--- [b]Part 1 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66946687/0/0/1]Click[/url][/b] --- [b]Part 2 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66975631]Click[/url][/b] --- [b]Part 3 (You Are Here)[/b] --- [b]Part 4 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66988029] Click[/url][/b] --- [b]Part 5 [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/66991185]Click[/url][/b] [b]Campaign Progression:[/b] [b][i]Storyline > Skywatch Part 3[/i][/b] [i]Mission 4:[/i] In this coming mission the trademark elements of not being told anything until you click the mission continue. Your Ghost ally will indicate that it may be possible to activate or communicate with the aforementioned "Warmind" and to do so you'll need to raise an array to communicate to the other colonies. This mission will culminate your experience with the Skywatch. You will be tasked with going back to the Skywatch and then heading to a previously locked array door through the equivalent of an underground zone. This area has light enemies and spacing is smaller so little imbalance or improper unit placement will occur and deaths won't occur barring an open event called "satellite defense" which is likely the easiest open event ([u]barring the Hallowed knight or multiple wizards[/u]) but often occurs in the Hive vs Fallen confrontation zone you'll be revisiting. Upon access, you'll fight off some remnant troops that will drop in and then be tasked with taking on a couple Captains and their drone support. Upon completion you'll take on another Captain in the Array control area ([u]which is not very immersive or aesthetically pleasing or all that impressive to look at for a powerful communication satellite[/u]) and then the Ghost will activate the array, which ([u]instead of being a cinematic as it should be either at the end or beginning[/u]) can only be seen when outside of the bunker, and rises from the enclosed repair bay which is inaccessible. You'll soon be attacked. The attack will be heralded by a range of 5 - 7 hive ships over a 3 wave period, with minimal differences in difficulty. Most players will be pushed back into the control center due to the void orb attacks from the tomb ships. A wave of thralls will first attack you followed by acolytes. The next wave will have thralls, a knight, wizards (which may be slightly difficult) and additional thralls, and then a third wave of thralls, knights, and other staples will finish off the third wave. Upon completion of the third wave a Hallowed Knight and his thrall retinue will attack, providing moderate difficulty. After all these attacks, the array will be completely raised and you'll be told that while the Ghost is blocked out of communicating, access to other colonies ([u]not at any other point discussed in the beta, leading to a continuity breach[/u]) is now available, for whatever that entails. [u][i]Normal:[/i][/u] No difficulties until the story zone is attained, primarily being due to the thrall swarms and the Hallowed Knight. [u][i]Hard:[/i][/u] No difficulties until the story zone, all units are of a higher rank and the thralls are more numerous and damaging, with the Knights being much more durable and everyone being of a much higher level thank you provided you attained these quests in sequence. ([u]Balancing of the thralls may be desired[/u]). [b][u]PART 2 - CONCLUSION:[/u][/b] The Skywatch missions are all well designed, but again like in the conclusion of Part 1 of the story, there are major issues with immersion and continuity principles. To iterate, there is no actual mysticism or spookiness other than the green eye in the dark encounter when first revealing the Hive, which for an Undead Royalty type faction, doesn't make much sense. The story, albeit having minimal dialog throughout the entirety of the beta and thus making it difficult if not impossible to connect with your character. Further, there are primary aesthetic issues that reveal under-developed zones and controls, doodads, effects, and levels across the story mission ([u]not to mention the open explore areas traversed in attempt to reach them[/u]) and the later to be discussed strike mission. The relays used are almost always the same for Fallen encounters, nodes all look like a bulbous egg with an opening to the left, and provide minimal encounter and are mostly used as counter in scenarios. Differentiation of these and more imaginative designs should be made. In terms of difficulty, major balance needs to be done to reduce, but not eliminate, the ganking that the Stealth Vandals achieve when swarming. The one popping up on the stairs on Mission 3 is fine, but these and other melee encounters should either be reduced in number or more spacing provided, such as in the case with thrall swarms as well, especially when on unending respawn mechanics. Finally, to emphasize the difficulty issues, the hard mode for Mission 3 needs some reworking