What people perceive to be the endgame of any given game is up for interpretation. Developers, particularly Bungie in this case, define the endgame as all activities and pursuits that are designed to be completed after finishing the main presented story campaign. In the case of Forsaken, this includes every task, quest, or activity given to you after you hunt down Uldren.
To Bungie’s credit, Forsaken gives you more to do after the campaign than any other Destiny release before it, including vanilla Destiny 2. We are 2 months into this release and it feels like I’ve barely scratched the surface. In fact, it wasn’t until this week that it truly felt like I was entering the endgame of Destiny 2. Let’s explore why that is.
The Dreaming City
The Race for Power
Forsaken’s campaign lasted about a day for me. It was a solid 6 hour experience that set up the world and introduced some of the characters. It also brilliantly set up the endgame. After that first day, the race for power was on. I completed challenges, exotic quests, and weekly bounties in the Dreaming City.
My one objective was to reach that elusive 600 power with all 3 of my characters. That was something I achieved about 3 weeks ago at the start of The Festival of the Lost event. I remember receiving my first 600 power item as a kinetic weapon the week before the event launched. The event guaranteed a 600 power kinetic weapon as one of its draws and I recall letting out a very passive, “Whelp.”
Over the coming weeks I rounded out the challenges for my other characters and achieved 600 across the board. The distractions of the festival are now over. Now is the time to do what I enjoy most in Destiny, and for the first time, the systems are in place, and the road is clear.
Horizontal Progression
Triumphs and collectibles started out as passive pursuits, and with the major milestones of power out of the way, they have certainly increased in relevancy. They are “the only things I have left to do in the game”. The use of quotes on that is due to it being factual in a technical sense. They are the check boxes the game gives, and I intend to complete as much as possible. Triumphs and collectibles are a visual representation of time investment in the game. As mentioned in a previous post, the inclusion of seals to represent the culmination of triumphs and collectibles was one of the best ideas implemented ever. However there is one more element of the endgame that I am even more driven towards, and that is pursuing horizontal progression.
Earn badges for completing your gear set collections from different activities and destinations.
Vertical progression is defined as your pursuit to become stronger and stronger. Getting to maximum level and chasing maximum power. As you progress, you become stronger and more effective in combat. This allows you to participate in more activities over time, like the raid and dungeon. You move up and up and up. Horizontal progression, on the other hand, implies that you aren’t getting stronger as you progress, but are better equipped for different situations. I’m not surpassing 600 power, but each new reward I receive will help me round out my characters.
Nice Duds
The primary driver for this is armor. Armor perks were introduced with the launch of Forsaken. The perks range from gaining the ability to find heavy ammo at a higher rate to decreasing the charge time for your grenade. This is where I can fine-tune my character to fit my play-style.
A good example is raid gear. My goal is to gain the perfect set of gear to equally protect against solar and arc damage, as they are the primary elements to watch out for. I also want to make sure to have as much special ammo available, in addition to as many supers. For my titan, I want my melee to regenerate quickly so that I can apply my hammer strike debuff to the bosses as often as need be. I might also want to focus on recovery to restore my health more quickly during the hectic battles.
To me, that is the true endgame of Destiny.
Finding the perfect set of armor for every major activity for all of my characters. I am also specifically going for the “Dredgen” title which is granted for attaining the Gambit Seal. Needless to say, there is plenty for me to still pursue. On top of all that, the first DLC is just weeks away to bring us even more content.
Bungie has kept their word so far, presenting something new every single week. Some of it might be a bit shallow and rough around the edges, but complemented with such a solid foundation, I am beyond satiated…for now.
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