Believe it or not, one of the joys of slavishly playing a live service game is having a large patch note post treated with the reverence of the Dead Sea Scrolls 2 delivered to your door by hand. And let me tell you, Bungie just dropped an absolute more scared. Ahead of Season 18’s launch on August 23, the developer announced a series of changes to Destiny 2’s combat sandbox. There are improvements and nerfs to some of the most used (and abused) gear, plus detailed changes to specific perks, including the addition of much-needed anti-Champion functionality on four exotic weapons.
The entire This week at Bungie update is worth a read, but if you’re discouraged by the sheer density of bullet points and arbitrary use of the word scalar, don’t worry: I’ve pulled out the highlights below.
Omnioculus and Lord of Wolves get big PvP nerfs
The exotic Hunter chest piece Ominoculus, which offers significant damage reduction to the player and his teammates while being invisible, has been at the top of the hate list in PvP for quite some time now. Especially in Trials it can feel like you’re fighting a team of three Predators. Bungie softens the damage reduction in PvP, but thankfully leaves it unchanged in PvE. The same reduction will also apply to the Whisper of Chains Stasis fragment.
As for everyone’s favorite burst shotgun, Bungie admits, “Lord of Wolves has long been a thorn in the side of PvP players.” It gains multiple changes including reduced launch ammo (PvP only), lower damage while Release the Wolves is active, and a smaller burst size. In PvE, it gets a 20% damage buffer to compensate, and Bungie says more work is planned that aims to stave off Lord of Wolves’ problems in PvP for good, while also making it a better PvE option.
Vow of the Disciple’s memed-on exotic weapon gets a much-needed buff
I’m still skeptical about this, but at least Bungie has heard the feedback that Collective Obligation sucks in its current state. The Pulse Rifle gains a range of PvE buffs, including an increase in the Void Leech timer and a 20% damage buff once active. Void Leech also now instantly recharges when you kill a debuffed target, and even activates when you debuff yourself (although apparently you can’t activate this yourself with Suppressor grenades). Will that be enough to make it more effective than a Funnelweb in a proper Volatile Rounds build?
Dead Man’s Tale also gets a spicy rework
Here’s a gun that needs absolutely no help. Bungie Says the Dead Man’s Tale Scavenger Rifle [insert yee-haw sound] is being reworked to better capture the fantasy of a hip shooting cowboy. That means removing the stack damage increase from the Cranial Spike advantage in PvP (it stays for PvE) and replacing it with improved reloads, aim assist and range. At maximum stacks, it will also fire 50 RPM faster, at the cost of 20% damage, which I think the ‘Pop! Pop! Pop!’ fantasy enters. Dead Man’s Tale is honestly one of the strongest and most fun exotic primaries in the game, so I’m excited to try this out.
Legend of Acrius gets a juicy buff
The exotic Heavy Shotgun is unique, but also currently unusable due to a combination of lack of damage and range. (You essentially have to be in the boss’s kissing range.) “Legend of Acrius has fallen way behind other heavy close-range weapons,” Bungie agrees. The weapon’s catalyst now grants the Trench Barrel perk, in addition to the existing perks. That’s a 50% damage boost for three follow-up shots after a successful melee attack. If melee exotics like Liar’s Handshake and Synthoceps are meta next season, Acrius could be another contender.
Multiple exotics gain the ability to stun champions…including Thunderlord
This is the kind of thing that probably doesn’t sound too important unless you’re playing Destiny 2 endgame PvE, but will actually have a huge impact on build making. Champion enemies are nuisances of cosmic proportions, so consistently stunning them with an exotic weapon is an important consideration when doing things like Grandmaster Nightfalls. Until now, these options have been quite limited, especially when it comes to Overload champions, so any additions are hugely welcome:
- Le Monarque arc is overloaded
- Thunderlord machine gun is overloaded
- wishender bow gains barrier (also lower draw time, more damage against champions and bosses)
- crime becomes Unstoppable (specific to his explosions)
The two overload options here are the most noteworthy. We already know that Le Monarque will synergize amazingly thanks to previous seasons when Overload Bows was featured as an Artifact mod. The Poison Arrows do a great job of keeping Champions under tight control as the damage over time re-inflicts the Overload effect. I also have high hopes for Thunderlord, as heavy weapons are always good on the rare occasions when they have anti-champion effects. It should be a serious competitor to Divinity (and certainly much easier to acquire). Now that next season has an arc theme, it looks like it’s finally time to go full Thor.
Origin features are reworked and added
These are the new perks added to weapons associated with specific activities and playlists. Both the Gambit and Iron Banner Origin features were too niche to offer much of a benefit, so will be switched over in Season 19.
- Gambit – Invader Tracker renamed Gun and Run. Increased sprint speed on multi-kills.
- iron banner – Skulking Wolf now gives improved radar and removes you from enemy radar on kills while in low health.
Weapons from the Dares of Eternity playlist will now also appear with revamped perks and a new Origin Trait (no word on what it does). I’m less happy about this because if all goes well I’ll feel compelled to regrind the god rolls I already have. Addiction is hell.
Several unloved archetypes gain general lovers
The blog post also ticks off some buffs the community has asked for to make specific weapon types viable. The headlines are:
- All Scout guns get a 10% improvement against minor enemies. This is in addition to the previous improvement they received and despite Destiny boss Luke Smith telling me they were a “weapon of cowards” a few years ago.
- High impact Automatic rifles will improve their stability by 6-12 (which Bungie assures us is noticeable in the game).
- Once the kings of DPS, Heavy Grenade Launchers might be back on the menu thanks to a 10% damage boost vs big and boss enemies. Not Parasite though, as it’s pretty broken enough already.
- Finally, Lightweight Bows will draw faster and easier to draw perfectly.
Honestly, there’s a lot of other cool sounding stuff out there, like buffs to the Ambitious killer and Source weapon perks, but I really recommend reading the whole story if you’re a current player or just considering coming back. Bungie also teased more changes coming next season and beyond, including increasing the amount of exotic armor that can be performed using glaive melee attacks. Bungie says Karnstein Armlets and Necrotic Grips are already done, so I might really need to get into the pokes of aliens with a stick playstyle. Like I said, it’s a stunner of a patch note post.
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