After not touching the game for a few months, me and some other clanmates got back into Destiny. They have since added some things to all the Raids and brought them up in level and as we experienced this weekend, they are actually still a whole lot of fun to play.

Not too many people are still playing though, so in order to Raid consistently, we need some more dudes to join us. You're welcome if:

• You are a nice person (because raiding with complainers, dicks and unfriendly people is not worth it)
• You are or are very close to 400 Light (because while tactics and skills can be taught and learned, increasing your damage output and health cannot)
• If you haven't done the Raids yet, be up front about it so we can teach you (because failing is no problem as long as we know how to improve it)

The people I am raiding with are of a Giant Bomb clan I formed a few years ago called Cerberus Wolves. So you will be among friends and decent people.

You do NOTrequire experience with raids (at all!) be of a very high skill level or anything of the sort. All that are capable (listed above) are welcome, that's the point.

Your timezone essentially doesn't matter too much. Most of us that are still playing are in western Europe, so if you are 6ish hours behind or ahead of us, weekdays probably won't work, but weekends will. Also, if enough other timezones join in on the message thread, you can set up your own Raid amongst yourselves.

I thought I was done with Destiny until D2 comes out, but scratch that: this thing is still insanely fun to play with cool people. So, reply to this thread, add me on PSN or send me a message, whatever you want. But let's do more of this.

AKA is always looking for people to run raids with. Though we don't have any members in Europe we span the timezones in America.
We look to run at least 3 raids a week for our different characters.

I have also been building a PSN group chat for all the people whom we've raided with, or iron bannered with, who aren't complete jerks and/or twelve. (No offense if you fall into one of those categories.)

AKAsterotype PS4

@zevvion: I haven't played in months but I have a warlock at 390-ish light and I did the Oryx raid twice on normal like a year-and-a-half ago. I'd be down for the raids if my light isn't too low and if there isn't any issue with teaching me the mechanics.

My PSN handle is Quinndolyne. I'm in the US East time zone but I don't have work for the next two weeks so I can stay up super late. I will be moving apartments over the weekend, though.

@strangestories: No problem whatsoever ever. 390+ is good.

@zevvion: I'm not very nice, or very good, but count me in if you need somebody...

@hestilllives19: Should work on weekends given our time difference. If we have room for a rookie, I'll let you know.

@jamjyo Added. We're full for the Raid today, but I'll give you a shout for upcoming weekend.

@zevvion: Haha, sounds good. May not actually be on Destiny much lately, but if you see me on PSN, just hit me up. I just put together a Destiny 1 Montage so I'm getting close to hanging up my Sniper Rifle for Destiny 1, but I still need to do two more things before I completely call it quits. Need to finish 1 more Weekly Raid to finish the Age of Triumph Quest (just never did the early parts when I should have), and need to do a couple more Wrath Challenge Modes to finally pick up the Exotic Pulse as its the only Adept Primary I'm missing now.

If anyone out there is interested in attempting to get a flawless raider trophy on easy Crota with me or helping out with the cause, hit me up. I just need Flawless Raider and to ring the bells in the Iron Temple for a platinum, and I'd love to get some attempts going on this with a cool group. I mostly have an open schedule and can go with anyone's time.

Message me here or PSN ItsOnlyJT

@okjt: Good luck. We found it easiest to actually do that with less people, we cleared ours with 5 people. Just beware that Crota's End can be frustrating due to the insane amount of deaths by Architect and falls that aren't anyone's fault, just the physics being wonky there. Also, make sure your Swordbearer is on point, because mistakes on Crota timing can cost the entire group another 30 minute run through. I will say that, fails and all, my Flawless Raider run was one of my favorite Raids I've ever done. Just don't take it too seriously and you will have a great time.

I would need to check my light level, but I wouldn't mind running through the raids again; never managed to go WotM.

