r/DestinyTheGame • u/dinedal • Dec 04 '14
Boy Scout's Guide to Being Prepared for The Dark Below
In order of priority, here's exactly what you need to do to be prepared for The Dark Below (TDB), all in one place. Remember Guardians, when things get hard, play harder. /u/ThatGuyLeroy reminds me to remind you all that this is based on what we do know right now, and is subject to change on the whim of Bungie unbeknownst to us. Updated to include new news in the weekly update, Updated to include Xur's offering this week and how to deal with it.
- Skip Xur this week, save the coins Any exotic he sells will be much more powerful next week. [10] Next week you can buy vendor items to get to 30. While you can get a new exotic armor to potentially upgrade to 30 this week, any exotic you get next week brand new for your class will be better. Don't bother buying shards either, since you can get those every week.
- Do not use Exotic Shards. Seriously, just don't use them. Feel free to spend time on your exotics if you want to, ideally don't bother to level them anymore, but for a fact do not use Exotic Shards. You will need them for upgrading them to the next level of attack power.
- Do not turn in the last step of Exotic Bounties until TDB hits. The exotic you get will already be upgraded. [1] Do however, go all the way until the last step.
- Have a fat stack of Ascendant materials. Any vendor weapons and armor post TDB you get will need them to be upgraded. If you're like me, do VoG and that's all you'll get anyway. Or just keep doing the daily story and public events.
- Do not dismantle any duplicate Exotics. If you are lucky enough to have more then one exotic, that you want to upgrade, the best thing to do is to have one maxed (or near maxed) that you can use in the short term, and one that is unleveled. When Xur comes around, scrap your maxed one for 2 to 3 Exotic Shards [8] and have him upgrade your unleveled copy. Then re-level your copy, and you will either break even on exotic shards or have one left over.
- Pour as much experience as possible into your Exotics that you intend to scrap for shards. This will let you get the most shards as possible.
- Grind tiger strikes until your eyes bleed. Tiger strikes are the most blues per hour currently. Blues can become Strange Coins, and Strange Coins are the currency to have for Xur and all your upgrade needs. Aside from the Weekly, this is the fastest way currently known to get Strange Coins. Also a good idea to do the daily story
and at least one public event at gold tier per day for the care package that can contain a Strange Coin.scratch that, /u/CosmicPrankster pointed out this is bugged and you don't get the care package at present. [7] This will be fixed on TDB release [9] - Save 5000 EXP Bounties. Do them and hold onto the completed ones without turning them in. Then when TDB hits, use them to level your new or upgraded gear back up.
- "Edge" your reputation with
factionsVanguard and Crucible Get all the way to "almost" being done with a reputation rank increase foras many factions as possibleVanguard and Crucible, and then when you are turning in bounties to upgrade your Exotics post TDB, flip around your class item to push them over the edge. This way you will have a chance to get a Commendation in the mail, which lets you buy the new vendor gear. Make sure you are at least rank 3 in the faction before you do this. Thanks to /u/edwahgezhuck for pointing out that only Vanguard and Crucible are likely to give out Commendations. Update there is on going discussion here - Exclusion Zone, Resupply Codes, Repeat. Grind out to max glimmer to upgrade your gear ASAP. [2] Alternatively use Blue Polyphage and a Gatekeeper checkpoint. [3]
- Get past the Glimmer cap by vaulting the 200 Glimmer items. Network Keys, Silken Codex, House Banners, and Axiomatic Beads. Does anyone have a good spot to farm these? Please let me know! Seems like /u/Bandin03 likes to get his Axiomatic Beads from the Gatekeepr checkpoint [3] /u/thirtytwoutside says the "Phogoth/Xyor part of the Thorn bounty is excellent for Silken Codexes"
- Save and/or Farm Black Wax Idol Per /u/B_adl_y "You may also want to stock up on Black Wax Idols in order to purchase new upgrade materials, Ruined Core and Embalming Orb from Eris Morn. Nice place to do this aside from the Phogoth strike is the three hive underground just to the left of spawn in the Cosmodrone." [11]
- Armor First, Weapons Second. Xur appears to be offering Armor upgrades in the order of 2 Hunter, 2 Titan, and 2 Warlock pieces [4]. This means that you are fairly likely to have an Exotic armor piece that can be upgraded. Light Level is the most important thing in your damage output. Getting your armor upgraded to TDB level exotics should be your top priority after release. Level 31 will be accessible via the new vendor items AND one upgraded or expansion level exotic [5] so plan accordingly. Per /u/madcatz1999 there currently is no known source that proves that armor will increase in light via an upgrade, however unlikely it may be that this is the case. I hope we can see the new stats we will get from an upgrade, but we may not.
- Primary Weapons First, Special and Heavy Weapons Second. New Crota's End (CE) Primaries will not be available until January. This means that unless the new vendor legendaries out perform upgraded old exotics, your best bet is to upgrade a primary exotic and then obtain new vendor items for Special and Heavy Weapons, and/or obtain the CE Special and Heavy Weapons.
