade teammates, and the ability to hold more Bounties in your pocket at any time.

Destiny – Patch 1.0.1.5 (Hot Fix) and Dev Notes – 9/25/2014

OK. This is a really disappointing patch / dev notes. I am going to insert some comments along the way with my feeling.
Activities

Missions
Reduced drop rate of engrams following a hard wipe [fixed in 1.0.1.4]

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

I guess I don’t even know what they are saying here. Does this refer to the Moon farming where you kill almost all the enemies and die? So now after a wipe you get even LESS drops?

Queen’s Wrath Event
Material rewards for dismantling Queen’s Wrath gear will no longer provide ascendant materials, but missions will continue to drop Legendary items

This is a completely stupid move. The “Event” is completely and totally worthless for anyone over 24. It was already a retarded grind to do a bounty for a worthless faction just to get a ticket to get the exact same 2 items. The only reason to do any of this was for the Shards. Event is dead to me now.

World

Destinations
The Hive of the holy “Treasure Cave” have realized the futility of their endless assault on Skywatch and have retired to lick their wounds and plan their next attack.
Respawn timers for monster caves in Skywatch have been normalized to 40 seconds (increased from 6)
Respawn timers for monster caves in Forgotten Shore have been normalized to 40 seconds (increased from 10)
Respawn timers for monster caves in Ember Caves have been normalized to 40 seconds (increased from 10)
Respawn timers for monster caves in the Shattered Coast have been normalized to 40 seconds (increased from 10)
Respawn timers for monster caves in the Barrens have been normalized to 40 seconds (increased from 20)

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

I’m ok with this. Sucks for people who didn’t get to abuse it but really all my good pieces have come from other activities. The game is already an insanely stupid grind and all they are doing is dragging it out even further. All this smacks of desperation to keep people playing but then they have weekly limits on rewards. They seem to be hell bent on slow progress but hardcore players have already gotten to level 30 and the Raid have been completed in just 37 minutes less an a week after it came out.

Dev Notes

Loot

He Who Shall Not Be Named
Long ago during development, the Cryptarch decoded engrams of a given color into gear of that same color. Early in 2014 we added randomness, both for better and worse, to the decrypting process. The result was that end-of-session engram decoding got a lot more exciting and the Cryptarch himself suddenly acquired a personality. Both of these experiences were positive additions to the game.

But we didn’t adequately communicate the potential random outcomes of decryption. Players see what looks like the familiar metaphor of item identification, while the Cryptarch thinks he’s opening a grab bag of loot. Rage sharding of blues ensues. Expect to see changes to address this soon.

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

Loot drops are already rare enough and to get a Uncommon, or even worse, a Rare or Legendary for another class is absurd. This game is grind grind grind and there isn’t enough content to keep it from getting stale really fast.

Destiny: The Cave
The social experience of a cave farming run is amazing: the herding to get a team of Guardians all behind the line and firing in the right direction, the rush to grab the loot, the scramble when the panic wave starts, the beckoning glow from inside the cave. The speed at which the community organized around this activity was inspiring and humbling to us.

But shooting at a black hole for hours on end isn’t our dream for how Destiny is played. Our hope is that social engagement in public spaces is only one part of the Destiny experience. Expect changes soon which decrease the efficiency of cave farming and correspondingly increase engram drops from completing activities.

As I said in the patch notes this one I understand. I would bet money that nerfs comes before pluses though. Plus patrol is a activity and running from cave to cave while killing all the enemies seems completely in scope. Why would I run a Strike for 20 minutes to get complete CRAP? They need to VASTLY improve loot from strikes and missions if they want me to run those non-stop instead. I don’t understand why they hate caves but grinding strike is still grinding so who cares?

Reward Celebration
Growing more powerful by acquiring new upgrades, gear or progression is central to Destiny’s player experience. Our goal is to always celebrate when this occurs, both as a reward in and of itself and to communicate to players what is going on.

During development we sometimes prioritized making a system functional over celebrating its rewards, for example:
The Vault of Glass contains highly coveted loot but the actual moment of reward happens without fanfare and can be easily missed.
The lowest level of the Daily Heroic gives great XP and Reputation rewards, but neither of these progressions appears on the postgame screen.

We will slowly be addressing these and other issues going forward.

Social

Voice Communication
Our vision for Destiny is that all players, even matchmade players in the Crucible, Strikes, the Tower or public spaces, be able to communicate with one another in a way that promotes positive socialization. Voice communication is the easy answer, but existing voice paradigms, including those in our own Halo games, have not done enough to protect players from abusive griefing from a minority of players.

