Destiny Weekly Reset May 31st, 2016

Let’s start off with the weekly Nightfall for this week which is the Sunless Cell Strike.

Since the April update the Nightfalls have gotten a bit harder, not in terms of overall enemies or difficulty but more so in terms of Light Level. The NEW recommended Light Level for the weekly Nightfall is 320. This is due to the fact that the new max Light Level was increased to 335 with the April update. If you were already 320 before the April update, the Nightfall should be only be slightly more difficult, barely noticeable if you are 320. The problem arises if you are below 320, then you can still do it, depending on what Light Level you are, you just have to be more cautious and take your time with it.

From my personal experience every 5 Light Levels makes the biggest difference, so if you are 315 you should be able to complete the nightfall with some struggles. At 310 it becomes MUCH more difficult as you will find yourself dying more often, depending on the special perks of the nightfall. Being 320 doesn’t guarantee that the nightfall will be easier; it just means that you have more of a margin for error. Similarly being ABOVE 320 Light level and closer to the max of 335 gives you an even greater advantage for the nightfall and you should really have no trouble whatsoever doing it at those Light Levels.

With that in mind the nightfall this week isn’t the toughest strike so it should be fairly easy to complete even with 310-320 Light Levels.

The perks for this week’s Nightfall include:

Epic – As with any Nightfall, Enemies are heavily shielded and highly aggressive enemies appear in great numbers.

Berserk – Minions of the Darkness won’t flinch, even after massive damage. This one is a bit of an annoyance as you can usually stop an enemy from shooting at you by staggering them, but if they don’t flinch then they will keep on firing away at you till you are dead. This one just forces the player to play with more cation is all.

Small Arms - Primary Weapon damage is favored. This is also a really good perk as the Hung Jury dominates PvE at the moment. If you don’t have the Hung Jury then something like the Zhalo Supercell, Tlaloc or any other high impact weapon will also be almost as good. The Zhalo has a perk that chains lightning to mobs of enemies and can be useful for the boss encounter.

Chaff – Player radar is disabled. This one is not too bad as long as you have done the Strike numerous times going the right direction won’t be too much of problem. The BIGGER problem is you can’t see enemies on your radar and can quickly become surrounded if you are not paying attention or are scoped into your sniper.

Airborne - Players deal more damage while in the air. This one can be good and bad. While you CAN do more damage from the air, you are also a much easier target in the air. Luckily PvE enemies aren’t that smart or accurate enough to take advantage of this but beware of snipers and they will still pick you out of the air just as they do when you are grounded.

The Sunless Cell Strike isn’t the toughest Strike in the world but there are a few things you need to watch out for especially on Nightfall. The majority of enemies, if not all of the enemies, are Taken but can sometimes also have a few Hive enemies especially during the boss fight. With that said the most troublesome of the lot are definitely the Boomer Knights, Witches and Shriekers. The Boomer Knights hit hard and are extremely aggressive on Nightfall. The witches will attack aggressively AND keep attacking incessantly. Getting surrounded by a few knights and witches will ensure you’ll be dead in no time. The same goes for the Shriekers, whose attacks really hurt on nightfall, hence it is important to take your time and try and shoot them down from behind cover with a sniper or possibly a heavy weapons as well. A key thing to remember is that after a Shrieker dies it has an attack that follows you for some time, running away a certain distance will ensure your survival while getting hit by that attack will probably mean certain death especially on nightfall.

The boss itself is a huge Hive knight named Alak Kul and a good sniper like a 1000 Yard stare or Black Spindle would be the weapon of choice along some heavy weapons like the raid machine gun. It is easy enough to shoot the boss from a distance or from behind cover when there are no adds around but get too close to him and he will absolutely melee you in the face which is almost always a one shot kill.

Like I mentioned not the hardest nightfall by any means but certainly a few things to look out for. This Nightfall will also have an increased chance to drop a Strike specific Fusion Rifle and a Strike Specific Titan helmet which resembles the bosses head.

As far as PvP for this week, we have Inferno Rumble which is more of a solo Crucible activity unlike Iron Banner which has just ended sadly, which some people hate and some people love depending on their playstyle. Regardless of whether or not you like Rumble you should consider playing a few games or at the very least one game, in order to get your Weekly Sterling Treasure Chest.

Lord Shaxx and Petra will also have new bounties for the week so remember to check them out as well.

Since the April update, there is a new weekly activity called Challenge of Elders and the bounties and event Sigil is handed out by Variks each week. These reset on a weekly basis and will usually be different levels and bosses on a week to week bases. The bounties will also ask you to complete different tasks for each of the three bounties from week to week. The rewards for these are really good and can even go up to 335 Light Level.