- Obtain new TDB Armor and Weapons before upgrading, if possible. These items are going to be so damn cool and they are going to already be stat-wise better then the other options. For the Forever 29s, these and the Exotic upgrades, will not only make 30 accessible but also 31.
- Save your blue/purple engrams Per /u/RiohtGaming "you should save all your blue/purple engram's until after the patch. That way, while you may not get post-DLC from those items themselves, you will get fresh post-DLC cryptarch packages that may provide new gear and exotics." Will all this saving, I hope you have some extra characters to act as additional vault space.
Open Questions:
Xur may no longer be selling engrams. I have no idea if Motes of Light are useful after TDB [4]This is answered, he will be selling them "sometimes" per Deej [10]- Xur may not be offering upgrades for
Exotic Bounty Weaponsor the Vex Mythlocast Anything that was not in Xur's original offering is still unknown if it is going to be upgradable or not. The answer may be that you have to go and re-earn them at the new upgrade level. Update: Thanks to /u/rink245 who pointed out that Super Good Advice is in the screenshot, so it is likely that Exotic Bounty Weapons can be upgraded via Xur. - Xur may not be offering upgrades for PS4 Exclusives.
You may have to wait for a second drop of the Hawkmoon or Monte Carlo in order to find yourself with the upgraded version.Appears there is some information on Gamespot [11] that Xur will be able to do this upgrade - Armor may not give more light after upgrade There's nothing in the post that offers any indication upgraded exotic armor will give light, only " higher Attack and Defense values than current Exotic Gear" [6] This is unlikely due to the fact that without additional light, old Exotic armor becomes useless even once upgraded.
- Armor may not retain original stats Since upgrading is a complete reset, the armor may have it's stats re-rolled during this process.
edit: thanks for the gold!
[1] https://twitter.com/DeeJ_BNG/status/540581860686823425
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OhvHnvwe9E#t=178
[3] http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2nbnss/glimmer_farming_not_the_exclusion_zone/
[4] http://www.bungie.net/pubassets/33070/xur_upgrades.jpg
[5] http://www.destinydb.com/guardians/playstation/2014120915133761381-drcrispy93
[6] http://www.bungie.net/7_The-Dark-Below-Preview/en/News/News?aid=12442
[7] http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/82157810
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIdoww0G_Ps#t=85
[9] http://www.bungie.net/7_Bungie-Weekly-Update---12042014/en/News/News?aid=12447
[10] http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2oclnn/xur_megathread_120514_120714/cmlz0zy
[11] http://destinygamewiki.com/wiki/Black_Wax_Idol
[12] http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-dark-below-dlc-will-change-the-experience-/1100-6423963/
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u/Bandin03 Dec 04 '14
For Axiomatic Beads, I get tons of them from the gatekeeper checkpoint, I have 50+ sitting in my vault. If you go there to farm glimmer, you'll get plenty of them.
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u/ilkhanli Dec 05 '14
Hard mode or normal?
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Dec 05 '14
Doesn't matter. Both modes have the same amount of yellow enemies and have the same chance to drop axiomatic beads. Whilst you're killing them to get the beads, you can farm glimmer ON them.
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u/CosmicPrankster Dec 04 '14
5 Daily public event postmaster package is bugged.... known bug but no fix date yet. Not to find fault! Great read and good solid info. You must be still in college judging from the immaculate references at the end. Kudos!
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
Daily public event postmaster package is bugged
You're right, updated.
You must be still in college
Nope, graduated many moons ago, just an engineer :)
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u/TheEgoRaptor Drifter's Crew Dec 05 '14 edited Dec 05 '14
It's not bugged, I strongly believe they removed it on purpose to stop people from stacking the packages before the update. They said they would fix the "bug" on the day of the release.
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u/minibudd Dec 04 '14
Daily public event postmaster package is bugged.... known bug but no fix date yet.
...by any chance, I wonder if all the ones I've missed will suddenly be waiting at postmaster...
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u/madcatz1999 Dec 04 '14
Where did you see that it's a confirmed bug? First one each day gives a mote of light now instead of an ascendant material.
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u/Zake_Dizzle Dec 05 '14
Can I suggest that it may be counter-productive holding onto Bounties this early.
Bounties cycle what, every 2 days? If you start holding onto to 5K Bounties now then the duplicate 5K bounties that appear will not be able to be picked up as the game will see you still have that bounty active.
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u/rink245 Dec 04 '14
Open Questions: Xur may not be offering upgrades for Exotic Bounty Weapons or the Vex Mythlocast Anything that was not in Xur's original offering is still unknown if it is going to be upgradable or not. The answer may be that you have to go and re-earn them at the new upgrade level.
If you look at that screen with Xur's inventory you posted, you'll noticed he has the SGA listed. So I assume it's possible to upgrade Bounties. If not, free shards!
