Destiny 2is currently conductingthe Guardian Games live event, which is a competition of the classes to see, basically, which class is the most popular by way of earning medals and grinding out the event’s Laurels currency. While the event is just a few days old at the time of this writing, it seems likely that the Hunter class will ultimately win.
In the end, the class that wins Guardian Games will lock in the color of their class item to gold for the year until the next Guardian Games comes around inDestiny 2, so it is not as though the winning class is going to get much besides some cosmetic flair and bragging rights. But both those things seem right up the typical Hunter’s alley. While it’s true that Titans are ahead after three days of Guardian Games, here are some reasons why Hunters may very well come out on top by the end of the event.
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Number Advantage
Before Guardian Games began, Bungie admitted in order to even the playing field,Destiny 2is weighting medals differently for Huntersthan Titans and Warlocks due to the fact that there are more Hunters in the game than the other two classes. While Bungie did not give the exact ratio at which it is weighing medals for Hunters compared to the other classes, the idea is to make Guardian Games more competitive but not give Hunters a disadvantage.
Even with this slight handicap per medal, Hunters have a number advantage. Not only that, but there is also something aboutDestiny 2players when they are told that they are told they can’t do something,they rise to the occasion to do some insane things. And with the foreknowledge that Hunters will need to work harder to win, it is very stereotypical ofDestinyplayers to take that as a personal challenge and grind to extreme lengths to prove themselves. And that is likely what will be seen as Guardian Games continue.
Hunters are Perfect for Laurel Grinding
Hunters have a specific build that is a base subclass tree requiring no additional exotics, which seems perfect for grinding Laurels, earned by getting ability kills. This could give Hunters an advantage in increasing their standing in the event. The subclass tree is the top tree Arcstrider with Combat Flow and Gambler’s Dodge. This gives Arcstrider nearly limitless melee ability to get Laurels on every melee kill, and it is a baked-in ability without any exotic required. However, this build can be made even betterusing the Liar’s Handshake exotic.
While every class is going to be able to reliably finish event bounties and get medals, Hunters have an easy path to grinding out Laurels inGuardian Games, which may very well give them the edge over the duration of the event.
It’s likely that every player wants their favorite class to win Guardian Games, but theDestiny 2community is often an easy one to read.This was evident in past live events like Faction Rally, where it was usually quite obvious just from banter and buzz which faction was going to win each event. It was not as though every player always made the same decision with Faction Rally in Year 1, but it was often as if the community called its shot and tried to rally the majority of players behind a single decision. With the medal weighting mentioned above, it seems like a similar scenario as Faction Rally could play out, with Hunters staking their claim and rallying to take the event.
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Don’t Trust the Early Lead
Titans are jumping out to an early lead, but the trends early in the competition should not be trusted. That is because of the exotic tied to Guardian Games, Heir Apparent.To unlock Heir Apparent, players need to complete seven of the event’s Triumphs. The fastest way to do that is to play each day on every character on a player’s account. That means, for many players who are trying to get Heir Apparent as quickly as possible, the numbers are skewed because players are likely playing at least two different classes per day if not three.
But as more players earn Heir Apparent and settle back onto their main characters, for the reasons mentioned above, it is likely that Hunters will start to pull ahead through normal gameplay and targeted grinding for the event.
The Caveat
The one caveat to all of this is the fact thatDestiny 2is giving players active tracking of which class is winning, and that has never really been done before for a live event. Most of the time, players are flying blind in these kinds of competitions, which in a way, can let the community buzz (as mentioned above withpast Faction Rally events) overtake the reality of the data. But now that players can actively see that they are behind, it could inspire classes to rally and push past Hunters.
But Hunters have the same visual indicators and can try to increase their lead. It will definitely be an interesting race to watch over the next few weeks, but as the hype dies down and the regular day-to-day grind sets in, it is likely that Hunters will end up with gold in the end.
Destiny 2is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
