Destiny 2 – The Guardian’s Guide

 

What even is Destiny 2?

“What is Destiny 2? Why am I even playing this game?”
–
Well I’m glad you asked, Guardian; So Destiny too is an MMO Looter Shooter (probably? I haven’t played it too much so I’m not sure…) made by Bungie (those cool dudes behind that funny green fella eating at the hamburger place.) a few years back; used to be a paid product before their migration to Steam on Shadowkeep’s release… Oh right I still need to really sum up the game; You’re a space man working for a big ball and you’ve gotta get anything not spaceman off your turf. As to why you’re playing? Couldn’t tell you… all I know is that I’m currently wiring all of your glimmer funds directly into one of my hundreds of offshore Accounts (Nothing Personal, Bud).

Chapter No.1- The Fallen

So like, I started off with the Fallen because they’ve got four arms (the cool ones anyway).
You ever been to Chernobyl, Ukraine? Yeah don’t, you’ll come out of there looking like one.
>Fallen

>Fallen but cool

So basically, Fallen are like Noma- they’re Roaches- cool Roaches though.
You’ll find these Skamps crawling around in just about any place that was too roughed up for the Cabal (Those still exist? eh we’ll get back to them later.) or not yet terraformed by the Vex (later I swear please hop off)

Here’s some good Examples for some prime Fallen Real Estate!

Glade of Echoes (Nessus)

Eventide Ruins (Europa)

Riis-Reborn (Europa)

Anchor of Light (Moon)

Trostland (European Dead Zone, Earth)

Mothyards (Cosmodrome, Earth)

Now you’re probably askin’: “Where’s literally every other unit?”
I’ve gotchu homie, so to start us off~!

1. The Fallen Walker Tanks: Six-Legged hunks of pure Badassery; could put those dumb Brigs to shame imo.
How do I take these things down? Well you’re going to want to prioritize the legs; knocking off the plating and causing these guys to become crippled for a hot minute. Oh you already did that? Well now you’re gonna have to aim at the section connecting the head to the body; should be glowing with excess heat, take em down!

2. The Brig: Basically what you get when you slap a Walker and a Servitor together, originally made using tech salvaged from The Black Armory. You get a nice taste of the first model in the form of Insurrection Prime, the Final Boss during the Scourge of The Past Raid. So let’s get on the quick rundown here; you’re trying to take one of the bigger fellas down and you just aren’t doing satisfying damage, what gives? Well you’re gonna want to absolutely HAMMER that tin can’s helmet until it blows off. Got it? Good, so fill that superheated cranium with all the lead and supers you’ve got! Any and every hit on the exposed zone will be a guaranteed crit so go nuts until it’s down for the count! (Oh right: Don’t get Bonked, Blown up, Zapped, etc… that stuff hurts)

A more recent release had sort of “baby” versions of em, running around Europa and dropping some pretty okay loot!

All images above have just been Insurrection Prime, so here’s a rather recent cap of some Mini-Brigs on a public event; their most common sight after the Beyond Light Campaign.

Oh right, there’s this big fella; too bad that it kinda looks like they just used the resize tool on ’em. >:V

3. The Servitor:
You’ll be seeing this ball of joy just about every other time you encounter a group of fallen; they’re a Support-type unit that can shield all of the units around them with the effectiveness of pouring concrete on a toothpick house you made in art class. This shield will render all your arms useless unless you either kill the shielded enemies with a super or decide to track down and bag the floating beach ball. For these fellas you’re gonna want to just focus on the Iris (Center-most area) of the “eye”, dealing crippling damage and also temporarily stunning them; turning off the shielding for a few seconds as it recollects itself. (Then again, it’s always funny to get them down to low health and executing them, you practically send them flying the other way in a spinning mess of shrapnel and fire.)

4. The Shank:
Well, these guys are a pretty fun bit of target practice… they’re practically oozing out of every nook and cranny in Europa… I don’t really have much to say about these guys in general to be honest. These fellas come in several variations: Wire rifle, Explode-when-near you rifle, fast rifle, and Shaniks that’s about it really; if you’re taking more than one or two shots to kill one of these guys then you may want to keep an eye out for your surroundings, your power level is showing ;3 (Or maybe you’re a bad shot, I don’t judge).

5. The Dreg:

Basically the little brother to just about all the Eliksni, these Mini-Mes run around sporting a shock pistol and a dagger; pure cannon fodder. Though they can sometimes group up and run you down with spears, those pose a smidge more of a threat if you’re not aware of your surroundings. You can easily dispatch em with Primary ammo so I wouldn’t bother using anything higher on em unless you’re in a bit of an overleveled area.

Chapter No.1.5- The Fallen 2, I ran out of Characters so hop off Edition

Here’s a continuation to the list of Fallen baddies you’ll most commonly meet out in the field!

6. The Vandal:

These guys realize that running around with dinky daggers and shock pistols are boring and unsafe, so they took the time out of their busy day to learn basic gun handling procedures. See these guys are epic because they got their arm privileges and bigger guns to shoot at pesky Guardians with!
There isn’t much of a science regarding taking em down due to just being a slightly stronger dreg; they can sport armaments ranging from medium range shock rifles to *inhale* longer-range wire rifles that strike a nerve because you’ll always get hit by a stray shot in the most inconvenient times made to accommodate just about most situations that you’ll encounter em in, so make sure to keep your head down and eyes all around you! (Oh right, there are also melee variants that will try to sneak up on you with active camo; you’ll be able to slightly spot em by their glowing eyes rushing at you or the few six inch blades already buried into your sides)

7. The “Shunkan Idō Spamming” Captain:
Hoo boy, can these guys be a handful… I’ll be leaving the painful side of these guys in my later guide (for those Lategame players) so let’s just cover the basic variants; They are by far the biggest (Common) Eliksni running around the field, holding high power status means that they get to grow to a lovely 7’0 as opposed to their 6’12 comrades and have the power to use spirit control in order to teleport in short bursts all around you while you try to get that last sliver of their health. (My recommendation? Shotgun to the face, that or anything that can delete things you don’t like)
They can come equipped with Shrapnel Cannons (shotguns but slower and with volleys), Scorch Cannons (xX_IUseAnRPGinMultiplayer_Xx), and sometimes they’ll be throwing hands at you… they hurt.

Fallen Trivia (and a special Guest~!)

1. The Fallen Don’t usually fall unless they are killed
2. The carbon emissions produced by the sudden influx of shanks (During Beyond Light’s release) caused the Darkness to eat cleaner planets (Just a theory, but backed with the evidence of triangles being literally everywhere on Europa so change my mind).
3. Fallen Ranks actually dictate the size of the unit and the amount of arms they can have. Keep an eye out next time (or reference the previous fallen Dreg and Captain from the left to the right)
4. The traveler originally came to the Fallen and they worshipped the giant Golf Ball like a god until he decided that the house was too dirty; coming over to us humies and providing the gift of light; they understandably got mad over some literal whos getting their toy so they turned to geometry and some other math words in order to worship the Darkness.
5. Taniks, the Scarred is a Fallen psychopath with no house affiliation that you’ll first encounter (In D2 anyways) as a Nightmare on the Moon. He’s been offed like two other times prior to this in the previous game.
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DING DING DING DING, IT’S A BONUS ROUND FOR TANIKS

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“But Shay, why does everyone care about this one fella?”
Good question Bud, lemme answer that for yeh: The Destiny Community is stuck in a time loop and we will relive this same painful reality for all eternity. (But no in all reality, there’s a cloak that states his bountiful amounts of replaceable organs, arms, you name it. Think of him as a Megabloks figure if anything.
But here’s the funky fella as time progresses:
The Shadow Thief (D1: House of Wolves)
Taniks, the Scarred

The Shadow Thief (D1: Iron Banner)
Taniks, Perfected

Nightmare Hunt: Isolation (Destiny 2: Shadowkeep)
Nightmare of Taniks, the Scarred

Deep Stone Crypt Raid (Destiny 2: Beyond Light)
Taniks, Reborn

Deep Stone Crypt Raid (Destiny 2: Beyond Light)
Shaniks Taniks, The Abomination

Chapter No.2- The Scorn (Who?)

Alright, let me be real with ya’ll right quick; I completely forgot that these guys existed (even with the headquarters for Season Of The Hunt being in the Tangled Shore) up until this point. I was out here thinking about what other places the Fallen live in until I thought: “Huh, weren’t there like some Amish Fallen running around at one point?”

Fast forward an hour later and it finally clicked; these fellas are literally just Ghouls that were made for Forsaken and… Forsaken. Don’t get me wrong, some of their designs are really cool and I’d love to see them in more than just two area- Everyone knows that there won’t be another Forsaken, so let’s just enjoy what we’ve still got!

