Destiny 2 : Day 1 Salvation's Edge - Normal - Encounter 2 (Herald of Finality) - Clear

Day 1/Contest Salvation's Edge Normal Completion of Encounter 2 - Herald of Finality w/
scorpionONfire
Shadow
Wave
Day
TheHokagePanda
jazzyladytm
This was the latest returning raid in Destiny 2 (at the time of completion). This was the final known raid of the Light & Darkness saga that started all the way back at the start of D1. THIS WAS THE HARDEST RAID I HAVE EVER BEEN A PART OF. And the stats show for it with only .003% of the player base (6 players - 1 team) able to clear in Day 1 conditions, which is even lower than last wish where only 2 teams were able to clear in the Day 1. Our team had some struggles and only myself and Shadow from our original starting group were able to complete it under contest conditions with another group we had joined at 4th Encounter (Verity).
From the get go, this was looking like a very rough raid to attempt; By the time we reached the 2nd encounter; no team had clear the raid, which is almost unheard of for when the first encounter took us more than 6 hours. This was down to not only the difficulty of the enemy's, but working out raid mechanics and also the performance of all players needing to be on point at all times with very little or no room for error. This would persist throughout the raid, causing us some internal issues.
Our biggest challenge for this was defiantly the trust in each of our team members being tested to try and narrow down issues for the required almost perfect runs (or what it felt like at the time). This chasing of perfection alongside tiredness at around the 14/16 hour mark is what inevitably caused us to call it for a 6ish hour rest before attempting the 2nd encounter.
I feel this was the best option for us at the time, but only wish that I had suggested it sooner, given that even if we had cleared the encounter, encounters 3 and especially 4 would have had the same roadblock.
We defiantly were prepared in terms of equipment this time round which was great to see us learning from our previous Day 1's. As is almost tradition at this point; there were some things we still need to work out with our team for us to progress further (if we wanted to) to get closer to that Worlds 1st time. But a top 500 finish on one of, if not the hardest raid every released is still a great achievement.
However, I am still over the moon with our performance this time round, the fact that our "almost" original team made it to the 4th encounter, further than any LFG and even some more practiced teams. This is amazing especially given the limited group raiding experience we have on a regular basis.
Personally, I feel like I have improved over previous raids in having more faith in our original team, and attempting to stick with them even when the going gets rough. I did still have my own lash outs which at the time I thought were justified, but in hindsight could have been handled differently.
For personal improvement next time I need to hold greater discussions with my team to make sure that everyone is on the same page and we are all working from the same book (so to speak); as some miscommunication has cause some fraying of the team.
Here is looking forward to the next raid instalment (if we get one) before Destiny 3 :)
Note: I just want to say a big thanks to everyone for being a part of this; even if this is our last Day 1 raid together as a group, I am happy to have been friends and played with you; its been a great 4 years. Here is wishing you all well and all the best for the future.
Wave
Serb
TheHokagePanda
jazzyladytm
Xenopredator
Shadow
Day