that’s a backronym lol. “meta” just refers to the metagame, which is basically the game of/beyond the game (in the same way metadata is just data about data)
Because it's not actually what it stands for. What he said was a backronym. Originally it was from Meta-gaming, or knowing how to play not only the game, but the rules of the game. I originally heard it when playing DnD (yes, if you can't tell by the first part of this comment, I'm an autistic nerd), to refer to using knowledge outside the game to influence your players decision. (Like if you knew as a player that a door was trapped because you overheard another player trap it, but your character would have no idea but still disarms it anyways.)
@@Malaphor2501 this word doesn't have a single definitive meaning y'know? for several years now meta is an acronym in gaming and rarely(if ever) refered as an backronym in online gaming sphere. (also why do I feel old knowing what meta game means wtf 😭)
There should definitely be an ability meta history video. The later expansions especially after void 3.0 is introduced marks the slow change to ability domination in builds and content. the combined nostalgia of those two videos would create a wormhole back to the beginning of D2.
I just gotta say, I love how we went full circle and mybois Celestial Nighthawk and Whisper of the Worm are back where they belong. I ran Nighthawk even during the 'dark ages' when it became trash... just because of the fashion.
30:46 Bait and switch was actually originally a 25% damage increase, then it was buffed to 35% in update 4.0.1 (in the middle of season of the risen), then nerfed into its current 30% damage increase (from the TWID / TWAB during season of the wish in February)
what a video 😭 Forsaken will always live as the best era of destiny i ever been apart of(imo) so glad i got to witness it and of course all the other ones
Looking back on it I’m so happy to have been there for the prime of destiny as well. Year 1, 2, and even 3 were all so good. But above all especially forsaken. What a time to be alive.
@AboveDestiny splicer was a really good season too, imo. I wasn't as big on Lost but Aegers was worth it for that alone. 30th was pretty good, I like dares and it sucks how dead it is now. I straight up cannot LFG a expert run. Now since Xur runs dares... and he sells exotic class items now... they should add class items to the treasure hoarde treasure chest loot pool, once unlocked from collections.
I watch and cry - how much content was taken from us... 5 raids, 4 campaigns, 3 "planets". I would like to play it again, many who did not experience it would be happy to go through it for the first time, but now it is just a memory.
@AboveDestiny me personally Chosen was the best season that year, the story, presage, new strike, and the battlegrounds are still my favorite. The seasonal weapons were ok and the armor set was terrible looking but I still use that title for a reason
video took me down memory lane, my favorite time was definitely forsaken era; mountaintop, recluse, anarchy/swarm of the raven was one of my favorite loadouts to run. second would be witch queen era, i love the linear fusion rifle class and cataclysmic is one of my favorite weapons; witherhoard, calus minitool and cataclysmic was my go to load out for that era. i think the meta has come a long way and it’s probably the most diverse meta we have right now, rockets, gls, special weapons esp exotics are very viable. i find myself changing loadouts constantly every day. while I enjoy the metas of the past im glad so many weapons are viable.
Glad you enjoyed the video! I definitely think you’re right about the meta being much more balanced now, I personally just wish it wasn’t so ability heavy to let weapons shine a bit more. But absolutely agree. Thanks for watching!
The pre Shadowkeep meta was soooo fun. I understand why it had to happen, but I feel like we are now at the point where Bungie's best approach would be to just let the old metas return. I say that as someone who joined the community at the tail end of D1 and has played thousands of hours of D2. I now dip in from time to time and play in chunks. Loved Final Shape but find that every time I get to a point of enjoying something fun, it gets nerfed. And while it wouldn't bring a ton of players back, I think that some would at least come back for really fun nostalgia. Restore Lunafaction boots and other nerfed items. We've killed an entity that was supposedly capable of reshaping reality to its vision, why can't we just be powerful godkillers who go slay out?
I hold a special place in my heart for anarchy double slug. I played on Xbox at the time and was the only person I'd ever see doing the hotswap tech and always being top damage. That was peak ego lol
3:16 so was Sweet Business. Ppl were using Sweet Business bring a rally barricade just as much as Coldheart especially considering Coldheart was a pre-order bonus, or the deluxe digital edition, and wasn't available to regular version players until December 5th. So for ppl who didn't have it they substituted Sweet Business for similar damage once their rockets ran out.