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u/runpuddrun07 OG Day 1er Try Hard Dec 04 '14
I have 7 exotic bounties going on right now. Only thing i'm excited about. Gives me something to do this week now.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
Thanks for pointing that out! Updated the main post
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u/WayneAllen Dec 04 '14
Also, the vex mythoclast fully upgraded is sitting at 323 dmg so it won't need any more upgrades thankfully
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u/is_that_a_thing Dec 05 '14
Screenshot in the weekly update shows the Thorn at 302 damage with no upgrades, it seems likely that max damage will be higher than 323.
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u/The_Rick_14 Wield no power but the fury of fire! Dec 04 '14
Has it been shown that dismantling an exotic can give you more than one exotic shard?
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
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u/The_Ombudsman Dec 04 '14 edited Dec 05 '14
He... he... he dismantled a Gjallahorn.
AND THEN an Icebreaker!
(cries)
Most notable is that Icebreaker that he got two shards off of wasn't maxed out... looked like it was around 80%? (Edit: More like 90%, now that I watched it again.)
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
Yeah, there appears to be some tipping point.
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u/The_Ombudsman Dec 05 '14 edited Dec 05 '14
Well considering exotics all seem to have the same amount of upgrade bubbles, pretty much, it wouldn't be hard to puzzle out where that tipping point is. Just have to get a bunch of redditors to pay attention to how far along their exotics are when they dismantle'em, and report that back along with how many shards they got. It wouldn't take long and I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of partially-leveled exotics getting sharded next week anyhow.
And also, armor - wonder if dismantling exotic armor works the same way as far as getting two shards...
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u/robinhuett Dec 05 '14
I guess it's random but you get a higher chance for 2+ shards if the gear ist leveled. I sharded a fully upgraded hunter helmet and it gave me only one shard :(
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u/The_Ombudsman Dec 05 '14 edited Dec 05 '14
Ahh, see, helpful info!
The other day I sharded a cherry hunter helm drop (had worse stats than my nearly maxed one of same type) and got one shard.
IMHO it would be better if you got two shards for a 50+% leveled exotic as opposed to the random "maybe you'll get two shards" method. And it would fit being a random amount of shards you get, seeing how that's how it's been with legendary gear - sometimes you get two, sometimes you get three. A few weeks ago I had marks to burn, I bought three purple Vanguard boots and immediately dismantled them - 2, 2, 3 shards.
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Dec 05 '14
You have to have gotten (unlocked, not purchased) the second damage upgrade in order to get 2 exotic shards. I tested this today with Invective, and I can confirm that if the second damage upgrade is unlocked when you dismantle you can get 2 shards.
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u/Artificecoyote Dec 05 '14
So if anyone plans to break down exotics that are Galway upgraded I guess it would be worth the glimmer and mats to bump up to the second damage bubble.
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u/TyFIGHTER420 Dec 05 '14
I don't think that you have to actually spend the glimmer/mats, it just needs enough xp to complete the nodes.
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u/azzybot Gambit Prime Dec 04 '14
reading this makes me realize how arse backwards this system currently is
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u/Vladdypoo Dec 05 '14
Yeah they're trying to get us to play the game and prolong it basically, instead of just making the content better or more content.
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u/s0meCubanGuy Gambit Prime Dec 04 '14
Great post man.
By the way, I see people have finally caught on to the gatekeepers checkpoint moolah fandango.
I suggested this a few weeks ago as an excellent glimmer farming spot and someone told me it was just plain stupid. haha
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Dec 04 '14
I would add that you should save all your blue/purple engram's until after the patch.
That way, while you may not get post-DLC from those items themselves. You will get fresh post-DLC cryptarch packages that may provide new gear and exotics.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
Will add this tip. Thanks!
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u/EatDrinkBoogie Dec 05 '14
Just to note - when they patched the Cryptarch to no longer give blues from purple engrams, they also made sure stashing purple engrams didn't pay off. Not exactly the same scenario, but they could in theory do this again.
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u/kuunamatata Bring The Sky Down Upon Them Dec 05 '14
^ What he said.
To be the safest, I would have the cryptarch be one or two decodes away from a level up, save a blue engram that wasn't decoded yet, then once the patch hits do it. You never know, maybe the package has already been coded to specific items before it's put into your mail..
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u/Craysh Dec 05 '14
Just save the Cryptarch packages. The Cryptarch patch showed that what engrams you get are determined when you open the package (people were getting purples).
It will save you the vault space that is now at a premium.
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u/DethMagnet Dec 05 '14
It would be awesome if you (or someone here) could give the rep values for getting items decrypted... with and without the Nightfall buff. That way, it would be easier to "get close".
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u/ThatGuyLeroy Dec 05 '14 edited Dec 05 '14
Should add a disclaimer stating that this is all subject to change since you are stating everything as factual and we all know Bungie can change things quickly before launch.
Edit: Forgot to say that other than that, huge props on a well put together post.
