Destiny 2: Joker’s Wild – The Basics
Let’s take a look at some of the new stuff for Destiny 2‘s Guardians. But first, let’s get Eververse out of the way. Oh, look, Tess Everis has got some new cosmetic microtransactions for those who want to spend extra or have some bright dust to spare! Moving on…
It’s been over a year since the Curse of Osiris DLC, which was when Eververse was truly “notorious.”
Destiny 2: Joker’s Wild – Pinnacle Weapons
Season of the Drifter introduces three new pinnacle weapons for Destiny 2’s main playlist activities. You can pick these up from Zavala (Vanguard), Shaxx (Crucible), and The Drifter (Gambit).
In Zavala’s case, you’ll get the Oxygen SR3, a scout rifle which boosts damage until your next Dragonfly (elemental explosion) precision kill. You’ll need to complete “The Best Offense” triumph. Here are the steps:
- 1,000 precision kills in strikes/nightfalls
- 500 orbs generated
- 75 strikes or nightfalls completed
This seems fairly easy to do since you’re not restricted to a specific weapon type or element, but 75 strikes can be a slog.
Mister Blue has got a pinnacle weapon for you.
As for Lord Shaxx, the triumph is “The Stuff of Myth” which rewards The Recluse submachine gun. This weapon’s damage increases whenever you kill something with it (sort of like Rampage). The triumph’s steps are:
- 100 wins in Crucible
- Glory Fabled rank
Okay, this is another grind for Destiny 2‘s PvP aficionados. What’s also worth noting is that the app tells you that Iron Banner and Competitive grant more efficient progress.
The most excited person in the Destiny universe has some exciting grinding for you to do.
Lastly, we’ve got the 21% Delirium machine gun from Gambit. The weapon’s damage increases when you get kills until you stow the weapon or reload. The triumph you’ll need to complete is called “Notorious Hustle.” The steps are:
- 75 multikills
- 350 envoy or primeval kills
- Infamy rank reset
This might be something you’ll complete before the other pinnacle weapons. After all, Gambit is the main focus of the Joker’s Wild DLC.
Ada-1 now has a new neighbor in The Annex.
The Drifter
The Drifter also has some “catch-up” bounties for you to pick up in case you’re below 650 power level. These bounties will grant you some 640 PL items. You’ll find out about these once you talk to the fella who’s now located in The Annex area. You’ve been able to fly there directly since Black Armory anyhow.
Speaking of Gambit, well, there’s a new mode called Gambit Prime. Matthew Mac thinks everything is all right, all right, all right. He’ll give you a quest to complete a Gambit Prime bounty. You’ll notice that each bounty is tailored for a specific playstyle which also rewards you with a mote for that specific archetype. As mentioned before:
- Sentry – killing blockers, Primevals, and invaders
- Reaper – killing mobs
- Collector – collecting and depositing motes
- Invader – attacking the opposing team and denying motes
The Drifter’s Gambit Prime bounties later on are weeklies, and you’ll earn archetype-specific rewards.
Gambit Prime
There’s only one Gambit Prime map for now, and that’s New Arcadia, set in Mars. You’ll notice platforms running along an energy conveyor belt leading to a building to the north. To the west is a gully and the east has caverns.
Here’s how Gambit Prime differs from regular Gambit matches:
- there’s only one round instead of a best-of-three match
- sending blockers slowly drains the motes of the opposing team (blockers need to be killed to stop the drain effect)
- you’ll need to bank 100 motes (instead of 75) to summon a Primeval
- Primeval bosses have some extra mechanics
In New Arcadia, the Primeval boss will remain shielded until you kill the envoys (floating wizards). These wizards come in twos, and they’ll pop up in various parts of the map. Once you kill the first two wizards, a third will spawn. Killing this final envoy will spawn a Well of Light. Standing in it breaks the Primeval’s shield and boosts your damage temporarily.
After 20 seconds, the primeval regains its shield and you’ll need to kill the newly spawned envoys once more. You’ll also need to watch out for invaders from the opposing team. Lather, rinse, and repeat until the primeval is dead.
Get used to the New Arcadia map so as not to get confused.
Synthesizer
Whenever you complete a Gambit Prime match or complete a Gambit Prime bounty, you’ll get an archetype-specific mote. Upon your first Gambit Prime bounty completion, returning to The Drifter will grant you a Weak Synthesizer. This allows you to place a mote for a specific archetype.
But what are these for? Well, I’m glad you asked. These allow you to head to The Reckoning.
For now, you’ll be able to gain tier 1 motes for tier 1 Reckoning activities.
The Reckoning is a pinnacle wave activity reminiscent of Escalation Protocol and Blind Well. Matchmaking allows for up to four players. Passing through the Stargate-ish portal leads you to a massive plane that’s both mysterious and unnerving. You’ll also notice that banking area for Gambit smack dab in front of a giant hole. Note: Do NOT jump inside this hole until the “banking timer” is done and a new portal appears.
Remember that mote you created via the Synthesizer? Put it inside the banking contraption before jumping down.
It’s a fairly big map.
The Reckoning activity in Destiny 2: Joker’s Wild
This large area houses numerous Taken mobs from hobgoblins, captains, psions, thrall, and more. You’ll have a generous timer of six minutes to kill enemies until you reach 100 percent. The percentage also ticks down so make sure you’re killing lots of mobs.
The Reckoning also has modifiers. Currently, it’s Heavyweight (more heavy ammo drops) and Prism (elemental burn rotates from solar -> void -> arc -> back to solar).
Once you get to 100 percent, a Taken champion appears. It could be a centurion, hydra, wizard, even the meatball. Everything should be easy as long as you’re with a team. Just remember that some Destiny 2 players eagerly jump in without knowing that the mobs are 650 power level. Better just team up with people you know or find them on LFG.
Once you have completed a run, you’ll be teleported back to the “banking” area. You can pick up your loot now.
You’ll obtain an armor piece for that archetype’s mote that you placed. For instance, a Sentry mote rewards you with Sentry armor, while an Invader mote nets you an Invader armor. Each Gambit Prime armor piece has a +1 next to its name. That’s because these are tier 1 Reckoning rewards. Although it’s possible to have a set that’s nearly complete after just a few runs, I would advise against this since higher Reckoning tiers require more motes for the synthesizer.
Also, take note that the armor pieces you get are all low level/non-powerful versions. At 651 PL, armor pieces were dropping at 633 PL, which would be a waste of masterwork cores. It’s better to wait and see if higher tiers reward better gear.
Melted meatballs.
Gambit Prime Archetype Sets
Once you’ve completed one Reckoning run, return to The Drifter and he’ll have more bounties for you to choose from. This time around, the tier 2 archetype bounties are weeklies, you can only choose one at a time, and you’ll get that archetype’s respective helmet. You’ll also obtain a Middling Synthesizer which lets you craft tier 2 motes. Unfortunately, you can’t do a tier 2 Reckoning activity yet until Friday (March 8), whoops!
We’ll explain more as we progress further in the Joker’s Wild DLC and Season of the Drifter. For now, these are just the basics from Destiny 2‘s latest offering. As mentioned, there will be more in-depth guides to follow.
