Complete new person question(s)

[onomastikon]

I remember trying D2 a couple of years ago and being overwhelmed, I was thinking of retrying it, could a friendly person give me a hand in answering any of these questions? Thanks in advance
1. I remember when I started, I had a gear level of 1600. I managed to increase this a little bit, but the enemies seemed to level with me. If so, what is the point of increasing my gear level and power if the enemy will simply level with me?
2. I'd be interested in single-player story primarily, since I am old and I suck in general and don't feel like disappointing potential teammates. Do I have to buy and DLC for that? I see a "collector" bundle on sale on the steam page, but it lacks a button to actually see what it IS, I can only buy it or not. What is it?
3. If I am not primarily interested in high-level elite coop-fighting, is there any way to make meaningful "progress" in D2 (considering question 1 -- what does "progress" even mean if enemies always scale?) by simply following story missions?
thanks much

[Imperious Rex]

gearscore is the treadmill but they're slowly phasing it out. you basically keep going up to take on other more powerful activities so you can get better gear

yes, you HAVE to buy DLC to continue progress not only in the story but also gear and items. this can get pretty pricey. the Legacy Collection is Witch Queen, Shadowkeep and Beyond Light, i believe. each one has a story and Beyond Light comes with a new ability, stasis. Then there's the new Lightfall expansion that brings in Strand ability. and next year is The Final Shape.

progress in destiny is endlessly chasing gearscore and better stat drops on armor or perk rolls on guns. take it from someone with over 4k hours in the franchise but stay as far away as you can. DLCs are overpriced, massive amounts of microtransactions and they're always looking to nickel and dime you for something else, bungie actively hates the playerbase and so on. you'd be better off with something else.

[onomastikon]

Originally posted by Imperious Rex:

gearscore is the treadmill but they're slowly phasing it out. you basically keep going up to take on other more powerful activities so you can get better gear

yes, you HAVE to buy DLC to continue progress not only in the story but also gear and items. this can get pretty pricey. the Legacy Collection is Witch Queen, Shadowkeep and Beyond Light, i believe. each one has a story and Beyond Light comes with a new ability, stasis. Then there's the new Lightfall expansion that brings in Strand ability. and next year is The Final Shape.

progress in destiny is endlessly chasing gearscore and better stat drops on armor or perk rolls on guns. take it from someone with over 4k hours in the franchise but stay as far away as you can. DLCs are overpriced, massive amounts of microtransactions and they're always looking to nickel and dime you for something else, bungie actively hates the playerbase and so on. you'd be better off with something else.

OK thanks I'll certainly consider your words.
What do you mean Bungie hates its player base? I mean I see that some DLC you can buy here has horrid reviews because apparently you have to buy it and THEN buy some additional key?
But if I may, I'm not sure my questions are answered, or at least I don't entirely understand:
- Do enemies level to your gear/level? If enemies level, will I ever be able to get a small bit of power fantasy by staying a bit longer in "lower levels" or does this idea actually not exist in D2? That is, for some cost (e.g. less good loot, less experience) can you take your time in certain locations or will enemies always scale to your current level no matter what the location?
thanks much

[Verios44]

Originally posted by onomastikon:

Originally posted by Imperious Rex:

gearscore is the treadmill but they're slowly phasing it out. you basically keep going up to take on other more powerful activities so you can get better gear

yes, you HAVE to buy DLC to continue progress not only in the story but also gear and items. this can get pretty pricey. the Legacy Collection is Witch Queen, Shadowkeep and Beyond Light, i believe. each one has a story and Beyond Light comes with a new ability, stasis. Then there's the new Lightfall expansion that brings in Strand ability. and next year is The Final Shape.

progress in destiny is endlessly chasing gearscore and better stat drops on armor or perk rolls on guns. take it from someone with over 4k hours in the franchise but stay as far away as you can. DLCs are overpriced, massive amounts of microtransactions and they're always looking to nickel and dime you for something else, bungie actively hates the playerbase and so on. you'd be better off with something else.

OK thanks I'll certainly consider your words.
What do you mean Bungie hates its player base? I mean I see that some DLC you can buy here has horrid reviews because apparently you have to buy it and THEN buy some additional key?
But if I may, I'm not sure my questions are answered, or at least I don't entirely understand:
- Do enemies level to your gear/level? If enemies level, will I ever be able to get a small bit of power fantasy by staying a bit longer in "lower levels" or does this idea actually not exist in D2? That is, for some cost (e.g. less good loot, less experience) can you take your time in certain locations or will enemies always scale to your current level no matter what the location?
thanks much

No, your questions were not answered. The poster is filled with hate. Unfortunately for both sound and not sound reasons, this community tends to be very toxic.

