Season of the Seraph Finale
It has been a day.
It all started when I was awoken by my bladder at 7am this morning. I rolled over to find that my internet had been shut off because I was late paying the bill. On top of that, my phone was being unresponsive and unhelpful as you need an internet connection of some type, whether 5G or wi-fi, to get the app to connect so you can pay your bill. I eventually got through by calling my ISP’s customer service number and used their automated crap to pay my bill. After wresting with all that for 2 hours, I finally peed and went back to bed.
Crawling under my blanket and turning my heating pad back on (yeah I know I’m not supposed to sleep with that but at this stage of capitalism, I don’t care anymore) my mind filled with dread at whatever was going to happen in today’s Destiny 2 update. I eventually drifted off back to sleep for a couple of hours when I was rudely awoken by the text message alert on my phone going off. I had apparently forgotten to turn the silencer back on, but whatever.
I saw it was my Marine buddy just saying hey and I noted that it was 15 minutes until reset. I laid there trying to distract myself from whatever was about to happen in game, but my gut kept telling me that it was bad. Five minutes past reset time I finally got out of bed and dragged my naked and cold ass to the living room where I got dressed while the PS5 booted up and logged me into Destiny 2.
I had barely gotten my clothes on and seated in my chair when I was immediately loaded into the new story mission. My anxiety went into overdrive as I approached the conversation between Ana and Rasputin.
It was then that Rasputin revealed his plan to destroy himself and the entire Warsat network to keep it from falling into Eramis’ hands. Anxiety turned into full on panic and my half asleep brain started firing on every cylinder. I wouldn’t need a cup of coffee today. I get a few minutes into the mission before I realize ‘ah shit, I should probably stream this’ and I hit broadcast on my controller and got to work.
This mission was an emotional rollercoaster. Near the end of the cutscene I was in tears and shaking thinking I was about to watch the Traveler die along side Rasputin, my mind jumping to conclusions and constantly thinking “is this how it all ends?!” only for the knife to be twisted again and again. I would have to agree with all the big Destiny streamers that this is one of the better endings to the seasons we’ve seen.
When this moment happened during the cutscene, I had to get a shot of it. Iconic.
Rest in peace Rasputin. I’ll be flying the ship from your quest in your honor for a long time to come.
Once all that was finished, I sat here for a while trying to sort out my feelings before I decided to tackle the elephant in the room:
This shit has been the bane of my existence for weeks.
I have been working my ass off in this game trying to finish this seal. Technically I got enough triumphs done yesterday to acquire the title, but that just wasn’t good enough for me. I even won 7 rounds (not games but rounds) in Freelance Trials yesterday for that triumph. The triumph that took the longest and had to put the most work in was this one:
Trying to get all these complete was a nightmare in some ways and a lot of fun in others. I finally had to suck it up and go the LFG route to get a King’s Fall clear and of course after I get a clear that way I get a clear running it with the clan. This will teach me to speak up and ask for help sooner rather than later. So I managed to get two King’s Fall clears two days in a row last week.
I still hate the Golgoroth fight and challenge the most. And after that delightfully unhinged LFG group I ran the raid with, his vulnerable spot shall henceforth be known as his ‘Golgussy’
Then came the surprise from yesterday. Out of the blue Claire invited me to a run of Vow of the Disciple and I accepted happily. I was a nervous wreck and barely ate anything all day. Instead I opted to snack on this and that and watch the video guide from IGN like it was a fucking university level thesis.
Had to take a second to get this sweet shot of the Upended while we were traversing the platforms to the second encounter. Fuck you, my Witness.
So that was 2 raids down. You can watch archives of my streams of each raid run here if you like:
LFG King’s Fall:
Clan King’s Fall:
Clan Vow of the Disciple:
Last night after the Vow run it was very late but someone in a Discord server was about to do a teaching raid for Deep Stone Crypt and I figured ‘why not’ and joined that for fun since I didn’t really understand what was going on the first time I ran it. Archive of that stream is here:
It was fun learning to do this raid from start to finish and the sherpa was very kind to accommodate the player that was deaf (hence all the chat typing). I’m back streaming again (at least when I raid), just not showing my face on stream for now as I’m still rebuilding and tweaking my rig and programs (which basically means I need to finish putting things back together and re-learn how to use all the programs). But I’m getting way off track here.