Remember to collect your Sterling Treasure Chest from the postmaster as well as 1 from doing the Prison of Elders Level 41 once this week and then another Treasure Chest for doing the weekly Crucible activity.

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Xur is Here – May 27th, 2016

This week XUR is located in the reef, a place he doesn’t visit often but is seen here more frequently after the April update, maybe something to do with the new update and all the new stuff at the reef?
If you have never seen XUR on the reef before then he might be somewhat hard to find as he spawns in a section of the reef that is usually closed off and only open for his arrival.

So, Where is XUR located in the reef?

As soon as you spawn on the reef you go ahead a bit and find the first stairs on your right and go down them and you will be head towards Brother Vance (Trials guy.) Keep going past him and turn right again and keep going along till you find a small opening on the left. This is the section I mentioned is usually closed off so it won’t be hard to miss. Go into the opening and XUR is directly on your right as soon as you enter.

You can also take the stairs right beside The bounty guy which are sometimes hard to see. The stairs are located to the left of him and then all you have to do is go straight down and straight ahead through the opening I mentioned was usually closed off and XUR will be on the right as soon as you enter

What does XUR have in his inventory this week?

No Backup Plans (13 SC) – Titan Exotic Gauntlets where the main perk is: ‘Force Multiplier – Shotgun kills trigger Force Barrier and Force Barrier’s duration is increased.’ This might be one of the BEST exotic items for a defender Titan for PvE , but especially PvP. There are arguably other choices for PvE, but if you pair this up with your defender bubble and the Titan specific shotgun Immobius, I think you have a pretty deadly combo on your hands. Definitely worth the buy if you are missing this exotic.

ATS/8 Arachnid 913 SC) – Hunter exotic Helmet where the main perk is: ‘Arachnid Sensorium – Your Golden Gun zooms in for accuracy when aimed and can be kept ready for longer.’ The first part of the perk is probably only for people who have a hard time using the Golden Gun super but the increase in duration is definitely beneficial especially for PvP when chasing people down and such.

Starfire Protocol (13 SC) – Warlock Exotic Chest where the main perk is: “Starfire Protocol – Gain an additional Fusion Grenade.” I ABSOLUTELY love using fusion grenades for PvP, I find it one of the most fun this to do is stick an opponent with a grenade and watch them die regardless of what they do(most of the time anyways.) Sunsinger Warlocks have a perk that unlocks a second grenade for them but if using this Exotic for PvP, they can potentially free up to use of the other perks.

So it looks like this week’s winners are possibly the Titans, maybe for the first time in a while with decent exotics for both the Hunter AND the Warlock but one of the Better exotics for Titans. While the Starfire protocol is a really good exotic, and I am partial towards warlocks, I think the Titan Exotic for this week trumps them all.

XUR is also selling:

Bad Juju (23 SC) – Exotic Pulse Rifle where the main perk is “String of Curses – After each kill, this weapon will reload instantly and increase damage for a short time. Kills will help charge your Super.” So apart from this awesome perk the gun can also fire in FULL AUTO.  This gun also has a magazine size of 27 which is fairly decent and while all this seems really awesome, the impact on the gun really holds it back from bring a truly amazing primary. If the impact of the gun was buffed up even a bit it could be such an awesome weapon but sadly it won’t do all that well in PvP at the moment. While the gun does have its uses in PvP there are certainly other items to save your Exotic slot for. All in all this gun is not bad, it just could be so much better, if you have coins to spare it is definitely worth a try as it is still pretty fun to use in PvE.

Legacy Engram (Gauntlets) – This week’s legacy engram is an exotic gauntlets engram and probably not worth spending your coins on unless you have tons to spare and are looking to complete your year 1 collection. Getting a gauntlet you are missing in BOTH year 1 AND year 2 would be optimal but at 31 SC, you are probably better off saving your strange coins for something else. Remember too that you can get a gauntlet for any class so if you have only one character the odds are definitely against you.

If you already have most of these exotics or nothing really appeals to you, spending your Strange Coins on Three of coins is still probably your best bet.

Below is a video showing you exactly where to go when you first spawn in the Tower if my instructions at the top were a bit unclear. The video also shows the various items XUR is selling this week so you can have a look at those as well.

Overall a pretty good week for XUR, for me especially, as he ended up selling a lot of Exotics I don’t yet have. Hopefully next week he can have a repeat performance as well as bring along something like the Jade Rabbit.

Let me know if XUR bought you something you really wanted this week or if you are waiting from him to bring a specific exotic in the comments section below.

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No Trials this weekend in Destiny

That’s right you read that correctly, there is no Trials of Osiris between May 20^th – May 22^nd, this weekend in Destiny Taken King.

Why is there no trials of Osiris this week you ask?

