Average Erik’s Guide To Day One VoG

(with an annotated guide on Tips and Tricks to each encounter)

Let me start off by saying I had a great time and I would do it EXACTLY the same again if someone asked.  The team I was on was great.  The people were excellent to work with.  Our results were excellent.  I’m happy with the experience for certain. 

However, I think I learned a lot.  A lot about setting expectations ahead of time for a DO.  A lot about ensuring teammates are aligned on what is valuable in a DO.  A lot about timing, and when to beat your head, and when to ask for help. 

In the end, it was great, but if I do it again, I’ll do it better.

So, apologies to my teammates and myself, for I am going to be blunt and honest about where we didn’t do it ‘the best we could have’, and where things went less-than-optimally.  I won’t name names, but you will almost certainly know who you were.  I hope you don’t take offense (looks-in-mirror-as-he-speaks).

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s Off To Day One Raid We Go:

We weren’t a pre-practiced and usual team. 

A few of us knew each other, and several were in the same clan.  One was former clan-mate, but the 6 never had played together.  We had a few different skill levels, and definitely crossed a few generations of age.  None of that was a problem.  We (mostly) got together twice as a team to discuss, and we even ran a couple raids together – which was very valuable.  But one of us wasn’t there at all until the night before.  That one member was actually voted out.  We had a backup from early on in planning, so we had practiced with him.  When it came down to the night before and he still had not showed up, we all agreed that the synergy and the group that had assembled and raided was very good and we didn’t want to disrupt that.  It was settled, we were going to tell him he’s out…

Then 5 minutes later he showed up – with the first statement out of his mouth – “Sorry guys, I guess I probably got kicked out and someone took my spot right?” 

How do you respond to that?  We all said yes…you did… and then none of us stuck to it.  We let him in.  I guess it was the humility and acknowledgement of the mistake and being okay with the consequences that let him back into our good graces – at least for me.  Or perhaps it was just that we didn’t know him well enough to tell him “Yeah, fuck off dude, you bailed on us, we bail on you!”.

But I’d like to hope it was the first reason.

We talked about what classes we wanted, and what we wanted each to play.  We listened to each other’s preferences and capabilities and aligned very well on our final approach. 

Finally, we agreed on when to start.

                TIPS and TRICKS:

• Get your 6.  Be sure to share your experience and skill levels openly and honestly.  Pay attention to personality and play style.  Make sure you are all coming into it with a similar attitude and approach to the game.  As things get stressful and people get tired (the later stages are almost certainly the hardest on a DO raid, and you are going to become tired the longer you play).
• Get a Backup.  Backup needs to know they are 2^nd in line, and they should not commit to any other duties.  The backup might be called upon at any moment.  They should watch the stream and stay in communication throughout the DO experience.  If they are a good leader and good strategist, that is helpful, the extra input can be very valuable.
• Get a Backup-Backup (Plan?).  It is definitely possible you could need yet-another-replacement-player.  Know how you intend to approach this.  Have a list of names, and preferably have already talked to them about the possibility of asking them to help.  This person (people?) does not need to be dedicated to your use, so have a few choices and be flexible here on the day you need.  If you have to reach out to these people for help, be ready to have it take a little extra time to get going again.
• Get on a call together.  Talk.  Not just about the game and upcoming experience, just get to know each other a little if you don’t already.  Some very specific topics that should be approached openly and directly:
  • Communication style.  Are you aggressive?  Passive?  Quiet?  Shy?  Boisterous?  Make sure you can set a tone with each other that is going to work.  Respect goes a long way, but extremely imbalanced styles of communication can make for a miserable experience.
  • Schedule and commitment.  Is everyone dedicated to the same level of success?  What is success?  Will you all be dedicated 24 hours straight or do you have prior commitments elsewhere?  Is everyone capable of being up 24 hours straight, or to whatever extent you agree on?  Agree on that schedule as a minimum (going further together is fine, but quitting early is heart-rending).
  • How and when do you take offense?  What insults you when gaming with people?  What are your pet peeves?  What do you hate?  What gets under your skin?  If you know what bugs the other players on your team you are much less likely to annoy them.  If you do, you can more likely talk it out (“Oh yeah, sorry ABC, I forgot how much you hate that, I didn’t mean to do it, and I will try not to again.”)
  • What is your gaming environment like?  Do you have a dedicated room?  What’s your equipment?  How often do you get disconnected or have errors?  If you are in your Mom’s basement, and she asks you to take out the trash – we want to know to expect and be okay with that.  If occasionally can’t hear because the train goes by outside, we want to be ready to cover for that.  It also helps to humanize each other, creating a slightly stronger social bond that might help smooth over some of the bumps that will invariably happen in the DO.
• Practice Together:  Do a raid or two or three preferably.  The more you can work together, the more you should be able to work well together (or find out that it ain’t gonna work and bail out before you want to kill each other!).  Look, a team that has done 20 raids together is not reading this write-up unless they are looking for a laugh, but an individual that WANTS to do their first DO Raid should heed this advice.  Don’t stress out if you can’t get 10 raids in together, but please do get at least one…