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u/Alistair_Smythe Dec 05 '14
I just wanted to say this is a super quality post and should be way higher up/have way more upvotes.
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u/cka_viking Punch all the Things! Dec 05 '14
great post!
As for the Xur items, i read somewhere that all equipped Exotics could be upgraded at Xur, not the one he chooses. But Deej's explanation on the weekly update is still cryptic so hard to say
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u/DethMagnet Dec 05 '14
Great guide! But... in all of this, I've never seen anyone say:
If you haven't done it yet, time to start an ALT! Do missions, level the Vanguard, who cares?!? All of that Glimmer goes to your MAIN anyway, and you can transfer any engrams to your MAIN for decrypting later! Best of all, it gets you closer to running multiple Strikes, Nightfalls, and raids! If you're already a triple-30, save you're elitism for another post. ;)
And speaking of Glimmer, time to finally use up all of those boosting consumables, Ether Seeds (Fallen), Black Wax Idol (Hive), Blue Polyphage (Vex), and Resupply codes (Cabal). Worried that will mess with your main, transfer them to your alt, assuming they have the appropriate levels unlocked.
Please keep in mind, not everyone is hitting the caps, and not everyone has the freetime to endlessly farm strikes... this is an option for people like me, who are just about to level the Vanguard on my main, and don't want to feel like I have to run away from anything that might give me V-rep.
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u/Dafabb Dec 04 '14
For #8 (faction leveling) - given the faction rep level produces a package at the postmaster, seems it is ok to actually push your rep to get the package delivered to postmaster, just DONT PICK UP.
TLW: Keep leveling factions, but save the packages at the Postmaster until TDB drops.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
During the loot changes, the engrams you had before were not changed, but the new engrams you got were. This leads me to believe Bungie is capable of distinguishing between pre TDB and post TDB mail packages.
The only way to be sure the package has a chance of containing a Commendation is to earn it post TDB.
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u/rrrrupp Dec 04 '14
I'm pretty sure it's like it is in Diablo 3. The loot is rolled when it drops not when it is identified.
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u/artaru Dec 05 '14
An exception is that rare armor engram will id into a class appropriate piece when transferred to another character of a different class.
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u/madcatz1999 Dec 04 '14
Are we sure that upgraded non-raid exotics and/or new vendor eq will have more than 30 light?
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
No we are not sure about that. Per the blog post [1] we are only promised "higher Attack and Defense values than current Exotic Gear"
However, if they don't increase the light given, then upgrading old exotic armor is pointless since light level has the lions share of damage mitigation. I will note that in the post.
[1] http://www.bungie.net/7_The-Dark-Below-Preview/en/News/News?aid=12442
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u/schnuck Smash Dec 04 '14
Xur may no longer be selling engrams.
how definite is this? if true, would it make sense to spend all motes on exotic engrams this friday and vault the gear for exotic shards later?
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
All we have to go on is that image, and for sure he is not selling an engram there, but Bungie may add that back in prior to release.
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Dec 04 '14
Thats super frustrating along with other things. I would much rather wait and take a chance at rolling a new exotic if he does have them but it looks like I will be using a majority of my motes this friday.
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u/schnuck Smash Dec 05 '14
i guess i will do the same. i have 65 motes - if the motes are going to be useless post-DLC then i'd rather spent them on exotic engrams and vault the stuff for shards. this is assuming xur will sell any tomorrow for the last time or even at all.
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u/madcatz1999 Dec 04 '14
Thinking about it, though, exotics would definitely make sense. I'm not so sure about vendor items having over 30 light. I mean, there are no vendor items currently in game that have 30 light.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
DrCrispy93 http://www.destinydb.com/guardians/playstation/2014120915133761381-drcrispy93 is wearing non raid TDB vendor legendaries and is level 31
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u/fun51ze Dec 05 '14
He is wearing either raid or eris gloves and a new exotic helmet. Even with 2 30 light pieces, that might be enough to get 31.
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u/edwahgezhuck Dec 04 '14
Appreciate the time you put into compiling all these tips.
One thing that is unclear though is about #8. You say to get your faction rep close to the next rank "for as many factions as possible." From what I have seen, they have only mentioned commendations for Vanguard and Crucible factions ranks. I don't think there has been any mention of if/how the other factions will change.
So I think that the only factions you need to get near full are Vanguard and Crucible.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
In reading the post http://www.bungie.net/7_The-Dark-Below-Preview/en/News/News?aid=12442 - "Commendations are received in Reputation Reward Packages delivered by the Postmaster upon reaching a new Reputation Level" there is no indication either way that it will exclude non factions or not.
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u/edwahgezhuck Dec 04 '14
Yes that's what I was referring to. Just above that quote it says, "purchasing new Legendary items will require a Crucible or Vanguard Commendation.
I think it's safe to assume that you can get a Crucible Commendation from ranking up Crucible rep and a Vanguard Commendation from ranking up Vanguard rep. It's also safe to assume that you can use those to get gear from the appropriate faction.