After I became a bundle of raw nerves after the story mission was complete, I had one thing left to do to get that triumph done. I still needed three dungeon/raid rotator challenges to get that whole seal complete, so I used every bit of rage I had in me and went into this week’s featured dungeon, my old nemesis, Shattered Throne.
At first I thought about going in with this insane Stasis build I’ve been eyeballing for a few weeks now but ultimately decided against it and went with my Solar Warlock build I’ve been using for a few weeks instead. I went in filled with rage and determination that I wasn’t going to give up until there was no time left. I went in filled with doubts about getting passed that damn ogre on my own and figured I was going to have to wait until someone came to help me. I doubted myself and got angry when I got to the ogre after demolishing everything else in the dungeon and died.
I was determined to get this and I kept trying. At first, Sunshot with a kinetic scout rifle. Failed. So I sat and looked at what I was carrying and figured I’d give Osteo Striga and a void scout a try. Osteo had been my key to victory in Seraph Station so why not here? Much to my absolute surprise, it melted the void shielded Taken. It melted all the Taken. I ran around the room murdering them all as fast as I could and dunked and started shooting. I managed to take off 3/4 of it’s health using Osteo and my linear fusion rifle from Duality before the second phase began. I stared at its health meter for a second in disbelief that I had done this on my own before having to take cover and start again. I used the same strategy as before using Osteo to murder everything in the room before attacking the ogre again. When it died, when I finally succeeded after all these years of trying to solo this fucking dungeon by myself, I yelled in victory and headed out the door in the back of the room to continue my campaign of carnage to the top of the tower.
As I neared the top, gliding along the narrow path around the outside of the tower, I began to cry. I knew that no one cared or understood why this was so important to me, but I was finally fucking proud of myself after all these years. I held it together long enough to get to the top to Dul Incaru’s room but then I sat down the controller and just let it all out.
All the feelings of worthlessness, of incapability, uselessness, and shame and rage and hatred. I went into each and every Discord server that I had been using to get things finished and broadcasted that I had the checkpoint for the final boss of Shattered Throne if anyone wanted it. Only a small number of people came and got it, calling me a legend and thanking me for my efforts. I told them I was happy to help as tears streamed down my face because I was finally able to give something back to this community after all this time.
A sense of determination I hadn’t felt before, or if I had ever felt it at all, filled me. I began to think of ways to solo each and every dungeon now that I knew I could do it. I sat and stared at Dul Incaru and her three minions and waited. I didn’t want to have to do all this over again so I asked the group if someone could help me carry the checkpoint from the Warlock to my other characters and Eli came to the rescue. Once he was finally home from work tonight, it only took us about 20 to 30 minutes to kill her three times. My struggle had finally come to an end and I succeeded in getting this wretched emblem and ugly sparrow.
If there was ever a time I needed an animated gif of the scene from the first Matrix film where Neo flexes and the ripple in reality flows down the hallway behind him, this would be it.
Other Highlights From Season of the Seraph
Running around Seraph Station was a lot of fun. I hope we get more missions like this. I’m glad that this is coming back with other exotic missions in the future.
I have something of an obsession with this alcove. At first glance that big yellow circle looks like a door and I just love the sort of retro futuristic vibe this area and the whole of Seraph Station gives. It’s like looking at sci-fi magazines and art from the 1970’s come to life with a modern twist. It’s very old school sci-fi in the best way.
Fucking Spire of the Watcher. This dungeon is amazing but makes my “simsense vertigo” go haywire (points if you get the reference). Again, I love the retro future aesthetic of this place; the dark hardwood floors, old school computer terminals. I hope I can eventually get the exotic bow from here.
If anything, I have learned from this whole experience of coming back to Destiny 2 after my nearly year long hiatus is that you really can’t take a break from this game if you want to. I know that all the content I’ve played is optional and I missed out on a lot of essential things this year, but it’s a personal “mistake” that I won’t make again.
There’s only two weeks left until Lightfall, so I plan on spending that time helping as many people as many triumphs done as I can. I’m back to what I was doing during the Age of Triumph at the end of Destiny and I couldn’t be happier. Come what may, I plan on facing what happens next with grit and determination.
