[b]I'm telling you straight up, this is a long read. I like to be detailed, shoot me. It's worth your time.[/b] Above is the link to a forum explaining most of the major changes and additions we can expect in the HoW release. So what's next? Speculation, of course! How can we use the information in the link above to prepare ourselves for HoW? I have some insight below. Please understand that this was originally geared towards my clan. However, I've learned a lot from people on this forum so I figured I'd give back a bit. [u]As a result, this is going to help older players the most, but newer players may be able to draw something from it as well.[/u] [b]Glimmer is not a Factor in House of Wolves[/b] The first thing I want to talk about is glimmer. This isn't a helpful pointer, but more of a "have you thought about this yet?" idea. I'm predicting a major oversight by Bungie regarding glimmer. My prediction is that glimmer will not even be a factor a in the HoW release. What were the two main reasons you were short on glimmer when TDB dropped? My guess is the following: [b]1)[/b] To upgrade exotic weapons and armor, you needed to trade your exotic in to Xur, with an exotic shard and around 7.5k glimmer. 3 exotics in one week would nearly deplete your entire stack. [b]2)[/b] Then, you needed to spend thousands of glimmer and weapon/armor parts [u]re-upgrading the nodes[/u]. That was just the exotics. Your legendary weapons and armor were deemed useless due to higher damage weapons and the increase in level cap, respectively. This caused you to level up new weapons and armor, thus costing you glimmer. [i]What Changed?[/i] This time around you will not need to spend 7.5k glimmer on your exotics. Instead you will need 1.5k glimmer (along with an exotic shard). Further, when you upgrade your purple items, you will spend far less glimmer because your progress is not reset. To be honest, I can't think of anything you'll actually need glimmer for, other than the odd new piece of gear or weapon you buy/find. Those weapons and armor will be spaced out, and even then will not require that much glimmer. [i]Breaking the Glimmer Currency System[/i] Even further to this, we can now exchange materials for glimmer. I personally have: - 25k glimmer - 33k in consumables in my vault - 1,000 Ascendant Materials at 250 glimmer each = 250k glimmer That's a total of 303k glimmer available at any given time. 303k. Think about that. How many consumables do you have? How many spare Ascendant Materials? Not to mention Radiant Materials can also be traded in. What could you possibly spend 303k glimmer on? Nothing, so glimmer won't be a big deal. [b]*DISCLAIMER*[/b] You will probably want to spend most of your Ascendant Materials on Motes of Light to re-roll new weapons, so the 303k is obviously overstated. My point is that the glimmer is there if you need it. Lastly, I get that not everyone has 1,000 Ascendant Materials. Some have more, some less. Even if you only have a couple hundred, that's 50k glimmer. [b]Faction Reputation and Commendations[/b] I want to talk about reputation and commendations next. Before TDB started I [u]STRONGLY[/u] recommended that everyone left their faction reputation at 2490/2500. This was because you would instantly have 3 commendations after TDB started and be able to hit level 31. Now that commendations are useless, you shouldn't put yourself in a position to level up your factions immediately, right? Wrong. Let's say you leave VG, CR, DO, FWC and NW all at 2490/2500. You hit the next rank of each faction almost immediately [i]after the expansion drops[/i] (to hit the next rank, do a patrol mission or open a saved package, this way you can save your bounties for upgrading new gear and weapons [Credit: Skinny Dr Mitch]). You will have 5 packages to open, which means 5 chances at HoW weapons and gear. You could get a 365 weapon or level 32 gear before you even visit the reef (yes, most of us are already 32). That's something worth setting up. You could even do that on more than one character. Hardcore players could have 15 packages to open (3 characters times 5 packages). As a result, I [u]strongly[/u] recommend executing this strategy. [i]Taking it a Step Further (April 27th EDIT)[/i] In addition to the above, you can take advantage of the Cryptarch. For starters, I have seen some chatter that hording legendary engrams today will possibly get you HoW gear if you decrypt them after HoW is released. [b]This is not true.