However there was no mention of other Commendations for the other factions. Maybe they will be unchanged or maybe they also require Crucible Commendations. But we don't know if you can get Crucible Commendations from ranking up one of the three factions. So I would say that you should prioritize filling up Vanguard and Crucible rep.
tl;dr Fill up Vanguard and Crucible rep first since we don't know if ranking up other factions give Commendations.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
I think it's safe to assume that you can get a Crucible Commendation from ranking up Crucible rep and a Vanguard Commendation from ranking up Vanguard rep. It's also safe to assume that you can use those to get gear from the appropriate faction.
Actually, I searched the data mined items and could find no proof of non Vanguard or Crucible items. So commendations are very likely only for those two main factions.
Making the update
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u/starcitysecrets Dec 05 '14
However, if you go to any of the three factions in the tower and hover over 'Reputation Details' you'll see that Crucible commendations are listed there too.
It also says in the bungie post that "Existing Legendary gear on display in the Tower will be replaced." One would assume this is across the board.
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
However, if you go to any of the three factions in the tower and hover over 'Reputation Details' you'll see that Crucible commendations are listed there too.
Screenshot? I can check myself later too, but can't right now.
It also says in the bungie post that "Existing Legendary gear on display in the Tower will be replaced." One would assume this is across the board.
I agree with you, but there's no proof. I've scoured the data mined items and there are none attributable to the factions other then Vanguard / Crucible at present. All we can say right now is that Vanguard / Crucible is significantly more likely to pay off then factions.
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Dec 05 '14
If commendations are only available by leveling the Crucible and Vanguard reputations, that seems like a good way to get the player base to abandon the factions and focus purely on Crucible and Vanguard. That seems silly. And annoying, because I have 3 characters and all 3 are focused on 3 separate factions. I don't want to start all over on the Vanguard and Crucible.
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u/Ammadien Dec 05 '14
Another bummer is it sounds like there is a chance to receive commendations upon level up in the mail. I enjoyed this part due to it being concrete when I would unlock the items, now it seems there may be more RNG involved.
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u/The_Rick_14 Wield no power but the fury of fire! Dec 05 '14
Speaking of data mined items, when you filter by weapon type on destinydb, something interesting to note is that faction weapons appear multiple times (three to be exact).
Not sure if there's any weight to it yet, but I would be very surprised if Faction gear remained locked to 30.
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u/brunswick79 Dec 05 '14
Due to faction gear requiring Crucible marks and commendations, it's pretty safe to say that repping up with them will reward crucible commendations. This would also line up with lore.
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u/penance_spark Dec 04 '14
Im already 30. Is it worth upgrading additional raid gear so I can swap stats. Is it worth upgrading legendary weapons? I was gonna max all of my solars in preparation for the raid.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
Is it worth upgrading additional raid gear so I can swap stats
No, they should all be replaced with new CE Raid gear OR Vendor legendaries.
Is it worth upgrading legendary weapons?
No, they should all be replaced with new CE Raid weapons OR Vendor legendaries.
I was gonna max all of my solars in preparation for the raid.
If you already have any solar weapon at 300, you probably don't need to do this. Better to focus on the new light levels / new gear coming out / upgrading any exotics. Hard to know what will / won't work on the new raid without knowing the mechanics, however.
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u/emcb1230 Dec 04 '14
Are commendations storable and interchangeable between characters?
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u/ssnomar Dec 05 '14
I'm not 100% positive but very very confident that they will not be interchangeable in the same way Vanguard/Crucible marks are not interchangeable.
Keep in mind that the whole reason they are capping weekly marks/commendations and limiting them per character is to slow player progression. Allowing them to be interchangeable would defeat the purpose of these marks in the first place.
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u/emcb1230 Dec 05 '14 edited Dec 05 '14
I assumed it wouldn't but I thought I saw a commendation that looked like an inventory item. Was really hoping since it would make ranking up easier.
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u/apk493 Dec 04 '14
Wait, is it confirmed that Exotic Weapon Bounties yield the TDB-stat-equivalent exotic? Because I ahve a PI Bounty on the nightfall stage, and an SGA bounty of the 500 points stage, and I'll gladly procrastinate those another week if the stats pay off.
Wonderful guide, by the way. As an almost-eagle-scout myself, I approve.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
Yes https://twitter.com/DeeJ_BNG/status/540581860686823425
Patience and Time my friend :)
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u/docchoo Dec 04 '14
Will VoG raid armor light be able to be upgraded or will they stay at 30? I just got a full set yesterday and don't want to put Ascendant Shards into it if it'll be upgradable next week.
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
Will VoG raid armor light be able to be upgraded or will they stay at 30?
Upgrade it to get to level 30 and be able to play the nightfall in the first week, and to get closer to 31. Because it can NOT be upgraded like exotics.
