"Destiny 2: Forsaken has been an action-packed and tear-jerking
addition to the Destiny franchise."
I still believe that. But lately, I've been getting tired.
There are two "quests" at Hellas Basin on Mars. Both are awful grinds
— Bad enough that I probably won't play anything on Mars again once I'm
done.
When you first look at the map of Hellas Basin, you'll notice a curious
fraction in large numbers at lower right. You'll discover the fraction
refers to a total of 45 memory fragments. The fragments, which resemble
trophies, are scattered about the map. If you're like me, they've been
right in your face in oft-travelled areas; you've seen them but didn't
know what they were. Then you shot one and noticed it takes damage. And
maybe you figured out that the fraction changed when you returned to the
map. Or, maybe you were smarter than I am, and went straight to Google to
get the scoop. I couldn't blame you.
I held out for as long as I could before I finally had my fill of searching
for them. I think I'd discovered about 20 of them before finding
instructions online listing the locations of every last one of them.
This is how I learned of the prize: a really nice sword called WORLDLINE ZERO.
Through the instructions I found, I discovered that there was absolutely no
way in Hellas I was going to find all of them on my own — a few of them are
completely obscured from view, some requiring knowledge of hidden tricks — the
only way to find them is to follow the instructions. (I'm convinced these
hidden items are what sells guidebooks.)
Collecting the memory fragments was as simple as destroying them with the
right kind of weapon. I mean simple in theory. There was only one step,
really — as long as you had the right kind of ammunition.
The other quest is not so "easy": It calls for the recovery of 40 sleeper
nodes — they appear as black and silver floating diamonds. When you approach
one, you'll see a prompt that mentions requirement of a special frequency to
open it. The nodes are scattered throughout the map, some in places you'd never
find without the kind of guidance I mentioned above.
Finding 40 of these is a huge grind, because you must generate the
override frequency through conversion of resonance stems. Each override
frequency requires four stems — which are awarded either singly or in pairs
upon completion of public events, including the appearance of Cabal drilling
rigs, disruption of hive witches' rituals, or recovery of fallen WARSATs at
Hellas Basin, and excluding the escalation protocol events. You'll need to
fight in somewhere between 80 and 160 public events to generate enough resonance
stems to make the material needed just to go look — and listen — for
the nodes.
As one finds more and more nodes, the probability that one will continue
finding new node after new node diminishes. Combining resonance stems does
not guarantee creation of a node you haven't already discovered. So forget
what I said about having to fight in between 80 and 160 public events —
it's some WAY bigger number for sure.
At this point I've found nearly 30 of the 40 nodes. I haven't consulted
Google yet for any tips, and I don't know what the reward is once all
40 are found — but unless there's a cheat that gives me 120 resonance
parts all at once, it doesn't seem like the rest of the knowledge will
matter much: at 3/4 of the way through, I can tell you confidently that
I'm really, really tired of Hellas Basin.
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