Is it worth it to start the game from scratch now?

[Aeronaute]

Hi, I am a long time FPS player, been on Planetside 2 for almost 10 years but I am looking for something fresh!

Is it still ok to start the game now? Is it pay to win? (I'm not against spending some money but do we buy the best gear or is it just cosmetic?)

Any input appreciated, THank you :)

[Azor]

you buy content from DLC and season pass. We havent had a real f2p experience since Beyond Light, late 2020.

[Emurinus]

C&P from another thread since it should answer most of your questions up front.

Originally posted by Emurinus:

In terms of pay-to-win? Surprisingly small. Outside of outlier exotics here and there, such as Gjally and (formerly) Anarchy, most if the gear you get in game doesn't make you any better than a F2P player. Even if it did make enough of a difference, you still need to grind for good rolls for it in 99% of cases as it's not simply handed to you.

Subclasses are the only major game changer imo, as 2/9 of the Forsaken middle tree light subclasses are meta (Well & Thundercrash) while everything else is mostly an alternative. Even Stasis is not meta anymore after the massive nerfs, though Shadelock and Revenants still have good utility in PvE.

Pretty much everything else content-wise is pay to play rather than pay to win, as both free and paying players ultimately reach the same end point.

Basically, unless you're playing collector or want to experience the story more, you can get by without DLC.

General jist: You can get by as a free player, though you will lose out on the main story and (obviously) you will not be able to obtain some gear/subclasses. You're basically just playing a demo.

If you want to purchase any DLC, I'd recommend the Forsaken pack first as a lot of it's gear/subclasses are still relevant ant useful. You can also get the bundles when they are on sale to get more bang for your buck, though I read into those so you know which one you want to buy.

[Aeronaute]

Thank you, is it still a very active game?

[Emurinus]

Originally posted by Aeronaute:

Thank you, is it still a very active game?

I would say so. It's not as active right now since it's nearing the end of the season (and a very long one at that), but that will immediately perk up after the 22nd when Witch Queen drops.

Even now though, I often get full or near-full lobbies of players almost anywhere I go.

[Ixamesh]

Originally posted by Aeronaute:

Thank you, is it still a very active game?

Yes[twitter.com]. It's the end of the longest season (6 months instead of 3), there's nothing to do for most players, but it has ~50k players[steamdb.info] online. There's also xbox and PS[warmind.io] available for crossplay

[Aeronaute]

Thanks for all the replies :)

[Mez Koo]

If you want to check out the game as free to play and decide if you want to buy into Witch Queen then I've made a guide outlining the variety of stuff that can be done without paying: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2691498745

But in terms of "pay to win" buying content gets you access to that content's gear now while the gear may be the "flavor of the month" you still have to get everything yourself so it doesn't just hand you the best gear as getting said gear is the gameplay loop. But regardless of that there is a lot of great gear that free to play can earn.

[Mez Koo]

Originally posted by Aeronaute:

Thank you, is it still a very active game?

They just announced 1 million witch queen preorders[twitter.com] (twitter link) so I'd say so. :) There is also crossplay so in addition to the active steam players there is also xbox and playstation so you should never have an issue finding people.

[Ixamesh]

The new player experience can be confusing, you get a lot of quests and no "main" goal and most campaigns come from DLCs. It may require searching for information outside[www.blueberries.gg] of the game from time to time.

Before you buy anything: they release big DLC each year (the upcoming was delayed a bit) and then 4 seasons until the next DLC drops. When the new DLC drops, last seasons are removed partially or completely, but not the gear you earned. The next DLC is coming soon, so there's little point in buying BL deluxe now.

As F2P you can do the Forsaken campaign now until DCV[help.bungie.net] happens with WQ (Year 5) release.

[rookie]

Originally posted by Aeronaute:

Hi, I am a long time FPS player, been on Planetside 2 for almost 10 years but I am looking for something fresh!

Is it still ok to start the game now? Is it pay to win? (I'm not against spending some money but do we buy the best gear or is it just cosmetic?)

Any input appreciated, THank you :)

Planetside 2 player here.

This game is very different than Planetside 2. In some ways it's better and other ways it's worse. I will say I only play PvE in Destiny 2.

If you just want to try out Destiny 2 I would download it without paying for any of the DLC's and see what it's like. The shooting mechanics in Destiny 2 are good and you'll have fun going through the content available to free to play players.

The skins are not just cosmetic and are actually armor and are really important to your survival in the game.

Read this old reddit post for more info.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/lwu5t4/moving_into_highlevel_pve_a_guide_season_13_update/

The downside to Destiny 2 is that it's a grind fest. Your ability to progress through PvE content is your power level. The way you increase your power level is by earning xp. The quickest way to earn xp is by doing weekly and daily bounties which you get from vendors and guardians.

Let me give you an example. When I started playing Destiny 2 certain enemies required you to be at a power level equal to or above their power level in order to damage them. I don't know if that's still the way it is as I've progressed enough for it not be a concern for me.

On Feb 22, 2022 a new season of Destiny 2 starts. I would wait until then to purchase anything because some old content is going to be removed from the game. So if you buy something now it may be removed after 2/22/2022.