Oh you know unlimited rockets and stuff. That’s right some pesky Destiny players found a way to exploit a Heavy Ammunition bug to earn unlimited rockets. Although I think a Crucible game mode with unlimited rockets would actually be kind of fun I don’t much like this idea for Trials and neither does Bungie apparently.

Therefore while Bungie go on the hunt for this mysterious bug/exploit, Trials will be cancelled for the foreseeable future, well at least for this weekend. Let’s just hope it’s ONLY this weekend and not next weekend as well. Another adverse consequence of this exploit is that Iron Banner will potentially be delayed till this issue has been sorted out.

This is rather annoying as Trials is one of the things I look forward to playing on a weekly basis especially in terms of End game PvP.  There will always be people who try and find bugs to exploit in the game and I personally feel that the onus should be on Bungie to just code better, in a way that limits such exploits, especially ones such as unlimited rocket ammunition.

However, I do give Bungie credit for taking swift and decisive action in recognizing a problem exists, one which I had no idea about before I heard about it, and trying to fix it as quickly as possible.

So with that in mind Brother Vance (Trials guy in the reef) will not be handing out any trials passage, trials bounties or anything trials related. I mean you can still try talking to him, but he is not much for conversation this weekend.

I guess my quest for reaching the Lighthouse for the first time ever will have to wait till next weekend.

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Xur is Here! – May 14th, 2016

Where is XUR located this week?

This week XUR is located in the Tower. He is more specifically located in the North Tower where the Speaker is located. Once you spawn at the tower you can either go straight and then left or just go left immediately and then straight into the North Tower. Once you are in the North Tower, XUR is located at the very end on your left. You go past the speaker’s entrance and you should be able to see XUR in the corner by the railing.

This week XUR’s inventory contains:

The Glasshouse (13 SC) – Exotic helmet for the Titan where the main perk is ‘Bathed in Light - Blessings of Light and Weapons of Light last longer.’ this is a really good helmet for Titan defenders especially for PvE when doing harder content such as raids or Challenge of elders and especially solo’ing things, as this makes your Titan defender buffs last longer which incidentally IS one of the Titan defender perks so you can now use something else and essentially have two perks.

Khepri’s Sting (13 SC) – Exotic gauntlets for the Hunter where the main perk is ‘Touch of Venom – Gain invisibility after crouching in place for a short time. Melee attacking an enemy from behind while invisible delivers 4x damage. Melee attacks apply a lingering damage effect.’ This is one of the coolest exotics for Hunters, especially hunters playing the Nightstalker subclass as they can be all ninjalike even more so now. This is one of the exotics that makes the Hunter really feel and play like the Hunter class was meant to be played. This exotic can be decent for PvE but there are much better ones out there, but definitely a really good option for PvP even for trials and more so for those camping snipers out there.

Sunbreakers (13 SC) – Gauntlets for the warlock and its major perk is ‘Helium Cycle – Increases the duration of your Solar Grenade while gaining an additional Solar Grenade charge’ This is quite possibly one of the BEST exotics for warlocks, well only for Sunsinger warlocks obviously. Not only do you get an extra Solar grenade but ALSO they last longer which is like getting 2 perks for the price of one so that means that you can now essentially spec into all three of the perks in the last column for the Sunsinger, which is especially godly for PvE. As if the Sunsinger warlocks weren’t overpowered enough, this just makes them even better in my opinion.

So it looks like this week’s winners are possibly the warlocks (again) with decent exotics for both the Titan AND the Hunter but one of the Better exotics for Warlocks. This week however, was MUCH closer as the hunter exotic is great for PvP and the Titan exotic is awesome for PvE defender Titans. I just happen to be biased towards warlocks but generally a great week from XUR for everyone.

Xur is also selling:

Universal Remote – Exotic Shotgun which is an extremely unique weapon. The main perk for this shotgun is ‘Universal Remote – Range and precision damage increases greatly while aiming down the sights’ But wait that’s not all, this is a rare Special weapon that can actually be equipped as your Primary Weapon, so you could essentially have 2 shotguns. While this might not be the most practical for PvP, it could definitely be something worth trying for PvE, especially for people who love using shotguns.  I have not used this gun myself so I have no idea how effective this gun would be overall. I doubt its effectiveness for nightfalls and such but definitely worth a try though as well as a good one to add to your collection.

Legacy Engram (Chest) – This week’s legacy engram is an exotic chest engram and probably not worth spending your strange coins on unless you have tons to spare and are looking to complete your year 1 collection. Getting a chest piece you are missing in BOTH year 1 AND year 2 would be optimal but at 31 SC, you are probably better off saving your strange coins for something else. Remember too that you can get a chest piece for any class so if you have only one character the odds are definitely against you.

If you already have most of these exotics or nothing really appeals to you, spending your Strange Coins on Three of coins is still probably your best bet.

