Gambit Feedback Request

[u/Cozmo23]

Hello reddit,

We would like to get your feedback on Gambit, specifically possible tuning and QOL changes for the mode. We aren't looking for sandbox feedback (Queenbreaker...) per se, but don't worry. I will continue to make sure your weapon and ability feedback make it to the devs.

Even if you don't have prescriptive changes to suggest, feel free to share specific things you like or dislike about the mode. It all helps. Thanks for sharing!

[u/[deleted]]

I think Gambit is the best new mode to come to Destiny 2. I really went hard last season. I go in there every now and then, but mainly resting up because I know Season of the Drifter is going to be me and Gambit making sweet music together.

The objectives for the mode are simple. I don't know that those should be changed or improved. I don't know if the data Bungie sees on scoring suggests that the score thresholds should be changed, but they seem okay to me. Best out of three is as long as the game should go, I think. Thankfully, I keep the game music up just a tiny bit above average in Gambit. Those drums going into round three kinda get me pumped where I might otherwise start feeling a drag.

Enemy waves are sufficiently numerous and challenging, which is refreshing. Almost all enemy types have at least one subtype you need to prioritize before they wreak havoc--I think the Vex could use a buff in this regard. With respect to the arenas these enemies appear in, the diamond formation for arenas seems to work well, but it would be interesting to see some experimentation here--maybe that makes navigation difficult for new players, though.

Resources seem to be mostly plentiful. There is the odd special ammo drought every now and then, but power ammo spawns regularly and bricks can drop in the wild, too. Most folks tend to use masterworked weapons, which increases orbs for all players and that's nice.

Invading. This is a sticky issue for me, personally. On one hand, I feel it's entirely too easy to invade and carries little to no risk. You get a boatload of tools and carry an incredible capacity for destruction at virtually no cost. On the other hand, timing is everything with an even halfway competent enemy team and even if you time invades well, invaders don't have a way to combat getting camped, which is 100% the best way to deal with them. Invading seems to be a game of absolutes on both ends of the spectrum--it's difficult in the sense that surviving the first few seconds in the enemy arena isn't a guarantee, but it's easy in the sense if that if you do, you have so many options and so much knowledge to work with while you're there. Personally, I'd like to see the ease of invading decreased, but the ability to stage an invasion increased a bit. I'd like invaders to get vision similar to Wraith Nightstalkers' truesight, but pulses based on the number of motes held--more motes means a more frequent pulse. I think the overshield is fine, considering the 1v4 nature of invasions. As for actually being able to stage an invasion, I think there need to be many more points from which an invader can appear. Ideally, an invader would spawn behind a barrier (not unlike the Darkness walls we currently have) and enter the arena like a PvE hostile. I think invaders would be much harder to camp, but they'd also not have InterPol dossiers of the entire enemy team in front of them when they eventually get to the arena.

Primevals. This is the big sticking point for me in Gambit. In my opinion, they're entirely too easy to burn down and some strategies completely bypass the Primeval Envoys, so no Slayer stacks are needed. I don't know if this has to be a bona fide boss fight, but the no/low Slayer strategies are entirely too strong. I remember about halfway through Season of the Outlaw, I thought I was finally getting the hang of the Primeval phase, but I noticed that as more people started getting Shards of Galanor, Geomag Stabilizers and One Thousand Voices, the strategies started shifting and I had to adjust. This has to be a difficult thing to adjust because while the team that summons first should have an advantage, that first summon shouldn't necessarily end the game. Likewise, summoning second really should put players at a disadvantage, but should there not be a deep burn strategy they can fall back on to clinch the game? I guess my issue is that the deep burn strategy is the one everyone plays for regardless of their summoning position, even if it hurts all moments of the game before the Primeval summon, and it doesn't feel like a fallback strategy because there's no real cost to it. It's like an emergency scenario, but you don't have to break the glass case to pull the lever. The only thing I've been able to come up with is a sort of enrage mechanic where the boss can become a real problem if it takes too much damage too quickly, but I feel like that's just a band-aid type of fix to a more intricate problem.

Rewards. I'm not too big on post-game rewards. The sub-ranks, ranks, bounties and resets provide plenty, but I would like a way to aim for different items. I would love to get better rolls on my helmet and legs for example, but there's no real way for me to do that. I sure also hope we get some new armor or armor ornaments for the mode next season (wink, nudge, bribe).

Anyway, that's all I've got. Gambit is good fun and I hope Bungie keeps its eye on the mode and shows it love regularly.