Twas the Night Before VoG, and All Through the Clan…

‘Twas the night before VoG, and all through the clan,
Everyone prepped, each woman, non-binary, and man.
The loadouts were talked up, each team a ready-machine,
My play surface polished, all neat, tidy, and clean.
The players each nestled down in their beds,
With visions of Raid Emblems ablaze in their heads.
And Bungie developers riddled with glee,
Stood by so patiently, ready to launch Vee Oh Gee.
When out in the Twitter™, there arose such a clatter,
We all sprung to our keyboards to see what was the matter.
And what to our wondering eyes did appear –
But a note about glitches, and consequences to fear!
“If you push off the Boss, we will curtail your win,
We forgot completely to fix it, but YOUR’S is the sin!”
Well golly-gee-whillikers we all let out a sigh –
If they left that crap in, what else is awry?
So the Sub-reddits™ and Twitters™ and Twitches™ did bloom,
With discussions and arguments about every VoG room!
Did they leave in the glitch that I used in the maze?
Did they even change up the Gorgon path’s gaze?
Did they rush through the coding, or take some great care –
What kind of experience shall we have when we’re there?
Will there be champion Wyverns, or just the plain kind?
What ever will happen, we’re all curious of mind!
So on that bright day, right at noon central time
(No I’m not in Pacific, so, on my clock we will rhyme!)
Yes, on that bright day, exactly at noon,
We tried to launch VoG, but perhaps we’re too soon?
It wasn’t quite working, we couldn’t quite see
A way into Venus, and our next Destiny…
Oh silly, yes silly, you must reload your space
In order to see the new launching place…
Click Legends and into the raid we went in a hurry,
Get ready now Vex, from our combined might you will scurry!

We had hope in our hearts, confidence in our souls, wings on our feet (the Red Bull™?), and most of us had several bags of munchies nearby.

Launching Day One…

It took a few minutes and quite a few deaths to figure out how best to stay alive.  Remember, we aren’t all Esoterrick(™?) level experts – and we really haven’t played together much.  But we persisted, and died, and persisted, and … finally we adapted.  You don’t have to stay on the plates, and you should focus together.  These baddies are a few light levels above us and they pack a pretty mean punch.  We adjusted our strategies and focused a little differently and made it through to…  the door opening?  Oh, yeah, this wasn’t even really an encounter, it was just the landing zone.  The intro.  Practically a dang cut-scene.

Oh sh@#!…we are in for a real ride…

                TIPS and TRICKS:

• Kinetic or Energy grenade launchers could be very helpful here.
• A void weapon is key.
• The Cyclops will destroy you, prioritize them whenever they come up.
• Freezing and Stasis powers are valuable.
• Anarchy could be helpful.
• Keep moving.  Back and forth in your area.  Remember – you don’t need to stand on the plates once you have lit them up, unless a Minotaur breaks them!
• Warmind cell builds can be a blessing also.

The Oracles

(are NOT your shining beacons of hope and knowledge!)

Okay, for us, this stage sucked.  We just kept getting overwhelmed with bad guys, and we couldn’t call out and memorize and defend all at the same time.  We were getting close though.  We beat our heads on this one for quite a while.  And then one brilliant insight…

One of our team members had said “What if I just stand up here and shoot those two Oracles?” (from a distant point in on a ledge up high).  It was half-joke, half-exasperated ‘I’m-getting-my-ass-kicked’ statement, but it was brilliant.  Another teammate had noticed a small alcove earlier and suggested we use it, but it was limited to only a couple Oracles.  And then it hit us…

We won.  We won quick.  We absolutely destroyed the Oracles in one try.  Well, after 50 or 60 tries I think, then we got it in one (actually 2 I think, somebody (me?) fell down and got killed and missed an Oracle).  The trick is this — there are 6 good hiding spots where one may go and see 1, 2, or 3 Oracles.  Put one team member in each, and focus SOLELY on your own Oracle(s).  No memorization, no running, and, most importantly, no fighting Vex atrocities.  Just sit in your perch, pick of a few Vex that wander into the small area that MIGHT be able to shoot at you, deal with snipers, they can see you probably…and WIN. 

It’s that easy.  It’s not a cheese…it’s just stupidly smart.

