Board Thread:Destiny Forum/@comment-25548717-20141231122011

Having discovered that the "Dark Below" DLC has introduced a new set of weapons with even higher damage values, I have decided to try and upgrade my hardware to better levels. So far I've acquired "Patience and Time" [an exotic Sniper Rifle], and I've been lucky enough to win "The Devil You Don't", a Legendary Hand Cannon, plus  "The Cure", a Legendary Rocket Launcher, since Dark Below's release...

Here are a few things I've noticed so far:-

1. Watch For The "Trade-Off"...

When I acquired "The Devil You Don't" I already had "The Devil You Know" [it's predecessor] maxed out in my inventory. In a moment of carelessness, I decided to deconstruct "The Devil You Know" in order to release some Ascendant Energy that I figured I would put towards it's replacement. Ultimately, I think that was a bad move, and I should have stayed with my original Hand Cannon. The reason? In return for a 10% increase in damage per round, the "Devil You Don't" [the "upgraded" model] significantly ​reduces     ' the number of rounds you can hold, from a baseline of 12 rounds, down to 5... On balance, the extra 7 rounds in the magazine is worth ​  ​'  far more'' than 10% more damage.

2. Be Prepared To Slog For It...

My current project is "Patience and Time" [my sniper rifle] which I am endeavouring to upgrade as quickly as possible. There are a number of techniques to this, including purchasing the telemetry unit from Xur that will acclerate the weapon's development. The thing is, there is a ​  MASSIVE difference in the amount of time it takes to upgrade the previous Legendary Sniper Rifle [and yes, OK, P&T is Exotic, not Legendary] and it's not good. Expect to have to invest a huge amount of time in this regard. A "Top Tip" for anyone facing this dilemma... Find yourself a vantage point that is close to both a "local" skirmish area, but from which you have a line-of-sight view to a location where a high-level opponent is likely to spawn on a regular basis. There is one specific location I'm thinking of, but forgive me for not sharing it - I don't want it to become flooded out with players. What you do is sit patiently waiting for your sniping targets to spawn, and pick them off with your sniper rifle. As you clear each wave, make a hasty visit to their spawning ground and loot any ammunition or engrams that get spawned. Even if you're a good shot and careful with ammo, you'll run out of secondary ammunition pretty quickly, so when that happens turn to your local skirmish area, swap to a primary weapon and go in gun blazing. As you clear this skirmish area, your targets will spawn secondary ammo cannisters... So now you can alternate between sniping and skirmishing in a way that keeps your ammo topped up. To be effective, remember to go for high level enemies. For example, don't bother sniping for Cabal Centurions, only use your sniper rifle for the Colossus... Use the Centurions as fodder for your primary weapon, and use them to spawn your secondary ammo to go after more Collossus targets... or something like that.

3. Watch For Variations...

Even with the release edition of Destiny [never mind the upgrades/patches/DLC] there has always been a subtle level of difference between a "purhcased" weapon and one that is acquired via an Engram/Win. This isn't to say that "won" hardware is inherently better, or that purchased kit is inherently worse, just that there are differences. In the latest round of weapons, purchased gear has a small marker [looks like a capital letter " i "] to denote that an item was purchased and not won. However, the key point here is that if you purchase a weapon and then win the same model, before you "dismantle" one of them, compare them very carefully and make sure you are keeping the one that you want... [ Simply equip one of them, then select the second and use the R2 controller button to compare them]. You will notice differences, and can select the one that suits your gameplay style...

On balance, I can't help but feel that Bungie, who have been shooting themselves in the foot with Destiny since it's release, have upgraded the foot-shooting hardware they are using. They have made it *much* more tedious to upgrade the new weapons, yet in 99% of cases the extra 10% of damage is simply not worth having. A good example to quote you might be when going after a clutch of Fallen with "The Devil You Don't". My particular version of this Hand Cannon is now upgraded as far as 294 damage, and it can still take 3-4 clean head-shots to kill a "House Of Kings" Vandal... Sorry, but the whole point behind upgrading a Legendary weapon is to have a one-shot-one-kill piece of hardware...

I strongly suspect that Bungie spent all their time working on the game engine and not on the "ongoing" mechanics. Now they are left with a game in which hard-core players are hitting the upper limits in a couple of weeks worth of playing, and then have nowhere to go.... 