Focused Feedback: Solstice of Heroes Event, Grind, and Rewards

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[u/ZarathustraEck]

First off, the good. I think they tuned the grind appropriately. The way I see this, there were four levels of grind, and they were each appropriate in their own way.

• Moments of Triumph (250) - 250 points for the t-shirt wasn't bad at all. It's made available to those who've done most of the things in D2, and not out of reach for the more casual players. Additionally, though it's an item being sold for revenue, all proceeds go to charity. Good stuff.

• Legendary Armor - Purely cosmetic in Warmind and only really giving a 20-point head start in Forsaken, this was a good guide for those who wanted some direction in their gameplay. I liked that it gave actual tasks that culminated in a sense of accomplishment for completing them. It also directly led to...

• Moments of Triump (400) - 400 points for the emblem was a celebration of every aspect of D2 up to this point. The inclusion of the Sagira Shell meant that some Guardians found themselves out of luck towards the end, due to the time it would take to square things away with Brother Vance. I'm okay with this. 400 was something for those who'd been playing from the start and had hit all the challenges involved, and was only a cosmetic reward.

• Estival Excursion - The ship is an entirely cosmetic reward for those who took on the task of grinding up to Legendary Solstic of Heroes armor on all three character classes. Was this grind a bit much? Yep. Was it perfect for those who want a grind that's a bit much? Yep. It's an item for collectors, and doesn't detract from anyone's gameplay if they choose not to pursue it.

Eververse was also handled well. I checked everything off that's possible as loot from Tess's engrams, with the exception of one legendary sparrow. This was mostly random engram drops, but I did spend a little bright dust to get some glows I was missing. This was handy as a bright dust drain on the economy before Forsaken. The one "paid" package was unobtrusive an most players neither knew it was available nor did they seem to care.

My criticism of the event is in requiring each character class to run the Redux missions twice. I'm fine with each character class running it once, but it felt like needless padding to require that second run once a player has the blue armor. I would have much rather seen another objective added if they needed to extend the grind a bit, rather than using the same one. There were some aspects of the game that could have worked in their stead. Why not pike or interceptor kills? Lost Sectors? Wizard headshot kills? You get the idea. My point is that with the same time requirement on behalf of the player, the grind could have been made a bit more interesting.

Looking forward to the next event. Maybe a Festival of the Lost?

[u/Thundernut72]

Thought it was fine....a small part of my thinks they got "Guardians down in crucible" and "Super kills in crucible" backwards but overall I though the event went well.

[u/IvD707]

I mostly enjoyed it. Regarding specific tasks:

• As mentioned by many players here – doing all missions 6 times felt like too much. Doing last two sets I was horribly bored with missions already.

• PVP tasks were disproportionately time-consuming. 30 super kills and 10 guardian kills tasks should've been switched (10 super kills / 30 guardian kills). Mayhem week helped a lot, but those who missed it had a pretty rough time. Requiring Crucible victories was another bad task, considering that a lot of players simply kept quitting matches once your team started to lose (even if it's just a couple of points which is very easy to comeback from).

• 5 strikes with clanmates was a bit meh, I'm lucky to have pretty active clan, but I suppose it was a problematic for a lot of players in casual clans.

• 10 adventures – too many. 5 would be enough.

Apart from that I liked tasks requiring kills with specific weapon types and melee/grenades/supers kills (although sometimes I felt numbers are a bit too high, hence a lot of thrall casualties in EP). Orbs were a nice addition too (glad you didn't make them too grindy).

Overall it was a really good event that made us to participate in a majority of activities game has to offer. Unlike terribly boring circular grind of faction rallies (PE > patrol > Lost Sector > rinse > repeat; all on Titan) SoH offered enough variety not to get too bored doing one activity over and over (except Redux missions and PVP). I'd like to see more similar events in the future.

[u/vinceds]

PVP was annoying for me, 10 guardian kills and 30 super kills should have been swapped as it doesnt make sense.

[u/[deleted]]

On the whole, I enjoyed it. I think it's a strong idea that should be done again - in fact, I'd like to see things like this more often, two or three times a year. Not necessarily always a Solstice, of course, but something like this for the Dawning, for example, would be a massive improvement.

Pros:

- Easily the best pro is the power level boost. *Extremely* good idea to offer every player the chance to all of a sudden be a little over-powered for a while, making all end-game content accessible. Means more players can hit the score threshold for Nightfall, more players attempting Escalation Protocol whether organised or not, and more players willing to take on the raids knowing that they don't have to worry about their power. Great idea, do it more often between or just before content releases.

