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Crunchy Dragon

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  2. Crunchy Dragon
    Quite a few interesting sandbox changes were made in the latest TWAB, though I'd make a discussion post talking about the changes and what it means for me.
     
    Sniper changes:
    Grenade launcher changes, generally won't have an effect on PvP:
    Lord of Wolves:
    The long-awaited Last Word nerf:
    Some shotgun balancing:
    Fusion rifle changes, mostly to high-impact frames and backup plan:
    AUTO RIFLES GET A BUFF!!
     
    So what does all this mean? It means The Last Word will be less of a problem and hopefully make the hand cannon meta slightly more diverse(with specific regards to Luna's Howl and Not Forgotten). The fusion rifle changes mean I will be farming yet another Erentil, chasing Firmly Planted and Tap The Trigger. Auto rifles will probably see more use, and 600 RPM adaptives are good already. What this buff means is that I'll probably be chasing a well-rolled Gnawing Hunger every other week from the Reckoning.
     
    The sniper change means I'll probably still be chasing a Supremacy from Last Wish(because I need a good kinetic that isn't Revoker), and I will still continue the hunt for a snapshot/box breathing Beloved from the Menagerie.
     
    As far as my progress goes, I've got some good news. Unfortunately, the Beloved roll I want still eludes me. Weekly reset just happened, and I still don't have my god roll Gunnora's Axe.  On the bright side, Thorn is starting to really work out. Apostate isn't an opening shot Twilight Oath by any means, but I'm pretty satisfied with it. I also finally got Bastion, which has been an interesting learning curve compared to other fusion rifles, mostly in regard to damage falloff.
     
    Oh yeah, also this:
     
     

  3. Crunchy Dragon
    Ordinarily, I'd be more upset about having a reload speed masterwork on a hand cannon. In this particular instance, having the reload masterwork is acceptable since I didn't get the curated roll featuring Drop Mag.
     
    As for the rest of my checklist, I've gotten 2 Gunnora's Axe rolls from Iron Banner. Both are decent rolls, but not quite what I'm after. I've been properly getting the hang of Thorn as well, leading to some straight up carnage in Iron Banner. The hunt for Gunnora's Axe continues.
  4. Crunchy Dragon
    Been a bit since my last update. I've since climbed up to 4300 Glory, about 2/3 through Mythic 2.
    I'll take this opportunity to give an update on my build as well, since I realized that I didn't actually talk about that in my last post(oops).
     
    Due to I'm More Comfortable On My Main Class, I've decided I'm going to rock my Hunter all the way to Legend as much as possible.
     
    I've changed my subclass, instead of running middle tree Arcstrider Way of The Current or bottom tree Gungslinger Way of The Sharpshooter, I'm rocking top tree Nightstalker: Way of The Trapper.
    Benefits of this subclass are:
    Go invisible when dodging Enhanced radar Faster sneak and sprint speeds I'm also running the void Spike Grenade because it's basically a Tripmine grenade but on a void subclass and I love Tripmines. For my exotic armor, I'm running the Fr0st-ee5(or Frostees). These give me faster cooldowns on my melee, grenade, and dodge when I sprint. My dodge recharges fast enough that I can have near 100% uptime on being invisible.
     
    For most of the journey I've been rocking the Erentil and Good Bone Structure rolls I mentioned in my previous post. Truth(oh yeah, I finally sat down and ground out Truth) has spent a lot of time in my heavy slot as well. Revoker and Luna's Howl have also seen a fair share of use.
     
    Update on weapon progress:
    Thorn is coming along, I really should focus on learning that one. Last Word is still a no-skill gun in my opinion. Still no dice on Kindled Orchid or Beloved rolls. Iron Banner rolls in tomorrow, so I can continue my hunt for a Gunnora's Axe with quickdraw/opening shot.
     
    I'm starting to learn Apostate(moon sniper rifle) as well, and that's been fun. It's not an opening shot Twilight Oath, but it's not bad with Snapshot.
     