I can join in for some raiding. I have done Vault of Glass, King's Fall and almost Wrath of the Machine, never Crota's End. I haven't done any of the new Age of Triumph updated versions, and those raids i have done ill probably be a little rusty since i haven't done them in months, but i did just hit 400 light the other day.

PSN: Lego_My_Eggo

Eastern time zone

I already have you on my friends list. Been playing Injustice and Horizon, but if you see me online, throw me an invite and I'll join up.

Remember, I put this up a couple months ago, so anyone here unfamiliar with the updated 390 versions of Vault of Glass, Crota's End, King's Fall, or Wrath of The Machine, feel free to glance over that in anticipation of doing one of the mentioned Raids. Even without having completed them yourself, it should give you a solid idea of what you are going to be encountering in there and it also has some loadout/build recommendations (not that those are the only ways to play each Raid, just ways I've found easiest and most advantageous over the past couple years, and months in the 390 Versions) for the encounters that will make life much easier for you guys.

Feel free to add me. I'd really like to do the WOTM raid. The only raid I've completed is Oryx, but I'm down for any of them, really. Big chunk of time this weekend, except for Twin Peaks Sunday at 8 CT.

PSN: Altruish

I'm always up for a raid if you need an extra dude my PSN is Uppercaseccc and I'm an active member of the BatmenX3 shoot me a message and I'll raid up

If you guys need an extra man, please count on me.

PSN: Kintaroage25

Kind of new to the game, but close to 40 and would love to raid PSN: chasechalker

I sent a friends request to everyone here. If anyone wants to try and do a raid today im down, just hopefully not to late in the night.

PSN: ahandshoe

I try to play in the evenings EST when I am off work or not fighting off my two kids. Add me if you would like I can try to jump in when needed. Just let me know you're a duder and I'll do what I can.

psn: quintonfox

PSN: HarryOrgans81

Would love to raid or crucible or help people out with any activity (Nightfall, COE, Tough Quests you never did, etc)

@zevvion: I'm always down to raid if I'm available. I'm well versed in all the raids and have cleared challenge on all except for Aksis (a few guys in my clan hate that raid and had no desire to revisit it). Main hunter, but run a serviceable titan and warlock if I have to.

PSN: TheWood36

@ticklepig: That's very surprising they hate Wrath of the Machine. In my opinion it's right up there with Vault of Glass as the best Destiny Raid.

@hestilllives19: Yeah, I liked it a lot--I thought it had good stuff going on with the mechanics, but wasn't so as unforgiving as KF (although WotM challenges are pretty awful, IMO). Part of me wonders if they were just burnt out on Destiny in general by that point, and were pretty much focusing on Trials--the two guys who said that are super hardcore and play as much in a week as I do in a month (if I'm lucky). The other half of my group enjoy it. Personally, I thought it was the right raid at the right time--mechanics that took coordination and some practice, but not so difficult that it will take you ten tries to get through it. The right kind of raid to close things out before D2.

@ticklepig: I can totally understand the burnt out part. As far as the Challenges go, I actually like the Wrath Challenges, but I can understand that sentiment. They do require everyone to pretty much be on the ball at all times, so you can't really have a weak player and "carry" them through it very well like some of the other Challenges. To me the weakest Challenges in order of worst are Oryx, Warpriest, Crota, and Templar. I think all the other Challenge Modes are pretty fun once you get the hang of them. Wrath of the Machine itself though, is a ton of fun and I totally agree with you about right time, and right Raid to close out Destiny 1. Do your friends still play Trials? I'm finding it harder and harder to convince myself to touch Trials. This Meta has really taken a toll on me, I hate it so much, and feel like it's the absolute worst way Destiny PvP could be going out. I carried like a 1.62 K/D this weekend and couldn't even string together a Flawless run. I really don't think I even want to touch Destiny 1 PvP much anymore.