Below is a video showing you exactly where to go when you first spawn in the Tower if my instructions at the top were a bit unclear. The video also shows the various items XUR is selling this week so you can have a look at those as well.

Overall a pretty good week for XUR, for me especially, as he ended up selling a lot of Exotics I don’t yet have. Hopefully next week he can have a repeat performance as well and bring along something like the Jade Rabbit.

Let me know if XUR bought you something you really wanted this week or if you are waiting from him to bring a specific exotic in the comments section below.

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Destiny Weekly Reset May 17th, 2016

Let’s start off with the weekly Nightfall for this week which is the Bond Brothers Strike.

Since the April update the Nightfalls have gotten a bit harder, not in terms of overall enemies or difficulty but more so in terms of Light Level requirement. The NEW recommended Light Level for the weekly Nightfall is 320. This is due to the fact that the new max Light Level was increased to 335 with the April update. If you were already 320 before the April update, the Nightfall should be only be slightly more difficult, barely noticeable if you are 320. The problem arises if you are below 320, then you can still do it, depending on what Light Level you are, you just have to be more cautious and take your time with it.

From my personal experience every 5 Light Levels makes the biggest difference, so if you are 315 you should be able to complete the nightfall with a few struggles. At 310 it becomes MUCH more difficult as you will find yourself dying more often, depending on the special perks of the nightfall. Being 320 doesn’t guarantee that the nightfall will be easier; it just means that you have more of a margin for error. Similarly being ABOVE 320 Light level and closer to the max of 335 gives you an even greater advantage for the nightfall and you should really have no trouble whatsoever doing it at those Light Levels.

With that in mind, the nightfall this week is one of the more challenging strikes so it might be harder to complete it with 310-320 Light Levels. It’s not impossible, it might just take you slightly longer and you would have to play more conservatively and have a proper game plan. Those who are above 320 Light level however should not have any major problems.

The perks for this week’s Nightfall include:

Epic – As with any Nightfall, enemies are heavily shielded and highly aggressive enemies appear in great numbers.

Arc Burn – Arc Damage from any source is greatly increased. Think Zhalo Supercell or Bolt Caster the Exotic Sword. A 1000 Yard Stare with Arc burn would be really helpful as well. Warlock Stormcallers are probably the most effective of the Arc subclasses for this one but the Titan’s Striker and Hunter’s Bladedancer can be decent as well.

Juggler – No ammo drops for your equipped weapon. This one is especially annoying for Bond brothers, but the bright side is you see a lot of Heavy and secondary ammo drops when using your primary and vice versa.

Ironclad – More enemies have shields. This just means even more of those annoying Psions will have shields and be harder to kill.

Catapult – Grenade recharge rate is greatly increased. This is a blessing especially for Bond brothers as you can use all the help you can get. Sunsinger warlocks can have a field day with this one but remember this week’s Nightfall favors Arc damage so see what will suit you best, the double grenades with revive OR the Stormcaller subclass. Try using exotics that give an additional grenade for Titans such as the Armamentarium and max out Discipline to take full advantage of this perk.

The Shield (BOND) Brother Strike is one of the most challenging, if not the MOST challenging Strike in Destiny Taken King and there are a few things you need to watch out for especially on Nightfall. Most of the Strike is fairly straightforward and can be completed with little to no problems. It is just the final part of the Strike with the boss or bosses encounter that is somewhat challenging.

The majority of enemies, if not all of the enemies, are Cabal with very few taken enemies throughout the Strike. With that said, the most troublesome of the lot are definitely the Psions, Centurions because of their shields and Colossi because they have missiles and a machine guns. The Colossus hit hard and are extremely aggressive on Nightfall as they will more than likely chase you down while firing missiles at you. The Psions will shoot at you when you are far away or in the air and although they are fairly easy to kill, be mindful of their ground attack as it is devastating and usually a one hit kill if you are a lower light Level. Getting surrounded by Psions and other enemies will ensure you’ll be dead in no time. The sheer number of enemies that spawn for this strike is one of the reasons that make it so challenging. Another factor is that there aren’t many places to hide or take cover behind and you have to constantly stay on the move because of the way the bosses fight.

The game plan should be to take out the most dangerous of the adds first and leave everyone who is not an immediate threat for later. I usually start with the Colossi and any shielded enemies and then leave the Psions for cleanup. Save your heavy and Supers primarily for the adds and use your Primary and Sniper for the bosses.

