Like many others, I was in Crota HM yesterday. With all the poo slinging and elitism, I thought I would offer some commentary for those 31's trying to figure out just how effective 31's can be. Im a 31 Titan Defender with 2 pieces of raid gear. My load out was Mida, Saterienne Rapier, Timur's, Ice Breaker, Legendary Sniper of Uselessness, Truth, Dragon's Breath, and IR Yut heavy. Ran with 5 32's. 3 clan mates with serious skills, and 2 fillers more than capable. I OTOH, I'm not a casual but nowhere close to 1337. I follow instructions and do exactly what I'm told. We got through Lamps pretty quickly. The bridge gave us a bit of a hard time but we had 2 clutch players make it happen. Death Singer was ridiculously easy. And at Crota's, we temporarily peed the bed. And by temporarily, let's call it hours. First, let me say that while face down and clicking through the fire team individual camera, I witnessed some of the finest gameplay that I have ever seen. I saw more do or die, last stand, refuse to bleed out, epic kickin butt and takin names that I have ever witnessed. These guys need wheelbarrows to transport around their...... um ....... Orbs. So what's the truth about 31's ? It really is an issue. Being one-hit is not only possible, it's probable. Heck, the 32's were going down in 2. I was not doing enough DPS to truly add value. I was softening up some targets but my Kills were pathetic. I did add some value with the bubble and actually prevented wipes twice. (Thank you Saint-14!) But in the end, I spent virtually all my time trying to stay alive and not enough time supporting my team. I felt like a strike bounty mouse. After a few hours and having Crota on life support multiple times, a friend of the clan that had completed came on to chat with us about strategy. Out of respect to the fire team and more specifically my clan peeps, I offered up my spot to the 32. I did not want to be the reason that the team failed. We were so close so many times that I really felt the difference was putting Boomers down in one less shot or dropping adds a second earlier. I am happy to report that my boys finally put Crota down! So glad. Those guys worked hard and did everything they could to help keep me alive and support me. In the end, sure, 31's can complete Crota. But I assure you that no matter how good you are, you cannot outplay the math if you're playing with talented guys. No matter what you tell yourself, you're riding coat tails. I'll continue to do Normal and collect my shards. And when I'm 32, I'm going back in to HM and personally kick Crota in the cash and prizes. EDIT 1 - Grammar. EDIT 2 - please remember that we were in there upon raid release. Now that a few days have passed, teams have strategy and timing down........and a lot of YouTube vids.