I'm on the east coast and I have a bunch of days off (thursdays through saturdays) I would love to be apart of this, for I have never been anywhere near a raid despite replaying strikes over and over. I think i'm around light 320-340? I know its not 400 but i'm friendly and relax, would love to game with some duders finally. psn is beerslayer5000

@boysef: You wouldn't be capable of doing the Hard 390 newly released versions of the Raids (jumping straight into a Hard Raid is idiotic anyways), but the normal versions of Vault, Crota, and King's Fall should be fine. Also, buy a couple Vendor 380 gear for Legendary Marks at the Tower and you would be capable of doing a Normal Wrath of the Machine as well, but you probably don't want to touch that until you hit at least 370-375 as a beginner. But raising your LL is extremely easy anymore. This is really old but the principals still apply. The biggest changes to this are the fact that LL's have changed since I posted that. Vendor Gear is sold at 380LL. Rares drop/decrypt up to 385LL. Legendaries decrypt at up to 390LL, Exotics at up to 400LL. Faction/drop Legendaries/Exotics drop up 400LL. All 390 Raid Loot, Strike Specific, PoE Legendaries, and Archon's Forge Legendaries drop up to 400LL as well. Requirements for activities are as follows; Strikes 350LL, Story/Nightfall 380LL, and Raids/PoE 390LL. Archons Forge is the quickest way to level up from a low LL, as it will drop tons of Rares, and requires 320/340/360LL. It is best done with a group though, so the Strike Playlist is where to go without a group. I hope this information helps.

I would like to get flawless Raider. I've done everything in Destiny but that.

@hestilllives19: Two of my buds still play trials pretty regularly; I did one ticket with them this past weekend and we got to 5 with me mostly just trying not to fuck up. Their usual trio can usually get to about 7 without too much trouble and then they hit a wall, but they've been to the lighthouse a handful of times, at least. Personally, I've played maybe a grand total of 5 hours of trials--by the time I decided to give it a try, it was so sweaty and the learning curve so steep it seemed pointless to even try.

My least favorite challenge is Vosiks, to be sure, and to be honest I still haven't completed Aksis CM (like I said, my crew is a no go). Oryx is probably up there, though that was the raid my crew really came together on so we played it a ton and know it so well it doesn't really bother me like it used to. In the old days Daughters (though not a CM) was one of the worst parts, especially if we had to grab a rando to fill out the team, because people were so averse to jumping they'd just kill themselves if they got torn. Oh, man...thinking about those early days of KF makes me remember how toxic the raid scene was for a bit, which was weird, because I think the Destiny community on the whole is pretty dope. I used to jump in with randos on Atheon and Crota all the time, but I feel like that became a lot less fun with KF, because it was so much more demanding in some ways.

Anyway, I love me some raiding, so look me up if you need a 6th.

@ticklepig: I've played Trials pretty consistently since it launched as well. We usually hit 7 or 8 but I get 1-3 Flawless per weekend if I'm really playing, as in 50 games or so (depends on who I'm playing with as well, I have one friend who is a top 300 player, and another group who is solid enough that we beat the #1 player on PS4 a couple weeks ago, XDarkharXD, average team ELO was 2700, it was insane). I only played like 25 this weekend though. It just isn't as much fun as it was when we actually had access to Special Ammo. I'm extremely tired of triple Sidearms rushing you and feeling forced to Snipe with Icebreaker as it's an awful Sniper Rifle. Also, when zero engagements happen without a grenade happening first, there is a serious issue with Primary TTK. Anyways...

Yeah, hearing people talk about toxic and Raiding is weird. But I get it. If you only LFG or have to constantly pick up rando's from LFG it can be bad. But I've Raided pretty consistently for 3 years with Giantbomb folks from around this forum and it's been fantastic. Most of the guys I play with have been off and on since Vault of Glass and I've done every Raid with all of them multiple times, though I feel like my main Raid group hit our stride in Crota Hard back in Feb. 2015. It's still my most completed Raid (These stats are off because it only tracks full Raids, not checkpoint completions, but VoG - 64, Crota - 123, KF - 40, and WoTM - 22) *Note: Crota may also be higher because its so short we always just ran the entire Raid.