This Nightfall boss encounter is unique in the sense that is actually has two bosses that take turns coming out and engaging you, until the very end of the strike when they both come out at once along with some adds and that’s when things really get challenging. The trick is to do as much damage to the bosses BEFORE the final phase. So when they come out individually use a good sniper like a 1000 Yard stare or Black Spindle and do as much DPS as possible. You can’t actually kill them during this phase as after they take a certain amount of damage they automatically retreat and are immune to further damage, but what most people miss is you can get a few extra shots in as they are retreating as well. This way when they both come out at the end they are severely weakened and you can finish at least one of them off relatively quickly. Keeping them both alive at the end for a long time with loads of health will just make your job that much harder.

The first boss that comes out to greet you is Valus Mau’ual, an enormous Cabal, even as far as Cabals go he’s HUGE. His game plan is to charge at you head on and punch you in the face, which is usually a one shot kill if you are below 320 Light Level. Now usually you are supposed to run around to avoid his melee to the face, but there are a few game plans that make this encounter much easier. One plan would be to climb atop one the pillars in the room and just snipe/shoot him from there. This works fine until the adds show up and then you are in the open, atop the pillars, and you make a very easy target. 

The better plan is to let Valus ,au’ual run out and then just jump and stand near the door he comes out from. For some reason if you stand there he just does not charge at you, broken game mechanics I guess. By doing this you can safely shoot him much better with a sniper without fear of getting pummeled in the face. This spot is also especially helpful when the adds come, as there are a few boxes you can duck behind and shoot them from and they spawn on the other side of the room so you have ample of time to shoot them before they reach you. One thing to remember with this method is that after all the adds have been dealt with and Valus Mau’ual has lost enough health he will then retreat, which means he will head to this door which he came from, so at this point he CAN and most often WILL attack you as he is retreating. So as soon as you see the prompt that he is retreating you know it’s time to get out of that spot and into the room to wait for the next phase.

After Valus Mau’ual retreats, Valus Tlu’urn, his brother arrives to take care of business. This guy is a bit annoying to deal with as he fires projectiles into the air to ensure you are always moving around and unlike is dumbass brother, he will attack that spot by the door where you were hiding before so that’s a no go. Thankfully he seems slightly easier to deal with, than his brother, as he is not constantly charging at you and his projectiles are easy enough to avoid as there is a big blue circle on the ground where he is about to attack, so just don’t stand in the circle. The problem occurs when the adds for this phase come, because now you have to deal with the adds as well as avoid the shots and there isn’t a suitable place for cover because you can’t stay in one place too long or risk taking a rocket to the face. This is where heavy weapons and/or your super will come in handy, so you can clear the adds with relative ease and then just focus on the boss until he retreats as well. Again remember that you can get a few shots in to this boss as well while he is retreating. After the second boss retreats it’s time for the final phase.

For the last phase BOTH the brothers come out at once, BUT Valus Mau’ual comes out slightly before his brother so if you did enough damage to him during the first phase then he should only have about a quarter of his health left, if not less. The best thing to do is snipe him as soon as he comes out from the door for the final phase. Use everything possible at your disposal to kill him as quickly as possible as he’s the most problematic. As soon as you are done killing him or even before, adds should spawn again, so if you have any heavy or supers left use them to clear the adds. Then all you are left with is a weakened Valus Tlu’urn and you can just take your time finishing him off.

There are obviously many ways to approach this Strike and the boss encounter, but I found that using a good high-impact sniper is a MUST, especially for the Tank that shows up in the middle of the strike as well as for the boss encounter. The Raid machine gun is my heavy of choice or sometimes the Exotic Sword depending on whether I’m using the Black Spindle or not. Either are good choices and the Solar Exotic sword has a devastating upper cut and the Arc exotic sword has a good ranged attack to deal with adds.

Like I mentioned, one of the more challenging Nightfalls, but with a solid game plan it is definitely doable even at lower light levels.This is one of the strikes that drops some strike specific Legendary gear, one of them being Mau’ual’s Maulers which are gauntlets for the Titan and look extremely cool, similar to Valus Mau’ual arms. This strike also has a chance to drop Treads Upon Stars but that is not specific to this striker but rather can be found in ANY Cabal Strike.

Weekly PvP: This week the weekly PvP mode is Zone Control, one of my personal favorites. You ONLY get points for capturing zone and not actual kills. This game mode I found was an especially good place to get the sword kills for the Exotic Sword quest as most people will be more focused on capturing zones and you can just ambush them. You should play a few games or at the very least one game, in order to get your weekly Sterling Treasure Chest.

Lord Shaxx and Petra will also have new bounties for the week so remember to pick them up as well.

Since the April update, there is a new weekly activity called Challenge of Elders and the bounties and event Sigil that is handed out by Variks each week. These reset on a weekly basis and will usually be different levels and bosses on a week to week bases. The bounties will also ask you to complete different tasks for each of the three bounties from week to week.

Remember to collect your Sterling Treasure Chest from the postmaster as well as 1 from doing the Prison of Elders Level 41 once this week and then another Treasure Chest for doing the weekly Crucible activity like I mentioned earlier.