    For bonus points, I went and found myself a proper competitive team to grind with.
    That's all for today, take care y'all.
  5. Crunchy Dragon
    I'm properly starting my grind to max rank(5500) in competitive, thought I'd post an update showcasing my various weapons I'm using on the road!
     
    First of all, let's take a look at the PvP meta, courtesy of the Charlemagne Discord bot:

     
    Because I really want to reach Legend this season, I'm not holding myself to any real standards like I normally would. I'm fully prepared to abuse the meta as much I need to if it means I can achieve my goal. Still not going to drop myself to Lord of Wolves level because I do believe that I am better than that.
     
    Let's go over a list of weapons I use from the meta list, and their types of rolls, starting with the kinetic slot:
    (this is a list of weapons I've had for some time. exotics are not included)
    Spare Rations: moderately rolled, has max handling(basically quickdraw) and Rapit Hit. Revoker: fixed roll, my go-to kinetic snipe. Energy:
    Luna's Howl: fixed roll, I have 1,200 PvP kills with it. Power:
    Hammerhead: god rolled for PvP, PvE, and Gambit. Play of The Game: moderately rolled, does its job when I need it. Avalanche: solid roll. As you can see, I don't dip my toes too far into the meta. When Shadowkeep released, it reigned in a lot of weapons(hand cannons and pulse rifles most notably), which opened up the midrange for things like auto rifles, scout rifles, and so forth. While I do have a collection of off-meta builds and loadouts, they do unfortunately falter in the higher levels of the comp playlist. This is why I've been farming for some more on-meta weapons that I can properly compete with, and recently added some weapons that counter the meta very well.
     
     
    In my list of new weapons, I have:
    (exotics not included)
    Good Bone Structure Bygones Erentil FR4  
    Taking this list from the top, we have a shotgun. Good Bone Structure is a precision frame slug shotgun, and can kill just under the maximum range of The Chaperone. This makes it an excellent choice for countering annoying weapons such as Lord of Wolves and Mindbender's Ambition, as this will kill outside their ranges. Perks are Full Bore, Appended Mag, Quickdraw, Slideshot. Range masterwork, Icarus Grip mod. This one is indeed a real looker.
     
    Next is Bygones. This is the most forgiving pulse rifle in the game, capable of two-bursting Guardians with Kill Clip active. Mine is a range masterwork short of a god roll, but it serves its purpose. Full Bore, Ricochet Rounds, Kill Clip, Outlaw. Freehand grip mod.
     
    Finally, we come to what some players consider the scummiest weapon to exist. In most circles, it's a tie between this fusion rifle and Lord of Wolves. The beastly Erentil FR4 is arguably the best fusion rifle in the entire game, and this particular roll is probably the ultimate god roll, the king of all Erentils. Firmly Planted adds a lot of consistency and stability across range, Backup Plan is an amazing counter to shotgun rushers. Liquid Coils means I do more damage, the scope gives me a bit more range. Stability masterwork for obvious reasons, you'll get the most consistency out of a fusion rifle if you keep it straight when all the bolts leave. This is also the reason for the Counterbalance Stock mod.
    Next on my list of weapons to acquire is the curated Kindled Orchid out of the Black Armory forges, a better Beloved with snapshot/box breathing, and a couple various exotics. Jotunn is on that list, and a few pieces of exotic armor as Armor 2.0. Also need to learn Thorn and, to a lesser extent, The Last Word. Next time Iron Banner rolls around, I'll be chasing a Gunnora's Axe with max range and quickdraw/opening shot.
     
    I'll try to remember to post various updates here as well, it makes me sad that I keep forgetting.
    Perhaps I'll see you out in the wild as I journey to 5500. Currently sitting at 3495 in Fabled 3, just shy of Mythic 1.
     
    Take care y'all.
  6. Crunchy Dragon
    Decided today was a Warlock day, so I hopped into Rumble and started experimenting.
     
    I initially ran Coldheart and a curated Lonesome(Reckoning sidearm), but that didn't go over so nicely in a lobby of Recluses and Riskrunners. Following that, I started looking around in my vault for different kinetic weapons, as I still wanted to do a build with Coldheart.
     
