Destiny 2: The Final Shape (June 4, 2024) Video Game • Page 148

I think my light level is too low

 

It's not an endless horde mode. It's called Escalation Protocol, and it's basically an endgame public event that can be triggered at any time on the new Mars patrol area. It lasts up to seven timed rounds and ends with a boss fight. There are five unique bosses that have mechanics tied to them (similar to the Court of Oryx bosses), and killing the boss spawns a chest that will give a guaranteed drop of the new Warmind-themed armor set. Each boss drops one of the five pieces of the set. There are also three Warmind-themed weapons (shotgun, SMG, sniper) that have the potential to drop during the event.

 

leviathan and Eater of Worlds are 300 light level so as longs as you're at or above that you'll be fine. It'll be grinding raid drops and weekly milestone drops to get you to ~370 to do the new Spire of Stars lair that'll take a bit.

 

they also supposedly guarantee that you won't get a duplicate drop of something until you have the full set which is nice. I'm really trying to grind to do EP instead of the raid because that hunter armor looks noice

 

First, you need to grind faction packages and other drops to get your power level to 340 (345 with +5 legendary mods) Then, to get your light level up you have a few options:

-Weekly Milestones
-Trials of the Nine
-Leviathan Normal with the weekly encounter challenge (power level is still 300 so it's pretty easy and if you do the challenge that's five powerful gear drops plus any legendary engrams you get will also decode into smaller power level improvements)
-Eater of Worlds (light level is still low so it's easy to do, and even though there are only two loot drops any engrams you get will be smaller upgrades and also the exotic chest will give at least a legendary that is a small upgrade as well)
-Leviathan Prestige with the weekly encounter challenge (power level is 320, I think? and the same goes here except weapons don't drop in this one, only armor, so it should be done after the other two)

The goal is to get to around the mid-360s. At that point, the new raid lair, Spire of Stars, becomes doable (but still challenging) and Escalation Protocol becomes a littler more realistic to do as well.

 

It's not duplicate drop protection, each of the five bosses drops a specific piece of the set. This week the boss dropped a class item, next week is boots, then chest, then gloves, and then helmet. Then it cycles back to class item.

 

Lot of really cool secrets and stuff have been added in this expansion. That gold chest in the Spire of Stars drops raid gear if you manage to get it open! So cool.

 

Escalation Protocol Guide

you sure? most of the info i have seen have says that your first drop is always going to be class item, then legs the following week, then chest, then gloves, and finally helmet on the 5th time completing it regardless of which week you start in. so if you make it to lvl 7 the first time in week 3, your first reward is going to be the class item or if you make it to lvl 7 in week 7 your first reward is still going to be the class item. that way in case week 1 and week 6 are for some reason the only two times you make it to lvl 7, you aren't getting 2 class items.

 

Hm, that definitely wasn't my interpretation was of what Bungie said. I thought they had said each boss had a specific piece tied to it? But I could be wrong! I obviously haven't beaten it yet lol

 

I definitely think Black Spindle is going to be a secret when either the Xol or the Nokris strike is the Nightfall.

 

yeah i don't think it's tied to the boss, i think it's by the order in which you beat lvl 7. Or at least I'm hoping, I don't have to have to wait 3-5 weeks of completing EP for the right armor piece.

 

Either way, once you start doing it as long as you complete it once a week every week you'll be fine haha

 

yeah it has to be, just like when it was the daily for D1.

also that daily still gives me flashbacks. that was rouuuugh

 

It was such a crazy day. I was so frustrated I was ready to quit and wait until I was max light but then we realized that if you cleared out the adds methodically but quickly, rather than trying to quickly focus down the boss, it was actually doable even at a lower light level (I think we were in the 280s?). The satisfaction of beating that thing on day one was so great, one of the best D1 moments for me for sure.

 

hell yeah, and getting the spindle AND the ship on the first drop was icing on the cake for me. Then I spent soo many hours helping others through it.

 

Oh yeah I got the ship too! I was so shocked because my RNG is atrocious 90% of the time (see: how many duplicate drops I got yesterday running Leviathan Prestige and EoW).

 

Hmm, too much grinding. Reinstall cancelled.

 

I legit didn't get Black Spindle until the next expansion came out and I was over powered.

 

No thanks, leave me out of it.

 

This sounds awesome

 

Yeah it's pretty cool. Only thing that sucks about it (for now) is that you really need a large group of players all around the mid-360s to have a shot at finishing it. And Bungie slowed down the leveling progression so a lot of people that aren't, like, YouTubers and Twitch streamers, have been able to do it yet. I've only ever been to round 3 of 7, and only managed that once. It's real tough, which is good because it gives players something to work toward with rewards that are actually worth chasing.

 

@Anthony_ Nokris is the meditation AND the nightfall....black spindle has to be found today

 

Would not surprise me at all. Unless it's in the Xol mission haha.

Also, the second step in the Polaris Lance quest has been unlocked. It's also a milestone that can give powerful gear. Probably going to work on that first tonight because the Flashpoint is on Mars as well.

 

I really hope they didn't make the Black Spindle the Nightfall-specific loot drop for one (or both) of the new strikes. That would be real annoying. I want it to be a cool secret win condition like in TTK. Always reminded me of the missions in Star Fox, which I loved.

 

How many Strikes did they add, and is there any easier way of accessing them outside of the playlists?