Starting from the Top!
1. The Scorn Walker: (What? did you think that I wouldn’t start with the big guns first?)

Alright, i’m not exactly a fan of the whole scorn gimmick; The walker tho- that’s some good stuff right there. Lack of main turret aside, slap a Flamethrower instead of a Gatling Gun? Hoo boy you’ve got me all over it! Long story short though, slap the legs until it shows off its red-hot core and go to town from there; rinse and repeat until it is scrap!

2. The Stalker:

Right so think of a dreg but now he’s got a mallet… not much new here; just shoot em once or twice with some primary ammo.

3. The Raider:

Packing a rather strange arsenal, these ugly skamps can either shred at close range with Void Sawblades or completely decimate you with a “Crossbow” bolt through the noggin; They can also puff up into mist and negate all damage (except for finishers) while in the state.

4. The Ravager:

Bit of a weird one, innit? Where’s his head? Eh who cares, you’ll want to shoot him before he gets close! Being a Melee unit means that their main form of damage will be running at you with a lantern and slamming it into the ground, lighting everything around it ablaze. This one’s a bit of a weird one, so what you’re gonna want to do is actually aim for the Lantern; popping a round or two will actually cause it to cumbust and decimate the wielder.

5. The Wraith:

Coming at you with a face full of smoke, the Wraith is another Melee unit that doesn’t care about the six-foot rule; Sporting four tiki torches instead of the standard one, they’ll tend to try and smoke out towards you for a quick few smacks (Enough to leave you hurting hard). Got a Shotty or Breech Launcher? Yeah that should take care of em pretty quick.

6. The Lurker:

Another standard front-liner, these guys will pelt you with little torch shots and hide behind their dinner plate until you’ve had enough and leave.They will laugh at you, your dinky Special ammo merely being deflected by their tin shields; You don’t need a guide for this one, you already know what to do (Literally just shoot their feet or use any explosive in hand ♥♥♥♥ those lurkers they were a mistake).

7. The Abomination:

Hmm, this one’s actually pretty creative; Think of an ogre… But not obnoxious; Packing a lack of face and two meaty claws that serve two things: Pain and Zapping Pain. Get too close and he’ll remind you that you violated social distancing by zapping you across the room and hitting you with a good ol-one two. What do? Anything from a shotgun to a rocket launcher will easily dispatch em; Blah blah something about breaking e- what? ain’t got eyes? well this is awkward.
8. The Chieftain:

Alright, so this guy can be a handful to fight in closed spaces; Having the ability to summon these funky towers that can either Burn or Tether you on the spot (though you can shoot them out before they begin to pose an issue!), Try to keep an eye out for em and you should be good. When it comes to armaments, we’re looking at top of the line Scorn “Tech”: one big Shrapnel Cannon and them HANDS! They’ve also got this tendency to smoke out just as you’re about to put that last round in em, pretty funny.

9. The Screeb:

It’s a bomb with legs, by the time you see blue you’re probably already dead… Okay lemme flesh this one out a bit more; Screebs are basically fallen corpses that are overpumped with Dark Ether, giving them a glowy and explosive look! You can like, shoot one once or twice with a pistol and you’ll be fine, they pop like balloons so :V
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…Alright, I know there’s at least ONE guy that’s going like: But I wanna see where the Scorn live!
You know what? There really isn’t much, but that’s alright in my book:

All footage is taken in “The Hollowed Lair” Strike on the Tangled Shore.

Chapter No.3- The Cabal

Let’s see, I’ve heard these tubby fellas be called Hamsters, Dogs, Thumbs from Spy Kids, Rhinos… I’ve pretty much ran out of jokes for these guys based on how little they really do now that the Content Vault pretty much Vored the last three expansions and Raids. They’re a Militaristic race with a constant fight to lay claim to everything they can get their grubby hands on, A damn shame that they also had the IQ equivalent to the previously mentioned names.

These Boys and Girls come in three forms:
Psions (Long Boy)

Legionare (Thicc Boi)

Elder God (Calus)

1. Psions
These guys snap in half like it’s nothing; pop em like once or twice with a handcannon or Scout Rifle and you’re done. They prefer to hang in farther ranges with their high-powered rifles so you’re going to want to stay away from the lens flare in the distance. Packing void grenades that also happen to double as trampolines, you’ll need to keep an eye and ear out for these little purple ripples coming your way if behind cover; those will fling you up and you can be finished off in the air with a stray shot.

2. Legionary
These guys can pack mad heat, either waddling around with Slug Rifles (Skyburner’s Oath) or a Projection Rifle (Make this an exotic gun, thanks). Being the main unit that you’ll encounter in the upcoming season, you’ll realize that these will be the easiest to dispatch (That Psion already sees you with that sliver of health you’ve got from six miles away). Find them usually accompanied by War Dogs or… what are they called?… Okay so I had to take a moment to find one and they’re apparently called War Beasts.

3. War Beast

I mean, they’re just large dogs… punt em or somethin iunno… These mutts are a standard unit in Cabal Patrols across the system; being dropped in via Adamantium hamster balls wherever they feel you’ll stand next. Being dogs they’re a melee-based unit (What did you expect?) that hits like a truck, don’t get overwhelmed because you’ll regret it in two seconds. Method of execution? just pop em in the maw with a well-placed punch, slug, shell, bullet- you get the point; these things are near Psion and Fallen Shank level in terms of health, just don’t let em jump on ya and you’re solid! Deployed mostly as Cannon Fodder and Distractions, they’re a rather formidable nuisance if left unacknowledged.

4. Goliath Tank

See that hovercraft over there? Yeah just like, slap a few cannons and a disposable rocket launcher… NOW WE’RE TALKIN! Alright, i’m not all too excited by this tank model in all honesty, you don’t really encounter these all too much (as of this guide’s posting, i’m aware that Battlegrounds is right around the corner). How do we deal with eh? Pretty easy: shoot out each thruster around the unit and you’ll inflict guaranteed critical hits before knocking em out! Watch for those rockets as they tend to fly in a Mortat-like arc; the big ol cannon on-top that’ll effortlessly wipe you from existence (side-step it, and you’ll be fine).

5. Interceptor

Alright, so you remember the Wraiths and Ghosts from Halo? No, too young? That’s alright then; Think of them as oversized doorstops that can also hit you from down the hall. I’m talkin Ramming at high speeds, a shot of molten metal (or two if you’re unlucky) and the Physics engine thinking that you getting grazed means that you belong with your lower half clipped into the floor. Best way to get rid of these guys? Well you can always pop the driver off and take it for yourself (or you could just blast the vehicle in its entirety with a rocket launcher!).

6. Harvester/Thresher

Every faction’s gotta have some sorta dropship, right? Well it’s nothing new really; Little Red’s flying in and dropping off more baddies for you to deal with while beaning you with several pods. Coming equipped with cloak tech, you’ll see a quick pump and dump providing that you’re not within engagement range or the event is scripted. What? Your Handcannon not doing much to it? I’m not too sure as to why you want it down but since it ain’t a Guardian, i’ll let you in on a little secret: Use a Rocket Launcher and dump a few pods into em until that thing’s scrap in the field!

7. Centurion

What seems to be the Commanding Officer for most patrol units, you’ll find these guys packing Jump Jets and a Portable shield (9/10 being solar unless Bungie hates you and they throw some weird spin in). While coming down to arms, they will usually have a projection rifle due to the decimating AOE (Area of Effect) Damage it packs. Pop their shields and they’re just another Legionary.

8. Colossus

Okay, you don’t want to mess with these tanks; sporting either a nasty Railgun or a hard-hitting Slug Thrower (Minigun) that will straight rip CHUNKS out of your body, these guys are no joke. If you spot one beginning to eye you out, IMMEDIATELY have your friend run into the firing line as you get a free attempt at a kill with your newly mulched buddy as a reward. Shotguns? Check, Snipers? Check, Anything remotely powerful? Yeah that works, just rain hell on the fat bald bastard and you’re good.
“But Shay, why am I blind almost any time that I try to peek one?”
Oh right, thanks for reminding me that they fire off a volley of concussion grenades to make you stop playing the game for a few seconds; don’t get hit by those…

9. Scorpius

Play Tf2? Hate engineers in general? Now ramp up that fire rate to 200% and you’ve got a Scorpius turret. Deployed by the Cabal in points of interest to suppress enemy forces, they have the health of saran wrap but hit like an A-10 Warthog. These are easily dispatched with primary weapons, just don’t let them look at you long.