Raid wasnt really highlighted in the video, but scourge of the past was also fun! Jumping around buildings, sparrow racing, and fighting a big ass Gundam was fun.
31:22 they only said it was a mistake because it was a ritual weapon, not because it was on a special weapon itself. They had said when they changed pinnicles to rituals they wouldn't be godrolls or best in slot anymore, but near godrolls for more casual players who don't wanna farm out best in slot rolls. They were saying Salvagers Salvo bucked that trend and WAS a best in slot godroll(for ad clear). That's why they put it on Forebarence, a better ad clear archetype, so that Salvagers Salvo was no longer best in slot anymore.
Not to be that guy but forsaken year was peek, the new weapons, activities, the grind, and not to mention 3 raids. But then again almost every year had that feeling of peek D2
10:38 Bungie said I believe it was over 75% of ppl used Recluse in the Pit of Herasy dungeon, or it was 75% of all kills one or the other. That's how dominate it was, over 3/4ths of the entire playerbase used a single primary weapon and I'm surprised it wasn't actually higher. I'm guessing it'd be near 100% if it wasn't from comp, cause even in it's nerfed state the quest still required ppl to win at least a couple games lol.
Not mentioning Outbreak, Sunshot and Zaouli's Bane is a miss. Also, GMs started in season of the Worthy, not Chosen. The loot incentive started with Chosen. Overall though, thanks for this video. It was nice to remember all these eras of the game.
2:43 traces weren't special weapons when D2 launched, they were primairies. They didn't become specials until Forsaken. Coldheart only did that much damage because of its exotic trait that ramps up damage the longer it's held in a target.
I've always loved Destiny's weapon sandbox, but going back and looking at some of these metas sort of bums me out. Some insanely fun mechanics and weapon loadouts that just completely got nuked because they were slightly stronger than everything else. There were definitely BROKEN things that needed to be fixed, however most meta patches felt like a gut-shot when all Bungie preached was "use what you want". Strong guns that were locked behind difficult/long content never stayed strong, we aren't allowed to swap weapons too fast, and it's always frowned upon to out damage health gates. I'm no developer, but I also don't agree with nerfing every strong loadout because you don't want to "design encounters around metas", especially when most of the meta loadouts had very niche uses (speed runs, or specific raid bosses). good vid tho, very nostalgic edit: opulence was the best sandbox D2 ever saw and warmind cells didn't deserve their nerf and no one can change my mind
How'd you leave Taipan off the LFR list for Witch Queen? It performed right up there with Cataclysmic and Stormchaser, could be easily crafted through a quest, and benefitted greatly from the Veist Stinger Origin Trait? It was basically what anyone ran that didn't do Raids or Dungeons often/didn't have the god rolls of the other two.
Fixed rolls would have only worked if we had hundreds of weapons to farm with many different sources to farm and varying droprates for each. That would make for better balance, but MUCH more work from the devs in terms of pure amount of new weapons created. So you might as well just have random rolls with much fewer overall weapons, and therefore work from devs.
Reeds Reget didnt exist untill the season after particle deconstrucion was out i think you are talking about the void linear Threaded needle Reeds regret was unfourtnley not avalible at the time of particle deconstruction but im pretty sure firing line was just worse then vorpal at this point thats why threaded needle was so good
i mean... afaik technically it was not the introduction of eager edge that brought back skating. it was still possible as wellskating is right now but with worldline and stasis made it available to hunters aswell. but eager edge did speed it up a bit indeed. and revived skating as previously wellskating with wlz wasn't as known if even at all
11:56 when Mountintop first launched it kinda sucked, it wasn't until a couple buffs that it became so good. Originally it was really hard to hit shots, especially in pvp(eventually they realized this was for the better lol) and Bungie buffed it's speed and accuracy and it's damage too I believe.
Thanks to GEOLOGIE for sponsoring today's video! USE geolog.ie/ABOVE70 for that 70% discount!
haven't seen yet, hope you put lucky pants
my God i forgot about warmind cells... what a time to be alive...!
Such a fun time in Destiny. I really miss those armor mod systems!
After 14 years of gaming I just found out what META stands for…
Hahah you're not alone my friend
that’s a backronym lol. “meta” just refers to the metagame, which is basically the game of/beyond the game (in the same way metadata is just data about data)
@@KidGhost23 I just started the video have got 15 seconds in and ran to the comments to see if anyone else would pull this up.
