First off I have to start this mornings post by talking about the surprise I got last night. For awhile now I have had my friend AmmosArt working on a series of avatars to use for anything AggroChat related. When I do the title cards it always somewhat bugs me that we don’t have a set of Avatars drawn by the same person, because I think that would end up looking a lot nicer. As a result I commissioned her to create a set for the main cast, and we kicked it off with mine… however I think she has a few of them waiting in the pipes as well. Since I have “Fantasy Bel” thanks to the project that Tam started, and now “Realistic Bel” thanks to the prize commission from Faebelina I thought it would be kinda cool to have a “Sci-Fi Bel”. So when she asked me what I wanted drawn for my AggroChat avatar I sent her this overly complex idea for me wearing a bunch of named armor pieces from Destiny. Here she has expertly rendered that idea with me, a giant flaming Iron Lord axe, my Sunbreaker hammer and Nolandroid. I could not be happier, and while she was concerned about how the fire effects would feel… I think they work amazingly well. Thanks once again Ammo for taking mad ramblings and converting them into a picture format. You should also check out some of her other works on her website or on her daily art tumblr.
I have to say… it is truly bizarre getting back to the task of blogging in the morning. It is 6:23 and I have consumed my first cup of coffee and am trying to get on about the business of blogging like I know what the hell I am doing. Today is a day I have been dreading because it means that I have to give up the comfort of my sofa blanket cocoon and venture forth into the cruel and now very chilly world. Of note… I have been off work since Friday December 23rd. So I have had two blissful weeks that have allowed me to get completely out of the habit of functioning on any sort of a schedule. Those weeks have been shockingly busy with only a couple days where I could truly hang out dawn til dusk in my flannel pajama pants and pretend the world didn’t exist. During that time we dealt with a handful of crisis that involved changing out a leaking faucet in our bathroom… and then ironically rushing some big air mover fans to my mother in law who had a major leak in her front bathroom. In between that there were numerous Christmas celebrations, and an attempt to properly recognize my father’s birthday… which also coincides with New Years day. I have not even really gotten around to making some proper resolutions, and while I don’t really buy into them much, the New Year is a decent time to start new things. At the moment however my mind has turned towards preparing for Pax South which is coming up in a few weeks.
The Forge Trick
Yesterday I posted a mammoth Destiny guide of sorts that I had been meaning to create. I have a number of friends in various stages of getting sucked into the game… and when I try and give them advice it often comes off as mad ramblings filled with a bunch of topics that they don’t quite understand yet. The guide was my attempt at writing something for someone just getting started but also still focused on pushing through the light levels as quickly as possible. As I said yesterday… I failed to do 99% of the things mentioned in the guide but I am following a similar thought process on my Xbox One account since it is largely starting from zero. One of the things I mentioned doing was Archon’s Forge… and you might of thought to yourself “But Bel, that is a Group Activity… how did you solo it?”. Some time ago my friend Shadoes gave me some tips on how to reliably make Archon’s Forge spawn with a group in progress. Firstly you have to understand how patrol zones in Destiny work in order to make this happen. Each named area is essentially a match made zone that the game tries to pair you with other players also in that area. However you usually zone in and out too fast for the game to effectively do this, so there are things you can do to force the game to match you up with other players. Inside of the Archon’s Forge there is a path behind the forge that leads down to an area that a number of missions and patrols send you to, but is effectively open at all times. You can see this path as the opening with the ride SIVA cables coming out of it in the above image.
What I find works is to run down this tunnel to the next area, you will be able to tell you have transitioned by a title card coming up identifying that you have entered “The Warrens”. From here I tend to kill the various splicer mobs that spawn in… which may include a handful of 2-4 Vandals, 2-4 Stealth Vandals, 2-4 Dregs… and potentially a Captain. The mix varies slightly, but essentially I spend enough time in this area to clear out whatever happens to have spawned. From there I slowly walk back up towards the Archon’s Forge, and for me personally it helps for me to crouch while walking just to force myself to slow down. In Destiny I am so used to constantly sprinting that I find myself doing it without realizing it. Essentially you are trying to give the game plenty of time for it to notice that you are entering an area with an event… and that it should match you up with additional people.
If it works, you should hear the familiar Fallen Klaxon as you near the tunnel leading out of the area and into Archon’s Forge. If you make it to the Forge without getting matched into an open world group… then simply head back down to the Warrens and start the process over. I would say 99% of the time by the moment I reach the top I hear the Klaxon and am up and running with a viable open world team doing Archon’s Forge. The longest so far it has ever taken to get matched is three trips up and down the tunnel but your mileage may vary depending on the time of day you are trying and your platform. I’ve not tried this on Xbox Live, but considering the person who tipped me off to this method plays there I am going to assume it works fine as well. Basically doing this method is going to allow you to hop into the Plaguelands and farm the forge until your heart is content, just remember to keep going to orbit every so often to make sure you are not losing loot. Your mailbox can only hold 20 items… and while it takes longer for your inventory to fill up now that greens turn immediately into materials… it still happens frighteningly fast while doing the Forge.