Huh? You wanna know where these boring suckers live? Erm… alright lemme go on a quick photo op:

First up, Firebase Hades! (EDZ)

Next Up, Sunken Isles (EDZ)

Watcher’s grave (Rip Levi)

Some Extras! (Inverted Spire)

The last two Units that I forgot about (and Extras!)

Yeah that’s right, I forgot about some units despite it literally being a Cabal-centered Season

10. Gladiator

Kinda weird how I forgot about this guy considering how many times i’ve been cleaved by em; these guys are strict melee only and they don’t fear closing the gap in seconds. They have the health of a small elephant and they pack the punch of a Shivering Strike Titan (A joke perk that they have is that you will never be able to finish them off with the final round in the mag, empowering them to double damage and showing you who’s the real boss around these parts). Don’t get smacked, keep your distance and you’ll be fine.

11. Phalanx

The Support unit for Cabal forces, you’ll find these guys clomping around points of interests with shields at the ready; They will immediately lock down the fort and expand their shield, unleashing a flurry of slugs down the firing line. “But Shay, how do I take down such a menacing foe?” Well it’s been a few years now, and I think I’ve got enough of a grip on the combat to successfully counter them (Though don’t worry if you don’t get it the first time); Just shoot the glowy center in the shield as it completely disables it.

12. Incendior

…13?.Dominus
“So where’s this guy? I haven’t seen this person in my time playing!” -New Lights coming in after BL’s release
Well kids… This was the Main Antagonist of Destiny 2 during the Red War Campaign. This is Dominus Ghaul, the Commander of the Red Legion (One of the truckloads of Cabal Legions in the… Series? no that doesn’t sound right… In the two games.

This guy’s bad news, wanted to take your Traveler’s light and The Speaker (Some dude from D1) was like “nah bro you gotta earn it, he doesn’t give out glitter all willy-nilly.” and Ghaul was like AAAAAAAARGH and he backhanded the Speaker; ultimately being the most lackluster death in the series in my opinion. Long story short though, Ghaul invaded the Last City and slaughtered thousands until the Guardians shoved back and he popped like a Balloon and died or something.
“How do we beat him though!?” -Some Dude
>Just forget about him, Hawthorne will praise you as if you were the one who stopped the Red Legion regardless.

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Cabal Trivia? Really? These clowns haven’t been relevant since the Almighty’s destruction back in Season of the Worthy (Props to the people that weren’t busy spamming Reddit/Twitter against Seraph Towers). Alright… with that out of the way, I can talk about something that I really enjoyed (Especially with Chosen coming right up!): Emperor Calus and his World-Eater Vessel, the Leviathan!

Just sit back and Enjoy these masterpiece-tier slides of Concept art~

The front-view of the World Eater Vessel

Embankment

The Royal Pools

The Throne Room

Alright, so now that we’ve got the glitter out of the way, let’s have a quick chat about Calus since Caiatl is already going to be on us by the time this Guide’s released. Basically, if you looked for the definition of king, you’d find his opulent mug smiling right back at you; He used to be the Emperor of the Cabal Empire until Ghaul decided to ruin the fun. Shayotet (the stumpy fellow that you may find in the cutscenes for Red War) was Calus’ long-time friend and bodyguard, only to slowly become disgusted by his comrade’s overly lavish lifestyle; Here he suddenly flipped the switch and joined Dominus in his plan to overthrow the Emperor and take the throne. Let me take 20 off it real quick though, Ghaul was originally a Gladiator… you following? Good… so he was noticed by the Emperor due to his albino skin caused by solar radiation (He was cast out as an infant into the wastes), having been deemed skilled and powerful enough to become the head of the Red Legion.
Okay, context somewhat done here… let’s get back to Calus!
So it was on a quiet right, a swift and firm siege took place upon the Palace as a thorough bloodbath ensued; Each swing and trigger pull getting Ghaul ever closer to the throne as they made it to his quarters. The Emperor asked his daughter (Caiatl) for help but she was fixated on a state of bloodshed, refusing to look weak in front of the Empire; Having the influence that he did, Calus was not executed, but put onto the Leviathan alongside countless supporters on a fixed course outside of the Universe.

Eventually, something disrupted the system and Calus was able to regain control, taking a sweet joyride through systems and devouring all sorts planets as the ship would harvest its resources. Fast forward a tiny smidge and you’ve got Savathûn back in the picture for some reason (I literally despise her she can’t even stay in her own section) tryna sway big man over here to wear this funny little crown; He’s like “nah but i’ll have one of my bathers wear it instead” and poof suddenly you’ve got an over-sized Gladiator just running around in the underbelly of the Leviathan.
“Hey what does this Guide have to do with Caiatl?”
Uh hold on, lemme see… Okay so she’s been rebuilding what basically equates to the Red Legion 2: Electric Boogaloo. (There I made the Guide relevant for Season of the Chosen woot)

Extras on Extras?

So like, a common theory was that the Leviathan was made out of… A Leviathan. Let me put it in a way that makes more sense; So you’ve got these weird land-whale things that just scoot around the Cabal planet eating everything, Calus was like “Hmm I could make a ship that just eats everything in the system with a swift drive-by” and BOOM now you know why the ship looks this way!

The Animal the Roomba was based off of

Ship Designs (Thought it’d be longer ngl)

Chapter No.4- The Vex

Come one, Come all! Welcome to the Black Garden, where the reality around you may not be quite what it seems~
Here we are at my second favorite Faction, the Vex! These robotic contraptions may look like metallic Rock’em Sockem Robots but you’d be surprised by the capabilities of these fellas; Guns, Teleportation, Reality Alteration, you name it! These guys are known for traveling and taking over through time and space itself, as the Drifter has said: “The Vex can travel through reality, what if they already won?” (a brief statement before deployment). Huh? You’re wondering as to what the Black Garden is? Well it’s the alleged “Birthplace” of the Vex; Being a sort of Mirrored reality to that of which the Traveler influences while housing The Black Heart, An Entity that seems tightly connected to the Darkness (Vex are the Darkness confirmed?).

There really isn’t much I can effectively explain besides describing them as an ever-hungry hivemind (which is really what they all are) consuming and converting everything it touches. Noticed how 99.9% of their units have glowing white spots? That my friend, is Radiolarian Fluid (otherwise known as Vex Milk by the community). The fluid being the actual “Organism” in the suit of armor is basically what controls it; don’t get it on you though, that stuff’ll try begin to slowly convert you into a Vex contraption (Such as Asher Mir, A Warlock Guardian that had his arm dunked into the Vex Milk; previously seen struggling with the turning Vex arm for control over the body prior to Beyond Light).

Ever wonder why 99.9% of Vex are absolute pushovers until you have to deal with a Wyvern? Theories span over several forums talking about how Beyond Light is the first expansion to truly introduce a Vex combat unit; you won’t find them actively trying to seek you out (unless you’re outside of their territory, of course) at most times. The Vex agenda consists of simply turning everything around them into their world, to put it simply. Everything we’ve seen so far (except for the Vault of Glass) has been a construction unit… ♥♥♥♥ the Wyverns though those guys are just pricks.

Now where they live doe?

We’re looking at some of the neater looking places due to Nessus pretty much being a Vex Planet >:v
Lunar Battlegrounds (Moon)

Asterion Abyss (Europa)

The Cistern (Nessus)

Watcher’s Grave (Nessus)

Well of Echoes (Nessus)

Vex Troopers

1. Goblin

The average working-class Vex frame, these guys are usually spotted either being dormant or scanning an area for future development; their main purpose being to handle building tasks too rough for matter transformation, the second being to keep any possible inconveniences away from said tasks. You’ll see that glowy red bit and instinctively shoot for it; Don’t, you will only set it off into a “blind” rage while the unit is still very much alive. Due to the center which houses the Radiolarian Fluid being so fragile, they’re easily dealt with by using one or two Handcannon shots (or similar armaments, I don’t judge… Punch them!)
2. Hobgoblin

Ah, the Hobgoblin… I’m not a fan of these guys in higher difficulties (not because they hit like a truck from a distance). Being assigned as wireless communicators, their main jobs are to communicate and transmit energy over long distances… Second one being to neutralize anything that could possibly pose a threat to the operation. Sporting an especially hard-hitting Line Rifle, they will easily be able to take you out in about two shots (three if you’ve got resistances). Try to prioritize them accordingly just so you don’t get kited out while dealing with Gobbos. What’s the big quirk with these? Well i’m glad you asked, shoot em once or twice without killing them and they’ll immediately enable Armor Lock and instantly regenerate their health; try to snuff em out with something moderately powerful before they do that, yeah?