    What I have for you today is not a build featuring Coldheart.
    Instead, I have a build that I'm tentatively naming "Rocky Balboa". This build features a Year 1 pulse rifle, the Disrespectful Stare:
    I like this pulse rifle because it's a decent PvP option with the buff to high impact pulses in Shadowkeep, and it features high-caliber rounds on top of being a high-impact. The SC Holo sight is also my favorite sight in the game. This pulse rifle will indeed kill a Guardian in two bursts. I'm warming up to it very quickly.

    In my energy slot, I have a Wizened Rebuke that Saladin gave me yesterday:
    This baby features a Red Dot sight, Liquid Coils, Auto-Loading Holster, and Tap The Trigger(the best perk for fusion rifles in my opinion). The icing on the cake is the range masterwork. I added a targeting adjuster mod for extra consistency. Also, due to being a high impact frame, this fusion rifle is incredibly forgiving.
     
    In my power slot, I'm running just about anything. Since I'm not running an exotic anywhere else in my loadout, this is where I've been sticking my exotic weapon. Black Talon, Deathbringer, and Thunderlord have been my options so far. Black Talon is a particular favorite of mine, it has all the benefits of running a sword with none of the drawbacks.
  7. Crunchy Dragon
    Wow, it's been a while. I do apologize for my absence, life got busy.
     
    Anyway, let's get right into it! New year of Destiny, new blog posts, hopefully. This entry will be discussing my competitive PvP loadout for Shadowkeep so far. It's been about a month since the Shadowkeep launch, so I figure this is a good time to fully document what I've been using to slay Guardians in the Crucible.
     
    First things first, there is a solo queue playlist, and comp is now 3v3 Survival. This is a fantastic thing for me, as a mostly solo player, enabling me to match with other players who are also solo. I've made my way to Mythic 1 thus far, mostly solo. As you may imagine, this has played a role in what I've chosen as my loadout. I started the season off with a mediocre Spare Rations and Graviton Lance. Graviton Lance has wiped groups of 3 for me very efficiently in the past during Forsaken, so that was my first choice.
     
    Eventually, I ran into some problems with this build, however: rapid-fire(540rpm) pulse rifles. This archetype received a buff in Shadowkeep, making them much more viable in PvP than previously during Forsaken. Graviton Lance, while being a consistent 3-tapper, struggled against these pulse rifles especially in their effective range. As you may imagine, most maps are not big enough for me to outrange them with Graviton Lance. Clearly, I needed another option. While poking around my vault, I stumbled across another Year 1 exotic pulse rifle. This was Vigilance Wing. It features the Harsh Truths exotic perk: "fires a 5-round burst. When a nearby ally is killed, gain health regeneration and increased movement speed." The trait for this pulse rifle is Last Stand: "Improved weapon performance and greatly increased recovery when its wielder is the last surviving member of a fireteam."
     
    See where I'm going with this? In case it's unclear, Vigilance Wing means I regenerate health faster, move faster, and handle the weapon faster when a nearby teammate goes down, or when my entire team goes down. As far as other perks go, this is a 530 RPM pulse rifle with some good range and stability. Almost as fast as the rapid-fire pulses that were plaguing me, with a very distinct benefit: Vigilance Wing can kill a mid-resilience Guardian in two bursts. For bonus points, Vigilance Wing's catalyst(which I completed this evening) lets it fire fully-automatic.
     
    As far as my energy weapon goes, I opted for arguably the second best hand cannon in the energy slot: Luna's Howl. I talked a bit about this hand cannon a few blog posts back, and it is consistent as ever even now. There is a new "bug" with the Magnificent Howl perk however, letting users of the Luna's Howl and Not Forgotten hand cannons 3-tap Guardians at ranges these cannons frankly have no business being in, especially after the range cap to hand cannons. Occasionally, I will switch onto my Retold Tale or even my Recluse if the map calls for it. More often than not though, I end up switching my kinetic weapon. For maps like Burnout, I'll switch to Chaperone or Parcel of Stardust.
     