Anyways:

1. There are no leveling enemies with you. Enemies are set to specific levels or set to dynamiclly be x levels above you. For example a nightfall strike will always have you at a disadvantage no matter your light level. Thats why it was said gearscore is becoming less of a factor. Alot of content is set to the floor of 1600, but there is a point where you wont get any benefits for being higher. I think thats 50 levels above is the hard cap. You still need to get above 1800, to the max of 1810 if you want to do the hardest content.
2. Each of the Main DLC's has its own story and campaign. Shadowkeep, beyond light, witch queen, and lightfall. The campaign itself serves to give you the main story plot points, witch queen and lightfall have repeatable campaigns while the older DLC's do not.
3. The story missions only contain maybe 20% of a given DLC's content. The rest would be other activities, exotic quests, raids, dongeuns, etc. But its possible to get to max light without doing raids and grand master nightfalls.

The key you mentioned in the reviews is the dongeun key. It allows access to the two associated dongeun activities. Its bundled with the annual pass version of the DLC and sold separately if interested. Most of those complaints are from people who did not read DLC package content info properly.

And final point, as mentioned above Bungie does not hate the player base, thats a idiotic stance to have. Just like most MMO's sadly the dev to customer relationship gets strained heavily at times. Dont get me wrong there are issues, but I guess im a glass half full type of person.

[onomastikon]

OK thanks. I remember when I tried D2 some years ago (I think it was 2020), I started at level 1600? That somehow the "new" people were given max level items? I'm still not sure how this works even after having played it briefly 3 years ago and even after reading a bit about it -- you are saying the enemies WILL NOT be my level if I get gear higher than 1600? So they changed something from 3 years ago?

[Verios44]

Originally posted by onomastikon:

OK thanks. I remember when I tried D2 some years ago (I think it was 2020), I started at level 1600? That somehow the "new" people were given max level items? I'm still not sure how this works even after having played it briefly 3 years ago and even after reading a bit about it -- you are saying the enemies WILL NOT be my level if I get gear higher than 1600? So they changed something from 3 years ago?

It depends on the content. Older stuff like shadowkeep and beyond light content is alsays set to 1600 now. So anything there is static. The new lightfall campaign has a raise in enemy difficulty ending around 1770 for the final mission. But yes in general enemies do not level with you. Its activity and/or location based.

Some activities have modifiers making them harder/ easier.

Its honestly best to think of Destiny of a MMO in this regards.

Also 1600 is the power floor. Everybody now starts at that point.

[onomastikon]

Thanks, I think I get it. So the whole power range is exclusively 1600 to 1810, and enemy level is 1600+ location- or activity based?

[Imperious Rex]

Originally posted by onomastikon:

But if I may, I'm not sure my questions are answered, or at least I don't entirely understand:
- Do enemies level to your gear/level? If enemies level, will I ever be able to get a small bit of power fantasy by staying a bit longer in "lower levels" or does this idea actually not exist in D2? That is, for some cost (e.g. less good loot, less experience) can you take your time in certain locations or will enemies always scale to your current level no matter what the location?
thanks much

Enemies do not scale with you. When you select an activity you'll see a ilevel or powerscore needed to complete it. Sometimes it tells you all players are normalized within a certain range. For instance, Vanguard Strikes and a lot of other low tier content is set to ilv1600 so you can jump in and gear up. It is the harder content where you'll see a jump in ilv like Nightfall strikes, Dungeon and Raid content and the like where you will need to be ilv1800+

Basically just doing the content and activities will keep you geared and continuously gearing up so you can take on more challenges. If you want that feeling of a power fantasy though you'll need to make a proper "build" with armor perks, exotic armors and weapons tailored around what you want to do.

Dungeon keys are purchased separately unless you get the annual pass now as they were once part of the season they were brought in. While not exactly needed, Dungeons do drop armor with higher stat rolls + an artificer slot to bump stats again. Making them the preferred method of gaining the standard triple 100 stat build for taking on other, harder content.

[Imperious Rex]

Originally posted by onomastikon:

Thanks, I think I get it. So the whole power range is exclusively 1600 to 1810, and enemy level is 1600+ location- or activity based?

Yes. Activities typically have the gear level under them, or when selected, in the top left corner along with what modifiers are active on the bottom.

[onomastikon]

Ok thanks folks.
So there is room to grow from 1600? 1800 cap doesn't sound that far off, but maybe it's just me used to Path of Exile...