Got back into the game recently (600 hrs, MR 16) after a year or two away. Been loving it! Taking it slow, working my way through the quests I’ve missed, grinding a bit of Operation: Belly of the Beast, and leveling some weapons I’ve got in my backlog.
It’s been a blast! I don’t have any fancy builds with lots of forma or archon shards or rivens, but I can hang with pretty much anything non-SP (which I guess I have to unlock again now that there are new nodes.)
One thing I’m a bit worried about is that there’s too much for me to do it all. So many new modes and mechanics. Trying to focus on what I feel is the “base game” (starchart and open worlds + Railjack) and branch out into the other stuff (Duviri, 1999, Zariman, etc) in a bit, one at a time, so I can get a good feel for them.
Anyway, saw this community was pretty dead, but didn’t want to post on Reddit, so here we are. :)
The good news is that DE has really refined the concept of “content islands” to its theoretical perfection, IMO. Zariman, Duviri, the Entrati Labs, 1999, Railjack, none of them have too much resource overlap with each other. They all have a pretty clearly defined “endpoint” where you’ve completed 90% of their content, and they all have an extra long-term repeatable grind available if you’re interested in further endgame benefits. You really can take it at your own place, interact with the islands when you want, and leave them whenever you’re satisfied.
I will say though, those are the main game now. Starchart and RJ really don’t get much consideration outside of relic cracking, stuff like Elite Deep Archimedea and the Circuit are mainstay activities now.