3. Harpy

Mainly a scout unit, it’s job is to survey and patrol the area in order to assess the status of the land. Secondary objective? Neutralize any threats in the possible area. These weird triangles sport a laser pointer that’ll shine into your Guardian’s eye and cause them to start crying until down for the count. Pretty easy to deal with due to being in the Goblin-tier, just whip out a Pistol or Handcannon and you should be fine with one or two shots.

4. Minotaur

The Heavy framed ‘Taur, protocols state that it’s job is to conduct the heaviest lifting while in the field, making massive interdimensional Vex structures. While sporting a Void shield more often that not, it packs a devastating Torch Cannon and will easily put you out of commission while not even finishing a volley; Right, he’s also packing mad HANDS and some stomps that will have you die to the Architects more than you can say “Whether we wanted it or not, we’ve stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars.” Basically, one of the tankier units, Special ammo is suggested for these fellas.

5. Hydra

Think of the Hydra as something closer to a Combat frame though not quite. The Hydra is basically the Site Manager and will relay/assign tasks to units as needed. Seeing as how a Radiolarian core is not exposed and the unit is protected by three rotating shields, it’s pretty safe to say that these are reaching out of the simple “Builder” territory (I mean hell, have you seen those torch cannons they sport?). Obviously avoiding the projectiles, you’re going to want to target it’s glowy eye-bit as it’s going to be the only spot to really deal maximum damage; Don’t get too close though, they can emit a hard shock-wave that will pack the punch comparable to a Minotaur’s Stomp!

6. Cyclops

I can guarantee you that the only time you’ll die to one of these is when you forget about their existence. Basically oversized comm towers, Cyclopses are in charge of receiving information from the Hive Mind and relaying it further down the ranks. Their secondary objective falling under that of being a Watchtower/Gun platform. These fellas don’t move at all, instead they’ll be transmatted into a place of advantage and attempt to rain hell down below; Sporting the definition of a Heavy Cannon, one shot from one of these will instantly put you out of commission… So let’s deal with em. You’re going to want to pack your hardest punchers for this one (Explosives encouraged) and aim for the singular eye; inflict enough damage and you’ll see it go into a damaged/panicked state where it will begin to randomly fire off in shotgun-style volleys, stay away unless you want to be blown into next year. Continue to aim for the eye and you’ll have it down in no time! (Just as a heads up, the eye is the only place where one can do damage to a Cyclops, all other areas will be shrugged off with a fat immune.)

7. Wywern

Two Rotary Cannons and some smooth legs alone tell me that these things aren’t here to build. Possibly being one of the many combat units that Calus warned us about, they have a much tankier frame to execute directives with. Warp Lances (The Twin Cannons) deal massive damage from close to mid-range; get too far and the Wyvern will proceed to jump up into the air and do a Bottom Tree Striker groundpound, more than likely splattering you onto a wall. Being a rather problematic unit for lower/higher levels alike, here’s a quick rundown on how to effectively dispatch one of these robot chickens!
1. Shoot the eye until you blow off the protective plate: The Core is protected by a slab of armor on the face, gun the glowy eye and it should stun the unit, causing the plate to also fly off in the process.
2. Flank it if in a Fireteam: Despite being covered on the front, they are entirely exposed on the back, slap that core for some easy crits!
Notice: The Wyvern shields are no joke, they will straight up negate most damage unless it hits the body directly; precision will be required (Or just explosives :v)!

Chapter No.5- The Hive

So you’ve got the Lorax; that guy speaks for the trees or somethin. Now stretch out his arms and remove the eyes, you’ve got a Thrall. Sprinkle a bit of Worm-worship and you’ve got the Hive.

Basically, these bug people worship and serve the darkness; they can easily be my third favorite faction to run by lore-wise just by the Books of Sorrow alone (we’ll get back to that). So the Hive we know today started off as The Three Princesses of the Osmium Court; Aurash, Xi Ro, and Sathona. These three would eventually turn into Oryx, the Taken King, Xivu Arath, and Savathûn.
I had to turn back the dial on the lore by about sixty percent to prevent this section from turning into a whole Wiki Article; let’s give ya’ll a quick rundown of things though!

So it goes as shown below:

>Proto-Hive face near extinction-level event
>Princesses meet Worm Gods despite Leviathan (Disciple of the Traveler) warning against their actions.
>Whoops, Princesses make a pact and suddenly they’ve got larvae in em (and one’s a dude now apparently)
>Suddenly Oryx isn’t so based anymore, he’s just angry (Thanks to Savathbi-[REDACTED])
>Siblings kill each-other a few times throughout their conquest because immortality makes domestic violence be blown a bit out of the water.
>The Trio realized that they were tricked, the Worm’s hunger beginning to no longer be satisfied with the rate of bloodshed; offering their powers to Oryx to save them only to be slain by the Brother.
>Oryx sucks up all their power juice and confronts Akka, the Worm of Secrets and slaps him a few times, ultimately killing the god and sapping it’s power to call upon The Deep; Here he made the Tablets of Ruin which provided him the means to Take (Thus giving him the name, The Taken King).
>While Daddy Oryx is off studying, Savathun thinks that it’ll be funny to trick Crota into swinging his cleaver around and suddenly tears a hole into reality, bringing the Vex into their world.
>The War went on for 100 years or somethin, being enough to teach the vex the knowledge of Sword Logic.
>Oryx got angry at Crota for ripping a hole in reality, so he flung that little worm into a Vex Network.
>Time passes by…
>Boom, suddenly Crota made a few churches for his Pa (We goin back to the ship now)
And lemme see… So I accidentally dropped my notepad into the Deep while writing this so i’m gonna have to improvise… So Crota got bagged by Guardians back in D1… Oh… Looks like Oryx isn’t dead from his last encounter; guess that makes sense since he is immortal and all…

Aye bruh where they live tho?

Moon Moon Moon Moon Moon Moon Moon
Sorrow’s Harbor (Moon)

Hellmouth (Also Moon)

Jetsam of Saturn (Tangled Shore)

Skywatch (Cosmodrome)

Hive Units (What Consistency?)

1. Thrall

Aye so these guys are just that kid that would want to throw down in Highschool. That being said, they’re also that guy You snapped in half in Highschool. Pure melee units, they like to try and slap you around but have the health of a wet napkin; slap em back and watch em turn to ash!

1.5. Cursed Thrall

Punch him Punch him Punch him Punch him Punch him Punch him Okay so it’s pretty understandable that these guys are looking for warmth; Outer space can get quite cold y’know? That being said, why don’t you use that newly found solar weapon to light a fire for em? Just keep your distance, they can sometimes get angry and run at you for a more up-front Kamikaze approach (you’ll mostly die to ones that you didn’t even know you ran by when in tight areas).

2. Acolyte

Mmm, these guys are okay I guess. Standard grunt unit but they have a rather bad habit of catching me when i’m at a sliver of health. These fellas sport Shredder Rifles, Boomer Cannons, Splinters, aaaand Soulfire Rifles while bouncing in and out of cover (a nice variety); A useful way of dealing with these cautious fellows being tossing any kind of grenade into their hideout, forcing them to come out into the open… You know what to do from there.

3. Wizard

Like being able to see? Like dying to miniscule amounts of damage while your kneecaps are caved in? Come on down to literally any place that has Hive! Wizards should take priority in most fights due to their worrying CC capabilities combined to damage output; they will usually smoke you out with poisonous gas and proceed to hose you down with magic missiles until you’re a twitching mess on the floor. These Gals usually sport Solar shields so once you break through it, she’s a cardboard cutout from there.

4. Knight

Coming in from Left Field, the solo Knight that somehow takes down an entire Fireteam with three whole swings! Another unit to take caution around, Knights will usually rock Boomer cannons or just straight up charge at you with a FAT sword… Don’t get hit by any of them, they take chunks out of your weak little body. What, you though that you were the only one allowed to heal behind cover? If the Knight takes enough damage, they’ll try to call a Time Out with a smokey shield, regenerating their health to full (unless you interrupt them, of course). These guys are pretty beefy too so a Shotgun or Sniper Rifle could reduce the hassle significantly with high burst DPS.

5. Ogre

Hoo baby, I hate Ogres with a burning hot passion. Simply having them look at you for longer than a second will result in your death from eye-beam; The Hive were literally just out here like: “Hmm how are we gonna effectively get rid of enemy vehicles… A Void powerwasher! Alright slap these things everywhere that we can fit em!” (I mean hey if it works.) Get too close to these towering monstrosities though and you’ll easily find yourself turned into a cloud of red mist when those fists come down, easily the highest damage from a melee attack in the game.

