In Destiny 2, the Vault of Glass significantly boosts player numbers. Why is this piece of Destiny history still so popular today, and is Bungie’s focus on nostalgia paying off?

That the Vault of Glass enjoys cult status among Guardians is part of a Guardian’s basic knowledge. However, how popular this ancient raid really is can only be seen in the enormous increase in player numbers. The re-release of the Vault of Glass attracted as many players to the MMO shooter as the major expansion Beyond Light did at the end of 2020.

We look at MeinMMO to see what makes the 2014 raid so popular today and why Bungie hit the mark perfectly with the nostalgia attack in Season 14.

What do the numbers say about the popularity of Destiny 2?

Here’s how it looks on Steam: Since Destiny 2 moved to Steam, we can closely monitor the player population on PC.

• For most of the year, Destiny 2 hovers around a solid 60,000 to just over 90,000 average players on Steam. This is during a season and was quite stable in 2020 and 2021 (via Steam).
• There was a significant spike in early November 2020: At peak, 241,843 players were playing the new expansion Beyond Light at launch, even though it was a rocky start.
• At the start of Season 13 (February 2021), the peak was 131,640 Guardians.
• At the start of Season 14 (May 2021), there were initially 102,928 players, and once the severe technical launch issues were resolved, even 157,679 players at peak.
• The Vault of Glass catapulted the simultaneous active Guardians to a proud high of 187,504 on May 22.

The boom even temporarily earned Destiny 2 the third spot among all games on Steam. Only the two heavyweights DOTA and Counter Strike GO were more popular. Today (May 25 at 11:00 AM), Destiny 2 is ranked 7th on the platform (via Steam).

What about consoles? The exact numbers for PlayStation 5 and 4 as well as Xbox Series X/S and One are a mystery. Unfortunately, the population cannot be read as specifically as on Steam.

However, through API functions, data banks, and trackers for Destiny 2, we can see that even more Guardians are active on both consoles than on Steam. We can therefore infer that the numbers here are even higher, but this can only be accurately proven by Sony or Microsoft. It should also be noted that some Guardians are also fighting on Google Stadia. However, since the launch of the cloud service, the number of Guardians on that platform has been by far the lowest.

By 2021, all Guardians are set to save the universe together. Completely cross-play should connect all platforms. You can already test the feature today:

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The Vault of Glass evokes the good old days

The first raid from 2014 was many player’s first raid experience and especially a complete novelty for shooter players. The Vault of Glass is from the “Golden Age” when everything in Destiny was new and exciting. Thus, the feelings, weapons, and the search for secrets burned into the collective memory of the Guardians.

But even younger Guardians have heard about the idealized raid over the years through word of mouth, which must almost be like the Holy Grail of Destiny. Just the mention of weapons like the Fatebringer brings a smile to the face, or in the case of the Vex Mythoclast makes the anxiety sweat kick in immediately.

Raids are … popular? Generally, new content of this magnitude attracts many players. The last raid was the Deep Stone Crypt, which went live in November 2020 and managed to engage an above-average number of Guardians. For a long time, raids in Destiny 2 were considered something only a few elite Guardians played.

But that has changed. A look at the completions of raids on Day 1 shows that endgame activity in Destiny 2 has truly become popular.

A glance at the distribution of the Guardians also shows that suddenly so many are raiding, more than ever. This also explains why raid weapons are currently among the most played guns and dominate the meta in PvE.

Here’s why so many Guardians were present: The great interest in the Vault of Glass was also boosted by several factors:

• All players can explore the re-release of the Vault of Glass completely free of charge.
• The Free2Play version of Destiny 2 is sufficient, as the raid is not tied to any DLCs or season pass content.
• To accommodate returning players and newcomers, the required power level was set quite low. Therefore, it’s doable without much grind to master the first encounters of the raid.
• In contrast to season starts, the raid launch went almost completely smoothly (a deactivated exotic here, a bugged Prometheus Lens at the Gatekeeper there, just the usual).
• There was one downside: For the first 24 hours, the Vault of Glass was in a special competitive mode that was considerably too challenging for many casual Guardians. However, this did ensure that streamers had great viewing numbers…
• Bungie has also heavily promoted the nostalgic trip to Venus in their blog posts, on Twitter, and in the game itself.

Is this it for nostalgia in Destiny 2?