    I've rocked this build from 1800-3800 Glory in the competitive playlist, haven't had any reason to switch from it yet. It works incredibly well for the gamemode, Vigilance Wing has incredible synergy with worse teammates and Luna's Howl keeps me covered in the closer ranges. I think it's safe to say that this is my bread and butter in PvP.
     
    This is probably a good time for me to talk about my subclass. I've tried Spectral Blades with the new exotic Assassin's Cowl helmet, which isn't terrible and is a strong build by all means. With the nerfs to roaming super damage in Shadowkeep, I immediately opted for the only Hunter super that could actively resist and reflect damage: Way of the Current, or middle tree Arcstrider. Holding my melee button lets me spin my Arcstaff in a circle, reflecting all incoming damage towards my enemies. It doesn't last as long as Spectral Blades does, but it is still incredibly lethal.
     
    Most of what I run in comp subclass-wise has been either of these options; Spectral Blades with Assassin's Cowl or Arcstrider with Stompees. I can't say I favor one over the other, but the ability to reflect damage in the face of a damage resistance nerf makes Way of The Current more viable than ever, in my opinion.
     
    Hopefully I can get back into more regular posts here soon.
     
  8. Crunchy Dragon
    Recently got the catalyst for Graviton Lance, been essentially maining it in PvE and PvP as a result.   Today, I'd like to talk a bit about this weapon. In the event of somebody not knowing Graviton Lance, I'll start by doing a quick run-down: Graviton Lance is an exotic Void pulse rifle. It fires a two-round burst, and features the Black Hole perk(second round does more damage, has no range falloff, and has more recoil), and the Cosmology trait: kills with this weapon cause enemies to explode and spawns Void projectiles that track enemies. A quick screenshot of Graviton Lance's stats from Destiny Item Manager: https://i.imgur.com/IxHc0Qe.png Ignore the range stat of 91, that's part of what the catalyst gives you upon completion(DIM is weird with exotic catalysts).   Because the two-round burst on Graviton Lance is very closely timed, it feels a lot more like a scout rifle than a pulse rifle, which I would recommend you treat it as. My opinion on this weapon: I think it's better than most people give it credit for. Yesterday, due to the Cosmology perk, I was able to take out a total of 3 Guardians, 2 of which were behind cover(clip here). Plays such as that have got me thinking, maybe Graviton Lance could be strong in the competitive playlist. At the time of posting, that play would have almost wiped a whole team; here's the important part, without a sightline. I couldn't see them, they couldn't see me.   Today, I started trying to develop a build around Graviton Lance. I essentially modified CammyCakes' "Attack Helicopter" build, substituting Graviton Lance for Fighting Lion. If you don't want to click the link, it basically consists of middle tree Arcstrider(I ran top tree because I like it more), Stompees, and Trackless Waste with kill clip. Screenshot of the build* *not shown: gambler's dodge, arcbolt grenade, triple jump   I honestly love this loadout. It's not the strongest one I've played by any means, but it can work wonders. Graviton Lance aids with taking out groups very well, and can leave Guardians susceptible to SMG cleanups, proccing Kill Clip. I didn't really care what I ran in my heavy slot, the grenade launcher is there because I still need Mountaintop progress. This isn't the most aggressive loadout I've used, but I did have a lot of fun playing it. Thanks for reading this far, and feel free to provide any constructive criticism and share your thoughts and/or experience in the comments!
  9. Crunchy Dragon
    Let's talk about Liar's Handshake some more.
    This is easily one of my favorite exotics to run in PvP. It pairs excellently with top tree Arcstrider, Way of The Warrior.
     
    Before I get into all of that however, let's talk about Swashbuckler. Fallout Plays did a very good job of explaining it in his video along with some damage numbers, but I'll give you a basic rundown if you don't want to watch it.
    Swashbuckler is a damage increasing perk like Rampage. Unlike Rampage however, Swashbuckler goes up to x5(+1 for each weapon kill, instant +5 on melee kill). Swashbuckler lasts for about 5 seconds, same as Kill Clip. In PvE, Swashbuckler x5 grants you a 65% increase in damage. In PvP(which is what we're all here for), Swashbuckler x5 grants you 30% more damage, about the same as Kill Clip.
     