6. Shrieker

Easily comparable to an Ogre when it comes to sheer damage potential, a single Shrieker will easily mow down a Fireteam if they are unprepared; A constant barrage of homing void darts will shred your health in mere seconds, whereas larger Shriekers have the Martyrdom perk and decide to drop several larger homing nukes “darts” towards the nearest Guardian. I can’t really make a joke on this thing besides it literally being a living piece of furniture so let’s more on.

Chapter No.6- The Taken

They Just Suck.

1. Vandal

Yeah I could come up with something to say here; These will easily be the highest damage-dealers in the long-range department for the Taken, Line Rifles easily 1-2 shotting you and the best you can do is duck for cover and try to take em out from a distance. I wouldn’t suggest using a Grenade Launcher against em, they seem to be the only enemy in D2 that reacts defensively to a projectile of that caliber flying at them; their way of dealing with it being their bubble shield that will negate all damage as long as it’s up (reminds me of the good days). Your best bet? Pack a Scout Rifle, Sniper, or Hand Cannon to tap em out of existence!

2. Thrall

Well besides being a teleporting mess, anything new with these guys? No, just mow em down with an SMG or something.

3. Acolyte

Pretty much the same tactic as normal Acolytes. The twist? They’ll be busy playing Team Fortress 2 with funny eyeballs (Just poke em out with like one or two Handcannon shots, should be fine for a sec) that will try and hose you down with radical-eye-beams. Their standard Shredder “rifle” has been modified to fire Arc rounds, so keep that in mind for higher-level content once you’re there!

4. Wizard

Alright, alright, these Gals can summon Shadow Thralls to try and swarm you, but you already know that you’ll chew through em in an instant. As for damage output, their Nechromatic Gaze will deal formidable amounts of damage if you take a full blast; Keep behind a wall and hit ‘er with the peek to work that shield down first (The shield will normally be Void-based).

5. Goblin

Right, so we’re looking at a Vex Goblin with a very tiny twist: They can straight make ANY unit immune to ALL damage as long as they give them the Good Ol’ Stare. You’ll usually accidentally mulch these guys in Gambit, but outside of it these can become a bit of a hassle to deal with, especially in higher-level Nightfalls. How to bag em? Any primary will do tbh, they’re squishy regardless~

6. Hobgoblin

Yeah so you remember the whole “almost every Vex is a Builder” comment? Throw that out the window and you just have an angry creature of the Abyss; Sporting a (possibly stronger) Line Rifle and homing rockets, they can be an overwhelming force on their own. Prioritize these at all costs unless you’ve got the benefit of decent cover. Due to these mostly appearing at farther ranges, a Sniper Rifle will be optimal (or Scout Rifle if you don’t mind taking a few more shots).

7. Psion

Right so you won’t really be getting sniped by these guys, you’ll instead be swarmed to hell and back due to their capabilities to duplicate whenever they please; have fun dealing with those on the Prophecy Dungeon (I know I didn’t). Quick rewind to the sniping comment though, they’ll instead be packing Slug Rifles that feel like machine guns at times; they die in a quick punch so primary ammo weapons work best to clear out the horde!

8. Phalanx

Don’t like Phalanxes? Well we’ll be supplying him with a shield that negates all incoming damage while also functioning as an “Airblast”; see you on the flip side, bucko~ (Oh right, the Slug Rifle has been swapped to inflict Arc Damage.)

9. Shadowbeast

…Not much to talk about here, just a Shadow version of a War Beast… Kick it or something…

A Class Overview? I already chose my Class!

Alright, so by now you’re probably at a Forked path (not really if you’re reading this Guide): Titan, Hunter, or Warlock? (Well maybe you’re looking for a new Class to try, in which case do keep reading!)

Well I went out on an expedition in the lands beyond the Last City in hopes of finding out what drove everyone make their choices. Here we will be covering the three main classes and their most used utility in combat (Though do keep in mind that this is a general sum-up and everyone ultimately can forge their own combat styles through builds, be creative and try some out once you’re done here!)

Log.1-An Interview With A Titan

>Alright, so what’s it like being a Titan main?
“If you’re asking me how does it feel to play titan it’s based.
It doesn’t require strategy to use but to play it properly the strategy is to learn when to power through and when to bide time while other people put in their vein of work; It’s just another DPS in an MMO where there are no tanks and 2 of the 3 classes are DPS. The only difference is the guns are just a means to an end when you play Titan; It’s to generate sparkly good boy points then you just activate disco mode and use your favorite flavor of smack things until they die.”
>I like this response. Now for the second question:
What made you choose Titan over the other two?
“I like smacking things, gun-play is destiny is good and varied but every class gets the same guns so that doesn’t factor too heavily into anything. The thing I want to do besides shoot things most of the time is to smack people really hard, I like being rewarded for braving gunfire and attacking enemies up close and personal. Sure there are smarter ways to play a game, but the smarter way isn’t always the most fun, which is why I stay away from warlock and just think hunter knife throwing feels redundant to guns.”
>And here I was about to compile every other Titan’s short response
“A rare find indeed, a literate Titan.”
>See, I had the Crayon Eater card right at my hip
“I had the Crayons at my hip.”
Titan in Interview: Windex The Totempole
(He proceeded to knock me out with a hot mallet and leave me to wake up at Twilight Gap.)

Log.2-An Interview With A Hunter

>So what’s it like being a Hunter Main?
“I think something more interesting would be to ask why I prefer hunter. Being a hunter main, well – I move around a lot. Sure, you could survive forever inside a little purple bubble or a well of radiance, but when your dodge makes enemies focus fire off of you because you straight disappear? you have an option to find cover or safely push upwards for a duration.”

“Or Golden Gun, aptly shortened to GG. Lots of damage, short time.”
“And Arc, who cares about Arc?”

“People dog on the hunter jump and all of that for being trash but that leads me to why I prefer hunter; The Scout from Team Fortress 2 has a double jump so I’m already practiced in double jumping. I don’t need to practice float movement of weird rocket boot boosts, I just- vertical movement, pure and simple. Cyberpunk has a double jump, too. So does Mario and Far Cry New Dawn, and… Need I go on?”

>Alright, Alright, Alright. So what made you choose the Hunter over the other two?
“When I installed the game and was about to play thru the tutorial, I was in a voice call with my friend who said idk hunter’s a good beginning class.”
Hunter in Interview: Redrose357
(She then proceeded to spin into nothingness as several Taken Knights proceeded to hose me down with fire.)

Log.3-An Interview with Two Warlocks

It’s been a few days out here in the Infinite Forest, I was rescued by two Warlocks that seemed to have been looking for me for a few weeks apparently… I’m never chasing after Harpies again…
We sit down near a Radiolarian Waterfall, contacting the Vanguard and confirming my recovery; I had finally snapped back to my senses: I still have to finish this Guide! So I got my Recorder going and decided to ask the Two the two killer questions:

>Hm, lemme see here… What’s it like being a Warlock main?
Warlock 1: “Being a warlock main to me feels like there is exceptional power at my fingertips, supers like Nova bomb or the arc laser (Chaos Reach) FEEL a lot more powerful than what Hunters or Titans are capable of.”

Warlock 2: “Being a Space Wizard is incredibly fun. I personally like helping my teammates with buffs like the Rifts or big damage ults the class provides. There’s a lotta diverse ways to play which makes it my favorite class.”

I stare off at the Artificial Sunset as it begins to merge with the glowing fields of grass; remembering yet again: The interview’s not over yet! Scrambling back to pop a new cassette into the recorder, I leave it right next to the two as I ask the last question.

>Y’know I forgot to ask, what made you pick Warlock over the other two classes?

Warlock 1: “I played the open Beta when Destiny was still on the Battlenet Client, and I remember getting very boring vibes from the Titan class back then. Personally I have always been more interested in the more magical style of combat that Warlocks have.”

Warlock 2: “Mostly because of the supporting capabilities; I feel like warlock is the best class to play if you like helping your team out. I tried Titan first for that exact reason but I feel like it didn’t give me the proper tools to help out my team compared to Warlocks.”

Warlock 1 in Interview: SnoipahH

Warlock 2 in Interview: Keda
(We then proceeded to play the Cowbell until the next morning.)

The Titan and Their Subclasses

Void

-Top Tree Sentinel Titan (Why do I keep killing myself with explosives in this?)
A favorite quirk of this one has to be that it comes with a handy dandy overshield if you kill anything with your melee while your ability is up; also applying a brief little buff to reload speed. Now one thing to take note on, going top tree void still allows you to do use your Sentinel Shield, but if you hold down your super cast, you will deploy your bubble (Ward of Dawn). What’s it do? Well it pretty much negates all incoming damage and provides your squad with the “Weapons of Light” Buff, thus inflicting more damage while active.

