by Greg on Mar 10, 2015
Destiny’s Raids are the toughest tests the game has to offer. Each one is filled with elite enemies that do more damage and are harder to kill, deadly bosses that can wipe your entire team with a single attack, and tough game mechanics that require your team to work precisely in unison or be destroyed. With the challenge comes the opportunity for great reward. The raids are the only place to get some of the best weapons and armor in the game, as well as the materials needed to upgrade them.
To those unfamiliar with raids, or gameplay that requires precise teamwork, it can be very intimidating going into your first one especially if you are with an unfamiliar group of players. To help you get through it with as little stress as possible, here are some things that players new to Destiny’s raids should know before taking the plunge.
It’s a little pricey and you don’t really use it that often during the majority of the time you’re playing, but having heavy ammo synthesis on hand during a raid is absolutely essential. For raids like Crota’s End this is especially true as the final encounter requires all players to put out as much damage as possible in a very short period of time, something that’s only possible with the use of heavy weapons.
This may seem like a no brainer but if you’re coming from the Crucible where light levels and weapon damage doesn’t matter, you’re used to choosing the weapons and armor that feel/ look the best as opposed to the ones that have the biggest numbers.
The higher your light level the more damage you can take before dying, and dying in a raid leaves the whole team vulnerable to a wipe and possible lost progress. Try to wait until you are a level or two above the minimum light level requirement for a raid before taking it on (unless you are extremely familiar with that raid), to avoid getting whomped.
Light level also plays into your offensive capabilities. If there is a level 29 and a level 30 guardian firing at a level 30 enemy with the exact same gun, the level 30 is going to be doing a significant amount more damage than the 29 is. Eventually if the gap between you and the enemy becomes too large (say 4 or 5 levels) you won't do any damage to them at all.
A lot more preparation goes into raids than it does for strikes or the crucible. Certain weapons and certain damage types will do better in certain raids. Do your research and bring the best weapon for the job. If you know there are going to be a whole lot of hive, pack some solar weapons to deal with their wizards more effectively. Vex Minotaurs coming up? Whip out your void damage to shred them no problem.
The same goes for weapon types. During the oracle phase in the Vault of Glass, a sniper rifle will help you pick them off as they spawn over the large map. For Crota, a rocket launcher like the Gjallahorn is preferred because it does a lot of damage quickly, which is necessary to remove his shield before it can recharge.
It’s been mentioned in the previous tips but it’s worth pointing out on it’s own, communication is key if you want to be successful in a raid. What better way to communicate with your teammates than talking to them!
Make sure you are mic’d up and ready to go before the raid starts. If you’re using a tool like destinylfg.net to find a group, include the fact that you have a mic in your LFG post. Some players wont even consider grouping with you if don’t use a mic because of how essential communication is.