Destiny Salvage Comprehensive Guide

Destiny Salvage Comprehensive Guide by Thagliou

INCOMING WALL OF TEXT

What I will be going through in this guide:

1. Scoring system and how it works (I know most of you would know by now but it is better to cover it anyway)
2. Class builds and what works best
3. Analysing your opponents
4. Basic and advanced tactics

The Scoring system

Destiny’s normal system for kills and assists is in place.

• 100 points for a kill
• 50 points for an assist
• 25 for super
• etc

Salvages differences:

• 7500 points to win
• 100 points for capping (per person standing on the probe, up to 300 points total)
• 200 points for completing a Salvage zone (Guaranteed 600 points)
• 150 points for disabling the probe (Guaranteed 450 points)

What this means is that you want multiple Guardians standing on the probe when it is deployed. This ensures maximum point benefit per probe captured. For example, if your team was to let one person capture 4 separate probes in one match, you would end up with +400 (~5% of total score needed) points for capturing. If all 3 were to capture 4 probes you would end up with 1200 (16% of total score). As you can see, this is very helpful towards winning a single match. Not only that, this allows for less loss in points if the probe is disrupted (150 instead of 350). In Salvage, a few hundred points can change the outcome of the game.

If you were to hold the probe for the full 45 seconds your team will receive 600 points. For example, if you were to capture one salvage point, your team will receive 600 points (8% of total score needed). Hence, 4 salvage points in one game, your team would receive 2400 points (32% of total score needed).

This totals up to a possible 900 points per probe (12%), over 4 probes, thats 3600 points (48% of total points required). This, just from capturing the objective gives you a huge advantage over your opponent. This doesn’t even include the few kills you are bound the rack up defending the probe.

Class builds

Let me start this off with a few simple words. TITAN MASTER RACE. Titans work amazingly well in all aspects of Salvage, no matter what subclass you use (With the right build). Defenders are amazing for defending the probe, strikers are great for disrupting the probe, and Sunbreaker, no other words required for that one. Now obviously other classes work amazing too, for Hunters, the only real viable super is Golden gun, tether won’t do shit against bubbles, however can work if there is no bubble and Bladedancer can easily be made quick work of in all cases. As for Warlocks, all three sub-classes are viable options but i would prioritise Nova bomb over anything else. The reason I’m mentioning countering bubbles so much is because that is the only time you want to be using your super (more on this later on, bare with me).

Specifics

I’m just covering the classes that i suggest you use, after sitting here making builds for one hour i noticed it is very time consuming. Attached to the Subclass i have inserted the build that I would use, this is not what you should use, just a guide.

Titan

Striker

Grenades:

• Flashbang grenade (Works great for clearing probes)
• Pulse grenade (Works alright for AoE killing for probes)
• Lightning grenade (Best option for Striker, has a good mix of AoE and ease of use)

Basically all three grenades are viable, but i would highly recommend Lightning grenades

Jump:

• Increased control all the way, amazingly useful for Titan’s agility when skating (Great guide made by sliq111)

Super:

• Aftermath
• Death from above
• Shockwave

All three are pretty un-tasteful in my opinion, none contribute greatly but if i had to suggest one it would be Shockwave just because you can hit people backing up. That’s about it.

Melee:

Do whatever the fuck you want. Nothing helps at all.

Titan codex’s:

Prioritise Armour and Agility

• Codex II and IV
• Codex II and VI

Ability modifier I:

• Aftershocks
• Transfusion

Either work pretty well, i would suggest Aftershocks. Keeping enemies of the probe is important.

Ability modifier II:

• Shoulder charge

All round great perk, nothing else in the aisle really stands out anyway.

Exotics:

For exotics i would suggest either Armamentarium (I CAN’T WAIT FOR Y2 hngggg), Crest of Alpha Lupi or Helm of Inmost light.

Striker is just in general great for breaking enemy probes. Only time i’d really use this subclass though.

Defender

Grenades:

• Magnetic grenade (Works great, however all stickies are broken sometimes and aren’t one hitting)
• Spike grenade (Works meh, usable but not suggested)
• Suppressor “Depression” grenade (Works great if you can use them well, i can’t so i stick to Magnetics)

All three grenades work well, have a try with all three, see what you prefer. Suppressions can work amazingly if you can use them effectively.

Jump:

• Increased control

Super:

• Armour of Light (Primary Titan ability)
• Blessing of Light (If you have a second titan)

Armour of Light is essential to a build that i will be covering further down, Blessing can also work well if you have multiple titans. Primary focus is Armour.

Melee:

• Unbreakable

All three are pretty meh, if anything, use Unbreakable for the Shield regen.