-Middle Tree Sentinel Titan (Big Brother)
What do? well when you pop your super, you will be able to guard over a much larger area; blocking all incoming and amplifying any outgoing damage from your Fireteam. (Do keep in mind that the more damage you block, the longer the super will last!)

-Bottom Tree Sentinel Titan (Haha shield go Woosh)
Do you like bonking people with shields? Do you like recharging your grenade energy if you kill a bunch of bad guys? Do you like having fun? Boy do I have the void tree for you! The big quirk in this tree is that it provides that extra shield throw and a nasty one-shot shoulder bash (for you to be THAT guy in Crucible)

Arc

-Top Tree Striker Titan (THAT guy No.2)
Starting from the Top; if you like to have a Shoulder Bash and the extra grenade, this is the tree for you. in this tree, you have 2 charges for your chosen grenade. Super is pretty effective to run around and slam the floor a bit, you’ll leave DOT AOEs just about everywhere you want; not too effective in crucible but you’ve got the one-shot Shoulder Bash to make up for it!

-Middle Tree Striker Titan (I didn’t feel like walking there anyways)
Want to be an actual Rocket? It’s in the name man: Code of The Missile, you know what you are getting yourself into and you’re ready; pop that super and slam whoever you want into next year, they won’t be able to do anything about it :v
Your funny Shoulder Bash has also been modified to be an Airborne Slam that will decimate anything in a small area (funny to use in control-style maps)

-Bottom Tree Striker Titan, The Bane of my Existence.
See that Big Baddie all the way over there? He’s laughing at you and your dinky guns. Go show him who’s boss and ramp up your damage on your way up to him! In this tree, every little bit of damage will give you a significant boost: Shield breaking, Slapping people, Crippling them, all of these things will boost your damage in your campaign for bloodlust~! One more thing though, with each kill you get during your Super, you’ll extend the duration of the timer; go ham!

Solar

-Top Tree Sunbreaker (Please stop setting everything on fire)
Ever seen a Hammer Bro and thought to yourself: “Wow I could be that someday.”? Well now you can, and it comes with extra glitter in the form of literally everyone either burning or exploding; Smacks with your melee will significantly weaken enemies and your thrown super will explode everywhere it lands. Have fun!

-Middle Tree Sunbreaker
I don’t often play Titan tbh… This guy’s my go-to though! You get some fun perks such as: A Throwing Mallet, Healing when you pick up said Mallet, and your abilities begin to damage more with each kill! (Oh right, you like also get a big ol Warhammer as your super; spin to win or smash right click like a Hive Sword, I don’t care.)(Warhammer also triggers healing on kill)(Too many parentheses are unnecessary, but this subclass is dummy fun in my book.

-Bottom Tree Sunbreaker (Area Denial Deluxe)
Want every ability you sport to leave a blazing sun-spot that can empower you and your buds while absolutely decimating the enemy? Well this is the class for you! Kills trigger healing and restore your energy while passing through sunspots begin to cut cooldowns and extend your Super!

Stasis

-Behemoth
Like Fists of Havoc? Let’s upgrade that with some nasty tracking and the ability to make glacial walls anywhere you want! Like when I mean nasty I mean “you can make a straight U-turn and smack the guy that was hiding behind a wall” kinda nasty. But yeah, you’ve also got your secondary trait in the Super that involves you inconveniencing yourself, the enemy, and your teammates with walls (You can still smash through em just fine, same goes for the other stasis subclasses, it’s just annoying to play with). What? you wanted Shoulder Bash too? Uh… I mean alright… you’ve got a block of ice in your hand that has all the traits of one swing of your Super; annoying in PvP but every class has THAT guy.

The Hunter and Their Subclasses

Solar

-Top Tree Gunslinger (Aka the High Noon)
Alright Tricky Ricky, you’re wanting to clear a room and a half with one super? No? You just missed all six of your shots on the hobgoblin standing right in front of you? That’s alright, throw an explosive knife at him! This Kit helps you land shots with your Super while also rewarding precision kills with a faster reload time for all of your teamates; help your bros out wont ya?

-Middle Tree Gunslinger (…Where’s the Gun?)
I’m just playing with ya’ll, Blade Barrage is pretty okay when it’s not just being used in PvP; You’ve learned to accidentally grab more than one knife from your fanny pack and are throwing out three in a cone formation, dealing heavy damage to anything ahead. Oh? Fella’s not dead? That’s alright! you’ll see that your dodge begins to recharge faster for each person burning. Looking for a more aggressive approach? Instantly bag that burning mofo and your knives will regen much more quickly. Now as for the Super itself, it does not include a gun whatsoever, you’re instead emptying your entire stock of knives (and more) with two swoops at anything in front of you. It’s pretty okay for the guy that likes to alternate between CC (Crowd Control) and Focus Damage!

-Bottom Tree Gunslinger (High Noon but you don’t clear the room)
Okay so you’ve only got Six Shots this time, no refunds here; You’ll instead be aiming for the soft spots on enemies to deal massive critical damage on impact. To follow up this trend, you’ll have a normal throwing knife that is instantly recharged if you get a precision kill with it! Due to this Tree rewarding accuracy, getting precision kills before popping the Super will reward you with more damage providing that you’ve got 20+ Seconds left in the buff.

Arc

-Top Tree Arcstrider (The Cycle)
Alright fellas, time to put away the fancy guns, knives, fists… I don’t know where i’m going with this one; You’ve got a stick, you’re a mad man with the stick, all you know is kill. So the perks of this Tree include: Temporarily triggering health regen and damage stacking (Up to three times), Refreshing your dodge on a melee kill, and increasing your melee range after dodging! This all plays with perfect synergy, it’s basically just a cycle between abilities; your Arc Staff also getting a lightning aftershock on hit!

-Middle Tree Arcstrider (>Star Wars Reference)
Tired of getting kited by that pesky warlock floating away? Why not start spinning that big stick of yours and deflecting all that hurt back at them! In this Tree, you get the benefits of: Having boosted Super damage on deflect, A devastating uppercut for a melee ability, and a boost of reload speed with some ability energy returned on an electrified hit; Pretty much my go-to before Beyond Light’s release~

-Bottom Tree Arcstrider (A raging ball of Blue)
Twitchy? Don’t like to sit in one place for longer than .5 seconds? With this lil Subclass, you’ve got the perks of: Run faster than the guy next to you, recharge your dodge the more you run, literally become harder to kill while dodging, AND get to regenerate ALL abilities faster in a critical state!

Void

-Top Tree Nightstalker
Tryna be all Sneeki Deeki like? Well This Tree ain- I’m just messing with ya, with the ability to turn invisible on dodge, you’ll be running through Lost Sectors in record time! Don’t you leave without me finishing up the rundown just yet! Packing an enhanced crouch/sprint speed, you’re also provided with enhanced tracking of your prey; Marking targets that are tethered by the spider web one would call the Super~ Your Super will act as a snare- It’s a Bear trap that also keeps the enemies suppressed, meaning no ability usage whatsoever! Prime Super for PvE Content. (Oh yeah, you also get a Smoke Bomb that you could use to disorient enemies, can’t forget that part!)

-Middle Tree Nightstalker
Okay so maybe you don’t like the indirect approach to taking down your foes, lemme see what I’ve got lying around here… Aha! Here we’ve got Spectral Blades, some bombs that probably violate the Geneva Convention (Poisons and Slows)… And a Finisher that will weaken enemies! You do also happen to Gain Truesight (Wallhacks) and Invisibility when getting precision kills crouched… anything else? Oh yeah, your melee range will also be extended for that quick upper hand in combat~

-Bottom Tree Nightstalker
Okay, so you’re either the guy that spams Tethers in Crucible matches or maybe you just use this skill to lock down chokes in PvE; Whatever the reasoning for using this Tree may be, It ultimately falls under just enjoying what you’ve got! So in this kit you’ve got: Multiple Shadowshot Arrows, Double Grenade effects, and you also become more Team-focused with a Smoke Grenade that can cloak both you and your teammates, provide the “Heart Of The Pack” buff (Speeds up the weapon reload speed, movement speed, recovery, and resilience), and use said allies to feed back into quickly recharging your Grenade. Running back to the Arrows though, you’re able to quickly snare an enemy and fire several others into it, dealing massive amounts of damage in each strike; Get on out there and show me what you’ve got!

Stasis

-Revenant
The talk of the town just about everywhere you go; from the Crucible to Nightfalls, the Revenant Subclass is easily my favorite one so far (Definitely not because the Darkness gave me a booty call). Want easy Crowd Control while providing heavy sustained damage anywhere an enemy walks? Come on down and join the Stasis club and get yourself an ice-cold Silence and Squall! The first Scythe thrown down will inflict an instant freeze effect over a large radius while the second one will invoke a “small” whirlwind of sub-zero temperatures, taking chunks and proceeding to slowly Re-freeze anything unlucky enough to be within range!

