I have been playing Destiny 2 for a while now at the discretion of my Brothers. After putting in hundreds of hours into the game I would like to put forward my views on the Vanguard as they are the ones you are supposed to look to for leadership in this universe.
I do not want to cover what their character traits are, or their abilities. I just want to go over what they do and my opinion of them based on their actions throughout the game.
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Lets start with the more senior member of the group, the one who makes the final decision. Zavala.
This man is the Titan vanguard, he is the tank of the group and draws the fire and attention of the enemies.
However I have never got this feeling from him.
Looking at just the second game (because I didn't play the first one that much), we open up with the vanguard keeping vigil over the last city however the enemy is on them before they even consider anything being amiss.
After the light was taken the first thing that this warrior and protector of the people did was to run away to Titan (ironic, the Titan going to Titan) and requested that all Guardians return to him so that he will be able to tell them where to go and fight.
Never once during this trying time did he attempt to do anything that could have put him in harms way.
During the darkest time for the people of the Last city he hid and let the player do everything, he didn't even lend a hand during the opening mission to set up a base on Titan. This is before he realized that the player has managed to regain the light.
The rest of the vanilla game he is at a base giving missions, granted to the player for gameplay purposes and in the story to someone with the light that has a better chance of survival but still, he does nothing.
When he does finally get into the fight during the climax he is of course the last of the vanguard into the action with Cayde-6 going in first taking out the Cabal on the perimeter which then let Ikora ride into battle. Zavala finally wades into the fight where he was able to overpower a Cabal and shoot another in the back. He was then quickly incapacitated and almost killed before he was saved by Hawthorne (a human without the light).
That is right, the leader of the Vanguard is bested and could not overcome 4 cabal.
In the Forsaken expansion he did not want to avenge his fallen comrade nor did he even send anyone out to ensure that this action was actioned upon to help discourage and prevent the loss of other guardians, he decided it was better to call it a day and let no action be taken.
In other words I get the feeling that he did not like Cayde-6 and was not going to pursuer someone who "did him a favour" by removing someone he would otherwise been unable to.
The definition of a Vanguard is:
1. a group of people leading the way in new developments or ideas.
"the experimental spirit of the modernist vanguard"
The definition of a Guardian is:
1. a person who protects or defends something.
"self-appointed guardians of public morality"synonyms:
protector, defender, preserver, champion, custodian, warden, guard, keeper
This man to me this man is not a Vanguard nor is he a Guardian or even a soldier. He is a coward who hides behind his shield of guardians and refuses to put himself at risk. He cannot stay away from the front lines and be called a Vanguard and he cannot be called a Guardian if he will not protect anything and just get someone else to do it. It is for these reasons that I hold him in very low regard.
If you want to see a Leader, Commander and Warrior that would put himself into harms way for the betterment of those who follow him then look to Big Boss/Venom Snake.
This video is when Big Boss returns home from a dangerous solo mission to recover vital intel from a threat to his people. Upon returning home he discovers that it is on fire, blowing up from the inside and sinking into the abyss.
Mother Base destroyed.
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Next we have Ikora, now she is a better than Zavala however he usefulness is also very minimal.
When the light was taken she searched for enlightenment at the last place the traveler touched which makes sense. She then guides the player to recovering more power which was very useful.
She didn't hide from the cabal nor does she go down easy.
When Cayde-6 died she wanted to attack his killer with full force to ensure that he was avenged and discourage others from trying to kill one of the Vanguard.
She is not a front line fighter like a Titan so I would not expect her to do this however as a warlock I would expect her to find enlightenment and try to discover new ways to proceed while trying to understand more about the travelor while she would guide others to attain powers to better the whole.
She is what I would expect from her role. however I would like to see more missions from her at the tower, she is kind of pointless.
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Finally we have Cayde-6. Now this is the fan favourite and for good reasons.
Is is a true hunter, according to the lore the Hunters are assassins and scouts who write their own laws and blaze their own trails.
This is Cayde-6 in a nutshell.
As opposed to Zavala, Cayde would not hide from a fight and would put himself at risk at any moment in order to save others. When the light was taken the first thing he did was to go to Nessus to attain a transporter which he was going to use to kill the leader of this new enemy.
He would then peel off from the main group during the attack and reclamation of the Last city and work solo with the focal point of the mission (the teleporter), doing all of this without the light yet still battlinjg with the flair of our favourite exo.
During the Forsaken when there is a riot at the Prison of Elders which contains high value and very dangerous people he did not cower like Zavala would have. He waded into the fray and got his hands dirty.
When Petra reported that Uldren escaped, Cayde's first action was to head after him and cut him off before he could escape. This cost him his life.
Although he was a thrill seeker and enjoyed these sort of things, this is what I would expect from a Vanguard. First into the action and putting himself on the line not the lives of others.
Zavala is the Rearguard. Protecting from the back, staying as far away from the front line as possible and only sees action during a retreat or when the enemy bypasses the front lines and attacks from behind their forward forces.