In Season 14, Bungie is adopting a strategy that we could nicely call nostalgia – while harsh critics might say it’s heavy recycling. For example, in the Trial of the Trials, iconic guns like the Unification (Hung Jury) await, making veteran hearts race.

There is also genuinely new content, but it is currently overshadowed. However, it must be noted that Bungie has made a memorable moment with the adorable alien babies and the story told in-game causes serious political stomach pains.

More to come for sure: Since Beyond Light, the content vault has unleashed the Cosmodrome and brought back old strikes from Destiny 1. In general, we have almost all old legendary and exotic weapons and armor that people remember (yes Titans, you’re missing the Duskfall Garrison).

But success proves Bungie right. You can therefore expect with considerable certainty that more raids from Destiny 1 are on the way.

Just as popular as the Vault of Glass is the King’s Fall raid, if not even more popular. So can we soon look forward to a reunion with the ultimate villain Oryx – at least in a simulation, or whatever explanation Bungie provides?

What do you think of the “new” Vault of Glass? Can you understand the hype around the ancient raid and are you riding the nostalgic wave fully? Let us know in the comments.

What is set to come for the MMO shooter in 2021 and beyond has reportedly already been leaked: Huge leak reveals plenty of details about the future of Destiny 2 – What’s the truth?

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In Destiny 2, the Glass Chamber has brought the infamous “Vex Mythoclast”. How strong is the nightmare weapon from back then now in Season 14, and should you still be afraid of the Exotic?

This Exotic is about: The weapon Vex Mythoclast was the terror of the Guardians in 2014. We at MeinMMO rightfully titled it back then “The strongest weapon in Destiny: Vex Mythoclast = God-Mode“. With the return of the iconic raid “Glass Chamber”, the infamous Exotic has also arrived in Destiny 2.

We will see how the Vex Mythoclast performs today in PvE and PvP in Season 14 and how you can add this cult weapon to your arsenal. In the end, we will also unveil the secret of the new exotic masterpiece catalyst.

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What can the Vex Mythoclast do today? The Exotic is a fusion rifle with solar damage. However, the Vex Mythoclast does not require special ammo like other fusion rifles and behaves quite differently. This is due to the two exotic perks:

• “Timeless Mythoclast”: Fires a single projectile with each trigger pull. The weapon does not reveal it in the description, but the Vex Mythoclast is fully automatic. You can hold down the trigger and fire until the magazine is empty.
• “Temporal Outlaw”: Defeating enemies generates overload stacks. If you hold down the reload button, you switch fire modes.
• In the alternative fire mode, you hold the shoot button to charge and fire a strong shot like a linear fusion rifle.

So you effectively have 3 weapons in one. The Vex Mythoclast is classified as a fusion rifle, but the bolts come individually, directly, and without loading from the weapon – think of it like an automatic rifle. Additionally, you can convert the Exotic into a linear fusion rifle for high damage at range. Remember, the weapon only requires primary ammo, regardless of the use.

How to get the Vex Mythoclast from the Glass Chamber

Where can you find the weapon? From the raid boss Atheon. Nothing has changed here. The final boss of the Glass Chamber is the only option to obtain the Exotic.

You need a fair amount of luck. Many teams report that often not even one Guardian in the team received the Vex Mythoclast after defeating Atheon.

By the end of Season 14, the raid Glass Chamber will receive additional difficulties. Whether this offers a higher drop chance for the Vex Mythoclast, we cannot reveal yet. In the new modes, according to database entries, the well-known legendary weapons such as Fatebringer or Vision of Confluence are also expected to appear as “Timelost” variants.

Does the Vex Mythoclast shred PvE or PvP in Destiny?

This is how the Exotic plays: With the Vex Mythoclast, you essentially have a 360 auto rifle in hand. These are the slow-firing representatives that hit hard. Comparable automatic rifles are, for example, False Promises from the Umbral Engrams or Halfdan-D.

Now in Destiny 2, the Vex plays better than in Destiny 1; it feels smoother in your hands. This is due to the good status values. Especially the hidden 100 aim assist and 80 recoil direction contribute to that. But the solid handling and reload speed also give the hybrid weapon a pleasant feeling.

However, the damage is lower than back when the Vex tore the sandbox apart. What sets the Vex apart from other weapons is the alternative firing mode through the exotic perk Temporal Outlaw.