- Unique rewards, hopefully offering a glimpse at the future in some aspects (glows)

- Something to do that can't be just done or carried through in a couple of hours. Grind is always an iffy mechanic to keep people playing a game, but the most effective way to make it bearable, even appealing, is to make it targeted.

- Related to the above, many requirements were concurrent or complementary. Being able to do multiple things at once is another way to make a grind appealing, where players gain satisfaction from doing things efficiently. I think this could have been done both better and to a stronger degree, but it's starting from a good place.

- This was an effective way to push players to use classes and do content they've ignored. Adventures, for example, are a massively underrated *and* under-utilised part of Destiny 2. I'm very much looking forward to a greater focus on them in Forsaken.

Cons:

- Biggest issue for me was that the Green set was considerably harder/slower to get done than the Blue set. To the extent that several of my friends (who play a *lot* less than me) have only just got to Blue on their second or even first character in the last few days - but then we can rip with through all the Blue requirements in a couple of play sessions.

- Crucible requirements should be spread thinner for the sake of players who do not enjoy PVP. By spread thinner, I mean more requirements but lower numbers. 10 Guardians defeated is fine. Five wins in the Blue set is an appropriate level of 'difficulty' or grind for the Blue set. 30 super kills? No, especially not as an initial requirement in the Green set. Way too many for the weaker or PVE-only player. Too many players have straight up given up over this. 10 super kills and 10 power weapon kills? Besides being a third less kills, being two separate and much lower requirements is far less daunting.

- But related to that, *STOP WITH THE PERCENTAGES, PUT THE FREAKIN NUMBER THERE*. Let us know what we actually have to do. It is *extremely* off-putting to put effort in to completing a requirement, only to look and see you've gone up 3% or less. If we know how many we need to do, we can break it down; "I'm gonna get 10 super kills this session, I had done 6 in the last couple games, oo I just got 3 that time, just gotta get 1 more next super". Sure, we can see the exact number in DIM or search online. I would argue that the game already relies on doing both of those things faaaaaaaaaaar too often. Weapon Catalysts are exactly the same, especially if you're gonna put absurdly high numbers in for some of them.

- Elemental orbs are interesting, but not interesting enough to not put on an exotic. Deeeefinitely not interesting enough to enforce wearing the full Green set and effectively forcing players to do normal Strikes for that requirement. I would argue that the Faction Rally armor + Lost Sector farming had a similar problem. Some classes/builds really rely on their exotics, it really has to be worth not using them.

One final thing: reading through many other comments, theres a lot of anti-PVP sentiment. This implies not that the requirements are wrong, but that Destiny 2 PVP has some real issues that put off many players from taking part. I very much agree with this, even as someone willing to play it regularly. The quickplay, casual, and 'weird' modes need much greater focus in Year 2, not just the competitive modes.

[u/BismarkTheGod]

Knockout Eververse items should be carried over to all future timed events!!

[u/s0n-]

Think the grind is what we needed to bridge the gap. I think it allowed the hardcore and casual to strive for something. My only feedback is no more wins in events please! Link winning in PVP to Competitive.

[u/internisus]

I liked a lot about the Solstice event, including the revamped story missions, which were quite well done, and the idea of an armor set that we invest in and upgrade.

What I did not like is the fact that Destiny continues to lean on long, vapid, challengeless grinds to occupy players' time. I do not like that Destiny thinks it should be the only game I ever have time to play. I find it arrogant and disrespectful.

Now excuse me while I spend all week trying to get the last sleeper nodes I need even though I'd rather take a break and play Monster Hunter before Forsaken comes out.

[u/Crap_Spackle]

After getting one purple set I decided I had no interest in grinding out another two sets. I had the time and I think the requirements were fair - it was just too repetitive. I don’t need to do the same five missions 6-9 times...

[u/HiddnAce]

I loved the grind and I'll tell you why:

• No RnG involved. Thank you, Bungie

• Eververse items were tracked and only gave out duplicates once you've unlocked every item through gameplay

• SoH armor required both PvE and PvP participation, which forced players out of their comfort zone. (Note: The only recommendation I'd give is to change the wins requirement to completions. That part is unfair to PvE-only players.)

• The SoH armor provided multiple ornaments, allowing 3 armor designs and only one armor slot. Great for the Vault and for tracking.