Destiny’s near-term solution will be to allow players to opt-in to voice communication during matchmade activities. Work on this feature was underway at launch and should be rolled out this year in Strikes and the Crucible.

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

No voice because some kids don’t like to be yelled at? Are you kidding me? Dumbest answer I have ever heard as to why there is no voice in a “SOCIAL” game.

Activities

Strikes
Strikes are intended to be a fun, combat-filled romp and stomp with a big boss and cool rewards at the end. Better with cooperation, but doable in a pick up group.

Since launch we’ve tracked down an issue which has made Strikes more challenging than originally designed by both increasing damage taken by players and decreasing the damage inflicted by players on the boss. Expect to see this addressed soon, and for Strikes to become a little less grindy as a result (sorry, Raiders – incoming damage is working as intended in the Vault of Glass).

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

There are only 4 strikes so creating any type of playlist is going to make them BORING and GRINDY. Add the random BS nature of rewards and it’s doubly bad.

Balance
Our goal when balancing Destiny is to never have one player choice– for example a choice of class or weapon– either be so much better than the alternatives that it is the only valid choice or to be so much worse that it would always be a mistake to choose. When we are successful with this kind of balance the result is a wide set of equally compelling player builds, some of which may be preferred by one player or another but none of which is an absolute right or wrong choice.

Exotic Weapons
Exotic Weapons are designed to look, feel and sound overpowered, but to not actually break the game. We hope these weapons challenge the way players think about their loadouts and expect their idiosyncrasies to sometimes be a little frustrating. We find ourselves wanting to collect them all and hope players feel the same way.

Not all our Exotic Weapons currently live up to this promise. In particular those weapons received from completing exotic bounties including Thorn and Bad Juju have disappointed many of us who have gone through the great effort to obtain them because, despite looking and sounding amazing, they feel underpowered. We’re here to offer some advice: don’t shard those guns. Their time will come.

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

Yeah. All that time and effort to get the Thorn and it kicks like a mule and takes 2 head or 3 standard shots to kill while someone with a Auto Rifle just hits dead target every shot. Worthless. Interested to see how long this change takes to see in game.

Auto Rifles
The Auto Rifle archetype is designed to appeal to players who like to throw up a wall of bullets and not worry if a few miss their target. It is intended to inflict sustained damage at close to medium range, but to lose effectiveness at longer ranges.

Today the Auto Rifle is too effective at long range, even beating Scout and Pulse Rifles in some circumstances. Expect stability and/or damage adjustments to the Auto Rifle to address this in the weeks ahead.

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

In “SOME CIRCUMSTANCES”? What are those? Where the user of the Auto Rifle is good awful at PvP? And then probably only 50% of the time.

Scout Rifles
Scout Rifles are for players who like to keep their enemies at medium range and hate to miss. They are intended to be an awkward weapon to use at close range but to be dominant– as long as you land your shots– at medium and longer ranges.

Scouts just aren’t hitting hard enough today when compared to other precision weapons. We’ll be addressing this soon.

Shotguns
Shotguns are for those situations where you need to deliver a massive spike of damage, right now, to the thing standing next to you about to do you harm.

Today shotguns are effective beyond their intended range, especially when upgraded with that intention. Expect changes soon to address shotguns which push the envelope of what it means to be close quarters.

Thank you for helping us drive these changes. Keep sharing. Keep talking. We’re watching and listening.

–Bungie

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

Just overall this is complete BS talk. Everything that helped players (Loot Cave and Queen Shards) is immediately destroyed via Hot Fix. Anything that they are talking about doing to help players is some time in the future and possibly up to a month or two.

Destiny – Patch 1.0.2 Pre-Release Notes

Cryptarch Changes 
Cayde-6 took the Cryptarch aside and showed him a sack of doorknobs. He decoded that mystery pretty quickly.
Legendary Engrams will always produce Legendary or better quality items, including Materials or Exotics
Rare Engrams will always produce Rare or better quality items
Rare engrams will have an increased chance to produce Legendary quality items

Activity Changes
Daily Heroics, Weekly Heroics, and Vanguard: Tiger Playlist activities will include Rare and Legendary Engrams in addition to their existing rewards

Item Changes
Ascendant materials have been promoted to Legendary to closer associate them with the gear they are used to upgrade
Legendary Engram items that exist in your inventory will be demoted to Rare quality when the patch goes live, so decode them while you can. But let’s be honest–even if you don’t, we all know they were blues already…

-Swaggers’ Thoughts

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES. I actually wanted to copy paste that a bout a BILLION more times. Perfect. How it should of been to begin with but amazing change. Can’t wait to see how Engrams are added to Activities.