                TIPS and TRICKS:

• Hide.  There are specific spots (see the map).  Focus on your own.
• Be a little flexible, you can still get shot, and you need to cover for each other if death happens.  You are NOT likely to try and revive someone in this layout, just take care of their Oracle for them.  With a little adjustment and quick movements, every Oracle can be seen by just 4 players.
• If someone dies, and you need to cover for them, watch your own Oracle in the first round VERY carefully, move to see their Oracle and watch it carefully for the 2^nd round. 
• Use Xenophage.  Period.  One-shot, one-kill, oh, and you don’t even have to hit it directly.  Hitting the ground NEAR it will usually kill the Oracle.
• Strong scout rifles (especially with Anti-Barrier) or Snipers for the Snipers.  Those dudes are total jerks – hit them hard.
• Xenophage.  Use Xenophage.  Conserve your ammo, but don’t be afraid to use it either.  You are focusing on only ONE (or possibly two) Oracles, with 6 repetitions.  That is 6 to 12 Xeno shots (if you suck it’s 12).  The rest are great on Snipers or whatever else wanders your way.
• Xenophage also works on the Snipers! 
• Did I say use Xenophage yet?

The Show Must Go On…

The Templar. 

Hmmm…

The Templar.

…

.

What can I say about this one?  We had a hard time that’s for sure.  Try after try after try.  Changed loadouts after changed loadouts.  We blocked a couple teleports, then got swarmed with Minotaurs.  We moved our DPS location.  We altered our classes.

And we had our first real difficult moments inside the team.  And this is where someone could take offense.  I don’t mean to, you did well, and later was a lot better, but here, right here, you frustrated several of your teammates.  We had one guy not talking, not covering, and not seeming to change what he was doing.  A teammate said “I’m all alone up here on this side, I need some help” and yet that guy just stayed where he was, and didn’t adjust.  We didn’t call him out by name, and we should have.  We should have simply said “Hey, XYZ, your job needs to be helping ABC on that side.”  Instead, we told another player to do better.  Whoa?  Wait?  One guy didn’t do his job, so we tried to advise someone else?  No. 

Here’s the tip – don’t be afraid to call the name and be direct with each other.  If offense is going to get taken, deal with it, talk about it, work it out, and move on.  If you try multiple times, and the only response you get is either silence or nothing helpful, frustration levels arise on both sides.

Early in our tries, someone had jokingly said “Double-Slug-Shotties-for-the-win” but we didn’t take them seriously.  Instead we laughed it off and kept banging our virtual heads against the Templar’s damn near impenetrable wall of 9 zillion hit points.  But he was right.

Our winning strat?  Stand on the ledge right next to the Templar, with your DSC Boss killing “Double-Slug-Shottie” loadout – in a well – and decimate his dumbass.  The Templar.  So formidable.  So Badass.  Been throwing us around like ragdolls for at least 4 hours suddenly succumbs to (again, 2^nd try) a stupidly simple and easy strategy.

(Oh…key to that strat is to have the Relic Holder block ALL attempts to teleport!)

Gosh…this thing just MIGHT go our way.  Hope is once again on the rise!

                TIPS and TRICKS:

• Double-Slug-Shottie-With-Anarchy, a Well, perhaps a Bubble (Optional) and a fast Relic Holder.  Block ALL teleports (Relic Holder job).  Deal with the initial Oracle phase properly, then if you get a second one, just ignore it, and go cleanse together in the pool.  Go back and finish the kill.
• Split into sides and just have each person look at and be responsible for one (or two Oracles).  Whomever has an Oracle light up can mostly ignore any enemies, there are only 3 total Oracles and you will move quickly to DPS.

The Gorgon Maze…

Wow Bungie…you added one Gorgon?  Didn’t even move the exit door?  No new rock formations?

Oh – and invisibility works against Gorgons?

Okay, we would have got it in one go if some idiot had not swung his sword while invisible.  (“Oh, I’m going to hurry by sword flying while I’m invisible…” – directly in FRONT of a Gorgon!)  I’m definitely not going to tell you WHICH idiot did that (looking very innocent and definitely not guilty while I type).

                TIPS and TRICKS:

• Swords.
• Invisible smoke hunter.
• Take a left at the first tunnel and get on-top-o-the-rocks.
• If one person makes it to exit, have them stay right there for anyone else to orient and move towards.

Time for the Gatekeeper…

I will repeat what a wise man once said “This one is easy, we know what to do, now we just have to keep doing until we actually get it right.”  That is definitely about the gist of it.  One rule to rule them all – “if you go through the teleport with the relic, you can’t go through the teleport again, AT ALL, for a little while.”  Once you know that – life, and this stage, become simple. 

Sort of…

We were jiving and in-sync by this time.  It was, although it took quite a bit of effort, one of our better encounters.  We figured out the mechanics and rules pretty quickly, we just had to practice a bit on staying alive, taking our time, but not taking too much time.  I don’t remember it too well, I think, because nothing particularly bad nor good happened.  It really is a simple encounter, with a couple rules is all.

