For what it's worth, I wouldn't recommend you to buy the most recent expansion Last Stand for the obvious reason that you would go undergeared seeing that the major 1.8 update brought the classified gearset and that's what everybody is running at the moment. Play Last Stand with the inappropriate gear for a come back to the game would just frustrate you.
I would suggest that you enjoy the game with your friends first till reaching the level 30 on your toon then hopefully when the Global events gets replayed, participate as much as you can so you can get the classified gear sets to embark the PVP journey - That's only if you are a PVP versed type of person well PVP in this game is not really good.
With the regards to the DLC, I would recommend to hold off and dont buy just soon, yes you will get the advantage of all the 3 major expansions as well as the supply drop crates twice every month but if you have reached LVL 30, it would be a waste as levelling your character might ages if you don't run with someone who is maxed out already to carry you - Thats just my opinion.
Such as?Originally Posted by mckrackin5324 Go to original post
Have not been down there in donkey’s ears.
Chance of Hunters and the rav room is back.Originally Posted by Jello-Shake Go to original post
And a few reward changes.
it's better than what it was previous but there wasn't an overhaul or anything.
It still gets repetitive.
Checkpoints were added. That's huge, especially for solo players. Now there's actually incentive to play some 2- and 3- phase missions, without fearing you'll lose all progress with one false step.Originally Posted by RushLoongHammer Go to original post
Underground proficiency caches were added, which function similarly to LZ proficiency caches. You also now get Underground XP immediately for every enemy killed, whereas previously, IIRC, you'd only get XP upon mission completion.
The Directives (mission modifiers) were reworked so that each offers some sort of advantage as well as a significant drawback, and they make some sort of sense lore-wise now. Where previously you just had, for example, the option to take less ammo "just because", for the sake of making it harder, you now can take less ammo, because it's some sort of experimental ammo which weighs more, but it offers more stability to your weapons.
Add to this the addition of the previously mentioned random Hunter spawns and the re-addition of the Dance Club map (though it's still very rare...I've done hundreds of missions and I think I've only ever seen it three times), and it's plain to see that Underground on the whole has been greatly improved from its original form. Whether or not you want to consider that an "overhaul", is splitting hairs IMO.
Sure it can get repetitive, but for me? I'd rather play UG with its 2 dozen or so tiles that are randomly assembled each time I play, than to run the same 16 story missions that don't change AT ALL no matter how many times I run them.
Not to mention that UG is a good option for gearing up as well. Guaranteed Exotic for doing the weekly, and bosses and Hunters have chances of dropping exotic or classified.
The game is definitely more enjoyable with UG as an option. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Dance floor map is pretty cool but not enough of it, missions are repetitive but so is the rest of the game. You can have directives on or off and the best options for me is always 3 phase. Loot was rewarding before the LZ update but is now only so so. The main thing is Hunters random spawn they add an edge to the game which is fairly additive. They spawn say in 4 out of 5 3 phase missions, at level 40 a cool mask for killing a hundred and ninja outfit. Dailey and weekly mission have pre set directives which can be fun but sometimes annoying. You havant lived till a 4 group play spawns 5 Hunters and 3 jump you, the kill cutscene when they hack you is wicked but revenge is sweet. Would be good if you could loot there cold dead bodies.
I would say everything is very playable in this game at this time. But after playing each mode/feature for x amount of hours its going to get repetitive real fast. x depends on your threshold for playing what is essentially the same sort of content over and over.
As for what you should get from the dlcs..... depends what you want to try. Theres alot of stuff you can experience in game as it is. Maybe you should just through the story, sidemissions, incursions first. Then level up to max gearset score. Get the best weapons etc etc...... And then there are the DZ, West-Side pier (or v. lite pve dz) and resistance modes.
If you want to experience the 'side-modes'
Survival = pve or pvp
UG = pve only
Skirmish = pvp only
Last Stand = mainly pvp but you can choose to do only the pve stuff or help the team tactically.
PvP is a very mixed bag. There are cheaters and exploiters still there so if you dont mind the rough with the smooth.
Also some modes have a dwindling player base at certain times. LS, UG and Survival can suffer from this.
LS has one map with broken respawn.
Survival PvP doesnt start with a full of players, nor does pve. Which can affect experience.
Skm and LS has (in my experience) very suspect groups of cheaters or exploiters. That or the balance between group dynamics hasnt been designed to give an enjoyable experience for solo players.
I mean the game and each mode has its faults but the core experience can be pretty rewarding if you are patient and dont mind the chance to be frustrated from the games many issues.
Whatever you choose, you will have less than a year to get the most out of this game..... which you will do if you play it enough.