Destiny Beta out July 17 for PS4 and PS3 and July 23 for Xbox One and Xbox 360. Ends July 28.
Helping you get the most of out the Destiny beta
The Destiny beta is now available to play on all platforms, including PS4 and Xbox One, even if you didn't pre-order the game and get the required beta code. We've been playing through the beta's story chapters and other new content for quite some time now and have been thoroughly enjoying our time with it.
If you're just starting out, here's a few tips that will help you get started, in preparation for the hours you’ll no doubt sink into the Destiny beta.
We've also been given some special advice from Bungie itself for things to watch out for in The Crucible.
See also: Destiny Beta – First Impressions
Destiny Storyline Tips and Tricks
1. Take time crafting your character
Although it may sound fairly obvious, take some real time (if you haven’t already for the alpha), to create your character. This will really affect how you play Destiny and your combat style too.
Firstly, you’ll have to choose from one of three classes, Hunter, Warlock and Titan, which will provide the basis for your character’s abilities.
Destiny: Hunter
The Hunters are basically the Destiny equivalent of a thief or rogue. They specialise in stealth attacks and long range weapons, but are also pretty handy with a blade.
As a Hunter you’ll have to keep moving to stay out of the line of fire, since you recover slowly from blows and shots and die really quickly if you don't hoof it away from where the action is most intense.
Destiny: Titan
The Titans are specialists in heavy weaponry along with light machine guns, and thanks to their 80 per cent armour ratio, they’re the strongest too.
Playing as a Titan, you’ll won’t be moving as fast as the other two classes, but you’ll be able to take quite a bit of damage while you dish out some serious short-range attacks.
Desitny: Warlock
Finally, there’s the Warlock, one of the more interesting classes, acting as the mage-type for Destiny. They are only lightly armoured, but recover health much more quickly than the other two.
If you choose the Warlock class, you will have to focus on using their powers from behind cover, learning how the different magical abilities affect foes.
Beyond these three classes, there is a whole skill tree to explore as you level up. You can only reach level 8 in the beta, but you’ll see a few strands of the tree open up to you as you progress through it nonetheless.
We had some time with all three classes and the play style of each class, even at the lowest levels, is very distinct, so choose wisely.
2. It’s better with friends
While playing the storyline campaign on your own is totally immersive, with a fantastic score and excellent lighting details, there’s just something about playing with friends that makes Destiny even better.
We had a go in a Fire Squad of three, whiling away the hours by completing the four storyline missions offered in the beta, and blasting away as a team at enemies such as the the Knights and Wizards.
There are several benefits of playing as a squad: not only can your teammates revive you if you’re downed, but it’s the fact Destiny ramps up the intensity to compensate for your increased firepower. You'll find that heavies are tougher the more members of the team you have and the enemies will increase in veracity and number too.
This is where Destiny really comes alive, fighting gets tough unless you’re prepared to work as a team and it gets even more interesting when you have a mix of classes.
Although Destiny is still fantastic on your own, co-op is where it’s at for Bungie’s latest title.
3. Make use of your supercharged state
When you’ve chosen your class and got into the game a bit, you’ll want to make sure to use your supercharge abilities.
If you kill enemies in the supercharged state, enemies will spawn what Bungie is calling “Orbs of Light”. These can be collected by your Fire Squad team mates and will help them get into the supercharged state too.
The supercharged abilities are fantastic, as they’ll often help you get out of a tight spot when you’re surrounded by enemies.
Each Destiny Class has its own supercharge ability, which are accessed by whacking the first two shoulder buttons simultaneously . The Hunter has the Solar Golden Gun that disintegrates your enemies using Solar Light. The Titan’s supercharge ability is Fist of Havoc, which lets you smash the ground and fry any surrounding enemies in a whirlpool of Solar Light.
If you’re looking for a bit of Hadouken action, the Warlock’s supercharge move is the Nova Bomb, which hurls an explosive bolt of Solar Light at the enemy, vaporising any that get trapped in its path.
4. Don’t forget your secondary weapons
Although your main weapons are strong, over-reliance on them could see you miss out on some of the most useful secondary weapons.
