This week at Raid Secrets, we witnessed some echoes from the past, and took out some trash.
What do you get when you mix old NPCs with Vex? If you're Asher Mir, you get a blue eye and some Morse code. If you're Lakshmi, you get turned to scrap metal. With the major story developments this week, we're all excited to see what's next for Destiny, and we'll talk about that before we do some regular housekeeping.
This week we've seen some interesting news out of Bungie, specifically with the announcement of next season's champion mods (let's pray to Sweeper that Telesto behaves this season... or not) and the TWAB today should cover armor changes. I'm very curious what's going to happen with Titans considering what was said last week, but that may be a sandbox change instead of armor. In the mean time, let's recap the shenanigans from our own community.
BEEP BOOP
As most of you have probably seen already, it seems like Asher Mir has made a return by means of taking over a harpy. There's a post by u/Hieront over on the subreddit that was the first to have a synopsis of what was happening with the actual message decoded (at least close enough), so go give it an upvote. Around the same time of that Reddit post, the Discord server realized what was going on and was starting to investigate. The story implications here are pretty cool, but we're not going to get into the speculative territory here. Byf has already said he'll be making a video on it, so we'll have to see what comes of that.
Speaking of implications, we've still got some questions that need to be answered. Specifically, "what's up with Osiris," and "Is that it?" Don't worry, we won't be discussing leaks in TWARS posts. Those will continue to be treated as they have in the past, mostly kept in the shadows. There have been plenty of 'sus' Osiris memes and theories floating around, plus there's the pretty scathing lore about how Savathun has been walking around the city without anyone noticing. We've also still got some unaccounted loot in game, and with a couple weeks left in the season then maybewe see something? Personally I have no reservations, but it would be cool.
LIFTING THE VEIL OF BOREDOM
This week, the map breakers are breaking more maps - again - and some new little tricks have been found. No, there are no new 'secrets' to be discussed outside of Asher returning and the factions leaving, but we've still got some neat stuff.
Apparently, picking up the Diamond Lance while holding Riven's Heart simply... drops the heart? In a post by u/haseebk94, there's a video of picking up the lance and just leaving the heart on the floor, allowing another player to pick it up. There might be something here that allows for some new low-man strategies, or some other weird behavior that the map breakers could exploit. Only time will tell.
Turning to the map breakers, Semi has figured out how to launch sparrows to orbit at Mach 9 (not really, but it's close) - documented here by Froggy - which allows you to get into some really interesting places by simply being too fast for the kill zones timer to matter. JB3 has also managed to basically turn a sparrow into a pogo stick in this video which might be useful for reaching some up-high places where there's no walls for stasis climbing or a need for a non-stasis subclass.
POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOPS
I'm hesitant to say it, especially with the amount of memes and somewhat dismissive sentiment around the phrase, but we're listening. Most of the feedback from last week's TWARS was positive and constructive, and we'd like to thank you for that. People seem to like a one-stop-shop for popular or important things that happened during the week, and community spotlights are well-received too (at least for the map breakers).
Plenty of people like lists, so here are some of the specific action items that we'll try to be better about:
- Contextual links throughout posts
- Already got several in this post!
- Cat Pic Spoilers
- Copying Bungie's format
Let's talk about that last one. Some people voiced concerns that TWARS is too much like TWAB, but that's the point. We are trying to follow Bungie's lead by creating an easy-to-read, somewhat standard, and easily accessible news blog. Other communities seem to also be doing similar things, such as Arripe Gladium, the crew behind the Season of the Plague concept and cinematics from back in May. Considering this is only the second TWARS, there's still plenty of learning and adapting to do, so please be patient as we grow into the future. For now, we're going to just see where things go, but anyone is welcome to provide feedback. The best ways to do that are at the Discord server or in the comments on the Subreddit post.
Also worth mentioning are sustainability and overload. We know there won't always be things to talk about, at least not in a way that warrants a full TWARS post. We also don't want people to feel like they're being flooded with news both from us and Bungie every week, on top of whatever else people are subscribed to. Because of these things, we aren't guaranteeing a post every week. We'll only post when we think something has to be said or when there's enough to actually create a full, interesting, and at least somewhat coherent post. There's also plenty that we want to do on top of the actual weekly recaps, such as personal spotlights and interview specials within our community, so those are on the docket as well.
Well, that's two in the bag.
We're not going to worry about metrics this week, since they're pretty on-par with last week's. They aren't going to be a guaranteed staple of every post, but we will post them periodically just to keep everyone in the loop. These post aren't designed to be entire novels, at least not yet. They're just something to help bring our community together and to help stave off the eager excitement of waiting for a TWAB to come out.
We'll be seeing some armor changes later today in the TWAB, and we'll possibly be seeing a seasonal trailer next week before the reveal and showcase on the 24th. If this season is going to follow the pattern of the last two years, we're in for a treat. If you've got any seasonal activities or triumphs you want to finish up, now is the time to do so. If you find anything that stands out or seems like a puzzle (looking at you, Kingship Dock) then please share it. We're all eager for another community event or puzzle to sink our teeth into.
Before this is wrapped up, I'd like to leave a more serious note. I'm not going to hide the cat picture this time, because this one is special. A member of our community recently lost theirbest friend, and I wanted to take a moment to respect that. She was happy when she went, and she was a light to her family. Life is hard, especially recently. Just because you're struggling with something doesn't mean you're any better or worse than someone else. Everyone has their own battles, and everyone needs some love and compassion. This era that the world is in is one that's been rough on everyone, so do your best to make it easier on those you can. Even small things can have a big impact, so be the Guardians that your communities need.
Happy Hunting,
Parisito