Because it's not actually what it stands for. What he said was a backronym. Originally it was from Meta-gaming, or knowing how to play not only the game, but the rules of the game. I originally heard it when playing DnD (yes, if you can't tell by the first part of this comment, I'm an autistic nerd), to refer to using knowledge outside the game to influence your players decision. (Like if you knew as a player that a door was trapped because you overheard another player trap it, but your character would have no idea but still disarms it anyways.)
@@Malaphor2501 this word doesn't have a single definitive meaning y'know? for several years now meta is an acronym in gaming and rarely(if ever) refered as an backronym in online gaming sphere. (also why do I feel old knowing what meta game means wtf 😭)
I'd love to see a subclass "history of..." just to relive the trauma of shatterdive in PvP
It's definitely a project we'd like to work on 👀
had a screenshot of trials of me on titan with 5 shatterdive hunters might have been the worst experience of my life
There should definitely be an ability meta history video. The later expansions especially after void 3.0 is introduced marks the slow change to ability domination in builds and content. the combined nostalgia of those two videos would create a wormhole back to the beginning of D2.
We might just have to make it 👀
@AboveDestiny PLEASE Highlight how the ability meta changed completely after they changed super gains from kills to damage
Forsaken era was so much fun. I was really proud of getting the Mountaintop back then
Peak Destiny
@@AboveDestinyI been trying to tell people, year one and two was peak and we didn’t know it!
I just gotta say, I love how we went full circle and mybois Celestial Nighthawk and Whisper of the Worm are back where they belong. I ran Nighthawk even during the 'dark ages' when it became trash... just because of the fashion.
It’s honestly one of the coolest parts of Destiny IMO. Revolving METAs and an ever changing Sandbox. I had so much fun reflecting back on it all.
Gawd the time that went into this video so we can have the best of Destiny 2, nostalgia... Great work putting this video together
Thank you brother ❤
An informative and thorough nostalgic walk through D2's past! Thank you for your hard work, Above & Co!
Thank you Cheery!!!
30:46 Bait and switch was actually originally a 25% damage increase, then it was buffed to 35% in update 4.0.1 (in the middle of season of the risen), then nerfed into its current 30% damage increase (from the TWID / TWAB during season of the wish in February)
Mountain top, recluse, anarchy. And outbreak, loaded question, and wendigo were my fav loadouts
Hell yeah, some of the GOATs
Man i miss warmind cells, that witherhoard and ikelos smg meta was such a fun time
Me too dude, me too
…getting annihilated by Celestial Nighthawk “The Gun.” 😂
Great video man. I love these big D2 recap videos. Lots of memories and nostalgia.
🤣❤️
Fire video dude, definitely needs more views
Thanks so much! It just came out so I'm hopeful folks will share it and gain views over time :) Appreciate the feedback!
This was a video I've wanted to see for a long time. Good job!
Thank you so much!
what a video 😭 Forsaken will always live as the best era of destiny i ever been apart of(imo) so glad i got to witness it and of course all the other ones
Thank you brother!
Looking back on it I’m so happy to have been there for the prime of destiny as well. Year 1, 2, and even 3 were all so good. But above all especially forsaken. What a time to be alive.
Breach and clear into particle deconstruction into Gjally was an immaculate time to be playing Destiny 2
Dude it really was lol
@AboveDestiny splicer was a really good season too, imo. I wasn't as big on Lost but Aegers was worth it for that alone. 30th was pretty good, I like dares and it sucks how dead it is now. I straight up cannot LFG a expert run. Now since Xur runs dares... and he sells exotic class items now... they should add class items to the treasure hoarde treasure chest loot pool, once unlocked from collections.
We definitely need an ability meta video!!!!
I got you!!! Thank you for watching!
Awesome video! Makes me want to go back in time. Imagining a version of pantheon where you could go back and play in all of these other metas
Thanks brother! Destiny is just one of those games where nostalgia hits different after all these years.
I watch and cry - how much content was taken from us... 5 raids, 4 campaigns, 3 "planets". I would like to play it again, many who did not experience it would be happy to go through it for the first time, but now it is just a memory.
