Destiny 2: What the Day 1 Raid experience taught me.
The Deep Stone Crypt was released at 10 A.M PST on the 21st of November. I entered the raid with a team that I have raided with for the past year, we beat it after 17 hours and 45 minutes. Throughout this time, we died A LOT, I mean A LOT, god damn.
The day one experience was a roller coaster of emotions. It was fun to learn about each encounter. It was heartbreaking to come so close to finishing an encounter and dying to a silly mistake. Most importantly, the feeling of triumph when we finally cleared each encounter, and inevitably beat the raid, was amazing, what a rush! Not only did I have a blast, but I also learned from this experience and I am going to share some of the things that I learned.
Skill isn’t everything
When it comes to Day 1, individual skill is great to have. If you are not able to stay alive and perform the mechanics, you will be a hindrance to your team. But, individual skill is irrelevant if you are impatient or lack endurance. The day one raid can be completed in as little as 6–7 hours or take up to 24 hours. You must be able to maintain a positive attitude throughout the full 24 hours and keep a consistently high level of play. Some people are really good until things get tough or they get tired. During our run, we made some mistakes at the 15ish hour mark, but we stayed consistent despite this. If we lacked endurance we would have been boned.
Don’t bottle up your anger
If for any reason you get angry with a teammate or you notice a teammate doing something wrong, say something. Holding on to that kind of thing can cause problems later on in the raid. During my Day One experience, we yelled at each other after a wipe, then immediately forgot about why we were pissed and moved on. It’s that easy, if you hold on to it you are prone to blowing up later even harder and potentially ruining the run. This leads me to my next point.
Have a set team!
Make sure the team that you step into the raid with is a team of people that you enjoy gaming with and game with often. LFG teams can get it done, but it is all but guaranteed to fail. This is because people don’t know one another and aren’t used to each other. Meaning if things start to go sour, they have no reason to stay in the raid, they can just find a new group. Just having a team may not be enough.
Have a backup
This one can be pretty tough since it relies on someone grinding their power up to be day one ready with the understanding that they may not step into the raid with the team. Despite this, it is 100% necessary to have a backup or two ready to step in if someone leaves. My team had a backup and cleared the raid with said back up. A few hours into the raid one of our guys had to leave, our back up came in and cleared the raid with us.
Conclusion
Day one raids are a fun experience, I’m happy that I participated this year and even happier to have cleared the raid day one. If you go into the raid, make sure to have a set team, make sure to stay awake and consistent, make sure to solve any disputes early, and above all, be sure to drink your Ovaltine.