The Warlock and Their Subclasses

Arc

-Top Tree Stormcaller (People use this Tree?)
Oi, you tryna be a blinky Tesla coil? Want to blink around like a Void Warlock without all the fancy bits? Aight lemme give you the skinny on this one then. So starting from the Super itself, you begin to do the Running Man on the carpet and start chasing everyone down; Ramping up the damage with each kill to the point that you could probably kill a Boss unit (Oh shid right so if you’ve got all your abilities and Grenades charged, your Super will last longer while restoring you to full health, my bad~). Goin right over to Grenades though… What do your hands and that Grenade have in common? Nothing? Wrong; They’ve now both got the ability to chain lightning when hitting enemies (as for Grenades though, they’ll return energy directly based on the amount of enemies hit).

-Middle Tree Stormcaller (The closest you’ll get to a Spartan Laser)
Want to straight SNIPE enemies while being able to wipe the field? You’ll love this one then; you could pop it and disintegrate a hallway… Ooor you could go as high up as you could and wiggle your mouse around (or joystick, I don’t judge) the field; You’re also able to cancel it early in case you killed everyone or just fat-fingered! As for your melee? Here you’ve learned to fling a little lightning bolt that will go straight for a brief second… Not too entertaining compared to the main course; You do however, have a passive that’ll trigger a speed-boosting pulse when you hit critical health, A good way to get out when things get too hot~ And for the final quirk, each defeated enemy will have a chance to create little Ionic Traces; restoring the energy towards your abilities when picked up.

-Bottom Tree Stormcaller (Ain’t got a joke here, He’s just some dude)
How do I make this one sound interesting..? I’d guess that this one can appeal a bit to those Engineer mains; You can pop a Rift to get you (and your teammates) a nice little Arc buddy, firing at any enemies within view. Feeling like a Support today? Good, your Rift will actually charge up faster (And last longer) when near allies! Oh right, I should prolly get to the Super- Your melee will actually help recharge it alongside all your other abilities; Popping your Super mid-air though will actually cause you to slam down on the ground, moving on to the normal Taser Walk.

Void

-Top Tree Voidwalker (Learn to kill Taken in one hit with this simple trick!)
Want everything to explode? I’ve gotchu fam; Cook your Grenade for a harder hit to the enemy, Slap someone to recharge your Grenade… Throw it again! Killed someone with a brief slap? Hell, they’ll blow up anyways! This Super is a bit of an oddball though (You’ll want some room clearance too so watch your surroundings), here you’ll chuck a HUGE yet slow Nova Bomb at literally anyone; that thing will home towards the closest enemy, splitting off into smaller projectiles that’ll chase after stragglers. Shoot the Bomb to make it trigger early as well! What? How do you counter a homing nuke in Crucible? You could always turn a hard corner and leg it OR grab a bud or two in order to gun it down before it reaches you!

-Middle Tree Voidwalker (A callback to the days of Booty Jams)
Want to pack a short-range pocket nuke by simply cooking your Nade? How about restoring health and all other abilities on ability kills? Okay, Okay here’s this then; Your melee will be a funny little explosion… Do I need to explain as to what an explosion is? But since we got all the little appetizers out of the way, it’s time for the Main Course; Nova Warp! With this quirk, you’ll be able to teleport short distances and smash that left-click to continuously slam everything around you (hold down your attack for even higher damage)~

-Bottom Tree Voidwalker (Health Leech Deluxe)
The Go-to for Warlocks who’d like to solo activities traditionally made for Fireteams; Devour is a very useful trait that grants health regeneration on kill… What’s included on it you ask? Lemme look at my notes here… Okay so you trigger the Devour (health restore on kill) effect on: your melee, eating your Grenade, and your Super; Slapping someone with a fully charged melee will fully restore your health and trigger the Devour effect for a brief bit. You’ve got the choice of chucking that Nade, or you could treat it like a snack and apply the Devour buff to your gunfire too, there’s plenty of room for creativity here :3… Oh and last thing: Your Nova Bomb will leave an area of continuous damage on the point of impact, being a perfect Void Super for Bosses!

Solar

-Top Tree Dawnblade (Can you swing your sword, sword?)
Like Swords? Like dashing places (especially in PvP)? Boy do i’ve got the Tree for you. Your Super consists of hovering in the air while you swing flaming projectiles out of your gilded blade. This kit is mainly based around keeping you airborne, so things like your Grenades wiil actually allow you to munch on em for that extended glide and enhanced targeting while in mid-air! Now coming to your melee though, you’ll be firing out a cone of three little Magic Missiles (they hurt!) all while your glide is uninterrupted… Nothing seems to interrupt your glide with this Tree, keep your head in the clouds, Guardian! (I always seem to forget a minor tidbit with these sections, all airborne kills will extend the airborne effect provided by your Grenade while also restoring melee energy.)

-Middle Tree Dawnblade (This is a Certified Raid Classic)
Yeah so if you’re reading this Guide and you’re already Raiding, you’re already quite familiar with this class and its importance. Well of Radiance is a Super that will continuously heal and empower as long as one is within its radius… That’s it for the Super itself, empowered weapons and near immortal levels of health regen go a long way y’know? As for the Quirks here: your melee will inflict a burn effect on impact and cause you to become empowered (alongside any allies within close proximity) so don’t be afraid to try and size up to that Taken Knight! Looking to regain all of your abilities faster? Pop down any of the two Rifts and have some teammates jump into em, the recharge rate will be increased with the amount of allies currently using your Rift! Last but definitely not least, your grenade will now double as a Divine Ble- Protection (will grant instant health and overshields to yourself and Allies when walked through)… Sorry I just have Dark Souls vibes whenever I see the name.

-Bottom Tree Dawnblade (I just like swinging my Sword)
So, you want to read the intricacies of the third Dawnblade? You literally just get homing projectiles and increased Super duration on kill, not much that is new tbh… I mean your melee causes explosions on death now so that’s cool..! (Casting your Super while Airborne will cause you to decrease altitude and restore health while exploding and restoring some Super energy.)

Stasis

-Shadebinder (Get frozen from across the map, loser.)
You have a staff, you look really cool, and you freeze people. You’re become the most controversial super in the game (that’s just Stasis in general tbh) due to how trivial it is to freeze and immediately hit right click to shatter everything within a 20-mile radius… Oh and your melee is just a shard that instantly freezes enemies… Go Ham!

Vanguard Strikes

What’s a Strike you ask? Well it’s pretty much an instanced activity where you have small snippets of previous Campaign missions as replayable content; Think of higher difficulty ones as your training wheels to prepare for a Ra- Aw man, I actually cracked out laughing here- this is just another way to farm your way up for better loot. That being said, don’t be afraid of scary ol’ Ordeal over there, that’s where the money’s at~

Don’t let that discourage you from playing them though! Most of these Strikes are full of lore and tidbits that you would have otherwise missed! (Need pointers? I ain’t your guy, you can find those out yourself >:3)

Vanguard Strikes Playlist

So you’ve got the Vanilla Strikes Playlist, the F2P’s best friend in my opinion; This mode will rotate strikes on a weekly basis so you’ll keep the grind fresh and enjoyable! Tune into the notifications that try to smother your screen at each reset and you may catch what’s on this time!

Nightfall: The Ordeal

Now as for the Ordeal, this is a mode in which you will more than likely need all three expansions to fully experience tbh; this mode packs modifiers and ramped up difficulties for those who seek either a bigger challenge or more loot, GUNS, GUNS, GUNS! Do keep a close eye on the modes though, as Light levels will really begin to count as you move on up. Legend Difficulty and above will also have matchmaking disabled so do make sure to bring some friends or even drop a Fireteam Request on the Bungie Site!

Crucible (Oh god please no more Stasis)

Oh right, wrong game- let’s get back on track now!

“Enjoy yourselves, Guardians. You’ve earned it.”
~Lord Shaxx

Welcome to the Crucible!

This is a PvP focused mode in which you (and your fellow Guardians) knock knuckles with other lightbearers to hone your skills in the field; Come to settle petty disputes or just a show of force, this is the place to show off your skills (and gear)!

Let’s start it from the top, you’ve got a rather lengthy amount of modes to choose from so here goes:
-Control: It’s a 6v6 (4v4 in Comp) mode in which you fight for three points around the map; lock down all three points and you’ll activate a Power Play (The dominating team will get three points per kill while the opposing team will have to capture a point in order to earn points again.)

-Survival: This one’s a 3v3 Elimination-Style mode in which instead of dying and being down for the count right off the bat, you will subtract from the team life pool.