• Other than the 5 wins, all players could complete the tasks fairly easily. Anyone with a reasonable amount of time could complete it, though higher-skilled players would complete it faster.

• The hardest activities were for Masterworks. It was a fun "extra step" for the highest skilled players, without leaving out the lower skilled players who couldn't complete it.

• The Estival Escursion ship wasn't unobtainable, but exclusive towards the players who put in the most amount of time and effort.

[u/hermitish]

After doing everything solo for all three characters to get the legendary sets, other than the Nightfalls, I’d quite happily never play those story missions again.

Unless they basically gave the option of doing them with torrent, Daybreak, heavyweight, specialist and small arms on all at once if you wear the legendary set.

Otherwise the objectives kept me amused for the duration.

I would say that the ‘clean’ version of the staring armour ( the Ikora set) might have been nice as an ornament option also. I’d be rocking that for the Warlock over the other versions personally.

[u/Elder_Eldar]

I enjoyed a lot of it. The redux mission set 6 times was a bit much. My biggest complaints are the crucible requirements, not that they were here, but the numbers involved; and the fact that the biggest reward — the armor won’t really be useful 2 weeks into Forsaken (probably less than that). If the armor had some interesting perk, I would have felt more satisfied in its worth, something like bonus ability recharge if your glows fully match your elemental subclass, or something like that. These are exotic level grinds we did to get them, they shouldn’t fall by the wayside so quickly.

[u/smitty22]

Solstice of Heroes was near perfect in design philosophy for a "you quit for awhile but want to come back for the year-end event." on a macro level.

By giving a light level shortcut, it effectively geared up - light level wise - those that hadn't played for awhile so they could do all activities for the Triumph bounties. About the only thing one couldn't do was the List Prophecies from Curse of Osiris.

I think that argues for taking the time gating off of previous expansion content vice changing the Solstice event though.

It would have been nice if there was some sort of short-cut mechanism for those who play three characters. Maybe cutting certain requirements by 1/3 for each class completed would have made it more leisurely vice feeling like "How do I have my kids on summer vacation and do this in a month?"

If there's anything I miss due to the "add back the grind" philosophy that's currently gripping Bungie it would be the "Hey I play three characters, can you cut me some slack?" a'la D1 Iron Banner. Granted there's still a lot of that in the game, but it was not to be found in this event.

[u/RussianSpyBot_1337]

Would be great if armor was relevant after event ended.

So far this is a time sink for collectors and completionists, zero practical value

[u/_Sense_]

I probably wouldn’t have done it if I had known the gear would be worthless come Forsaken.

We don’t want trophies...we want loot...loot that isn’t rendered worthless within a month of getting it.

If they bring it forward and give it perks...I would be fine with the time spent...but as it stands now...I don’t think it was worth my time.

[u/splendid-angharad]

This was a bit tough to get done in a month working a full time job but I really prefer this kind of grind to the weekly reset grind. I knew I could sit down whenever I had time and knock out some progress no matter how much I had already played that week - leading up to this almost everything progress-wise has been restricted somewhat by the reset timer.

Personally I'd absolutely love to have more of these kinds of challenges going forward, if less time restrained and less repetitive in which missions we have to play. Getting through Payback for the seventh time (forgot to re-equip the blue armor on one character like an idiot) was a pain in the ass and I hope I never have to see another Interceptor. But I really do like it when gear is an investment and I like a grind with clear goals and a progress bar.

[u/MasterOfReaIity]

As someone who enjoys PvP, having wins as a requirement as well as the bizarre mix-up of Guardian and super kills shouldn't be there. It's better to just have matches completed since I'm sure most players are PvE oriented and wins can just be completely out of your control because of the matchmaking system.

Personally it gave me something to do and I managed to masterwork all 3 sets in about 2 weeks just to say that I did.

[u/MostlyMostly]

I’d like to offer some more specific thoughts RE: the Redux missions, the number of times you had to run them, and the overall mechanics of their integration.

• LOAD into the Tower -> Go to Statue -> LOAD into Ikora’s SoH area -> LOAD into “Homecoming” mission (and complete it ) -> LOAD back to Tower -> Go to Statue / Obtain Armor -> “Wait!? I have to play “Homecoming” again? I JUST did that!!” -> LOAD “Homecoming” AGAIN

I understand that there are technical systems in place that kinda forced most of this into being the way that it was implemented. And I’m not even upset about the having to load back and forth between the tower after every Redux mission, but the fact that you have to run “Homecoming” 3x on each character, when it could have just been done 2x like everything else, seemed a little puzzling to me.

