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Don't Miss the Haunted Forest for the Trees

Destiny 2's Festival of the Lost is more than just a Horror Story.

By William HickeyPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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Image found here.

Thanks to the unique atmosphere, improved arena, and a few surprises there is more than one reason to visit the Haunted Forest during Destiny 2’s Festival of the Lost.

You heard me… more than one.

We all know that there was one reason to visit the Haunted Forest again, and again… and again. It’s the same reason that I spent an inadmissible number of hours over the past week grinding this seasonal event into the ground. That reason?

The Horror Story Auto Rifle

Image found here.

Now I have to be careful here. A wise wordsmith once said that everything you write before the word “but” doesn’t really it count. So before I go on, let me make one thing very clear…

I have no intention of talking you out of going for the Horror Story.

First of all, the Horror Story was the first limited item drop from the Festival of the Lost that had non-cosmetic impact on the rest of the game. Furthermore, it was a beast of a drop at a guaranteed six hundred-power level. So even if you swore off auto rifles all together, you improved the rest of your loot and engram gains just by carrying the darn thing around. Finally, it boasted a curated roll with both rampage and Zen moment. It was, in every way that it could have been, a well-constructed auto rifle.

But… It’s still an auto rifle in the Destiny 2: Forsaken Expansion.

In my opinion, auto rifles have become the barbecue sauce in the meal that is the Destiny 2 load out; they can’t make up a whole meal, and you need some meat to go with them.

When Forsaken launched, the auto rile landed somewhere in the middle of the weapon spectrum with pulse rifles and hand cannons the clear winners at long range, and shotguns in close encounters. With that said, these high RPM, low impact weapons transitioned from being the entree in D1, to being just one part of a balanced breakfast in D2.

Now if there is anyone out there who has not had barbecue sauce with breakfast at any point, please let me know if it’s lonely up there on your pedestal. But I digress…

So, depending on the perks, a good auto rifle was a nice compliment to a pulse rifle, hand cannon, or shotgun. For example, I picked up a Valakadyn with both dynamic sway reduction and rangefinder (a surprising, but effective roll when all was said and done). As I mentioned before, the Horror Story had an outstanding roll, but unless we see any drastic changes from Bungie, this weapon, and its siblings, will always be a Robin and never a Batman/Batwoman.

However, I have no intention on looking back on the countless hours, frustrated significant others, and neglected to-do lists with a sense of loss and emptiness. There were a number of other spectacular aspects to the installment of the Haunted Forest that should not be overlooked. The Forest looked, felt, and engaged us like the best-haunted mazes that will be available this Halloween season.

The Revitalized Infinite Forest

Image found here.

I’m not going to start by banging on the Infinite Forest from The Curse of Osiris Expansion. It was a great idea that just didn’t reach it’s full potential. After all, how do you cash a check written out for “Infinite?”

Nonetheless, the Haunted Forest delivered with an ever-evolving landscape and the sense of dread that lived within that concept. Endless possibility meant that the terrain changed and that survival was not guaranteed. Plus, the exit was not necessarily in front of you because the things in front of you were never static. With that said, how far would you be willing to go?

In many ways the forest felt like a Rubik’s cube with no solution. It was an inescapable maze that would not have been complete without a Minotaur…

Enter the Invincible Nightmare

Image found here.

Question; how do you make the creepy, dimly lit Vex labyrinth worse? Answer; add an indestructible fallen knight with an axe that cuts from collar to colon in record time.

The nameless, faceless, emotionless killer is, in our culture, an archetype of fear. Fear, as we know, is hard to combat in this mysterious form. So our clan decided to name the Invincible Nightmare to take the edge off.

It didn’t work.

In the end, the newly named “Mr. Happy” was still, by far, the most frightening thing in the Haunted Forest. Oh, Mr. H. Who hurt you? Who drained you of all your humanity and dumped you in this miserable place? We tried to ask, but he wouldn’t listen (see that last part about the axe).

In the end, escape was our only option. When we managed to reach the end of a section and looked over our shoulders, we saw our dear Mr. Happy pause at the threshold. He didn’t yell, and he didn’t charge. He just waited. He waited still and quiet, full well knowing that our paths were bound to cross again in this cursed lattice of platforms and pathways. That silence haunted our group, our Destiny 2 universe, and our dreams.

Good on you, Bungie. Good on you.

Teamwork makes the dream work... Or at least the nightmares go away.

Well they say that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? In this case, the Haunted Forest made my group stronger. Much stronger.

With both the dynamic landscapes and the pressing time limit, the Haunted Forest reinforced group synergy on a new scale. Yes, there was an option to solo the forest, but it was intended to be a buds versus baddies type of affair.

In many ways, the Forest gave all the key components of a raid and/or a strike without the luxury of a non-ticking clock. Before the start of each branch, every team of three needs to customize their load outs for mobs, power enemies, and a boss battle. On top of that, the daily and weekly bounties compliments of Amanda Holiday will guide some guardians towards weapons such as, sigh, grenade launchers… (This space was intentionally left open for your favorite Edge Transit joke. Use it wisely).

Beyond that, each team of three guardians needed to master of the key elements to survival: timing and chaining super abilities. Again, every encounter required ad clearance and boss melting in a timely manner. Ad clearing super attacks had be matched with DPS Finishers and Supporting Buffs just to get through each wave. Only through proper communication could any team advance to those more advanced branches of the Haunted Forest.

And that's the beauty of it.

Ever since D1, the life’s blood of Destiny content has been teamwork. At long last, we had a Festival of the Lost where community play helped individuals get to that next level. I know that I could not have done without my team, and I reciprocated when another member itched to dive back into the woods.

Lucky for all of us, the Haunted Forest will remain in place until Tuesday, November 6th. That leaves time for plenty of romps through one of the game's most involved and innovative temporary features.

And yes, if you bring your treat bag (several times), you may walk away with a sweet auto rifle. Just remember to stop for just a minute before Mr. Happy chases you off his lawn.

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About the Creator

William Hickey

William is a writer and a recruiter with the ideal blend of New England sensibility and Jersey Muscle. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife (a casting director) and several free-loading, but loving cats.

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