    The nice thing about Swashbuckler though, is the fact that you can get max level with just a melee kill. I now present to you, my basically god roll Bug Out Bag that I got last week while farming The Reckoning:
    It features Full Bore, Accurized Rounds, Grave Robber, and Swashbuckler.
    Let's talk about why the last two perks are italicized:
    They pair beautifully together. Grave Robber reloads your magazine on a melee kill. At the same time, Swashbuckler gives you the same damage boost as Kill Clip. You may see why I began this post with Liar's Handshake.
    If that's unclear, please allow me to explain the workings of this exotic to you.
     
    Liar's Handshake features the Cross Counter perk: using your Arc melee or taking melee damage allows you to follow up with an extremely powerful melee counterpunch that heals you.
    This pairs with Way of the Warrior's Combination Blow perk, that lets you stack melee damage for about 25 seconds(give or take) with each melee kill. Eventually, you can get a one hit melee kill in PvP as a Hunter. But that's not all!
     
    Get a melee kill, whip out the SMG, shred some people. If you're fast enough, you can also stack Combination Blow between SMG kills, making your next melee kill to proc Grave Robber/Swashbuckler even more efficient. When you get enough enemies on the same place, all the perks of the subclass, exotic armor, and weapons flow together perfectly.
  10. Crunchy Dragon
    Missed yesterday's blog post, so you get a bonus weekend post today
     
    Yesterday, I finally acquired Luna's Howl and put it to some work in the Crucible:
    Today, I'll be talking about what weapons I've paired it with and what I think of it so far.
    First and foremost, I highly recommend you run hand cannon scavenger and reserve perks if you can. With Drop Mag, you burn through ammo pretty quickly. I actually ran out during a comp match last night. Secondly: Magnificent Howl seems a bit inconsistent. Sometimes I get it to proc, other times it doesn't seem to. I'm not super fussed about it personally, as I usually get pretty consistent 3-taps with this gun anyway, but figured it was worth mentioning. Third: you need to know your range with this hand cannon. Destiny Item Manager reports a solid 47 on the range stat, but it does lack considerably compared to other hand cannons. Knowing your effective range and which distances you can/can't challenge with Luna's Howl will drastically improve your gameplay. Better Devils for example, generally sits somewhere between 45-50. Thorn has 54. Malfeasance has 50. Trust can have a decent amount, my roll has 61.  
    When it comes to hand cannons in Destiny, range is just about everything. A well-rolled Duke Mk.44 can duel pulse rifles. That's a topic for a different post, though. Most of what Luna's Howl struggles with is range, I've noticed. It's incredibly consistent if it can reach your target, otherwise you can spend up to a whole magazine trying to get a kill.
     
    Things that irk me a little bit about this weapon:
    It still kicks exactly like a 180 RPM hand cannon, which took some getting used to, knowing it's a 150 RPM post-nerf. Zen Moment feels a little bit wasted, especially when Luna's Howl has such a high stability stat to begin with. Knowing it's not as good as many other options post-nerf makes me sad. I want Not Forgotten now. On to something more fun, it's time for weapon pairings!! I may write more details about these builds this week.
    Chaperone was an obvious choice. Works wonders on enclosed maps such as Burnout. Revoker was next. Very solid and consistent build overall. I gave my Halfdan-D a try. Made a pretty big difference in terms of which ranges I can contest. Parcel of Stardust was fun. Not as consistent across range as Chaperone. That's about all I have for today. Got some neat ideas for this week that I'll probably be experimenting with this weekend.
     
    With the move to Steam and New Light coming up, I may start to come up with relatively easy to obtain and use PvP builds as well.
    That's all I have for today, hope everyone has a great weekend!
  11. Crunchy Dragon
    Titans punch things, it's what they're known for doing, it's the main thing they do.
    This build will knock a Titan out of his One Eyed Mask.
     
