Last week I was flown out and put up at a hotel by Activision so that I could spend three days playing Destiny 2. During my almost 30 hours with the game I got to experience a great deal of Earth's new patrol area the European Dead Zone, or "EDZ" for short.
Destiny 2 and Heroic Public Events
During my time in the EDZ in Destiny 2 I was able to capture some footage of my Fireteam completing some Public Events, a returning feature that has been re-worked from the ground up in order to drive players to participate. This is done by showing when and where the Public Events will be taking place (a common complaint in the original Destiny) as well as putting them directly on your path to just about everything in the world.
A notable feature of the new Public Event system is that there are unique ways to trigger each events' Heroic modes. Heroic modes operate similar to "Heroic" options within the original Destiny -- the game adds an increased challenge that offers substantially better loot. The tasks in Heroic Public Events in the EDZ range from blowing up a ship, to shooting timed vent openings. While I wasn't able to capture the Heroic version of every Public Event I did get the chance to complete a few and you can find them below.
Cabal Excavation Event
To begin, the Cabal mining event in Destiny 2 begins with a ship releasing a drill from orbit. As soon as the drill lands, Guardians must interrupt the drilling by standing within the outlined area. Meanwhile, Cabal rain down upon you from every angle -- all the while that ship that I mentioned above is raining down orbital laser strikes that will kill you if you don't pay attention.
We found that the event itself took longer to complete at the normal level than at the Heroic. But keep in mind we were over-leveled for the area.
To trigger this Heroic version, players must focus on the Cabal Thresher ship that flies by occasionally to harass players holding back the drill. You need to destroy the ship while it's around, and before the normal event is completed (or failed).
The difficulty in triggering the Heroic mode lies in the balance between managing the Cabal on the ground, while doing enough damage to the ship on each pass to ensure you defeat it. A good strategy is to have at least one Fireteam member shooting the ship at all times (regardless of how far away it is) to ensure that the rest of the Guardians are aware of its location.
Once the ship is destroyed the drill ceases and a Cabal mini-boss spawns. He's a bit of a bullet sponge so you better be sure to bring your best weapons, or at least a few friends. The hard part is getting him to spawn
Fallen Glimmer Extraction Event
The Fallen Glimmer farming event in Destiny 2 is reminiscent of the Public Events in the Rocket Yard in the original Destiny. It begins with a Skiff dropping off a Glimmer drill. Yes, really everyone is trying to drill -- don't ask me. While this is an easier event to complete on the normal difficulty, the triggering of the Heroic mode Public Event is much more difficult as it requires not killing all the Fallen as soon as they are dropped off. There are several yellow-health bar enemies who are easily dispatched, and therein lies the rub.
To trigger the Heroic version of this Public Event players must focus down part of the Glimmer drill before they clear out all the fallen and progress the normal event. It usually spawns after the Fallen are dropped off and it has quite a bit of health, so be sure to prioritize it above all else if you're trying to engage the Heroic Mode. During my time with the game, random Guardians would often obliterate the fallen before we could destroy the drill piece, leading to our not being able to try the Heroic Mode.
After you clear the first drill, you must track down the second drill location, and the third, and then fourth, each time focusing down the part of the drill that can take damage. Doing so results in the third drill exploding and you and your fellow Guardians fending off Fallen who are attempting to reclaim the glimmer that is on the floor. You must stand within a small circle and fend off enemies for a certain amount of time to complete the event.
Cabal Injection Rig Event
Full disclosure: we did not complete this Public Event on the Heroic mode because triggering it seemed too difficult for our group of Guardians. We figured out how to do it, but were hindered by a player who was progressing the event too quickly.
The Cabal Injection Rig Public Event in Destiny 2 begins with a large rig dropping from the sky, similar to the excavation event, so watch out for the orbital laser strikes. You must first take out three Infiltrator Psions. After defeating each Psion the shield around the rig glows red indicating that you should get the hell out, or be burned by the rigs jet engines. The key here is to quickly dispatch certain targetable points on the rig to disable the jets.
Sadly we were not able to take out all the vents before the event ended, but there are two sets located on the upper and mid sections of the rig. After the Psions are defeated, however, Infiltrator Valus spawns and once vanquished completes the Heroic Public Event.
Fallen Ether Resupply Event
The Fallen Ether Resupply event is, at its heart, a more traditional Public Event in that you and your fellow Guardians are tasked with destroying a gigantic Servitor. Your mission is to destroy the Servitor to weaken nearby Fallen in the area, simple as that. The Servitor teleports around at points, but the only thing you need to look out for ( besides the Fallen dropships, captains, and the like) are three smaller Servitors.
These Servitor babies, if you will, provide the main Servitor with a shield–much like Taken Vex goblins–and they must be destroyed in order to make the boss vulnerable again.
If at any point in the footage it seems as if I don't know what I'm doing it's because we were figuring out how to trigger the event's Heroic mode at the time. Also, in case you forgot, don't stand underneath a boss servitor.
To trigger the Heroic version of the Public Event, you must destroy three of the smaller servitors before slaying the main one. Doing so will cause the boss to go "haywire" and begin teleporting players away from the fight and about 100 feet up in the air. You'll take damage from the fall if you aren't careful. Other than that, just dump damage into the boss and consider the event complete.
That's all we have for Heroic Public Events so far. There are more public events than what are listed above, but in our designated capture time they were the only ones we were able to get to.
I hope you enjoyed this little guide and will make use of it once Destiny 2 drops on September 6 on PS4 and Xbox One, and later when it comes to PC on October 24. Be sure to check out our other coverage from this Destiny 2 preview event.