As with other titles, you’ll find you can throw grenades by pressing the L1 button (PS4). You only get one at a time, but they’re limitless if you wait for them to respawn and are extremely useful for taking out, or at least dealing some heavy damage to, a pocket of enemies.
Grenades are particularly useful when starting to tackle heavier enemies with shields, like the Captains, as the explosions can make a big dent in their glowing protection barriers.
There’s also the melee attacks, which again range in type according to your class, but they can be very useful for hordes of enemies, especially the en-masse attacking Thralls.
5. Explore each map for hidden goodies
A great part of the beta is the potential for exploration. There are useful hidden treasure chests dotted around the maps, but sometimes these are protected by high level ogres or knights, so remember to take a few pals with you. Of course, then you’ll have to fight over who gets the spoils.
But there’s another resource you’ll want to keep an eye out for in Destiny and that’s Spin Metal. These odd coral-like metallic plants can be collected throughout the game and then traded in for upgraded kit or reputation points to spend in The Tower.
6. The Tower is a great resource
The Tower is a great place to do a bit of relaxing, buy some new weaponry, armour and other gear or just to take a load off. Literally.
You can use the Tower Vaults to drop off any unwanted weapons or other items, which can then be passed to any other character in the game. It’s a quick and easy way, a la Mass Effect, to make sure your team is kitted out to the best of their abilities.
There are also bounty missions and other side quests to be picked up in The Tower, so make sure you take a break from mowing down enemies and head back there every once in a while.
Destiny Crucible Tips and Tricks
We've been given some fantastic advice for playing The Crucible by Destiny Game Designer Lars Bakken, which should help you survive a little longer and keep that kill to death ratio in the black.
Here's 5 things to remember in The Crucible:
1. Level Advantages are Disabled in Standard Crucible Matches
"In the standard Control playlist, we normalize incoming and outgoing damage to keep players on a level playing field", explains Bakken.
Don't fret that you'll be out-matched by your rivals either, as "people bring in all their own gear, and we Matchmake players based on Skill."
2. Control is a hybrid of Team Deathmatch and Objective Modes
Of course, the aim of the Control matches in the Crucible is to hold on to as many bases as possible for as long as you can. You get 10 minutes per match, so you either wait until the timer runs out or it's the first team to reach 20,000 points that wins.
"Every action players do above the standard kill will give them more points. Getting kills with a headshot, melee, grenade, Super, Heavy weapons, or vehicle will all add additional points on top of each kill," said Bakken. "Most importantly, for each Control Point your team holds, everyone on that team gets a bonus modifier on every kill."
That last one comes in really handy too, as we've observed when the points are getting really tight in the closing minutes of the match.
3. Keep watching the Tracker in the upper left corner
For your own team, friendlies appear as blue dots, but your own Fire Team will show up as green dots instead of blue.
But, the tracker's really great for helping you spot incoming enemies.
"Enemies always show up on the Tracker, so it has nothing to do with movement," reminded Bakken. "If they are crouched, they will ping less frequently, but still show up."
"The Tracker is broken up into segments, and we generally show where the enemies are without revealing the exact position."
"When the centre piece stars flashign that means an enemy is within 6 metres, and we call that the panic zone."
4. Ammo crates are useful, but can be traps
You'll always spawn with primary ammo, but it's the special and heavy ammo that you'll need to scout out in the maps. It can be found in ammo crates strewn around the maps, but watch out because these can be used against you.
"Ammo Crates can be shared. When a teammate activates a crate, it will also create ammo for any nearby teammates. This is true of both Special (Green) and also Heavy (Purple). It's a great idea to gather teammates around a Heavy Ammo Crate so everyone gets ammo, but beware that some enemies will try to bait you with this."
You'll be given 10 second warnings before ammo drops too, so you can plan your tactics for the good or bad.
5. Supers can be your best friend
Your supercharged powers are on a timer and it isn't affected when you die either, so make sure to take advantage of your Guardian's special abilities.
"The timer can be sped up by doing good things that help your team: Kills, Assists, and Neutralising and Capturing Control points all speed up your timer."
Although, use your Supers wisely, as Bakken reminds us that "many Supers have a warm-up animation and vulnerability, so using it in the heat of battle is no always the best idea."
Read more: Xbox One vs PS4
