So tried to run the nightfall w/ Slider, r2 and myself . Got all the way to the Nexus and we were using the ledge above to rain blows on it while holding off the Teleporting centurions. r2 and I get caught with our pants down reloading, die and say Slider run. He dies. So we have to restart and do the regular Weekly and breeze through it for the most part. r2 and i then join Gooter who happened to be in a nightfall working the Pocket infinity bounty and after wiping one time we knock out the nightfall. Sounds boring but I learned a lesson about the strength of the weapons. My 277 damage Solar Zombie Apocalypse and 267 damage Solar Pocket Infinty demolished everything but I couldn't keep up with the ammo demands for these weapons. My 277 Arc damage Patience and Time was useless against anything shielded - normally it wrecks everything - Even my new 242 Void Praedyth's revenge was better. Anyone know if it is because there is a posiblity that Arc damage is nerfed somehow on the Nightfall?

It all depends on the shields. The weekly and nightfall both have Solar burn, so solars will work on anything. The fallen captains, and Vex harpys have arc shields, so your P&T should have fared well there. But with the shanks having Solar shields, and Praetorians having void, it would struggle.

Yup. This weeks nightfall was solar burn, so that's why your solar weapons were so effective. Also, the nightfall has the "epic" modifier which means enemies are heavily shielded. You can tell which shield the enemies have because there will be a smokey colored aura around them when you shoot them.

Orange - weak vs solar weapons
Blue - weak vs arc weapons
Purple - weak vs void weapons

So for example, using a Patience & Time on Vex (minotaurs, etc) during a nightfall will do nothing. They need void weapons (ie Praedyths Revenge).

I know about the shield colors however it still seemed like my P&T was not very effective against Captains on my first attempt which seemed strange to me. normally I can crack the shields in 2 shots and kill them in 1 or 2 headshots. Last night I would take 4 shots and not even make a significant dent in the captain's shields

nope, all RNG

had my IB emblems equipped on 2 characters and some random emblem (pre-order emblem?) on the 3rd .... nothing new

I think there's just the one captain, and I'm almost positive that particular captain has a solar shield...even though they are normally blue.

the one captain in the servitor (3) room still has an arc shield

Well then I've got nothing.

P&T should have wrecked him.

Yup - It made no sense

@Cruz Thanks for joining me! I was waiting for Ice, Roy and Sooner to finish their weekly runs so they could help me do mine (thanks guys!) and was working on the bounty to pass the time. Also, regarding low ammo, bring ammo packs. Can't remember if you had those or not.

BTW, the Pocket Infinity is mine! Actually wasn't too hard... knocked out 150 kills in this week's Nightfall using a level 18 rare solar fusion rifle. Now on to the Thorn bounty. Ugh.

Edit: Got a Suros, my first, and an Epitaph sniper, my second, from my two NF runs.

Sorry again for jumping in and taking your spot as you were changing characters. I got a second Last Word out of it, which is nice and gives my primary another weapon to level up.

No problem. I only had a couple of the ammo synthesis because I was low on glimmer again.

Hey Gooter I also have the Thorn Bounty on the last part - I have held on to it for more than a month - when you get to the last stage (Killing Xyor the Unwed) I'd be interested in teaming up to knock it out.

I also have a weekly Strike and Nightfall for my Level 26 Warlock I need to knock out.

@cruz I'd love to but I don't think I will be able to get thru the PvP part of it due to my suckiness.

Some more info about the Dark Below. Whole lot of bullshit in regards to upgrading

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...expansion.aspx

upgrading summary for those who can't access gaming sites at work?

What’s Old Is New Again – Upgrading Exotics

The recent Destiny patch brought some notable changes to exotic weapons, but next week’s expansion offers some additional big adjustments. Specifically, exotic items will become available for an upgrade to keep them in line with the new top-tier gear.

Here’s how it works. Upgrading exotic weapons and armor is completed by interacting with the weekend vendor, Xur. When he arrives every Friday morning, he will now have a new option to upgrade one of your equipped exotic items. Each week, he’ll offer some (but not all) exotic items as being available to upgrade.