A lot of the game is a distant memory now sadly :/ But that’s definitely why I wanted to document it. Was definitely a story that needed to be told.
Y’all worked soooo hard on this what a banger, wow!!!! Great work!
Thank you!!
I loved the particle deconstruction with linear fusions. Felt so good.
Phenomenal video. You earned a sub my guy. Not too over the top, very straight to the point and good gameplay.
Loved the trip down memory lane. Would also enjoy an abilities version of this
Thanks dude! And definitely can do!
What a ride this was...I appreciate the nostalgia here! Loved this vid
Thank you brother ❤️
What a great video! Thanks for the trip down memory lane and how dare you make me miss Reckoning again. 😂
hahah thank you Jess!
0:47 the joke is RIGHT there dude it’d be so easy. “I’m above and I’d greatly appreciate it if you guys left a like or comment below.”
LISTENNNNNNNN I'm cringe, but I'm not THAT cringe (I am) 😂
Whoa! Saving this for my morning podcast. This is ambitious.
This was a MASSIVE undertaking haha, I hope you love it!
haven't started the video yet, but THANK YOU for long form Brotha
Thank you for watching brother!!!
1k voices was so cool with particle reconstruction that Bungie needs to add it to the weapon as a catalyst to make the weapon meta worthy again
Was so much fun!
Season of the Splicer supremacy button --->
Splicer was absolutely goated
I started playing in season of the splicer.
10000000%
I had stopped playing D2 for a while and splicer is what brought me back
@AboveDestiny me personally Chosen was the best season that year, the story, presage, new strike, and the battlegrounds are still my favorite. The seasonal weapons were ok and the armor set was terrible looking but I still use that title for a reason
Awesome video! Its nice to go through memory lane of metas
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
video took me down memory lane, my favorite time was definitely forsaken era; mountaintop, recluse, anarchy/swarm of the raven was one of my favorite loadouts to run.
second would be witch queen era, i love the linear fusion rifle class and cataclysmic is one of my favorite weapons; witherhoard, calus minitool and cataclysmic was my go to load out for that era.
i think the meta has come a long way and it’s probably the most diverse meta we have right now, rockets, gls, special weapons esp exotics are very viable. i find myself changing loadouts constantly every day. while I enjoy the metas of the past im glad so many weapons are viable.
Glad you enjoyed the video! I definitely think you’re right about the meta being much more balanced now, I personally just wish it wasn’t so ability heavy to let weapons shine a bit more. But absolutely agree. Thanks for watching!
A phenomenal timeline Above!!!! Thanks for compiling this banger
OG Mountaintop, Recluse and Anarchy will always be the greatest!!!
Loved the video!!!
Was such a fun time in Destiny! Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Great video. It was great trip down memory lane. I’ve been playing since D1 alpha.
A fellow D1 Chad! Appreciate the kind words dude. Thanks for watching!
A video of all times in Destiny 2
Bro is a Diablo main now!
26:16 bro that scared me 😭
Forgive me and my pc, rendering anything longer than 20 minutes sends it to the brink 🙌
Sorry brother, when the video rendered it unfortunately gave us an un-editable audio glitch
I thought my left ear got electrocuted for a second 😂
can't believe it took me this long to learn that "meta" was an acronym and not just a word gamers made up 😭
Same bro 😂😂😂
Season of the drifter had so many slept on weapons
It really did
felt very nostalgic watching this video. please do a d2 popular builds video as well please
Glad you enjoyed it! It seems to be a popular request, so we'll definitely be making it. Thanks for watching!
Great trip down memory lane!
Glad you enjoyed it!
You should name this a GOAT's Guide to Destiny 2 Weapons! 😉😁👍
UHSUL MY GOAT!
Mountaintop and anarchy, as well as the Ikelos shotgun before the trench barrel nerf was peak destiny and gaming as a whole
I really enjoyed this vid, brought back all the nostalgia. A Build/Ability variant would be awesome but I dont think it could be an entire series.
Thanks a lot! Glad you enjoyed it! And we can definitely do that!
The pre Shadowkeep meta was soooo fun. I understand why it had to happen, but I feel like we are now at the point where Bungie's best approach would be to just let the old metas return.
I say that as someone who joined the community at the tail end of D1 and has played thousands of hours of D2. I now dip in from time to time and play in chunks. Loved Final Shape but find that every time I get to a point of enjoying something fun, it gets nerfed.