    Let's start by talking about top tree Arcstrider, Way of the Warrior.
    There are three perks of this subclass that I want to draw attention to:
    Combination Blow. Kills with this ability trigger health regenaration and increase melee damage for a short period. Combat Flow. Melee kills recharge your dodge ability. Deadly Reach. Dodging increases your melee range. Combine this with Gambler's Dodge, which restores your melee ability when you dodge near an enemy.
     
    All fine and dandy, right? Never fear, it gets even better.
    Introducing the Liar's Handshake exotic, featuring the Cross Counter perk: using your Arc melee ability or taking melee damage will allow you to follow up with an extremely powerful counterpunch that will also heal you.
     
    As you can see, all these perks and abilities flow very nicely together. Punch, dodge, punch, stack Combination Blow. Eventually, you will be able to get one hit kill melees as a Hunter.
    Cross Counter makes it very easy to survive melee fights as well, since you get health regeneration when you deal damage with it.
  12. Crunchy Dragon
    It's a new week, time for another blog post. Today: Zippy Boi v2: Hunter Edition
    Let's talk about the Iron Banner/Control gamemode.
     
    Running around capturing zones and killing people to gain points is fun. It can be tough sometimes, but it is fun. Especially if you equip the right loadout for doing so.
    Last time Saladin visited the tower, I perfected what I believe is my ideal loadout for the Control mode.
     
    The parts of this loadout are fairly simple:
    In my kinetic slot, I run a shotgun. This can be Dust Rock Blues, Parcel of Stardust, or Chaperone depending on the map. In my energy slot, Recluse all the way. Heavy slot. Wardcliff Coil or Roar of The Bear. For my super, I run Blade Barrage with tripmine grenades, triple jump, and gambler's dodge. My exotic armor consists of Stompees on the hunter class.
     
    All the shotguns I've listed allow for quick and easy kills, which proc Master of Arms on the Recluse for taking out groups of people with ease. This makes it easy to push people off of zones while zipping around the map.
    Wardcliff Coil can be flicked as you fire it, allowing for upwards of 3 kills with a single round.
    Blade Barrage works very similarly, allowing for slaying Guardians en masse while shutting down supers.
     
    What this build comes down to, in essence, is taking out groups of people quickly and effectively.
    Lead with the shotgun and proc Master of Arms. Clean up everybody else. Rinse and repeat.
     
    Generally I save Blade Barrage for super shutdowns or if 4+ people are all in one place, to ensure maximum carnage.
     
    This build shines on the more enclosed maps such as Retribution, Burnout, Solitude, and similar. For maps like Endless Vale, Dead Cliffs, Solitude, and where range becomes more necessary, I like to run Chaperone in my kinetic slot.
  13. Crunchy Dragon
    This is possibly the most map-specific build I've ever done. Be that as it may, it's still super fun.
     
    The main components of this build are the Last Word hand cannon and the Orewing's Maul grenade launcher.
     
    Let's start by talking about The Last Word:
    It is a 225 RPM hand cannon featuring the Fan Fire perk: this weapon can be fired quickly and continuously. Faster reload and increased accuracy on successive hip-fire damage.
    This hand cannon will 4-tap a typical Guardian, and has a very good TTK because of it. The range on this hand cannon is lower than most, but is still plenty to work with.
     
    Next, we have the Orewing's Maul grenade launcher.
    Lightweight frame, 90 RPM tube(or single shot) grenade launcher. Mine features spike grenades for the ability to one-shot Guardians on a direct hit.
    Excellent for bouncing projectiles around corners, in the same fashion as Fighting Lion. The difference between Fighting Lion and Orewing's Maul though, is that Fighting Lion is an exotic and will not kill in one shot(hmm, maybe that's something to play around with some more?).
     