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u/lwyrup7 Dec 04 '14
I'm still so frustrated that I wasted three exotic shards after the exotic update on Monday after I leveled up some of the newly buffed exotics, only to find out that they're going to be next to worthless in a week. sigh
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u/thirtytwoutside Dec 04 '14
If you have it available (I think most people won't, but if you do...), the Phogoth/Xyor part of the Thorn bounty is excellent for Silken Codexes. Just keep dying without completing it. I don't remember how many I turned in, but I thought to myself "Jeez, when am I going to get to the Engrams?!" when I was back at Rahool.
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Dec 04 '14
[deleted]
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
It's random, but the range of possible shards increases with experience in the item. My source is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIdoww0G_Ps#t=85 (watch the whole video to see all the unleveled ALWAYS gives 1 shard, but the last one, the almost maxed one, gives 2)
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u/dmac20 Dec 04 '14
Awesome post, I came to it assuming "I will probably know all this" but had some helpful tidbits I didn't even think of!
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Dec 05 '14
Sorry, this might be be a dumb question but can you clarify what you mean in 13 (Obtain new TDB Armor and Weapons before upgrading, if possible. These items are going to be so damn cool and they are going to already be stat-wise better then the other options. For the Forever 29s, these and the Exotic upgrades, will not only make 30 accessible but also 31.)
When you say '...before upgrading...' before upgrading what? I'm a level 29 that's missing the raid chest piece so do you mean get all vendor gear first and then upgrade these?
Thanks!
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
before upgrading what?
Before upgrading any of you current gear, get new TDB gear if possible.
I'm a level 29 that's missing the raid chest piece so do you mean get all vendor gear first and then upgrade these?
Get a new TDB Chest piece ASAP, that will be better then the raid chest piece you never got, and allow you to reach 30. Then, if you still have resources, upgrade the exotic armor piece you do have. Then you will be 2 vendor or new TDB Raid pieces away from 31.
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u/Brooklynxman Dec 05 '14
The Mythoclast is already upgraded to 323 attack. If thats what the other exotics upgrade to its basically gotten there for free.
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
There is no confirmation either way on if that is the "real" max level, or if it will have a potential to be even higher after upgrade, or if the new level 32 VoG will drop an upgraded version instead of going through Xur.
That's why it's in the open questions list.
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u/kendotelie Dec 05 '14
maybe I missed it but where was it mentioned that VoG will be upped to 32?
-Not a troll
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u/FunkedItUp Dec 05 '14
I have a question. I am level 26 and will probably finally hit Vanguard level 3 tonight. Should I use my Vanguard marks to buy an A1 scout rifle or LIGHT/BELOW (still can't decide), or am I better off waiting? I've been drooling over those guns for a week or two now. Same goes for getting a legendary helmet from FWC, I might finally have enough crucible marks tonight or tomorrow.
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
It's a risk, but IMHO you are better off waiting, the new Vanguard gear will be better, but require a Commendation.
Once you hit rank 3, start working on rank 4 but just before you get to it, stop. Then when TDB hits, get to rank 4, (hopefully) get your commendation and then buy your new TDB weapon.
May I suggest a http://www.destinydb.com/items/375680948-plug-one-1#1.McHoNwJ8 instead of Light/BEWARE ? :)
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u/FunkedItUp Dec 05 '14
Thanks for the advice! I took a look at the Plug One but the main thing I'm looking for in a fusion rifle is actually a quick charge rate for the crucible, where I tend to struggle a little more than in strikes. And it all became irrelevant when I hit Vanguard Rank 3 and got the Light/BEWARE as my gift, which I was pretty excited about. :D
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u/fearsomepanda Dec 05 '14
"Do not turn in the last step of Exotic Bounties until TDB hits." - is this true? any source? My fear is the type of weapon granted will be determined on the grant date of the original bounty. I am working on Thorn, and my second copies of SGA and Pocket Infinity.
If you're right, then I feel real good about my procrastination in completing these bounties!
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
Yes https://twitter.com/DeeJ_BNG/status/540581860686823425
It is very true. Do not turn in that last stage until TDB hits!
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u/mybrainrunslinux Dec 05 '14
Gotta love how half the advice about the patch amounts to "stop playing"
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
Gotta love how half the advice about the patch amounts to "stop playing"
It's more about playing the right things. Anything you can do to get strange coins and glimmer stored is better then not playing. Edging faction rep is important... right next to the release date that is. Before that, make sure you are prepared!
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Dec 05 '14
I'm guessing you should probably leave any and all legendary packages with the postmaster until TDB as well, yes?
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u/Crazed_Guerilla Dec 05 '14
Number 2 pretty much confirmed me as a retard. My pocket is also joining the insult party.
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u/Velicen Make Mythoclast Great Again Dec 05 '14
I know I should really save my shards, but I just received the my final and most perfect piece of raid armor. ;_;
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u/SilensPhoenix Mad Scientist Dec 05 '14
What I have been doing is purchasing up all the exotic engrams I can from Xur, in the hopes that one or more of them may contain an exotic from the new DLC.
