I have finally returned to the forums after a month off, and have prepared this post for this occasion. Missed you guys, and I hope you're all as excited for Destiny 2 as I am. Let's begin, shall we? [spoiler]This post was inspired by a post series made by SmokyDragon33. Thanks for sparking the idea Smoky, I'm glad to have been able to get to know and discuss lore with you through this community[/spoiler] ____________________________________ Each enemy we face in Destiny has their own specific methods of dealing with whatever they encounter, and this post will cover everything we can piece together about those methods. I encourage you all to keep reading, as even though many of you will find some of these to be obvious (Cabal), others could contain little quirks that you may not have noticed. [b]Hive[/b] A race born of a bargain made eons ago, the Hive have developed an amazingly diverse range of tactics over their years as star-farers. If facing a weak enemy, the Hive can merely invade and slaughter in one swoop, using overwhelming numbers in many cases, but a tactic always favored by them is infiltration. Oryx created the tactic of planting Hive in Seeders and sending them down to worlds to breed until their numbers grow strong enough to take a world. Crota picked up on this method. There's also the tactic of Taking, where the enemy's forces are enhanced and turned upon each other. Savathûn has always sent spies to exploit and poison their targets, while Xivu Arath has always been one of open war and brute force. Though these three Hive entities will use their individual tactics to claim worlds on their own, the three strategies can be combined to obliterate all opposition. The Hive have always been able to adapt and change strategy to match the situation, and are certainly a dangerous force in battle. Battle examples: Battle of Mare Imbrium (The Great Disaster), Crota's Dark Below tactics, Oryx's TTK tactics, and all Book of Sorrows battles. [b]Fallen[/b] For this race, we can only go off of their actions in our system, although they once controlled a massive empire so it's fair to say they used to be on a level similar to the Cabal. The Fallen have shown a preference to first finding a space on a world to occupy so they can gather ether, and then surrounding it with defensive air and ground forces. They will set down a Ketch as a forward operating base, and from there expand their territory through scouting and raid parties. When encountering a solid opposing force, they do gather their forces and strike with large armies and advanced weapons using military tactics decided on by the Kell, such as taking up sniper positions, firing artillery barrages, and concentrating attacks on weak points. They also consistently scavenge to find technology to improve their own weaponry or to turn against their enemies. As for their choice of tactics, a strong and quick stealth attack seems to be their preferred method. Battle examples: Six Fronts (six-pronged attack), Twilight Gap (massive battle around City wall with arrowhead focused at Twilight Gap. Artillery fire and concentration of forces), Reef Wars (attrition and guerrilla warfare, camping on asteroids for ether supply). [b]Cabal[/b] "Slow advance" Pretty much sums it up, but you should find my breakdown interesting. In battle, Cabal move forward slowly, keeping some forces (Phalanx shield walls and barrages from Colossi) stationary and some advancing at all times so constant covering and suppressing fire is always active. Their numbers and strength make this tactic very efficient. Like any solid military force, they send reinforcements wherever they are needed, special forces to objective points, and tanks or other powerful weaponry/reinforcements to areas requiring a blow-through. As seen in their Mars attrition war against the Vex, they are experts in gaining ground, obtaining and holding important points, and holding in grueling and stretched times of war. As seen now in Destiny 2, their slow tactics do not lessen the initial impact of assault. They begin with full force, obliterating strongholds and weak forces easily and beginning the slow advance on the few dazzled survivors. The Cabal hit, then start pushing, always pressing with overwhelming force. If anything particularly tough happens to bother them, they have the weaponry to handle it. "They blow up moons for getting in their way." The Cabal never retreat, and never surrender. Despite their efficiency, their tactics are so stupidly obvious to a degree that they don't even mind whenever an enemy hacks their systems to find out their plans. In the case that the Cabal do want to protect some information or hack other systems, they really on the hyper-intelligent Psions. Battle examples: all skirmishes in the Cabal grimoires, the Vex-Cabal war of Mars, the assault on the Dreadnaught, and the invasion of the City. [b]Vex[/b] Those not well-versed in the workings of time, try not to give yourself a headache on this one; time is a very winding subject. The Vex have such amazing deductive ability that in most scenarios they are able to perfectly predict and defeat their enemies. In the instance that an enemy is too strong for them to handle quickly or not considered important enough to immediately eradicate (or ARE important enough to not eradicate), the Vex can easily draw out wars, using subtype algorithms fitting to the situation to continue on in the most efficient way. And if the Vex encounter an enemy with ontological (physics-defying) power, they may be unable to predict that enemy's actions properly, but they can still make inferences. The Vex have clearly learned to kill Guardians by crushing them with sheer overwhelming numbers, and they have also found ways to kill strong Hive, although they are still working on ways to effectively defeat the stronger Ascendant Hive. In the instance that the Vex fail, they send all the data to other Vex which then correct their tactics and try again until they find a perfect strategy. Once the perfect strategy is found, they execute it in all possible times. This basically means that if we beat the Vex once, we have permanently won that battle in our timeline, but the Vex will win in most likely every other alternative that branches off from that one moment in time. I'll try to simplify it: we win in our time, then in all the other timelines we lose. The Vex have got to be the most terrifying and efficient enemy in all of Destiny, as even without the physics-defying power that the Guardians and Hive have they are able to win out in almost any situation. Plus, according to the Stranger, they've already won in almost all of the other timelines and futures. Battle examples: Collapse, Dreadnaught incursion, Niche Thought Ship encounter, and the Vex-Cabal war of Mars. Events in the Black Garden and Vault of Glass are also evidence. __________________________________ Well, that's all. As always, hope you all learned something new. I'm always open to questions or any suggestions you may have. If you think I missed something, please comment. For more lore and some other stuff by me, look here: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0