    As you may notice, these two weapons compliment each other very nicely in terms of their ability and use cases. Get some damage in with Last Word, cleanup with Orewing's Maul if necessary.
    In the reverse order: get some damage with Orewing's Maul but not enough for the kill? Cleanup with Last Word. You'll get the same functionality either way, regardless of which weapon you lead or follow up with.
     
    Now, you may be wondering why I say this is a very map-specific build. This is because of the grenade launcher, mostly. Part of it is also due to the Last Word: it really don't have as much range as something like Rose, Thorn, or even Better Devils.
     
    As such, this build works the best on very enclosed maps. Maps like Retribution, where this build was developed. Why do I like this build on Retribution so much specifically? It has corners. Lots and lots of corners. Even with the open rooms on this map, nothing is out of the range of The Last Word, and basically everything can be cleaned up with by Orewing's Maul if necessary.
     
    Some visual aide in case you don't know this map:

    Take note of how many corners there are. Especially the doorways and curves. A build with limited range such as this one works incredibly well at killing people around the corners. The other benefit is that since just about nothing is out of range of The Last Word, you'll just about always hit for maximum damage per bullet.
     
    The main caveat of this build is that it really only works on Retribution. I've tried it on Burnout, but it just doesn't hold up outside or in the long lanes.
    Don't let the map limitation effect your thoughts of the build though, I assure you, it is very fun to use.
    Just not outside of Retribution.
     
    BONUS CONTENT: How I plan to post to and use this blog!
    I won't be posting on Saturdays or Sundays. During the week, I'll try to maintain daily posts as much as I can.
    On the weekends, I'll probably be streaming on Twitch for a few hours each day. This should have the benefits of being able to get some cool clips to share with these blogs, as well as experimenting with different builds.
    If all goes according to plan, I can hopefully also interact and discuss various things with you guys as well!
     
    I'm not 100% sure on the advertising rules over here in blogs, so I won't risk linking my Twitch channel directly. However, I do have it on my Discord profile(if you're friends with/in a server with me there) as well as listed here on my forum profile.
  14. Crunchy Dragon
    This is just a quick post asking people never to do what this guy did:

     
    This is an Icarus Grip mod, on a grenade launcher.
     
    But why, Crunchy? Icarus Grips improve in-air accuracy, right? On most weapons, yes.
    However, all grenade launchers are 100% accurate from the air anyway. So this is essentially a waste of an Icarus Mod that this player will never use again unless they dismantle this Orewing's Maul.
     
    Icarus Grip is the most pointless mod you could ever put on a grenade launcher. Please never do this. Put something useful like sprint grip or freehand grip on your grenade launchers.
  15. Crunchy Dragon
    So I've decided to main Warlock for a few weeks as I attempt to hone my skill on and improve with that class.
    I discovered Transversive Steps last night. In case you don't know what those are, T-Steps are a very fun Warlock exotic boot that makes you sprint faster and reloads your equipped weapon as you do it. Some of you may have gone to the same place I did.
     
    Immediately, out came the Parcel of Stardust and the Recluse. Why that specific combination, you ask? I'm glad you asked!
     
    Parcel of Stardust is a lightweight frame shotgun. It clocks in at 80 RPM, and you move faster with it equipped. My roll has Corkscrew Rifling, Accurized Rounds, Snapshot Sights, Pulse Monitor, and a Range masterwork.
    The Recluse is a lightweight frame submachine gun. It clocks in at 900 RPM, and you move faster with it equipped. It also features a unique perk called Master of Arms, which procs on any weapon kill and increases Recluse damage by a hefty amount for ~5 seconds.
     
    I combined all that with top tree Daybreak, Attunement of Sky. This gives me the Icarus Dash ability, which works very similarly to a Hunter dodge, the catch being that I have to be airborne for it to work. Unlike a Hunter dodge however, Icarus Dash can be used every 6 seconds or so. Combined with T-Steps, Burst Glide, and lightweight frame weapons, it all makes for a very mobile build and playstyle.
     
    I had a really good time zipping around the map shotgunning and melting my opponents. I've found it shines the most on semi-enclosed maps such as The Dead Cliffs, Javelin-4, and Solitude.
    Overall, I think it could be a very strong build if I was better with the Warlock class. I look forward to using it more.
     
