On this week's Bombcast, Brad made a comment about there being a difference and subsequent enjoyment in the Giantbomb crew making more a concerted effort to synergize their gear attributes and skill selections. As a noob Destiny 1/2 player making it through the campaign still, I was under the impression that nightfalls and raids (challenges of the highest difficulties) would inevitably require the kind of stat fiddling that I recognize back from my WoW days. Is this not the case? Are the raids more reliant on gimmick/obscure sequences than I thought? Is better damage output and clever combining of grenade types and gear bonuses not an obvious part of developing strategy as a result? Cause that would be a bummer...

It's kind of a mix. If you min max and use these type of classic raid strategies destiny's end game becomes much easier. However they can be accomplished without it, as quite a few of the encounters (especially in the d2 raid) are more mechanic based.

I can't speak to those two specific experiences but in terms of my enjoyment as a solo player, I keep specific kits for each subclass that are almost entirely focused on across the board class ability buffs; my arc Titan's helmet either takes damage that refills ability energy and every piece of armor boosts ability refill speed, or the helmet keeps the melee ability constantly charged as long as I'm killing people with it and so I can scream around the map throwing punches with an AOE until I whiff on one, at which point the helmet also has a melee specific buff to work with all the other army boosting each ability so I can get it back ASAP. That's just one example, but I have very specific builds for each subclass, like I said, based on how I like to use them. And it seemed like there was a lot of talk during the strike that Titans needed to not only be the Striker subclass but work with the skill tree that offered double grenades because it was the only way to efficiently manage adds.

@nodima: I agree that solo is super fun because of how much gear can synergize with one another; honestly, this surprised me as I was uncertain as to how far Bungie was willing to go to emulate the better parts of Diablo style mechanics, but what they have come up with while sticking to the aesthetics that shooters provide (sights, mags, frames, etc.) is engaging. How about synergy between classes/subclasses though? I have very little experience in this regard; so far, each member of a fireteam operate relatively separately unless an objective or mechanic needs you to communicate and physically coordinate where your characters are in the space. Do abilities lend themselves to enhancing or offsetting weaknesses that exist in the abilities of other types of Guardians?

I know one strategy I've seen thrown around for the end of the raid is Warlock with Empowering Rift and Titan with Actium War Rig and fully powered Sweet Business, so I'm sure there's plenty of room for class synergy but again I don't play this game with anybody so I can only speak on things I've overheard or read.

@g0ld3sun: SPOILERS: This will include the name of Raid encounters and some strategies for Leviathan.

For the most part in Leviathan, most notably the first 3 sections, Weapon Loadouts are far more important than either Armor or really Abilities. You may want a Healing Arc Soul Rift from a Stormcaller or two on Baths but outside of that they are mostly just mechanics heavy and you need to be using certain loadouts that help but nothing is required but knowing how the fight works. This isn't so much true for Calus (the final Boss) though. While it can be done with anything, it is drastically easier is you use certain Weapon Loadouts for certain positions you play that will fit your personal playstyle. As a team, it's important to have certain Ability builds to make the fight easier. For Example:

Face Room Team

• Weapon Loadouts: One Scout Rifle, One Auto (Sweet Business/Mannannan SR4 or Nameless Midnight/Coldheart combo's preferred), and a selected Power Weapon (Snipers should use Show of Force or Alone As A God, Linear Fusion users should stick to the Tarantula, those with danger in their bones can put out serious DPS with Sins of the Past or Curtain Call Rocket launcher, and another good choice is Merciless Fusion Rifle if you can hit mostly crits without missing bolts, Merciless can be run with a normal 450 RPM Auto like Origin Story, Uriel's Gift, or Prosecutor) that fits your playstyle.
• Hunters: A hunter in the Face room has several Options. He can run Golden Gun with Nighthawk, Arcstrider for Orb Creation during the opening phase and after DPS phase, or my favorite Nightstalker for both Orb creation during the opening sequence and if using Orpheus Rig, will also have another for Calus DPS. Also use Vortex grenades at your feet for the skulls.
• Titans: The Striker Earthshaker tree is going to be your best friend in PvE. Double Pulse grenades in near broken right now, they do far more DPS than really anything. They are as much damage as a full blast from a Sins of the Past rocket with all of it's Cluster Bombs hitting. When in doubt toss a Pulse Grenade and Shoulder Charge your way to victory, like a Hunter use a Pulse in front of your feet for Skulls, but save 1 for Calus DPS. I guess Fist of Havok isn't terrible either, use it during the opening phase and after DPS as well. Note: When using an Auto Rifle, Actium War Rig is very good. Otherwise both Crest of Alpha Lupi and Skullfort can be useful at times.
• Warlocks: This is probably the most important Class in the Leviathan Raid. Stormcaller is amazing for PvE. Arc Souls and Pulse Grenades. Your Stormcaller should just be on Elements all the time. Both Empowering and Healing Rift have uses throughout the Raid, but at Calus, Empowering is your friend as it will both boost your entire team's DPS by 15% plus the damage of each players Arc Soul. If you have 2 Warlocks and you are 1st Rift on DPS phase, use Eye of Another World, this will allow you to get another Rift by the time you hit Pillar 4 or 2 Rifts per DPS phase allowing your team 3 Rifts with just 2 Warlocks. Same goes if you are the only Warlock. If you are Rift 2, you can use either Crown of Tempests or Lunafaction Boots. Oh, and you also have Stormtrance, one of the best Ad controlling Supers, so there is that too, like the others again use at the opening phase and after DPS phase to create orbs for your Palace Room Team. Since you only have 1 Pulse, save your Grenade for Calus DPS if possible.
• During DPS, throw the kitchen sink at him. Warlocks Rift (1 per platform obviously) accordingly, Titans Rally Barricade up front (1 per platform obviously), and empty your Power Weapons first, then move on to your Auto Rifle Primary Weapon of Choice.