You’ll need three things. First, you need to own the original version of that exotic item, and turn it in to exchange for the upgraded version. It doesn’t matter if this old version of the item is brand new or fully upgraded. To complete the upgrade, you’ll also need to turn in an exotic shard. This recently introduced new material is available for purchase for seven strange coins from Xur, or by breaking down another existing exotic item in your inventory. Finally, each exotic upgrade costs a hefty dose of cash – around 7000 glimmer as of my playthrough of the expansion in mid-November. After turning all three of these things into Xur, he’ll hand you a brand new version of your item with a higher defense or attack value cap.

It’s important to note that this process resets the upgrades on your exotic item, but you’ll now have a new higher damage or defense cap to work towards – so you’ll need to decide if you’d rather keep your fully upgraded old version of a weapon or armor piece, or start over. With that said, the process of upgrading exotic items is now faster, and does not require ascendant materials. Instead, the last slot requires one additional exotic shard, as revealed in Monday’s patch.

With these changes in mind, players eager to start upgrading their exotics should be looking to save up glimmer this week, and also have enough strange coins on hand to purchase the requisite exotic shards.

Given this new feature, exotic items are ultimately far more valuable and important than standard legendary items. Where your older purple legendary items are left behind with the expansion, this change ensures that exotic items carry forward into the new content, and remain as powerful (and hopefully moreso) than new expansion-tier legendary items. It’s also important to note that these upgradeable exotics are available to all Destiny players once the expansion launches, not just the players who purchase The Dark Below. However, only owners of The Dark Below can get new exotics that launch with the DLC.

Raid Loot and Legendary Acquisitions

Some small but important changes are on the way to raiding and the loot that comes from raiding.

After the initial launch, Bungie noticed that many players were choosing not to fully upgrade their standard legendary gear, and instead were saving the shards and energy for the powerful gear that might drop for them in the raid.

To encourage players to embrace initial upgrades even as they wait for raid drops, ascendant materials are now used primarily to upgrade non-raid legendary gear. Raid gear is instead upgraded with radiant shards and energy, which are acquired in the Crota’s End raid. To put it another way, the raid has its own internally consistent upgrade economy.

In addition, if you don’t get the specific energy or shards you’re hoping for, Eris Morn offers an exchange, allowing you to trade in one for the other. Another way to get radiant shards and radiant energy is to break down unwanted items acquired in the raid.

Perhaps most importantly, the loot raid drops for Crota’s End have been refined from what we experienced in the Vault of Glass. Specifically, the game will pay closer attention to the drops you’ve already had, as well as how long it’s been since you get a “fun” drop (as opposed to just materials). While there’s still a significant component of randomness, Bungie strongly implied to me that players should have a more consistent reward experience with the raid than what has been experienced in Vault of Glass when the Crota’s End raid launches on day one of the expansion.

Looking ahead to 2015, players can expect that new raid primary weapons will only be available through the hard mode of the Crota’s End raid – set for launch in January.

Independent of raid loot, there are some new wrinkles involved in acquiring standard expansion-tier legendary gear. In addition to spending crucible or vanguard marks, buying new purple items now requires that you gain crucible or vanguard commendations. This reward is provided when you hit a new reputation level, and arrives via the postmaster. New legendary gear can be purchased by any Destiny player, regardless of whether you own The Dark Below.

Use Void Damage to defeat Guardians in the Crucible. Death will slow your progress.
•500 points needed. Each kill gives 5 points. Your deaths subtract 2 points.
•Any Void Damage kills count, including damage from abilities such as Nova Bomb.
•This gives you the Corrupted Hand Cannon.


I camped a zone in control and pulled off this part in a few hours

well I have a sh*t ton of strange coins and plenty of exotics ... most which haven't been upgraded (especially to the last row of upgrades) other than the Breaker of Ice

back at 25K glimmer after IB but that 7K cost is hefty .... if glimmer is going to be a component at that high of a cost they need to increase the cap from 25K

so it looks like it is also a waiting game for when you can upgrade the exotics (Xur has to have the upgrade version in a given week for you)

so does the exotic shard you turn in to upgrade your original exotic to the new exotic automatically populate in the final slot or do you then need another exotic shard to fully upgrade the weapon? ... I assume the later

I would assume you need 2 one for the weapon, one for the upgrade spot. Also the new vendor Eris, is going to take Black Wax Idos as currency, so you may want to start collecting those

Dying will be the problem Cruz, lol.

