Destiny 2 Gambit guide: Bungie’s best tips for invading

Destiny 2: Forsaken’s new Gambit mode is mostly focused on PvE, but its small taste of PvP is crucial to success. Before the upcoming Gambit free trial, we spoke with Gambit’s initial design lead, Lars Bakken, and current design lead, Robbie Stevens, to ask what tips they might have for Gambit invaders.

It’s a tough world out there, making sure you’re ready to go over to the other side. But a good invader can make or break a team’s chances at taking down their Primeval first. Here are some key tips to invading in Gambit.

If you’re looking for more broad Gambit tips, we’ve already got you covered in our 13 tips to dominate Gambit guide, from the people who made it.

Make sure you’re prepared

When the invasion portal pops, it can be very exciting. Depending on how coordinated your team is, there may even be a rush to see who can make it through first. But you should step back, breathe, and think about a few things before you jump through.

First, Bakken wants you to be sure that you don’t have any motes on you. This is the rookieest of rookie mistakes. The chances of coming back from an invasion alive are slim, so bank any motes you have before you leave, or you’ll just be hurting your own team.

Second, do an ammo count. Do you have power ammo? What about special? If your tank is running a little empty, maybe it’s best to have a different player have the fun this time. You only have a limited number of invasions before the Primeval phase, so you need to use them efficiently. And please, for Bakken’s sake, make sure you reload all your guns before you go through.

Finally, do you have a Super? A Super isn’t required for invasion, but it sure does help. Being able to make yourself very tanky and gain some lethal abilities in the process can be devastating for your enemy.

Make sure you’re prepared before you go over, or you’re just going to embarrass yourself and ruin your teammate’s chances at securing an early lead.

Use your time wisely, and kill fast

You’ll only have 30 seconds on the clock once you’ve reached the enemy plane, and once that time is up, you’ll get yanked back to your own arena. You can also only use the portal at 25 motes, 50 motes, and then an unlimited amount of times once your enemy reaches their Primeval.

But there is a cooldown in between each use, even if one of the other conditions are met. Don’t let the opportunities pass you by and ruin your chances to invade. But also don’t rush to go through the portal if you aren’t ready. It’ll wait for you.

Once you’re actually over on the other side, Stevens says that you need to be cognizant of your time. Don’t waste your invasion by being too bold, but make sure you don’t slink around too much either.

Use your position to gain an advantage

When you spawn into the enemy arena as an invader, Destiny 2 will place you relatively far away from enemies. Ideally, you’ll be safe for a few seconds. The enemy team will know that you’re there, but not where you are. You, on the other hand, will be able to see where each enemy is.

Stevens suggests that you use this stealth position to your advantage. Knowing enemy positions is more than half the battle, so you should be able to get the jump on at least one player before they can start calling out their locations to their friends. But keep in mind what we said earlier: Just because you’re stealthy doesn’t mean you can dillydally.

Hunt down the highest mote user

When you’re an invader, you can see how many motes the enemy players are carrying on top of their nameplates. While getting any kills in an invasion is great, being able to hunt down someone with a lot of motes is even better. Stevens suggests that the high mote players should be your high-value target.

If you have the choice between someone with 10 motes and another player with three, taking out the player with 10 has the chance to cripple the enemy team, whereas the player with three is just mildly annoying.

Go for the big plays, and try and use your invasion as efficiently as possible. Take kills were you can get them, but the bigger the bag of motes a player has, the more juicy a target they are.