How does the charging of Temporal Outlaw work?

Gaining charges for the Vex: To transform your Vex Mythoclast into the alternative fire mode, you need overloads. Only at 6 stacks of this charge is the linear fusion rifle available to you.

You get stacks simply by defeating enemies. The stronger the opponent, the more charge you get:

• 1 stack from an add (regular enemy with a red health bar)
• 2 stacks from a major (stronger enemy with an orange health bar)
• 3 stacks for an enemy Guardian (and likely bosses, as accurate tests are missing)

The collected stacks remain with you indefinitely. They only disappear if you die or they are consumed. Once you have diligently collected 6 stacks, you have exactly 3 shots available with the linear fusion rifle (after holding down the reload button).

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This is how strong the linear fusion is: In overloaded mode, you have a linear fusion rifle that works with primary ammo. How hard do these shots hit? After all, comparable weapons usually require rarer special or even power ammo.

• Vex Mythoclast deals 32,570 damage in a Lost Sector. The reload time is quite slow at 820.
• Arbalest deals 38,500 damage. This Exotic requires special ammo but has a shorter reload time of 533.
• Sleeper Simulant even deals 63,590 damage – with a really slow reload time of 1024 (without the catalyst). However, remember that the Sleeper Simulant is currently still bugged and will only deal its full damage after a soon upcoming patch.

Therefore, the Vex deals less damage than the heavy hitters. However, you enjoy a lot of flexibility. You have a hard-hitting solar fusion auto rifle for close quarters. If needed, you can transform the gun into a solid ranged weapon or switch to linear fusion mode when a stronger opponent is bothering you.

Should Guardians fear the Vex in the Crucible?

In PvP, the Vex Mythoclast kills quite quickly at 0.83 seconds. That is a good TTK for a primary weapon. The dominant 120 hand cannons need exactly one second. Additionally, the weapon is supposed to cause severe flinch due to the solar bolts.

• The damage also corresponds in the Crucible to that of a 360 auto rifle: 36 on headshots and 22 on body shots.
• The damage drop-off is at 22-23 meters. That is not particularly much range.
• However, due to the strong status values, the Vex shreds in this close to medium range very well.
• After 2 Guardian kills, Temporal Outlaw is charged; one shot from it will always finish a Guardian on a precise hit, even most supers drop immediately with a headshot.
• A Guardian usually has just under 200 health points; the Vex deals 431 damage with a linear fusion shot on a precise hit. However, a body shot is not enough for a one-shot.

Based on current experiences, you do not have to have nightmarish fear of the Vex Mythoclast in the Crucible. Due to the shotgun meta, the few Vex-Guardians need to be very careful – after all, the weapon is currently a true rarity. Only after 2 kills can they activate the dangerous 2nd mode, which thanks to maximum aim assist allows 3 kills at almost any distance.

Yes, there is a secret catalyst for the Vex

It didn’t take long for the ingenious Guardians from Raid-Secrets to uncover another secret from the cult raid: The Vex Mythoclast has a catalyst that makes the Exotic even stronger (via reddit).

This is what makes the Vex as a masterpiece:

• Stacks of Temporal Outlaw increase stability
• Quick kills generate spheres of power, which charge your super or can be used for the “Charged with Light” mechanic

As a masterpiece, the weapon rewards you with an even steadier gun in your hand, as long as you don’t use the linear fusion mode. Whether there are still hidden features is currently unknown.

This is how to get the catalyst: Also, for the exotic masterwork catalyst, you need to go back into the raid Glass Chamber. Throughout the raid, and even before you enter the Glass Chamber, you can find 5 hidden plates. When you enter them, you need to shoot Vex Oracles.

If you destroy all oracles on all 5 plates in one go, you will receive the catalyst from a portal at the end. You then level the catalyst through 700 kills to become a full masterpiece.

Here in the video you can see all the locations of the plates and oracles:

Are you one of the few lucky Guardians who were gifted a Vex Mythoclast by Atheon? Does the exotic return meet your expectations and was it right for Bungie to leave the sandbox as it is this time? Or did you already suspect that the weapon wouldn’t be OP, after all, it wasn’t really overpowered at the end of Destiny 1 either? Let us know and other Guardians in the comments.

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