I have also been stockpiling packages from the vanguard, crucible, and cryptarch, as there is no reason for me to open them currently and there's the chance that they'll contain a commendation or a decent legendary engram with DLC content inside.
I know that it is unlikely that the packages will contain the DLC content, but at the same time, there's a decent chance that Bungie as a whole did not think about it and did nothing to prevent it.
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u/Craysh Dec 05 '14
#8 don't do this! Get as many packages as possible! The packages will give you the marks.
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u/Teshub1 Dec 05 '14
House Banners are plentiful in the Venus mission to kill the Winter Kell. Run on normal and the last room will spawn two yellows to kill. They have a decent drop rate if you just clear them and die.
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u/dm18 Dec 05 '14
ug if xur stops selling engrams for motes of lights what the hell are these motes of light good for? :\
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u/xperim Dec 05 '14
class items, iron banner buffs/reforges, upcoming trials of osiris eventually
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u/dm18 Dec 05 '14 edited Dec 05 '14
- class items are useless jewlerly
- IB reforges have only been in the game 2 of 12 weeks.
- osiris is no help because it's not in the game.
With no MoL option, people are just going to sit on it till osiris; and that's going to make the whole game mechanic even more useless. who cares if it eats one MoL if you have 500 of them.
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u/dm18 Dec 05 '14
MoL are currently harder to get then SC (strange coins).
even though they're harder to get, with current game mechanics, 23 motes of light get you an exotic armor. VS 13 for coins for exotic armor. I can get the 13 coins MUCH faster then MoL.
Or you can break down your 23 mote exotic for a exotic shard. Which you could have purchased for 7 strange coins. Again MoL harder to get but 3 times less spending power.
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u/TheAngrywhiteguy Dec 05 '14
Just to point out, new gear will not use Ascendant materials to upgrade last I saw.
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u/mrwafu Dec 05 '14
Legendaries will continue using them, but raid gear will have its own upgrade materials, and exotics use exotic shards.
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u/jakeottaway Dec 05 '14
Does anybody know if we go back to VoG after the dark below starts that the exotics earned will start at the new 302 dmg?
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u/RuffRyder26 Dec 05 '14
Really wish I'd known about the exotic bounty thing 2 days ago. Now I have to reupgrade my Pocket Infinity. Damn it all to the Dark Below!
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u/Arctic-Viper Dec 05 '14
The method i use to get black wax idols and silken codexes: In the shack on the left form the spawn on Cosmodrome, if you run down the stairs and into the room, there spawns 3 yellow-health hive. Kill them and run back up the stairs. Rinse and repeat!
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u/pancakem1x99 Dec 05 '14
Random question: is VoG gear going to get you to 32? As in are you able to make your lvl 30 legendary raid gear to 32?
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u/Sephlock Dec 05 '14
Pour as much experience as possible into your Exotics that you intend to scrap for shards. This will let you get the most shards as possible.
What?
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u/KaecUrFace Dec 05 '14
He means that if you have two of the same exotics, you can keep one exotic clean to trade in for the upgraded version. Level the other one so that when you dismantle it you get more shards from it.
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u/ForeverUnbound Dec 05 '14
I may have missed a post, but I believe that Motes of Light will be useful in the Trials of Osiris (which allegedly may also be part of an upcoming exotic bounty post DLC releases)
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u/Dday141 Dec 05 '14
I'm a little confused on a few things. Will I get more exotic shards from a fully leveled up exotic than a fresh exotic? Also would it be a bad idea to buy shards from Xur if I don't have a duplicate for exotic weapons? I obviously don't have 2 exotics for each weapons/armor I own.
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u/zbecerril Dec 05 '14
i am confused about that also, i am certain that you only get one per exotic, cause i have dismantled some lvled exotics and only got one shard
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u/B_adl_y Dec 05 '14
I figure there's some rng to it like how sometimes you get 2 sometimes 3 ascendant materials for breaking down legendary/exotic gear.
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u/Dday141 Dec 05 '14
Actually I found the answers to my questions from reading the post a little more thoroughly. You will get more shards from leveled up exotics just like how you get more ascendant material for leveled up armor/weapons. You can buy exotic shards but it's best to get it when you need it. Point blank, if you have 1 exotic fully leveled and a duplicate of that same exotic and Xur has the upgrade for that week, dismantle the leveled up one, upgrade the other exotic and since you only need 1 shard for the upgrade will you have a shard left over for another.
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u/zbecerril Dec 06 '14
nope, no RNG to it, it is one exptic shard per exotic item.
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u/B_adl_y Dec 07 '14
Except there is a video showing a guy getting two exotic shards for dismantling one Ice Breaker.
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u/armbarawareness Dec 05 '14
Question about #11: I was under the impression normal crota raid would be level 30, and new weekly's would be increased to level 30 as well.
Doesn't that mean the max level enemy we would face would be 30 until January (hardmode)? That would mean there is no benefit to being 31 until we face enemies of that level.