                TIPS and TRICKS:

• Know the rules.
  • Once you use a portal while holding the relic, you are locked out from ANY teleporting (with or without relic!) for a while.  This means you ROTATE the relic.
  • The relic can be dropped and picked up, just don’t leave it on the ground too long.  DO NOT drop it and move away from it.  If you are doing a hand off, don’t MOVE until the other person picks it up.  Miscommunications happen and you don’t want to wipe because that relic is on the floor.
  • DO NOT pass the relic near an edge (it could fall off) or in a bunch of enemies.  The best place we found was near the conflux (when inside) and on the door opening pads (on the outside).
  • Do NOT pass the relic while standing anywhere near the portal itself.  A small slip and you pass through the portal – and can’t get back anytime soon.
  • Wyverns suck.  But they succumb to stasis quite well.  They also LOVE to take an Anarchy shot to the nose and then walk across two nicely spaced on the ground.
  • You can freeze Praetorians.  Quite easily actually.  So yeah, do that if you need to.  But go ahead and let them get halfway down the stairs if you need to.  The relic carrier should be here soon…
  • Anarchy is boss here!
  • Stasis for the win!
  • Submachine guns also very handy (yes, there are Overload Minotaurs).
  • When defending the stairs, setting an Anarchy trap using pillars on each side and one in the center ground between them is great.  Then position yourself down the stairs just far enough to be able to shoot the walking Goblins. 
• If you go off to the side of the stairs too far to the side, Goblins will start teleporting in your direction.  This can be quite surprising so try and avoid it.  It’s hard to get back into your rhythm when they disrupt you like this.
• The final stage is trivial.  Even easier than hiding in the alcoves and watching one single Oracle…so relax and know that you have this thing almost beaten, cause there’s only ONE Encounter left!

The Beast.

F-this-dude-in-contest-mode.  My gawd.  Seriously.  Bungie, okay, I take back all the bad things I said about how lazily you handled the Gorgon Maze.  This son-of-a-gun SUCKED. 

We didn’t beat him.  Well, not that first day.  We even gave up the legit approach after 5 hours (?) and tried to push his a$$ off the ledge.  Didn’t work, or we just didn’t have the patience to try too many times.  Look, at this point we were burnt out.  I forgot to mention it, but a while back, a couple teammates left to deal with prior commitments.  Wait WHAT? I thought we were all in this for the long haul.  If we had known you were gonna leave for a while, we would have arranged or responded differently.  It was kind of a surprise – we thought we were gonna go 24 hours and either make it, or ALMOST make it!  You bailed on us…

But the truth is, we had not had a long talk about it, and we didn’t all jointly set our schedule expectations.  It wasn’t anyone’s fault and in the end, nobody is/was mad, but it’s important to set the tone up front.  Here again at Atheon we ran into this.  People bailed.  We had 7 hours left.  That meant we had been at it for 17 hours already.  Most of the team non-stop.  The two that left didn’t go take naps, so now that they were back for a bit, they were just as tired as the rest of us.

Again, it’s about setting expectations and knowing capabilities.  If we were gonna push for 24 hours – up until the last minute, we should have all made that clear to each other up front.  If not, we should have known and agreed on that point also.

It took us too long to try and figure out the call-outs for the Oracles.  We knew what to do, we knew how to do it, we just struggled on the specifics.  We adjusted, several times, and we made improvements.  We were darn close to getting it figured out, but Atheon just seemed to have too many hit points.  I think that was what broke us.  Even as we were getting it right, and getting the mechanics down, we were using weapons as our primary DPS, and just not seeing a win in sight.  It seemed no matter how hard we tried, our builds weren’t going to be good enough to beat him.

We didn’t see progress.  We didn’t FEEL like we were succeeding, although we were actually right on track – we just needed to keep going.  It felt daunting and we were tired.

So it ended.

Our dreams of Day One Raid Emblems and bragging rights just ended right there.

But as I said, I’d do it all again, and I will absolutely, willingly, happily raid with each and every one of the people I played with on that day of tribulation.  I cherish the time, and certainly the level of accomplishment we had.  I forged new friendships that day, and damn near got an ugly ass emblem as a reward…

So Team —- Raise a glass to Day One VoG.  Raise it high!  Raise it with pride for what we did!  Raise it and toss it down the hatch. 

And smile big, because we will do another One soon enough…

                TIPS and TRICKS:

• For DO level, at this point, before you quit, decide if you would like to take a break and look online for how others have beaten it.  If you are at the point you are willing to stop, then you are also past the point where you want to “solve it yourself”.  Especially if you think you have discovered all the mechanics and are just riding the “struggle-bus”. 
• Nuke-supers are solid DPS here.  Your super generates very quickly during DPS phase.