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Xur is Here! – May 13th, 2016

Where is XUR located this week?

This week XUR is located in the Tower. He is standing right opposite Lord Shaxx (the crucible guy) in the tower. When you spawn at the Tower, go straight ahead and head down the first set of stairs. Once you are at past the first set of stairs, turn right or left and straight down another set of stairs. Once you get to the bottom of the stairs you should be able to see XUR to your left, directly opposite Lord Shaxx who will be on your right.

This week XUR’s inventory contains:

Twilight Garrison (13 SC) – Exotic Chest for Titans where the main perk is ‘Tactical Air Support – Press circle, circle while airborne to evade.’ Much like the shade step of Hunter Nightstalkers except in the Air. Not the greatest exotic for Titans but definitely one of the more fun ones that can be really helpful in certain situations. If you have the Strange Coins to spare I would definitely suggest picking one up and trying it out.

Achlyophage Symbiote (13 SC) – Exotic Helmet for the Hunter where the main perk is ‘Last Man Standing - Golden Gun gains one additional shot per use. I can see this helmet being really useful for PvP and even some PvE encounters. Again, not the greatest hunter exotic in the world but pretty decent especially for Gunslingers.

The Stag (13 SC) – Helmet for the warlock and its major perk is 'Doe or Die - once per life your super charges really fast if all your teammates are dead and a chance to spawn with an overshield.' I can see this helmet being really useful for PvP, especially in Trials or 3v3 Skirmish, but there are probably better exotics out there for PvE depending on what subclass you are playing.

So it looks like this week’s winners are possibly the warlocks (again) with decent exotics for both the Titan AND the Hunter but one of the Better exotics for Warlocks. Heavy Weapon is the weapon of choice this week, sadly no Jade Rabbit yet.

Xur is also selling:

Super Good Advice – Exotic Heavy Weapon Machine Gun where the perk is ‘Super Good Advice – Missed shots may be returned to the magazine. Landed shots may be replaced in the magazine from your reserves.’ This was one of the best Year one machine guns if not the best. It is still pretty good and add to that the crowd control perk it’s pretty decent for PvE. But since the Taken King expansion, the Raid machine gun seems to outperform most other machine guns in PvP and sometimes even in PvE depending on the enemies you are facing. Definitely worth a try though as well as a good one to add to your collection.

Legacy Engram (Helmets) – This week’s legacy engram is an exotic helmet engram and probably not worth spending your coins on unless you have tons to spare and are looking to complete your year 1 collection. Getting a helmet you are missing in BOTH year 1 AND year 2 would be optimal but at 31 SC, you are probably better off saving your strange coins for something else.

If you already have most of these exotics or nothing really appeals to you, spending your Strange Coins on Three of coins is still probably your best bet.

Below is a video showing you exactly where to go when you first spawn in the Tower if my instructions at the top were a bit unclear. The video also shows the various items XUR is selling this week so you can have a look at those as well.

Overall not a great week for XUR again, especially for me, as he ended up selling a lot of Exotics I already own. Hopefully next week he can sell some of the newly released Year 1 Exotics after the April Update or possibly the Jade Rabbit.

Let me know if XUR bought you something you really wanted this week or if you are waiting from him to bring a specific exotic in the comments section below.

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How to get the Fabian Strategy in Destiny Taken King

First of all WHAT is the Fabian Strategy?

The Fabian Strategy is an Exotic Auto rifle that can only be obtained and equipped by Titans. This Exotic Auto rifle was made available via The Taken King expansion.

What makes the Fabian Strategy special?

It has a perk that is very unique. The perk is called ‘Front Lines– This weapon has better handling, stability and rate of fire when enemies are close.’ I know what you are thinking, this sound very similar to the Warlocks Tlaloc but that’s where the similarities end I’m afraid. BUT this gun does also come with Crowd control – Kills with this weapon grant bonus damage for a short time and Life support – Kills with this weapon while critically wounded have a chance to start regenerating health. Individually these perks don’t sound all that great or exotic enough, but all three, when combined together could make this a very good Auto rifle, at least for certain situations in PvE.

So, How to get the Fabian Strategy quest in The Taken King?

Step 1 –

In order to get the quest for the Auto rifle you will need to rank up with the gunsmith to Rank 3 on your Titan. You rank up with the gunsmith by ‘testing’ weapons for him each week. You can only test a maximum of 5 weapons a week for 250 experience each weapon. The other way to get gunsmith experience is by finding an ingame item (maximum of 4 items that start with DVALIN) that drops from random kills in the game. This means that to get to Rank 3 could take you at least 3 weeks because of the weekly limit and rest. The gunsmith resets on Wednesdays so plan accordingly.