For you guys/gals who are a lot smarter than me, regarding the item upgrading.... this is a whole lot of BS right? Seems to be adding more grinding to the game, waiting on Xur RNG, only way to upgrade raid gear is to run more raids, which can only be done once a week per char, etc? Am I missing something? This is gonna suck post Dark Below?

^ like everything Destiny for one thing they make easier they make something equal harder

Bungie has acknowledged that people want this, and they're considering it, but that's as far as it's gone, afaik.

Bungie blog post on Dark Below changes, http://www.bungie.net/7_The-Dark-Bel...News?aid=12442

(also pasted below for Musick )

The Dark Below releases on December 9th, 2014. This new content will expand the world of Destiny for some players. It will also change the experience of playing Destiny for all. To support the updates that will go live with the expansion, we have made changes to a number of systems that drive the game.

New Legendary Gear
Existing Legendary gear on display in the Tower will be replaced
New Legendary gear will feature higher Attack and Defense values
Legendary items will still require Ascendant Materials for upgrades
This new, more powerful gear will be available to all players of Destiny
Legendary gear will not be as powerful as new Raid gear or Exotics

New Rank Commendations
In addition to Crucible or Vanguard Marks, purchasing new Legendary items will require a Crucible or Vanguard Commendation
Commendations are received in Reputation Reward Packages delivered by the Postmaster upon reaching a new Reputation Level

Exotic Talent Changes
As part of the December 1st Destiny Update, Exotic Armor and Weapons no longer require Ascendant Materials for upgrades
The final power node of all Exotic Gear will require an Exotic Shard
This new material is obtained by one of the following means:
Dismantling unwanted Exotics
Purchased from Xûr for 7 Strange Coins

New Exotic Upgrading
Exotic Gear in The Dark Below will have higher Attack and Defense values than current Exotic Gear. For players and their current caches of Exotics, a path will exist to bring them forward into The Dark Below.
Starting December 9th, Xûr will offer players the opportunity to upgrade Exotics to the higher Attack and Defense values
Upgrading an Exotic in this way will require an Exotic Shard
The upgrade will reset the progression invested into the item
Each week, Xûr will possess a selection of upgrades for existing Exotics in his inventory

Crucible (PvP) Changes
Expansion I will include two new exclusive competitive playlists
New Crucible arenas (Pantheon, Skyshock, and The Cauldron) will be featured in map rotation
Playlists available in the Director will change week over week
Experiences will alternate between 12 and 6 player engagements
Map rotation will alternate between focusing solely on new expansion arenas and including original launch maps in the mix


Heroics and Nightfall (PvE) Changes
With the Light level increase to 32, Heroics and Nightfalls will be increased by 2 Light levels to keep up with new content, level increases, and gear items

New Raid: Crota's End
The new Raid, Crota's End, will unlock on December 9th
Players at Light level 30 can lead a Fireteam immediately upon release
The reward system in Crota's End will address some issues reported in the Vault of Glass:
Raid loot in Crota's End will drop at a higher rate
New Raid gear will contain a wider variety of potential perks
Weapons and Gear from Crota's End will not require Ascendant materials for upgrades
Radiant Shards and Radiant Energy acquired in the Raid will be used to upgrade new Raid gear
Unwanted weapons and gear from Crota's End will dismantle into Radiant materials
Primary weapons will only drop in the harder version of Crota's End, released sometime in January

We are hopeful about the changes we're making to the way Raid loot works. We look forward to watching the streamers attempt to become the world first to complete the new Raid. Good luck!

Lot of shit in this update.

Raid primarys only drop on hard, which isnt available untill some time in January
Losing all progress on fully upgraded Exotics
New raid gear takes material that only drops in the raid.
In order to buy new legendary from factions, they have to be leveled up again.