in regards to the cover available and spawns, including the sudden three servitors that are a surprise, and the captains that duck and weave. To expand on that, on one of the playthroughs I used a Hunter with a Pulse rifle and, I found it to be impossible to take down these enemies with said weapon, showing a major impact or balance or recoil issue with the gun. Primarily it was a difficult encounter that resulted in a few deaths but that time it was worse. Perhaps changing the location where they swarm at would be the better option, rather than right next to the generator. For immersion, open the top and show drops landing them or some type of entrance other than instant spawn. A final point is the lack of cinematic and content in between these areas, the lack of any meaningful link or progression from these missions to the next, and the lack of any impact or feeling of accomplishment. Gear drops were also average to below average, and were lacking in what I wanted to develop. By this point I still didn't have a green fusion rifle, my primary weapon used to defeat strong enemies. [b]Strike Progression:[/b] [b][i]Optional Storyline > Strike Mission: Devil's Lair[/i][/b] [i]Strike 1:[/i] This mission has no link to it and the Ghost does not speak in most parts or the introduction of it. This is the equivalent of an instance in an MMO though why an online FPS has Instances is beyond me. In any case, progression through it is very quick, instead of fighting through enemies to get the main objectives, you'll only be put in the main areas other than one tiny corridor crawl and then the final boss in rapid succession. The first part will drop you and 2 others into an area that likely has another team of 3 in it. The enemies here are primarily 9, which is beyond the 6 - 8 difficulty range of the instance itself, which can cause difficulties with the Hallowed and normal Hive Knights and their overpowered attacks. After progressing through, you'll enter a story zone, though in almost all encounters it was rare that people entered all together and at times they wouldn't fully appear until part way throughout the first wave mechanics of the first objective. As a further notice, if 2 people are in the area of a three person team and both die, the third will be teleported in from wherever. The first segment is a generic data node that must have your ghost unlock the trip wires, it will have minimal but entertaining communication throughout this encounter. Waves based on dregs and vandals will be the primary focus, with a few captains to boot, these are easily defeated. The second wave will focus more on melee spam and add invisible and visible Vandal snipers to the mix, then an additional rush of turrets and more captains. Deaths seem common in this area due to a mass of units. ([u]Balance checks suggested here.[/u]) The area will culminate with a final wave which introduces Hive Wizards and thralls combined with Vandals and dregs, which at times may overwhelm the team. More invisible snipers and captains will round this out. ([u]Balance may want to be checked, and ammo is low here.[/u]) The final wave will end with the spawn of an armored Fallen boss, he has a quick speed and attack but is easily defeated when the other units are no longer a threat, though may be too fast. The next area is more scripted with an armored tank drop which has a missile launcher that is destructible, a laser-aimed tank shot, an AoE slam at close range, drone dispersal, and grenade scrambles. This area is also filled with constantly respawning and wave-based captains, vandals, dregs, a small squad in the center, and snipers. Rather than a scripted or immersive battle, this becomes a whittle-down battle, which after clearing out the main spawns, focuses on the legs until they become resilient and it collapses for a moment revealing its core. The problem is that long range attacks can very rarely ever get to this core once it drops, and the tank is immune to supers on the core as well. On hard this is even worse and it becomes a very drawn out attack which may or may not kill someone with its tank or missile attacks if they don't jump quick enough or if a captain spawns at the right time. ([u]Spawns are not indicated by immersive elements or dropships[/u]) Eventually you'll manage to damage it after 3 or 4 legs have fully been destroyed and the core has been damaged enough as a result. It seems to have no weak point ([u]resilient legs once exposed should not be resilient and should result in extra damage[/u]) in regards to elements. The final segment is a very easy encounter with a boss that only has two attacks, a close range instant kill vacuum and an unimaginative bolt attack. As it has the same title (but with a name) as the high servitors you may face in the field, it should be changed. It needs more attacks and abilities, and spawns reduced as a result. Loot was worthless, mission had no impact.