And while it wouldn't bring a ton of players back, I think that some would at least come back for really fun nostalgia. Restore Lunafaction boots and other nerfed items. We've killed an entity that was supposedly capable of reshaping reality to its vision, why can't we just be powerful godkillers who go slay out?
It does kinda seem like at this point it can’t hurt seeing how much insanely powerful stuff we have now 😂
Man, this was an awesome walk down memory lane.
amaazing work, love the nostalgia trip
Glad you enjoyed it, brother! Thanks for being a long time supporter of the channel!
My ears 😭 at 26:16
I hold a special place in my heart for anarchy double slug. I played on Xbox at the time and was the only person I'd ever see doing the hotswap tech and always being top damage. That was peak ego lol
3:16 so was Sweet Business. Ppl were using Sweet Business bring a rally barricade just as much as Coldheart especially considering Coldheart was a pre-order bonus, or the deluxe digital edition, and wasn't available to regular version players until December 5th. So for ppl who didn't have it they substituted Sweet Business for similar damage once their rockets ran out.
Fun trip down memory lane. Thanks, brother 😊
Good work bro❤
Thank you!
need that ability and build meta video asap. this was a fun watch
I got you! Thank you for watching!
16:15 Windago also had spike nades built in. So it got free extra damage and blinded all enemys, the only power launcher that ever had blinding.
Raid wasnt really highlighted in the video, but scourge of the past was also fun! Jumping around buildings, sparrow racing, and fighting a big ass Gundam was fun.
MT, Recluse, Anarchy will always be the best time in D2 for me. It was fun.
Was so much fun no doubt. I miss Pinnacle pursuits.
Love the destiny history videos! Would love both the ability and build videos
Glad you liked it! I got you, and thanks for watching!
26:15 I wonder how many got spooked by hearing the loud noise
Sorry about that!!!
Was just having a good time watching, then got hit with a wave of nostalgia when the warmind cell spawn.
The waves of Nostalgia hit different man
BABE, WAKE UP! NEW ABOVE BANGER JUST DROPPED!
ILL KISS YOUR LIPS
Underrated channel ngl
Thank you 🙏🏻
Proud to say I've played through every single one of these metas, for better and for worse.
thanks a lot for this video! pure nostalgic feelings.
NEW UPLOAD LETS GOOOOO!
🙌
31:22 they only said it was a mistake because it was a ritual weapon, not because it was on a special weapon itself. They had said when they changed pinnicles to rituals they wouldn't be godrolls or best in slot anymore, but near godrolls for more casual players who don't wanna farm out best in slot rolls. They were saying Salvagers Salvo bucked that trend and WAS a best in slot godroll(for ad clear). That's why they put it on Forebarence, a better ad clear archetype, so that Salvagers Salvo was no longer best in slot anymore.
That shotgun was that daddy when that 1st came out with EP.
I forgot about the original crafting on Mercury
ABOVE! MAKE A ABILITY META VIDEO,AND MY LIFE IS YOURS🔥🔥🗣🗣
Not to be that guy but forsaken year was peek, the new weapons, activities, the grind, and not to mention 3 raids. But then again almost every year had that feeling of peek D2
40:10 that just had me rolling 😂😂
double slug anarchy with beach and clear was probably the most powerful i’ve felt in destiny
The history of ability’s or meta builds would slap tbh
Particle Deconstruction 💯🦅
Lmao, I sill get a chuckle out of seeing that stream of Curse of Osiris reveal with the chest
LOL just such an iconic moment
10:38 Bungie said I believe it was over 75% of ppl used Recluse in the Pit of Herasy dungeon, or it was 75% of all kills one or the other. That's how dominate it was, over 3/4ths of the entire playerbase used a single primary weapon and I'm surprised it wasn't actually higher. I'm guessing it'd be near 100% if it wasn't from comp, cause even in it's nerfed state the quest still required ppl to win at least a couple games lol.
Not mentioning Outbreak, Sunshot and Zaouli's Bane is a miss. Also, GMs started in season of the Worthy, not Chosen. The loot incentive started with Chosen. Overall though, thanks for this video. It was nice to remember all these eras of the game.
please do more of these, like ability and loadout meta
Will do! Really glad you liked it!