Titan Codex’s:

Armour and Agility

• Codex II and IV
• Codex II and VI

Ability modifier I:

• Bastion, only Bastion and nothing but Bastion

Covered in later strategies

Ability modifier II:

• Untouchable (Can’t go wrong with less time till bubble)
• Illuminated (Only for alternate Blessing build)

Sweet sweet Increased time for WoD

Exotics:

Crest of Alpha Lupi is highly suggested, Saint 14 is also a great pick but frankly not going to help you as much as more orbs and quick res.

Defender is possibly the most useful subclass for Salvage and would most definitely be running this over any

Godmode (Sunbreaker)

Grenade:

• Fusion grenade (Can’t go wrong here)
• Incendiary grenade (Also amazing if you can use correctly)

I personally use Fusion grenade because i suck with Incendiary, but use whatever suits you better.

Jump:

• Increased Control

Super:

• Forgemaster

Who doesn’t like more Hammers :)

Melee:

• Thermal Vent

Again, Titan’s melee all round is just absolute ballsack, however, if i had to go with something it would be Thermal Vent.

Titan Codex’s:

• Codex II and IV
• Codex II and VI

Ability modifier I:

• Flameseeker

mmm, Tracking Hammers

Ability modifier II:

• Cauterize

mmm, regenerating health

Exotics:

Crest of Alpha Lupi, Immolation Fists are situational at best.

Hunter

Gunslinger

Grenade:

• Incendiary grenade
• Trip mine

I go with Trip mine, but whatever floats your Gunslinger boat

Jump:

*Triple Jump

Definitely the best utility jump and i would highly recommend, but this is really down to how you feel

Super:

• Deadeye
• Combustion

I would use Combustion over Deadeye, just for being able to take multiple people out with one shot on a probe. However, Deadeye works well too.

Melee:

• Incendiary blade
• Knife Juggler

Master throwers i suggest Knife juggler, but the average Knife thrower should go with Incendiary blade

Hunter Codex’s:

• Path forgotten and Way of the Drifter

This is always up to you how you would like to spec stats but Agility and Armour is highly important in Salvage

Ability modifier I:

• Keyhole

Situational but best option

Ability modifier II:

• Over the Horizon
• Gamblers Dagger

Pro knifers, Gamblers Dagger and normal knifers go with Over the horizon. Also preference based.

Exotics:

Achlyophage Symbiote is amazing (Also Y2, hnggg). Young Ahamkara’s spines are amazing and also quite under rated. Also, Crest again, can’t go wrong with Crest.

Overall, Gunslinger is great for breaking enemy probes and would recommend over the other subclasses for Hunter.

Nightstalker

Grenade:

• Vortex grenade
• Voidwall grenade

Both work great, Vortex is probably easier and great for killing people off the probe or forcing them to move. Voidwall is more situational, but more effective if used correctly.

Jump:

• Triple Jump

Super:

• Black Hole
• Quiver

I suggest Black hole over Quiver. Black hole is great for disrupting enemy probes IF there isn’t a bubble on the probe.

Melee:

• Envenomed

Great all round perk, basically having a second AoE grenade, awesome for probe assaulting.

Hunter Codex’s:

• Path forgotten and Way of the Drifter

Ability modifier I:

• Lockdown

Extra time on grenades and Smoke is just un passable

Ability modifier II:

• Keen scout
• Shadestep

Both are amazing options, whatever you prefer, obviously use Keen scout if you have Graviton Forfeit.

Exotics:

Basically only real game changer exotic is Graviton Forfeit, it’s awesome, you’re awesome if you use it. Crest is also amazing (Can someone count how many times i’ve mentioned Crest of Alpha Lupi in this thread?).

Nightstalker is an amazing Subclass a long with Gunslinger, they both work great, i prioritise Gunslinger but this is solely up to your preference which one you choose.

Warlock

Voidwalker

Grenade:

• Vortex Grenade
• Axion Bolt

Both are amazing for probe assault, choose what you prefer.

Jump:

• Blink

It’s blink, even with the nerf it is still a great ability that surprisingly isn’t used as much as it used to. Still definitely worth it.

Super:

• Vortex

Vortex is amazing for probe assault, hitting a bubble on the probe when you have Vortex will ensure breaking the bubble as well as killing it’s contents.

Melee:

• Energy Drain

Not really anything else in that column that i can justify using over Energy Drain

Warlock Codex’s:

• Arcane force and Ancestral Order

Up to you, I still highly recommend trying to max your Agility and Armour combo, harder with warlock as it doesn’t sway that way. Try your best.