Destiny – Queen’s Wrath Event

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Destiny

Scheduled dates are 9/23 through 10/6.

The Queen’s Emissary, Petra Venj, is in the Event area straight ahead when you get to the tower. The Queen represents a new faction called simply Queen’s Wrath. Getting to level 1 will requires you to get 1000 reputation. Reputation is earned by completing bounties which are given by the Bounty Tracker. These do not replace your standard Vanguard or Crucible bounties but are represented as a new series of 5. They have the same 24 hour timer as the other bounties so you can only do 5 Queen’s Wrath bounties per day. Every time you successfully complete a bounty you will get a Queen’s Order mission reward.

NOTE: Wearing the Queen’s Shader, Emblem and/or Class Specific Item grant bonus Faction when you turn in bounties!

Rank 1 – 1000
Rank 2 – 3000
Rank 3 – UNK (Earning Rank 3 adds new weapons options to purchase)

Each Queen’s Order Ticket allows you to do one Kill Order mission. Kill Order missions appear at the top of the line on the left side of your orbit screen when selecting a destination. These are standard missions but are rated a level 24. The easiest to do is the Earth mission Restoration. If you get a mission you don’t want to do just go to orbit. You only spend the ticket on completion. Completing these Kill Order missions awards ZERO rep but give a Queen specific Legendary Armor piece. The Tickets are turned in after winning a mission and as soon as it tells you that you have earned your Legendary you can safely go to Orbit and skip any cutscenes at the end. If you have a ticket, you get a Legendary. Anyone can join you but only players with Tickets get a Legendary.

UPDATE 9/25/2014 = Patch 1.0.1.5 – Removed getting Ascendant Shards from dismantling!
~~Even if you don’t like the gear it’s worth doing the Kill Order missions just to dismantle the Legendaries as that is guaranteed Ascendant Shards.~~

TITAN ARMOR:
Queen’s Guard Plate (Legendary) – 306-406 Defense, Light +18, Int +59, Str +65, Carry more ammo for Fusion Rifles & Scout Rifles
Queen’s Guard Helm (Legendary) – 280-372 Defense, Light +18, Int +48, Str +51, Grenade hits restore melee energy & Reduce melee cooldown when you pick up an Orb

HUNTER ARMOR:
Queen’s Guard Vest (Legendary) – 306-406 Defense, Light +18, Dis +64, Str +60, Carry more ammo for Sniper Rifle, Scout Rifle
Queen’s Guard Mask (Legendary) – 280-372 Defense, Light +18, Int +47, Str +47, Increased melee attack speed & Replenish health when you pick up an Orb.

WEAPONS:
The Supremacy – Sniper Rifle (Legendary) –

DISTRIBUTION:
Titan #1 – 4x Helm
Titan #2 – 2x Chest, 2x Helm
Hunter #1 – 1x Chest, 1x Helm

With only 2 weeks and not knowing what levels 2 and 3 are reputation wise this could be a hard faction to level up. Doing all the bounties the first day will get you to halfway to Rank 1 with 500 reputation.

Shader – Rosegold – Rank 1
Shader – Prism Dancer – Rank 3
Emblem – Queen’s Guard Crest – Rank 1
Emblem – Crown of the Sovereign – Rank 3
Class Armor – Mark of the Queen’s Guard (Titan) – Rank 2
Auto Rifle – Her Right Hand – Rank 2
Scout Rifle – Vesta Noblese – Rank 2
Hand Cannon – Merciless – Rank 2

BOUNTY	DESCRIPTION	TYPE
By Thy Hand	Defeat 20 Guardians with Hand Cannon headshots	Crucible
Her Willful Gaze	Defeat 20 Guardians with Scout Rifle headshots	Crucible
Off With Their Heads	Defeat 20 Guardians with Sniper Rifle headshots	Crucible
For Her Honor	Win 3 Crucible Matches with the Queen's Class, Emblem and Shader items equipped	Crucible
Warrior of the Reed	Defeat 50 Guardians with the Queen's Class, Emblem and Shader items equipped	Crucible
Extermination Protocol	Defeat 200 Fallen with headshots	Patrol
Face Your Fears	Defeat 3 Fallen Walkers	Patrol
No Parley	Defeat 10 Fallen Majors	Patrol
Relic Harvest - Fallen	Collect 200 Ether Drops from Fallen Enemies on any planet	Patrol
Prime Target	Defeat Sepkis Prine, deep within the Cosmodrome on Earth (The Devils' Lair)	Strike
A Perfect Strike	Complete a level 26 Vanguard Strike without dying	Strike
A Perfect Strike	Complete a level 28 playlist Strike without dying	Strike
Archon Slayer	Defeat Riksis, the Devil Archon, in the Cosmodrome on Earth (Restoration)	Story
Last Day of Winter	Defeat Draksis, Winter Kell, in the Scourge of Winter on Venus (Scourge of Winter)	Story