I miss warmind cells
One of the best times in Destiny
The goat posted
Back like the Undertaker
@@AboveDestiny only way more attractive
2:43 traces weren't special weapons when D2 launched, they were primairies. They didn't become specials until Forsaken. Coldheart only did that much damage because of its exotic trait that ramps up damage the longer it's held in a target.
I've always loved Destiny's weapon sandbox, but going back and looking at some of these metas sort of bums me out. Some insanely fun mechanics and weapon loadouts that just completely got nuked because they were slightly stronger than everything else. There were definitely BROKEN things that needed to be fixed, however most meta patches felt like a gut-shot when all Bungie preached was "use what you want". Strong guns that were locked behind difficult/long content never stayed strong, we aren't allowed to swap weapons too fast, and it's always frowned upon to out damage health gates. I'm no developer, but I also don't agree with nerfing every strong loadout because you don't want to "design encounters around metas", especially when most of the meta loadouts had very niche uses (speed runs, or specific raid bosses).
good vid tho, very nostalgic
edit: opulence was the best sandbox D2 ever saw and warmind cells didn't deserve their nerf and no one can change my mind
Yeah it's def a bummer seeing them being removed
i feel you missed out on craftable outbreak being a standout workhorse dps primary. the lucky pants option for anyone who wasnt a hunter
You’re definitely not wrong, definitely should have mentioned it!
Not mentioning any of the one two punch builds that were some of the strongest dps metas this game ever saw is wild.
Yeah definitely could have, but felt like it would fit a lot better in an abilities video
Mountaintop, recluse, anarchy was the best meta. So much fun.
Agreed!
You forgot about the craftening meta throughout that weekend. One phasing every boss
You forgot about the titan exotic and the seasonal mod that buffs dmg when amplified or critical health
What weapons were used with it? That one must be escaping me!
How'd you leave Taipan off the LFR list for Witch Queen? It performed right up there with Cataclysmic and Stormchaser, could be easily crafted through a quest, and benefitted greatly from the Veist Stinger Origin Trait? It was basically what anyone ran that didn't do Raids or Dungeons often/didn't have the god rolls of the other two.
3:07 Curtain Call was better than Sins due to a slower blast radius meaning more of the clusters hit the target.
Fixed rolls would have only worked if we had hundreds of weapons to farm with many different sources to farm and varying droprates for each. That would make for better balance, but MUCH more work from the devs in terms of pure amount of new weapons created. So you might as well just have random rolls with much fewer overall weapons, and therefore work from devs.
curtain call was better than sins of the past due to aggressive frame launchers having a higher firecap than high impact frames
Forgot to mention Hunter Strand Super's bugged launch where it was doing like 100% extra damage than it should have been
Yeah so that would be more saved for the “Ability META” video I was mentioning!
@@AboveDestiny Ah, that makes sense.
banger vid
Thanks brother, means a lot ❤️
I really miss the simplicity of the meta, like literally any rocket with cluster bomb or coldheart really fun times
Simpler times haha
Okay but you forgoth the buged funny guns, i loved my rocket launche bow.
Reeds Reget didnt exist untill the season after particle deconstrucion was out i think you are talking about the void linear Threaded needle Reeds regret was unfourtnley not avalible at the time of particle deconstruction but im pretty sure firing line was just worse then vorpal at this point thats why threaded needle was so good
i mean... afaik technically it was not the introduction of eager edge that brought back skating. it was still possible as wellskating is right now but with worldline and stasis made it available to hunters aswell. but eager edge did speed it up a bit indeed. and revived skating as previously wellskating with wlz wasn't as known if even at all
Nah, that shit was dead
would it be possible to do a history of weapon metas including d1? Ive seen a lot of these types of videos for d2 but none for d1
It's definitely something we could look into!
I miss the old strike playlist and escalation protocol
Me too dude!
Ikelos sg for me is the best weapon damage meta as a solo player.
Was such a fun era of Destiny. Definitely felt like one of the most powerful weapons we ever got to use when it dropped. So much fun.
11:56 when Mountintop first launched it kinda sucked, it wasn't until a couple buffs that it became so good. Originally it was really hard to hit shots, especially in pvp(eventually they realized this was for the better lol) and Bungie buffed it's speed and accuracy and it's damage too I believe.