Ability modifier I:

• Annihilate

Good synergy with Vortex and Vortex grenades.

Ability modifier II:

• Vortex Mastery

Also goes Hand in hand with Annihilate, Vortex and Vortex grenades. Overall, Voidwalker has the best synergy subclass.

Exotics:

Nothing Manacles (Switch out for Scatter and Bloom) great exotic and also coming to Y2. Light beyond Nemesis. Obsidian mind, not high on my list but worth putting it in there.

Voidwalker works great in conjunction with Salvage, synergises well with Salvage as a Game mode.

(Well that wraps up my Subclass builds, took a goddamn long time to do and probably wouldn’t do it again, haha. I could have made that a lot easier for myself. But then again, i never take the simple option, always think of the hardest possible way.)

Building your Fireteam:
First of all, i would not recommend playing this game mode solo, it’s a Nightmare waiting to happen. So gather two of your friends and build your classes!

I would highly recommend AT LEAST one Defender titans with Armour of Light bubbles (My build above) and one of the other Subclasses that promotes attacking of probes, Sunbreaker, Voidwalker, Gunslinger or Nightstalker. The third slot is up to you but i tend to run the second bubble.

Strategies to come!

Analysing your opponents
Short topic, just make sure you’re analysing the builds of your opponents, if they’re sniping, be ready to allow them to cap the probe then assault it (Cap the probe if you have a bubble). Basically make sure you are using your common sense. If capping the probe isn’t working, allow them to cap it, then attack it, won’t net you as many points but it will hopefully net you more then losing the probe over and over.

Tl;Dr for this section: Common sense, spatial awareness, *Insert something here*

Tactics

Basic Tactics

To preface this section i have this short announcement:

Bastion extends time of the Bubble from 30 seconds to 45 seconds. What is so important about this? Well you see, once you have captured a probe guess what the timer until you have captured it? 45 seconds. THIS IS AMAZING, basically, if they have no supers, it is a guaranteed probe. A welcoming >900 points. This right here is the basis of almost all my strategies, so i hope you have Bastion unlocked. Don’t worry, i’ll do other strats too. (I actually made an SGA a long time ago on this if you want to go back through my post history haha)

“Bubble Trouble”

Ahhh, the good old triple bubble strategy. Basically, try and chain as many bubbles together as possible. Probe after probe after probe. This however can be very dangerous at times as they will out super you. So be careful. In general, make sure you are gaining the 300 extra points to start with. Shotguns.

“Double Bubble Trouble, with a side of Salt”

This strat is very similar to the one above with a slight change. You will now have to Defenders built around the build above, and one attacking build from the selection above. This new player can be used in a multitude of ways. You can use your amazing super to either: one, if the enemy attacked your bubbled probe with supers, back out the back of the bubble, and super their supers. Surprisingly, this works more often than not because you catch the enemy off guard. Two, you can attack their probe with your super, just be careful for other supers though. Don’t worry, wasting their supers is just as important as breaking their probe, so if you get out supered it is still a win in my (and your) book. Shotguns, Shotguns and maybe a sniper

The “Fuck this guy’s strats” strat

This strat involves using all attacking subclasses. Basically all out war. This is possibly a riskier way to play than using bubbles, none the less, this works just as well. With this strat i would consider letting them cap the probes then just assaulting them. Because in Salvage, it is 10x harder to defend the probe than assault it. You can still cap zones but be ready to get out supered. Snipers are very much welcomed for this strat as picking off sitting ducks on the probe is a great help.

“The Funbble”

This strat defy’s my whole Defender build but what’s a Comprehensive guide without a bit of variety, right… right? This 3 defender strat involves using Gift of the Void (Shooting the bubble generates orbs of light) and Illuminated. List of things you’ll need:

1. Armour of Light bubble
2. Blessing of Light bubble (Illuminated equipped)
3. Weapons of Light bubble (Illuminated equipped)
4. All wearing Crest of Alpha Lupi

BUBBLE TRAIN TOOT TOOT. This is great fun all round, it is most definitely not the most effective, especially with the new orb of light nerf (You might find yourself bubble less sometimes). However, this never stopped anyone from having fun. So take a break, and have some fun too!

Thank you all for reading this. This is by far the largest post i have ever made on Reddit and i thoroughly enjoyed writing it all (Except those damn subclass builds.. FUCK YOU!). Everything i wrote here, especially the strategies have been used by myself and my normal Fireteam and i assure you, no matter how you play, one of these strats will fit your style and you will have fun.

Thanks again for reading. It is quite the wall of text, i wish i could write this much for School… god what’s wrong with me.