Step 2 –

Now as soon as you reach Rank 3 with your Titan you will receive a quest from the gunsmith to obtain the Fabian Strategy Exotic Auto Rifle. The gunsmith will hand out a quest called ‘Back in the Saddle’ which is a fairly straightforward quest similar to the one you received at Rank 2 for the Legendary Shotgun Immobius. Speaking of the Immobius, you HAVE to complete that quest in order to receive the Fabian Strategy Exotic quest at Rank 3, so if you reach Rank 3 with the gunsmith with your Titan and do NOT receive the ‘Back in the Saddle’ quest that may be the reason why. Therefore it is important to do the ‘Back in the Saddle’ quest at Rank 2 for the Immobius FIRST. If you need help on how to get the Immobius Shotgun then click here.

Once you have the ‘Back in the Saddle’ quest for Rank 3 all you need to do is get 100 kills with any Auto rifle, while having a Primary weapons Telemetry active. You can buy a Primary-weapons telemetry for 250 glimmer from the gunsmith. It is a consumable that increases your Auto rifle experience gained while active and lasts 30 minutes. Now you don’t actually need to buy a Telemetry if you have a Titan mark that has a similar perk which is ‘increase Auto Rifle reputation gains’ and the Titan mark perk doesn’t expire after 30 minutes although 30 minutes is more than enough time to get the required number of kills. The easiest way to do this is to load an easy story mission that has lots of enemies running at you OR earth patrol and then make your way around shooting everything in sight. Now I just got this quest on my Titan and I know for a fact that using a Titan mark instead of Telemetry works just fine.

Step 3 –

Once you have the required number of kills with a Telemetry active OR a Titan mark with a similar perk, then you have to talk to the gunsmith in the Tower again. Once you talk to him he will give you another task to complete.

Step 4 –

This is the continuation of the ‘Back in the Saddle’ quest and now Banshee-44, the gunsmith, wants you to dismantle weapons in order to gather weapons parts to make the gun. He needs 10 weapon parts in total. **Just a reminder that ONLY dismantling rare or Legendary AUTO Rifles will count towards the weapon parts Banshee- 44 needs.**

Dismantling a Rare Auto rifle gives you 2 weapon parts towards the quest and dismantling a legendary Auto rifle gives you 5 weapons parts towards the quest. YEAR 1 Auto rifles also DO count, in case you have some lying around in your vault. This part was a bit tricky for me as I didn’t have many auto rifles lying around, so if you plan on doing this quest keep a few rare or legendary auto rifles that you plan on dismantling anyways, handy for this quest.

But again this part of the quest is relatively easy and straightforward to do and once you have the 10 required parts (check the quest objectives to make sure you have 10/10) then go and talk to Banshee-44, the gunsmith again.

Step 5 –

The final step is to talk to Banshee-44, the gunsmith for one final time where he will finally give you your Exotic Auto Rifle Fabian Strategy.

Step 6 –

Enjoy wrecking your opponents with your newly acquired Exotic Auto Rifle.

As a final note I would like to say that this Auto rifle isn’t the greatest auto rifle in The Taken King or anything like that as there are definitely other options out there like the Doctrine of passing for PvP and then something like the Zhalo Supercell for PvE.

Im not a big fan of Auto rifles in general as I tend to use mostly Scout rifles in BOTH PvE(Hung Jury) and PvP(MIDA) so I might be a little biased when I say that the Fabian Strategy seems like less than an exotic gun and from what little time I spent using it there are certainly much better options out there. One such option would be the Doctrine of passing because at least it has an insane fire rate with somewhat bearable recoil when fully upgraded. It also has a massive clip as well as carried ammo capacity. To add to that the Doctrine of Passing is not an Exotic thus freeing up your Exotic slot for something better.
I would however recommend that you at least upgrade the gun fully and try it out to see how well you do with it in both PvP and PvE as this might become your new favorite primary exotic weapon.

That brings me to my next point, you can ONLY use this Auto rifle as a Titan regardless of the Titan subclass, which also means that you can ONLY get the quest for this gun from the gunsmith AS a Titan. If you reach Rank 3 with the gunsmith as, say a hunter or Warlock, you will receive a similar quest but for different weapons, an Exotic Hand Canon and an Exotic Scout Rifle respectively, I believe. Just something to keep in mind when trying to Rank up with the gunsmith.

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How to get Stillpiercer in Destiny Taken King

First of all WHAT is Stillpiercer?

Stillpiercer is a Legendary Sniper rifle that can only be obtained and equipped by Hunters. This Sniper rifle was made available via The Taken King expansion.

What makes the Stillpiercer special?