    Perhaps, I'll throw Stompees on my Hunter and run the same loadout...
  16. Crunchy Dragon
    I am a very firm believer in the Quickdraw perk. I believe that I can say, without a doubt, that it's my favorite perk in the game.
     
    Some background...
    I like to play anti-meta outside the competitive playlist. For the purpose of this post, that means running an auto rifle. One that isn't Suros Regime. It means running an auto rifle with low recoil direction and stability stats. It means running a Halfdan-D in the Crucible.
     
    What does running a Halfdan-D in the Crucible entail? For me, it meant taking my main PvE rifle with 4,000+ PvE kills to go kill Guardians. And it was beautiful.
    You can view my Halfdan-D roll here. I'd like to bring your attention specifically to the range stat and the first perk, Quickdraw.
     
    What did I run in my secondary slot? Recluse seemed like an obvious choice but I gave it some more thought than that. I'm playing anti-meta, might as well act the part and come dressed for it.
    After some deliberation while staring at my vault, I came to rest on Gunnora's Axe for my energy weapon. Pay some more attention to the range stat and the first perk.
     
    Overall thoughts on the build
    These two weapons complimented each other like bread and butter, like peanut butter and jelly, like NFL quarterbacks and insurance ads. Having Quickdraw on both of my weapons made a big difference, especially when the handling stat was less-than-ideal for a PvP loadout(for some). The swaps between the two were blindingly fast. Everything was crisp and snappy. The Halfdan-D was an extension of my hand at this point(see again: PvE kill tracker), and I put it to some very good work in the Crucible. I hadn't used Gunnora's Axe before, but got the hang of it pretty quickly. My roll is almost a Chaperone in the energy slot.
     
    Moar details
    Being able to swap weapons as quickly as I did made a huge difference in my gameplay. I could whip a shotgun out to follow up a melee before my opponent had time to counter-melee. The Halfdan did plenty of work in both the medium and the long range. Being a high-impact, max-range auto rifle, I could challenge the upper tier of pulse rifles and even dip into scout rifle territory with the long zoom scope. The Dan consumed everything closer than midrange pulse rifles in the same fashion as Cerberus+1 eating everything in SMG/shotgun range. Stacking rampage made the blood flow faster, adding to the carnage. If enemies got too close for the Dan, the Axe came right behind it.
     
    I've used the Halfdan enough that it doesn't matter for me that the stability stat is low for an auto rifle. Between the amount of time I've spent with this rifle and the fact that I play on PC, I had no problems whatsoever keeping recoil controlled. I was able to out-flinch and out-shoot a Duke in the long range as well.
     
    Closing thoughts
    Moving Target on a slug shotty is amazing. I'd almost prefer it over Snapshot Sights or, to a lesser extent, Opening Shot. Rampage is probably the best perk available on an auto rifle. I caught myself thinking fantasizing about Cerberus+1 with Rampage earlier today. Give double Quickdraw a try. What do I think of auto rifles in PvP?
    It's a shame that there aren't that many good auto rifles for PvP. Gnawing Hunter with a good roll is a solid choice, but that requires farming Reckoning. Rapid-fire ARs like Misfit and Valakadyn are also good, but again: with a solid roll. And at that point, you're better off using Recluse anyway for the most part. Some rapid-fire ARs could probably out-range Recluse, but that'd be the main perk. Auto rifles can't fully compete against hand cannons that hit between 65-70 to the head, are much more consistent, and require less recoil control.
     
    Overall, I think auto rifles fill a really niche spot in the meta that fits in somewhere between the lower end of scout rifles and the higher end of pulse rifles. Because of that, there's no real point in taking an auto rifle when Vigilance Wing and Blast Furnace will be better choices anyway. The only real thing my Halfdan has on V-Wing is a couple more meters of range, but V-Wing would most likely out-shoot it every single time.
     
    Auto rifles are fun, but they're in a tough spot that makes it hard to enjoy them for most people.
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