[/b] I tested this with a friend for TDB, and it did not work. When you get an engram, it's coded to give you gear [b]relevant to the time you earned it[/b]. However, there is still a point in hording engrams. I would suggest bringing your Cryptarch reputation to 2925 (one blue engram or less before you hit the next rank). Then start hording engrams. On day one of HoW, turn in one of your blues, and [u]instantly get a Cryptarch package[/u] with a chance at new legendary engrams. If you save up 40 blues, or some other combination of blues and purples, you can get 1, possibly even 2 packages. A couple extra chances at early weapons and gear! And like always, what do you have to lose? Nothing, unless you need those blue engrams today, which I doubt. One last extra hint on this topic: if you save up enough engrams, you'll start running out of space in your vault and on characters. I'd recommend deliberately not picking up blue engrams that you find. They will go to the Post Master, who has 20 slots free for things you missed. Leave the engrams there until the expansion drops. It's just another storage technique you can take advantage of. [b]Why Buying Armor is Pointless[/b] Obviously you should be going into the HoW expansion with 200 Crucible and Vanguard Marks on each character (if possible), as well as many planetary materials. You don't need them now (unless you're newer to the game), so you may as well save them. But what should you spend them on? Guns? Armor? Material? You should have material. So it comes down to gear and weapons. And my initial theory is that gear is useless: If you're like me, you have multiple pieces all four armor types at 36 light, for various situations. Therefore, you likely already have a sweet character class layout, something you're comfortable with. And you're probably level 32. New vendor gear only gets you to level 32 (before using Etheric Light). So you could buy gear and end up at the same level you already were. I don't see the sense in that. My understanding is that older gear and new gear will require the same amount of Etheric Light to upgrade them to hit level 34. Therefore, you can hit level 34 with your current gear just as fast as you would with new gear. As a result, I recommend you spend your marks on weapons. There are 2 arguments I can think of against what I just said: [b]1)[/b] New gear has new perks. Those perks could be relevant to end game content or superior to your current gear's perks. In this case, it'll be a matter of judgment. [b]2)[/b] Crota's end gear is "geared" towards Crota's End. It's less effective in other PvE situations than newer gear probably will be. [b]More Reasons to Buy Weapons Before Gear[/b] In addition to the above paragraphs, there are two more reasons to spend your marks on weapons instead of gear. [b]1)[/b] Weapons can be [u]re-rolled[/u], gear cannot. This is beneficial because you are not at the mercy of the vendor stalk. How many weapons did you want to buy since Destiny was released, but you didn't bother because the roll was garbage? That won't happen anymore. Now you can buy that sweet hand cannon for it's base stats, and then just roll it until you're satisfied. You can't do that with gear, so you're getting more out of your weapons. [b]2)[/b] That pesky Etheric Light. What's the first thing you're going to spend Etheric Light on? I would recommend armor. It's no secret that this game is easier when you're a higher level. Therefore, upgrading that Fatebringer to 365 should be prioritized after you upgrade your armor. Would you rather be level 33 with a new set of HoW weapons, or level 32 with a brand new Fatebringer (and more weapons)? I have a feeling a lot of you smiled and said "Fatebringer", but you know the true answer is that you should hit level 33 ASAP (and then 34). This reinforces my point: [u]buy weapons first, gear later.[/u] [b]Conclusion[/b] To wrap this up let me give you my recommended order of attack. Before HoW, get your rank up to 2490/2500 with as many factions as possible on as many characters as possible (2925 for the Cryptarch). The minute you open your game on the 19th of May, hand in bounties and receive faction packages. Discard commendations for more reputation, and then open packages received from those as well. Then hand in engrams and receive Cryptarch packages. Evaluate your loot from said packages, and then buy weapons according to what you're missing. Lastly, have a blast. I look forward to ripping up the Prison of Elders with you guardians, and probably getting my ass handed to me in Trials of Osiris. - Duke