Let's get you acquainted with the various modes of play available in Destiny. First we'll start with PvE activities. [b][u]PvE[/u][/b] [b]Patrol[/b]: Akin to free roam exploration mode. Patrol allows you wander around most of the areas of a given planet map. You can only bring a fireteam of 3 players but it is possible to encounter even more players in a given patrol area that are not in your fireteam. When in patrol you can find patrol missions scattered about the map. These are signified by green blinking beacons but you can also see all the patrol missions of a given area by bringing up your Ghost. Types of patrol missions are as follows. - Kill: Just kill any enemies until the bar fills. - Harvest: You will be required to kill specific enemies and pick up the items they drop. This can be as wide as any enemy from a given faction (Fallen) to as narrow as a single enemy type (Fallen Dreg). Bring up your Ghost to see mission details. - Scout: You will need to travel to a different location and stand on a specific spot until the bar fills. - Scan: You will need to travel to a different location and let your Ghost scan an object. Find the object and hold the reload button to interact. - VIP: You will need to travel to a different location and kill a specific target. [b]Story Mission[/b]: Story missions are, as you might imagine, missions that follow part of the story. They can be played with a maximum of 3 players but are generally easy enough to complete solo. Story missions will often grant you access to areas that are not normally available during patrol. Most story missions (and some other activities) will have you moving between public and private areas so don't be surprised if you run into other Guardians out on patrol while your on a mission. - Daily Heroic: Every day Destiny features one story mission as the daily heroic. This version of the story mission will have modifiers that make it more difficult but it will also grant some rewards upon completion which can include materials and engrams. You can only get rewards for a daily heroic once per character, per day. [b]Strike[/b]: 3 man missions with a big boss at the end. Most strikes will match you will other players to fill the fireteam. While it is possible to solo a strike, you usually don't want to try it until you've really gotten some experience in Destiny. To access higher level versions of strikes (and higher level rewards for completion) you gain access to the strike playlists at level 18. These playlists will randomly select a strike for you to play and will fill your fireteam up to 3. There are also 2 special types of strikes: - Weekly Heroic: Each week a strike is chosen as the weekly heroic. Just like daily heroics, weekly heroics have a modifier that make them more challenging. Successfully completing a weekly heroic strike will award players with Strange Coins, more on those later. Also similar to daily heroics, weekly heroics only grant rewards once per character, once per week. - Weekly Nightfall: A serious test of your skill and wit in Destiny, this is where things start to get really challenging. Don't get too sacred though, this just means that you've got to play smart. Nightfalls cycle on the same schedule as weekly heroics and will have multiple modifiers. One in particular is the Nightfall modifier which states that whenever a team wipes in the strike the team is sent back to orbit, meaning if your whole team dies you have to start over from the top. Nightfall strikes do not have matchmaking. Rewards from Nightfalls are random, you might get a lump sum of strange coins, or a legendary, or an exotic if you're lucky. Whatever your random reward is completing a Nightfall also guarantees a special perks that stays on you for the whole week. This perk grants the players extra experience and reputation from all sources. It also gives you a blue flame that engulfs your head. Same as before, 1 reward per, character per week. [b]Raid[/b]: Raids are 6 man activities and sit as the pinnacle challenges of Destiny. Raids do not have matchaking and employ their own unique mechanics. For more information on a specific raid please consult my Guide Nexus (link at the bottom). [b]Quest[/b]: A quest is basically a story mission you can only do once. As of the posting of this guide there aren't very many quests in Destiny. Once a quest is completed the icon granting you access to it disappears from the map. [b]Prison of Elders[/b]: The Reef's Prison of Elders is a 3 man survival styled activity. For more information consult my Guide Nexus. [b][u]PvP[/u][/b] Now lets talk about the PvP activities in the Crucible. For most Crucible activities level advantage is not enabled, meaning that a level 5 with green gear can still take down a fully stocked level 30. Despite this I wouldn't recommend entering the Crucible until you have the first row of your first sub-class fully unlocked, otherwise you'll be at a significant disadvantage. Periodically, during most Crucible games, Lord Shaxx will say "Heavy ammo inbound" or something similar to that. When he does 2 heavy ammo boxes will spawn. If you open the box or are near a teammate who opened the box you can get heavy ammo. This is the only way to get heavy ammo in the Crucible. [b]Control[/b]: 2 teams of 6. Team deathwatch meets territories. There are 3 control points ([b]A[/b]lpha, [b]B[/b]ravo, and [b]C[/b]harlie). To capture a control point players must stand in the ring until they have fully captured it. Control points capture faster if more players from the same team are standing in the ring. [u]The more control points your team holds the more points you get for kills[/u]. You technically don't have to control any points to win, you just need kills but capturing and defending control points should be a priority. [b]Clash[/b]: 2 teams of 6. Just kill enemies. [b]Rumble[/b]: No teams, free for all. Just kill enemies. [b]Skirmish[/b]: 2 teams of 3. Standard deathwatch rules but now dead players can be revived by teammates. Doing so will net some points for the team. This does not override the players ability to respawn on demand, you can either wait for a teammate to revive you, respawn manually, or wait 15 seconds to be respawned automatically. [b]Salvage[/b]: 2 teams of 3. A relic will spawn on the map. Players can release their Ghost to salvage the relic. The Ghost will take some time to complete the salvage, during this time the enemy team has a chance to approach the relic and deny the salvage. Denying a salvage eliminates both teams chance at that relic, meaning that once one team has started a salvage they either get it or they don't you cannot steal a relic that has already been claimed. After a relic has been salvaged or wasted a new one will spawn soon after. [b]Combined Arms[/b]: 2 teams of 6. This playlist includes both Control games and Clash games. The main differences are that games in Combined Arms take place on larger maps, include more heavy ammo drops, and include combat vehicles. [b]Elimination[/b]: 2 teams of 3. Elimination is not based on points, it is based on kills. Players can be revived by teammates but cannot revive themselves. A round ends when one team has been wiped out. If a round goes on long enough a control point will spawn and the team that captures the point wins the round. The game ends when 1 teams has won 5 rounds. [b]Iron Banner[/b]: The Iron Banner (IB) is a week long limited time event. The game mode used for IB is control. The main difference between IB control and regular control is that level advantage is enabled. Lord Saladin will be on the Tower and will provides rewards for ranking up in the IB, ranks go from 0 to 5. You can gain IB reputation by playing in the IB and completing IB daily bounties. Wearing an IB shader, emblem, and/or class item will increase the amount of IB rep you get. You can also further increase your rep gains by purchasing the 24 hour Tempered buff from Lord Saladin. The Tempered buff becomes more effective as the week passes (Tuesday to Monday). Your IB rank resets to 0 every time the IB appears. [b]Trials of Osiris[/b]: The Trials of Osiris is a weekly event that runs from Friday morning to Monday night. To enter the trials you need a team of 3 players (matchmaking will find enemy teams but not teammates) and a passage coin which can be purchased from Brother Vance on the Vestian Outpost. Trials games employ the elimination game mode. Your objective is to get as many wins on your passage coin as possible before completing it. A passage coin is completed when you either acquire 9 wins or 3 losses. When your coin is completed you must return to Brother Vance to turn it in. You can collect reward packages from Brother Vance, which packages are available to you depends on how many wins you got. Win or lose, you can always purchase another passage coin to re-enter the trials. Destiny 101 Full List https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/139731825 Guide Nexus, where links to all my guides can be found. https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/138484088