Same, send me a friend request if you want, same usernames as here, hestilllives19.

@hestilllives19: Your complaints about the ToO meta sound familiar to those of my friends. I just know that if I kill someone, I feel like I did my job and can put the controller down.

Don't get me wrong, when I say it was toxic, I just mean a small window towards the end of KF when everyone was just grinding it. I had a 95% positive experience, largely because I had a regular group. Makes all the difference. Based on your numbers, I'd say your a tier or two above us; we're of the "we get everything done, but not without making a hot mess first" skill level. We have fun, though. I'll add you--always good to have good people on the list.

@hestilllives19: Thank you!!! sorry my chops aren't up to par, I appreciate all the feedback though! Get some legendaries for me duders, GLHB

I missed the Destiny boat cause I couldn't convince my friends to get in on it. I've heard the game isn't worthwhile without a group to play with. How far behind would I be if I picked up The Collection and boosted my level?

@bloodystapler: Very far. It would take you a week of dedicated play to be Raid-ready and Destiny 2 is around the corner. You're more than welcome to join, but I think waiting until Destiny 2 might be better at this point.

@bloodystapler: @zevvion: Yeah, the Desiny 2 Beta is only a month away. While Destiny 1 is as content rich and easy to level as it's ever been, due to the lowest population I've ever seen, right now would probably be a pretty terrible time to jump on board. Me and Zev say this as easily 2 of Destiny's staunchest supporters around here. What you'd likely get is just running through the story content solo, and the roughest edges of the community that are extremely devout with 1,000's of hours left who are likely extremely impatient with new players (not around here, but the community in general, ie LFG). It would probably let you see the worst of what Destiny has to offer, which is far from the experience many of us who loved Destiny had, because we played with friends or other awesome Giantbomb duders. What you were told was very true of Destiny 1 BTW, I had an amazing time. But I also had around 25+ Giantbomb guys to play with a launch, which quickly grew to around 50-75 Giantbomb guys, and now includes another 75 or so good friends I've found somewhere along the way over the past 3 years. So I'll be going into Destiny 2 with around 150 pretty devoted Destiny friends, which is kind of insane. And that kind of thing makes the experience so much better. The biggest advice I could give to dip your feet into Destiny 2 is to join a clan. We have several here at Giantbomb, so go check out our thread for Destiny 2's Clan and Grouping features. Good luck, we hope to see you around.

Is anyone still active in the batmanbatmanbatman Xbox group?

@thecatswhiskers: Honestly I don't know. I know there were a bunch of posts back during Rise of Iron when I created it for Xbox guys and the 2-3 months that preceded it. I also know the vast majority of those guys are at or around 400 LL (honestly even more so than the average PS4 players we had before I cut made cuts to anyone below 350LL). But since I haven't logged into my Xbox account in over a year I couldn't tell you how active they are on a regular basis. I know on PS4 we are pretty inactive right now, as is all of Destiny outside of Trials of Osiris, and even it is at the lowest point it's ever been player count wise. But I know a lot of the PS4 guys personally as I've played with them, and the vast majority of them will definitely be back for both the Destiny 2 beta and Destiny 2 itself. I assume the same is true of the Xbox guys. But as far as Destiny 1 goes, it's pretty much as the lowest player counts in the games history, which honestly makes a whole lot of sense, as everyone is ready of D2, and playing D1 when nothing will carry over seems a bit pointless right now for most. I hope that answers your question.

@hestilllives19: yeah, makes sense I suppose. Thanks anyway for your reply, guess I'll wait for destiny 2!

Hey, don't mean to revive an old thread, but anyone want to do more of this? I just got a level 40 character and I'm gonna spend a little while getting my light level up to 380. I'm really late to the party and I'd like to play all the raids before the community (Xbone) dies out.