One deliciously nerdy 'Destiny 2' change will cut down on so much dumb tedium
Great news, Destiny fans: identifying your new loot in Destiny 2 no longer benefits from the tedious process of re-dressing your Guardian in all of his or her best gear.
Let me explain.
Destiny loot comes in the form of glowing objects called "engrams." They're color-coded by rarity and fall into different categories — helmets, boots, power weapons, that sort of thing — but you don't know what one actually is until you visit the Cryptarch to get it decoded.
You can find these vendors in all of Destiny's social spaces. The game doesn't even know which piece of gear you're getting until you decode the engram, at which point an invisible dice roll determines your actual loot drop.
Now, because of the way these loot rolls worked in the original Destiny — it's based on your overall level, which is dictated by the gear you're wearing — it always made sense to put on your highest level gear before decoding engrams. That way, the random number generating computer brain powering Destiny would hand you the best possible gear.
Just one problem: that was some super-tedious nonsense.
Destiny is a multi-faceted game, and there's rarely a one-size-fits-all gear loadout to suit every situation. So every time you'd truck back to the Tower with a pocket full of engrams, you'd inevitably spend 10 extra BS minutes shuffling around in your inventory.
Well. No longer. Destiny 2 does away with that charming little quirk, as project lead Mark Noseworthy confirmed.
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This is the kind of nerd-ass nonsense that Destiny fans like me eat right up. It's what you'd call a "quality of life" update: the game doesn't change in any fundamental way, but it makes your whole experience a little smoother and a little happier.
Loot rolls were invisible before, and they'll still be invisible now. But there remains a major difference: instead of punishing ignorant players like the previous game did, Destiny 2's loot system is actively working to help you succeed.
Topics Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