-Clash: A 6v6 (4v4 in Comp) TDM that will decide the winner when the timer hits zero! (Team with most points will take home the crown.)

-Supremacy: Ever played Kill Confirmed in a CoD game? Well it plays just the same; Kill baddy, baddy drops dogtag crest, pick up crest and your (Or a teamate’s) kill will be confirmed! Oh right, this is a 6v6 mode. :v

-Countdown: An Attack/Defend mode; it’s a 4v4 mode in which Guardians have to plant and guard a bomb to win the round. Defenders must protect two points; They must either defuse the Bomb or wipe the attackers in order to win the round. Attackers must blow the Bomb or wipe defenders to win the round. Winner is decided when either team makes it up to 6 Points.

–Payload Breakthrough: You’ll be capturing a neutral Breaker in a 4v4 mode and have to escort it to the Enemy Team’s Vault, in which it will turn into an Attack/Defend Scenario. If the timer runs out and the Attackers are unsuccessful at cracking the Vault, then the point will go to the Defenders; Crack through the vault though and the point will be awarded to the Attacking Team.

So that covers the Concrete Modes for Crucible, some Modes will be swapped out with Weekly and Special Event Modes accordingly!

Iron Banner

So what’s with the Grumpy Titan sulking around near the hot plate (no seriously don’t touch it.)? Well that’s Lord Saladin, think of him as a grouchier Shaxx; This is the Fella comes around every month for only a week to host… The Iron Banner… It was in the title… but yeah! This is a mode almost identical to Control, except that if all three points are captured, a “Hunt” phase runs for 25 seconds as all points are locked down and dominating kills are worth 3 points (Like Control but a bit more competitive). Once the Hunt’s all done, all three Points will revert to a Neutral state in which you will be able to capture yet again. Oh yeah, just a quick hot tip for ya: Level Advantages are enabled in this mode so you will do less damage/take more to/from enemy players if they are a higher level so keep an eye out (though the same applies to everyone else so just play the game normally tbh, gotta get those sweet bounty rewards~)!

Trials Of Osiris

No.

 

Gambit (Wait stop those were my Motes!)

Now for the segment you’ve been waiting fo-It’s in the title, you literally just read it.

GAMBIT (Not Prime because Reckoning’s gone lmao)

Alright Guardian, let’s set the scene on this PvPvE mode; you’ve got two teams of Four Guardians wanting to get the sugar triangles in the bucket before the other. Here’s the thing though, why are you stuck in a rather suspicious glass container? (Drifter’s been taking Guardians for the past three years please get out of there while you still can)

Section One: Transmat Firing!
So you’re out on the field in one of 3 areas in holding one of like god knows how many factions i’ve gotta check real quick… Okay so yeah it’s like 5 factions (Not counting Taken due to them being part of the Blockers and Primeval)… Kill em, kill em and kill em good using the tactics highlighted above; don’t be afraid to look back at your notes!

Section Two: Mote Collecting (That sweet Sugar, baby)
Alright, you’re all read up on how to effectively take down every enemy, eh? Sweet stuffs~
So you see those glowy white bits pouring out of literally anyone you kill? Collect those, you’ll want to collect enough to deposit into the big can of Monster Zero Ultra.

Here’s how the Blocker rates work:
===5 Motes: “Lil’ Jon” Small Blocker
===10 Motes: (Literally Useless) Medium Blocker
===15 Motes: Large “Big Fella” Blocker
(Two or more Blockers will drain the Enemy Team’s bank)

(A bit off script here, but it’s my personal recommendation to top off if at 10, and deposit when at 5 and a holder of 15 is near due to small blockers being able to hit players with the immune card as long as they’re alive. Medium Blockers used to be Captains that would throw a blanket over your face and absolutely merk you, not anymore tho.)

Section Three: Invading and Defending!

So you’ve deposited your motes and you see the portal open up; want to go in? Go right on ahead! Now you’re on the other team’s zone, your job is to bag as many enemy players as you can in the span of thirty seconds; take any longer and you’ll be pulled back into your zone by the time the timer hits Zero. Invading encourages a more aggressive play-style by providing you Wallhacks and an Overshield on your warp- Don’t get too cocky though or you’ll get baited out by a clever Sniper/Super.

//Defending: You Notice a trail of Red Smoke right out the corner of your eye, only to get one-shot by an enemy Xenophage/Eyes of Tomorrow… Why? Well the best answer I can give ya is that people are still stuck in the Gambit Prime mindset; Become part of the problem and use those guns to bite back Get yourself into cover and try your best to bait out with a clever shotgun pump or have your Hawkeye friend instantly flick over to the troublemaker to teach them a lesson! (Disclaimer: You WILL lose all motes if you get dropped by an AI or Enemy Guardian, so play it safe and take cover if you’re capped out at 15 motes!)

Section Four: Primeval!

Alright, you’ve got enough motes in the Bank to Summon a Primeval…Now comes the fun part~
Now we’ve got one big fella with two Envoys ready to thrash ya; you gonna let that happen? Didn’t think so. This parts pretty simple, you take down the two Envoys and a few fodder (All while minding invaders, you’ll have a few of those) right before going to town on the big guy!
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You’ve got a selection of Six Primevals to summon at random (though you may find yourself summoning one more often than the other)
These Include:
1.The Taken Chimera:

First up, Meatball! This big man will be constantly trying to hose you down with Servitor-like beams and a melee that will easily fling you into next year; chances are that you won’t last too long in punching range unless you’re using The Lament (Beyond Light Exotic). Oh right, he also seems to create these miniature blights that will negate your damage until you actually shoot em out; should only take like three or four shots with Kinetic arms so don’t bother using anything Special or higher unless you’ve got ammo to spare imo. Hose em down by aiming into the “little” gaping hole staring right at yeh- What? You’re wondering what these darts flying at you are? That’s danger bud, don’t get hit by those and you’ll be fine. (They’ll fire short burts of Axion Darts similar to the Taken Centurions)
2. The Taken Minotaur:

Alright alright alright, so this big guy’s gonna be a bit of an issue for those that don’t have the best sight; using invisibility about 70% of the time unless shot in the glowy eye bit, you’ll need to continue to stun it in order to flinch out into visibility and have an easier time tracking it (or be like some people and just shoot at whatever the guy next to you is shooting, he’s probably doing something). Repeat until satisfied and you’re good! Just do remember to keep your distance, it can still fully operate while camouflaged (including firing down and stomping).

3. The Taken Captain:

So what’s the best thing about Destiny 2? The Gunplay? Environments? Music score?
Well either way, you’ll only be able to enjoy one of those two things due to this fella constantly throwing mad shade at you; stay away from those, yeah? These projectile blights are the equivalent to getting a blanket thrown over your face, you won’t see ANYTHING for a second or three, leaving the Primeval or other little guys to hose you down in your vulnerable state. Remember Kids, aim for the glowy eye bit and you’ll be done with enough mag dumps.

4. The Taken Knight:

Wew, this guy has a special place in Hell for me, It’s an absolute bullet sponge that will either pack a mean right hook or spit some hot bars at you… these bars are fire… the joke here is that he spits fire at you, and that stuff hurts a lot. It’s a bit harder to aim for his little glowy bit due to constantly being hosed down or pelted by his boomer cannon, but strafe around and effectively use cover behind rocks and such to keep cool; that blower GPU you’ve got won’t be the only thing almost on fire otherwise.

5. The Taken Centurion:

I’ll keep it real with you, I don’t really have any beef with this one. Pretty much the standard taken enemy you’ll encounter but it’s like three times bigger (then again that’s all the primevals except for the Chimera). Let’s see… guy fires little ping pong balls that laugh at Titan barriers so that’s cool (they can leave you with 1/3 of your overall health so try to shoot them out whenever you see them); Do keep in mind that he still comes equipped with a projection rifle that decimates in an AOE (Area of Effect) so make sure to keep clear of the shots as well!

What are you doing, Step-Guardian?

Huh… didn’t think you’d be reading this far down to be honest; maybe you’re here to read some comments or to leave your own, maybe you actually read the whole thing (thanks btw) and got something out of it… Either way, I hope you enjoyed reading this Guide as much as I did Making it over the period of these few days!

Looking for a Clan, Apply here! (We’ve got weird glowing dogs, excess shanks, and the Books of Sorrow!)
Click to Join: www.bungie.net – https://www.bungie.net/en/ClanV2/Index?groupId=4192664
Want to chat it up or do Activities? Hit me up personally, I ain’t got anything better to do >:v
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Yeah that’s about it, get out of here before I take those Legendary Shards next.

This is all about Destiny 2 – The Guardian’s Guide; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!