Destiny: Vault of Glass Tips

I’ve spent a fair amount of time addressing issues with Destiny in a semi-negative tone. But let me say this: I absolutely love this game. Sure, it’s extremely repetitive in nature, and there isn’t as much customization as one is led to believe. Still, at the end of my first article, I alluded to an aspect of the game that was worth waiting for – The Vault of Glass (VoG).

The beta version of Destiny allowed players to sample nearly every gametype except for a raid. The VoG is the first raid in the game and it’s located beneath the surface of Venus. It requires Guardians to be at least level 26. However, it’s probably best to be at least level 28 and have quite a bit of upgraded armor and weapons. So how exactly is the VoG different from the rinse-and-repeat nature of the other game modes?

For starters, The VoG allows up to six players to form a fireteam for a PvE mission. Previously, any team larger than three was forced to participate in the crucible if they wanted to all play together. Also, there are armor and weapon drops that take place within the raid that are unique. That concept isn’t new, but the potential drops within the VoG are among the most powerful in the game.

Bungie realized that their very first raid wouldn’t be easy to navigate or complete in one sitting. So they’ve enabled the fireteam leader to save the progress of the group, allowing the team to continue at a later time.
While speed runs have become more common on YouTube, the VoG is a serious time commitment for those that don’t have any experience, regardless of whether or not they’ve watched any videos; I’ve heard rumors that the first team to attempt and complete the VoG logged roughly 17 hours.

If you’re about to attempt to open the VoG, chances are you’ve at least attempted the Queen’s Wrath missions and perhaps the Nightfall strike already. These missions are vastly different from the VoG in that you’ve presumably completed those missions once before. The only real difference is that the difficulty has increased. Essentially, you can’t take a lot of damage and the ability to disable elemental shields is a must. That all holds true in the VoG, except each stage requires impeccable teamwork and communication, not just patience.

This is where Destiny really shines. While games like Borderlands have helped usher in the era of the cooperate FPS genre, Destiny has taken those elements and made them essential. It was certainly fun to go Vault hunting on Pandora with a few friends, but it wasn’t necessary. Trying to solo the VoG is nearly impossible. I fully expect more cooperative FPS games to take a page out of Destiny’s book, because the VoG is what we hoped the entire game would be like.

Your fireteam must work together to hold open portals while members retrieve a relic within. Coordinating the positioning of your fireteam and the ability to work in groups of just two or three is paramount. If no one in your fireteam has any void damage weapons, it would be greatly beneficial to find some beforehand. I’ve watched my fair share of VoG videos at this point, and have been in trenches myself. I highly recommend watching a few videos before attempting the VoG, but it’s often hard to watch lengthy videos and not all of them provide tips.  So, here is a quick reference guide:

• Level 26 is the minimum, but level 28 is ideal.  Enemies inside the VoG hits hard, and it’s essential that each guardian can hit back.  If you have more rare gear than legendary or exotic, you may want to wait a little longer.
• Having void weapons is an absolute must.
• Everyone should have a mic, and I highly recommend everyone joining a party chat as opposed to the game chat because it glitches.
• Take the time to plan your next move.  While this shouldn’t lead to any Leroy Jenkins moments, it will get everyone on the same page.
• Too much talking is a bad thing.  Communication is important, but yelling, “Help! Help! Help!” isn’t going to benefit anyone.
• Establish one or two leaders.  If everyone is barking commands, it’s impossible to effectively coordinate some of the timing elements that are necessary to beat Atheon, the final boss.
• Don’t overextend because even if you’re level 30, you can’t take on the waves of Vex enemies alone.

While a bulk of those things are pretty obvious, especially communication, those are the types of things that get lost while watching videos online. Sure, you’ll know what to do and how to approach most of the situations, but it still requires precise timing by everyone in the fireteam. The VoG is truly the best part about Destiny, so far. We can only hope all raids are as challenging and fun. It’s teamwork within an FPS at its finest, where you’re only as strong as your weakest link.