The second faction rally in Destiny 2 has started. Although Bungie has modified the token system, players are finding ways to trick the mechanic. Our author Robert is not keen on this at all.
The representatives of the factions Dead Orbit, New Monarchy, and Future War Cult have arrived in the Tower again to supply the Guardians with loot in exchange for faction tokens.
As the system could be undermined during the first faction rally through simple farming tricks, Bungie promptly closed the “most popular” farming route. Is everything alright now? Not at all, because players are simply finding other means to collect the maximum number of tokens in the shortest time.
Such farming methods are not fun. Why do so many players still put up with it?
The loot cave is dead, long live the loot cave!
Destiny veterans will remember: the possibilities to earn loot in Destiny 1 were particularly sparse at launch in 2014. “Normal” play did not yield the desired success, so shortcuts had to be found. This was found in a cave in the Cosmodrome with an endless stream of enemies that were shot down for hours to collect engrams that promised lots of loot: the legendary loot cave.
Bungie closed the loot cave and revised the loot system such that activities in the game itself provided more loot.
Now, three years later, the lessons from the loot cave seem to have been forgotten. To earn faction tokens, the Guardians are shooting down enemy supply drops for hours or switching areas for hours to open the same chest over and over.
- Up to 500 tokens can be earned in this way – per hour!
- In comparison: A strike offers between 5 and 9 tokens per completion. With about five completed strikes per hour, that makes a maximum of 45 tokens per hour.
Up to 600 tokens can be exchanged at each faction before the reward packages only contain shaders – this corresponds to 30 packages. To get 600 tokens through the strikes, at least 13 hours must be invested. Anyone who wants to do this with all three characters has a lot of work ahead.
The most effective method is the least fun – the varied method takes forever
Is it fun to run back and forth for hours and open a specific chest? No!
Nevertheless, thousands of players will resort to this method again to farm the tokens needed for 30 reward packages. Because it is the most efficient method to get loot. No other option offers such an excellent loot/time ratio. And that’s the crux of the matter: The “right” activities in the game should reward me with enough tokens to obtain the loot I want in a reasonable time.
Ideally, I play the activities, have fun, and realize after two hours that I can still redeem faction tokens. I want to forget about the tokens and earn them on the side. Why does that not work? There are not enough activities in Destiny 2 to keep me occupied.
The “I have nothing to do, how do I farm the fastest?” dilemma
It’s a paradox: players complain about too few endgame contents, yet resort to every means to collect faction tokens as quickly as possible.
The (few) strikes are played out after several runs, the raid has been run through from front to back, and even the public events lose their appeal over time. If the activities provided by the game give too few tokens and no longer spark any interest, players will seek ways to trick the system.
Collecting faction tokens in any activity sounds reasonable in theory, but in practice, Destiny 2 offers too little variety and too few tokens as a reward.
Farming faction tokens means farming duplicates!
Players collect faction tokens to gather the special weapons and armor of their respective faction. Completed armor sets look cool and show which faction the player stands for.
Bungie has implemented a mechanic that limits each use of faction tokens to 600 per faction. From that point on, the reward packages only contain faction-specific shaders. So you have to hope that RNGesus is favorable and that you actually get everything you wish for from the 30 reward packages (per character).
Unfortunately, voices are already emerging in the community complaining about the one armor piece or the one weapon that the faction does not want to give up. Instead, guardians are overwhelmed with 7 variants of the same automatic rifle.
Anyone who doesn’t get everything has simply had bad luck in the current faction rally. For me personally, this mechanic does not provide motivation to hunt for the tokens.
The exploit will surely be closed soon, but the problem remains
That Bungie will eventually close this token farming method is as certain as the Amen in the church. And then? Should players actually have to spend dozens of hours in strikes to obtain the maximum number of reward packages for three characters?
This very question reveals what ails the entire system. There are too few activities for too few tokens that yield too little and non-guaranteed rewards. Thus, the faction rally becomes a tedious chore that the guardians want to complete as quickly as possible.
Some guardians don’t even log in for this event.
This system can only be circumvented by the current farming trick, which is also incredibly tedious. Sorry Bungie – I’m not keen on that. I want to collect the tokens “on the side” while having fun, and not structure my entire gaming experience around it.
I want to be rewarded for my loot, which helps me progress and doesn’t leave me empty-handed in the end.
Why Bungie repeats the mistakes made with the first loot cave in Destiny 1 in Destiny 2 is a complete mystery to me. Give me a reason to spend time in Destiny 2, and I will be back in the game faster than Cayde-6 can say “Save the puppies”.
What do you think of the whole system surrounding faction tokens? Are you satisfied with it, or do you wish for adjustments?