Palace Room Team (A lot of this will look similar, but there are a few key differences, look for the *)

• Weapon Loadouts: One Scout Rifle, One Auto (Sweet Business/Mannannan SR4 or Nameless Midnight/Coldheart combo's preferred), and a selected Power Weapon (Snipers should use Show of Force or Alone As A God, Linear Fusion users should stick to the Tarantula, those with danger in their bones can put out serious DPS with Sins of the Past or Curtain Call Rocket launcher, and another good choice is Merciless Fusion Rifle if you can hit mostly crits without missing bolts, Merciless can be run with a normal 450 RPM Auto like Origin Story, Uriel's Gift, or Prosecutor) that fits your playstyle.
• Hunters: *Hunters aren't the most useful here in the Palace Room, but if you've found yourself in that position, strap on your Arc Strider, because your going to need it. In the Palace Room, Ad control is the most important skill. I highly recommend a Combat Flow build from the Warrior tree. The Dodge/Melee/Health Regen between pillars is extremely useful here. Bait Psions and smaller Ads into a Melee and Shadestep into cover. When all of the "Old Men" have been killed it's time for that old Arc Staff to shine. The two best Exotics here are either Raiden Flux or Lucky Raspberry.*
• Titans: The Striker Earthshaker tree is going to be your best friend in PvE. Double Pulse grenades in near broken right now, they do far more DPS than really anything. They are as much damage as a full blast from a Sins of the Past rocket with all of it's Cluster Bombs hitting. When in doubt toss a Pulse Grenade and Shoulder Charge your way to victory. I guess Fist of Havok isn't terrible either. *Use it after the "Old Men" have been killed to clear Ads.* Note: When using an Auto Rifle, Actium War Rig is very good. Otherwise both Crest of Alpha Lupi and Skullfort can be useful at times.
• Warlocks: This is probably the most important Class in the Leviathan Raid. Stormcaller is amazing for PvE. Arc Souls and Pulse Grenades. Your Stormcaller should just be on Elements all the time. Both Empowering and Healing Rift have uses throughout the Raid, but at Calus, Empowering is your friend as it will both boost your entire team's DPS by 15% plus the damage of each players Arc Soul. If you have 2 Warlocks and you are 1st Rift on DPS phase, use Eye of Another World, this will allow you to get another Rift by the time you hit Pillar 4 or 2 Rifts per DPS phase allowing your team 3 Rifts with just 2 Warlocks. Same goes if you are the only Warlock. If you are Rift 2, you can use either Crown of Tempests or Lunafaction Boots. Oh, and you also have Stormtrance, one of the best Ad controlling Supers, so there is that too. *Use this after "Old Men" have died to clear Ads.*
• During DPS, throw the kitchen sink at him. Warlocks Rift (1 per platform obviously) accordingly, Titans Rally Barricade up front (1 per platform obviously), and empty your Power Weapons first, then move on to your Auto Rifle Primary Weapon of Choice.

I hope this gives you an idea of how important both Weapon/Armor/Class/Ability selection can be in the Raid. If you look over a guide I made for the D1 390 Raids, you will see a pretty similar Destiny best practices for Raiding on like what is present for Calus.