There are also Bounties for the first two expansions, The Dark Below & House of Wolves, so this event will come back.

Destiny – Vault of Glass Raid Guide

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Swaggers

This entry is part [part not set] of 15 in the series Destiny

Step 1 – Entrance

Need to activate and hold 3 “Sync Plates” from L 26 Praetorians so that “The Spire is forming” completes opening the vault. When you complete it you will get a “The Spire has been activated” message.

Step 2 – The Trial of Kabr

You will get a chest at the end of the cave system.

Step 3 – Templar’s Well – Defend the Confux

Starts with a large jumping parkour section. When you get to main area you just need to eliminate enemies. L 25 Fanatics spew green goo on death that needs to be cleaned in the one cleansing pool in center area if you get hit.

Step 4 – Templar’s Well – Defend the Left and Right Conflux

Split into 2 teams and you need to defend a construct from the Vex coming and sacrificing themselves. As the Vex succeed you will see “A Vex has sacrificed itself to the Right/Left Conflux”. Kill enough Vex to completed the section.

Step 5 – Templar’s Well – Destroy The Oracles

There are a total of 6 possible spawn points, 3 per side. You need to destroy the Oracles as they spawn. They appear as green glowing orbs. If you get “Marked by Oracle” you need to jump into the middle cleanse to clear it. You will earn a reward for finishing this section.

Step 6 – Templar’s Well – Kill The Templar

Someone must get the Relic. The Relic’s super removes The Templar’s shield, this locks everyone, destroy the bubble and attack The Templar. The Relic’s grenade will cleanse Guardians of Oracle marks. One person needs to get into the red telportation circle when they appear to stop Templar from re-shielding, it will turn white when you’ve cleared the circle and you can look for the next one. Templar will get “ENRAGED” causing temporary difficulty increase. Watch for “The Templar calls for its Minotaurs” also. Finishing this section will give you a reward.

Step 7 – The Gorgons’ Labyrinth

Right before starting this section double jump your way up the left side mountain to a hole and follow that some ways to a chamber with a chest. If anyone is spotted your get the “Gorgon’s Gaze” and then “A Gorgon has found its prey” and the entire Fireteam dies.

Step 8 – Vault of Glass

This is another platforming section where the platforms quickly spawn in and out and you need to be ready to go to the next one immediately.

Step 10 – Vault of Glass – Awaken the Glass Throne

First off eliminate the Gatekeeper. From the entrance you then need to activate the Timegate by capturing the Sync Plate on the right. You’ll see “A Vex Timegate is active”. 2 or so Guardians enter the Time Gate and kill the Descendant Gatekeeper and then grab the Relic. Everyone inside will be “Marked by the Void” and will have their screen slowly go blind until Cleansed by the Relic. When the Guardian who has acquired the Relic comes out a central section will activate and Minotaurs will spawn at the far top end trying to sacrifice themselves to the pillar, someone needs to stop this at all costs. The second (left) side portal must be activated and the Relic carrier needs to enter the Timegate and kill the Precusor Gatekeeper inside. A second Relic needs to be picked up and everyone needs to go back through the portal to the main area. Then wipe out the remain Minotaurs.

Step 10 – Vault of Glass – Destroy Atheon

Atheon, Time’s Conflux – Atheon will teleport the farthest Guardians to a portal area (“Atheon opens the timestream”) and the other Guardians will need to open the portal, defend it, and help the teleported team get out. Inside the portal areas all of the Oracles need to be killed. Once all the Oracles are dead the Guardian with the Relic will have Time’s Vengeance active for :30 which gives your whole team a damage buff. Keep cycling through the portals until you destroy Atheon.

Possible Final Rewards:
Chatterwhite – Shader
Atheon’s Epilogue – Auto Rifle (Bonus damage to Oracles)
“Glass Minuet” – Ship
Vision of Confluence – Scout Rifle (Bonus damage to Oracles)