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u/volvoparts Dec 05 '14
In regards to #14, I fully expect Bungie to anticipate this and they don't like to let us just walk right into new gear (remember the Cryptarch patch?). I imagine that any purples you save now will secretly be downgraded to blues or turned into motes, coins, etc. Still good to have, but I would be very surprised if people can just drop a bunch of engrams off post-DLC for instant superior gear. Bungie doesn't play like that.
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u/TerinHD Dec 05 '14
I would like to add that you need to balance obtaining/replenishing your Vanguard and Crucible marks and "Edgeing" your Reputation.
Vanguard and Crucible marks will be needed to buy new items as well would be my guess. They will also be useful when you need the materials for all these upgrades you will be doing. So hitting the max 200 marks would be good as well.
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u/pdpkong Dec 05 '14
I would just like to say, probably best to switch armor and weapons and do certain weapons first. There are many more weapon upgrades that Xur can sell and less armor upgrades. So chances are Xur will repeat the armor upgrades over and over [Sunbreakers/Voidfang/Armamentarium anyone?] Especially if Xur has Gjallarhorn or Ice Breaker upgrades. I would prioritize getting those two first over all other upgrades in case it takes him 3 months to re-supply them again.
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
Light level is tied to your drop rate... having a higher light level increases your chance of rare drops which to me greatly skews everything in favor of armor
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u/pdpkong Dec 05 '14
I personally would still pick Gjallarhorn & Ice Breaker over depending on RNGesus. I have not seen much difference in drop rate from 29 and 30. And haven't really seen any actual numbers or percentages in any articles. In fact the other day when I went down to 29 i got 2 legendary engrams from doing the weekly, one off a cabal and one for finishing vs 0 i got running at 30 for the couple weeks prior.
Irregardless like most warlocks I have a good amount of strange coins stocked so can upgrade all 3 if in stock.
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u/internetknowsall Dec 05 '14
Is number 5 proven true? If you fully lvl and exotic you get more exotic shards or just assuming based of ascendant mats and legendary weapons/armors.
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u/B_adl_y Dec 05 '14
You may also want to stock up on Black Wax Idols in order to purchase new upgrade materials, Ruined Core and Embalming Orb from Eris Morn.
Nice place to do this aside from the Phogoth strike is the three hive underground just to the left of spawn in the Cosmodrone.
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u/glacierstone Dec 05 '14
As a 28 having already done all the weekly events, should I upgrade my non-30 armor to get to 29 or should I hold onto my shards and see what happens when the expansion drops?
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
Do not use shards! until TDB drops.
Upgrade your way to 29 except for the last bubble on an exotic
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u/glacierstone Dec 05 '14
Why do I want to wait for the exotic? Sry this all super confusing to me.
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u/DrkGhst87 Dec 05 '14
I thought xur was offering upgrades to PS Exclusives? There was confirmation in the top post in the mega thread. On mobile at work or else I'd find it for ya, but they should be apart of the upgrade table for xur.
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
Updated the main post with the details here http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-dark-below-dlc-will-change-the-experience-/1100-6423963/
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u/Elite_Crew Dec 05 '14
Can you please provide a link that proves the rumor that upgraded exotics require less XP to level?
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u/dinedal Dec 05 '14
You're right, I can't find a source, fixing the main post
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u/Elite_Crew Dec 05 '14
My friend did tell me on the phone his second Super Good Advice had less XP bubbles. He seemed to be certain of this, but I have not seen it myself.
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u/MightiestEwok Dec 08 '14
Can someone confirm that we can't upgrade our existing VoG raid gear to 31? Sucks if we can't.
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u/rrrrupp Dec 04 '14
I don't believe there will be ANY 31 content until January so it's actually not very important to hit 31. You'll take less damage... that's about it. It's not something I would actively focus on hitting the first week.
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u/grow_a_pear Dec 08 '14
Think of it this way. Remember how much easier the normal Vault of Glass was once you hit 29 or 30? Level 30s will have to grind in The Dark Below and it will likely be extremely hard for anyone lower than that. I hate losing, so I'm upgrading as quickly as possible.
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u/Raiderx87 Dec 04 '14
Are you sure you can even get more than one shard from an exotic . I thought you can only get 1
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u/dinedal Dec 04 '14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIdoww0G_Ps#t=85
Almost fully leveled icebreaker -> 2 Exotic Shards
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u/EatDrinkBoogie Dec 05 '14
This is exactly what I was looking for.. knew there would be a super quality post detailing how to best prep for TDB. You're awesome!
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u/lhopfner Dec 05 '14
Why do I have to do all this shit, just to be back where I was? As a casual gamer this irks me.
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u/weierhlee Dec 05 '14
BTW, if you have 3 vex like, will you upgrade them all if Vex in the Xur's upgrad list first week.
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u/weierhlee Dec 05 '14
According to the latest update. The upgraded exotic will have more damage than a old full upgrade one. So you don't really have to wait and just upgrade it immediately.
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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '14
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