It has a perk that is very unique. The perk is call ‘Self Spotter’ and it sounds fancy but all it is, is ‘Increased radar resolution when this weapon is equipped’ which is basically the Keen Scout perk from the Hunter Nightstalker subclass but without the Hunted debuff. It gives you the enhanced radar which basically breaks up the radar into smaller portions exactly like from the Keen Scout perk and it also marks chests and materials as well. Pretty interesting perk and could come in handy if you are using other Hunter subclasses besides Nightstalker and even if you are using Nightstalker, its frees up the slot so you could use another perk such as Shadestep instead. The Sniper rifle comes standard with Void burn. 

So, How to get the Stillpiercer in The Taken King?

Step 1 –

In order to get the quest for the sniper rifle you will need to rank up with the gunsmith to Rank 2 on your Hunter. You rank up with the gunsmith by ‘testing’ weapons for him each week. You can only test a maximum of 5 weapons a week for 250 experience each weapon. The other way to get gunsmith experience is by finding an ingame item (maximum of 4 items that start with DVALIN) that drops from random kills in the game. This means that to get to Rank 2 will take you at least 2 weeks because of the weekly limit and reset. The gunsmith resets on Wednesdays so plan accordingly.

Step 2 –

Now as soon as you reach Rank 2 with your Hunter you will receive a quest from the gunsmith to obtain the Stillpiercer Sniper rifle.

The gunsmith hands out a quest called ‘Back in the Saddle’ which is a fairly straightforward quest.

All this step requires you to do is get 75 kills with ANY sniper rifle, while having a special weapons Telemetry active. You can buy a special-weapon telemetry for 250 glimmer from the gunsmith. It is a consumable that increases your sniper experience gained while active and lasts 30 minutes. Now you don’t actually need to buy a Telemetry if you have a Hunter Cloak that has a similar perk which is ‘increase sniper rifle reputation gains’ and the bonus is that, the Hunter cloak perk doesn’t expire after 30 minutes, although 30 minutes is more than enough time to get the required number of kills. The easiest way to do this is to load an easy story mission that has lots of enemies running at you OR earth patrol and then make your way around shooting everything in sight. Now I just got this quest on my Hunter and I know for a fact that using a Hunter cloak instead of a Special weapons Telemetry works just fine.

Step 3 – 

Once you have the required number of kills with a Telemetry active OR a Hunter cloak with a similar perk, then you have to talk to the gunsmith in the Tower again. Once you talk to him he will give you another task to complete.

Step 4 –

This is the continuation of the ‘Back in the Saddle’ quest and now Banshee-44, the gunsmith, wants you to dismantle weapons in order to gather weapons parts to make the gun. He needs 10 weapon parts in total. **Just a reminder that ONLY dismantling rare or Legendary SNIPER RIFLES will count towards the weapon parts Banshee- 44 needs.**

Dismantling a rare sniper rifle gives you 2 weapon parts towards the quest and dismantling a legendary sniper rifle gives you 5 weapons parts towards the quest. YEAR 1 sniper rifles also DO count, in case you have some lying around in your vault. This part was a bit tricky for me as I didn’t have many sniper rifles lying around so if you plan on doing this quest keep a few rare or legendary sniper rifles that you plan on dismantling anyways, handy for this quest.

But again this part of the quest is relatively easy and straightforward to do and once you have the 10 required parts (check the quest objectives to make sure you have 10/10) then go and talk to Banshee-44, the gunsmith again.

Step 5 –

The final step is to talk to Banshee-44, the gunsmith for one final time where he will finally give you your Legendary sniper rifle Stillpiercer.

Step 6 –

Enjoy picking things off from a distance with your newly acquired sniper rifle Stillpiercer.

As a final note I would like to say that this sniper rifle isn’t the greatest sniper rifle in The Taken King or anything like that, It’s not a BAD sniper rifle by any means, but there are definitely better options out there. One of the reason getting this quest done is important is because it is a mandatory step in acquiring the class specific exotic weapon quest from the gunsmith at Rank 3. The perk of the gun is also quite useful at times and like I mentioned before, can free up another perk to be used instead of the Keen Scout perk. The impact of the sniper isn’t as much as say a 1000 yard stare or Black Spindle for example but it is good enough for most things in PvE and while the Black Spindle certainly is a beastly gun in situations where Solar burn is more effective or against bosses, the Stillpiercer will ensure you save your exotic slot for something more exciting.

That brings me to my next point you can ONLY use this sniper rifle as a Hunter regardless of the Hunter subclass, which also means that you can ONLY get the quest for this gun from the gunsmith AS a Hunter. If you reach Rank 2 with the gunsmith as, say a Warlock or Titan, you will receive a similar quest but for different weapons, a fusion rifle and a shotgun respectively, I believe. Just something to keep in mind when trying to Rank up with the gunsmith.

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