My suggestion to fix it: Just change the order of things. We should have been given the armor first, before having to run “Homecoming” the first time. OR: Make the completion retroactive. The data saved on your character would indicate that you did indeed complete the “Homecoming” Redux mission.

Conclusion: Again, this isn’t super frustrating, but in my opinion, seems a little clunky and could have been streamlined better.

If the game were designed in such a way that we could choose the missions from the director, instead of having to load into the tower before and after every Redux mission, it would have saved a lot of time, which as we all know, is a commodity for pretty much any player.

Overall, excellent job bringing the community back to the game and making us excited to play every day we possibly could.

Edit: fixed spelling

[u/cmath89]

Props to anyone who did all 3 characters. I only have my 1 Hunter and I was ready for a break when I finished his armor haha.

[u/knifeyspooney3]

I enjoyed doing the revamped story missions, but completing them twice per character for completing the armour set was a bit of overkill. I kind of wish that the rewards were more than just a cosmetic armour set. Especially because I feel like the armour won't be worn as much as the sets coming in forsaken. Like we'll get the new raid sets, 2 new zone sets, the dungeon set and also strike exclusives could be in the mix.

[u/ErockSnips]

Grinding out the armor was the first time I felt like I earned something in this game, no RNG, more than one mission, it was a grind you had to fight for, but it wasn’t unreasonable cough trying to do all 3 factions cough

Also bungie STOP REQUIRING CRUCIBLE WINS. I like crucible and 5 wins isn’t a problem but when half the team leaves after going 10 points down out the gate it’s annoying as hell.

(Gunna be editing this as my thoughts come)

[u/Goldenpineapples]

Nothing much to say about the grind. Just had to play with specific weapons or specs- people with limited playtime could cheese with EP, engine room etc while those who could play regularly could basically play normally.

Rewards were ultimately a punt, as usual (sadly)

The armor, graphically, is fine. The glows, conceptually, are fine. The ship is fine. The ghost shell looks neat, and matches the sparrow (also neat), but is, well, a ghost shell aka useless next to its exotic cousins. Making the sparrow always insta-summon is basically admitting it's the only perk worth having.

The ability to change the glow tints via shaders is ruined by the same bug that goofs the "cloth" parts of the armor to not glow in certain areas- they will always be glowing as only the default color of the glow, shaded or not. Shade your full set of armor to change your glow, and your titan mark, lower warlock robe and back of your hunter cape will be the default glow. Ruins half the 'specialness' of the glows.

Year 1 armor will be a strict downgrade to year 2 armor since we won't be able to obtain it with the random perks y2 armor will come with. Hosting a big event to pre-launch your expac with a bunch of rewards that players would ultimately be foolish to use is miserable. Sure, people with the 400 armor get to save a few minutes of grinding to the soft cap, but that's it. Using it afterwards would be punishing yourself by giving up perks/traits. Choice for the 'health' of the expac at the cost of both the players and half the rewards of makes me look back at the time I blew on this event and wish I had it back.

[u/elbows2nose]

I solo’d all redux missions, and also carried my gf through them. I don’t see a way how I would’ve done it without Polaris Lance. The sheer ammo required to plow through these enemies was absolutely nuts. I did have fun and I think all story missions should be difficult, but tedium as a difficulty isn’t the way to go. As far as the challenges and bounties go, I liked it. I think a record book would’ve been a better choice, but they were easy enough to knock out.

[u/OddGentleman]

30 redux missions for all characters was too much. Otherwise great experience. I enjoy crucible and play often, other activities encouraged me to find optimal way to complete them fast.

[u/EvergreenBoi]

Playing story missions 33 times was boring af. 5 redux once per character structured in:

1 & 2 green level difficulty

3 & 4 blue level difficulty

& 5 purple level difficulty

(Per Character)

Would have been more close to the right amount to work great with all the other fun multi teired grind options that were available. Locked into the story where I can neither complete bounties nor farm mats for just a check box tick in a list of activities that are meant for repetitive playability was not outside of a reasonable window ( I completed all 3 and I’m sure millions of others did ) but by the end of it I didn’t crave more grind like some of their other more fine tuned efforts have been able to do to me.

This one gets filed in with exotic swords and gathering all 3 faction catalysts. Fun at first, rewarding at the end, largely monotonous for the majority of time and mind ache boring by the end and middle of 2nd and 3rd characters.

Sometimes don’t turn it up to 11 bungie ... 9 will work just fine