Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2 answers community experts’ questions for almost 3 hours. We at MeinMMO summarize the most important information and tell you which of your favorite weapons will soon become stronger and where the nerf hammer will swing. Controversies such as separate PvE and PvP sandboxes and mouse vs. controller are also discussed.
This is Bungie speaking: The developer of Destiny 2 has faced player questions in a lengthy podcast. Here, the devs Kevin Yanes and Chris Proctor discuss the action MMO’s sandbox in detail with well-known experts from the community.
You have the choice to watch monumental movie epics like “The Lord of the Rings” or “Avengers: Infinity War” or listen to 7 lovable nerds discuss Destiny for almost 3 hours. Naturally, MeinMMO chose the podcast and summarizes the most important information for you in this article.
The podcast discussed upcoming buffs and what’s currently too strong. We also hear about weapons and abilities that actually work exactly as Bungie intends. Oh, to add some fuel to the fire, the devs clarify the question “Is it better to play Destiny 2 with mouse or controller?”.
This needed to be clarified first: There was some banter with the Bungie devs, where one of the oldest accusations from the community was clarified: Do they even play their own game?
Yanes had a clear answer and was quite upset about such statements despite his laughter: “Yes, we play the game. We all indulge in a big bowl and eat from it – every single day.” Later he elaborated that the devs get destroyed by paid killer teams in the Trials and are just as frustrated with Stasis abilities as all other Guardians are.
But let’s get to the important content: What will get stronger, and what is considered too strong by Bungie and will receive a nerf?
This will get stronger in PvE
- Hand cannons will receive increased precision damage. Thus, Bungie is backtracking from the major nerf in 2019 (Shadowkeep). However, revolvers will not be as strong as they were before since body-shot damage is higher today than it was back then. You should be able to blow away most adds with a well-aimed shot between the eyes again.
- Scout rifles are also set to be buffed for PvE. Good aiming should pay off more for scouts as well.
- Heavy machine guns currently feel too weak in Destiny 2. Bungie will soon provide assistance here.
- Vex Mythoclast currently disappoints many Raiders – a buff is coming soon, possibly already next season. Bungie notes: “People only remember the crazy OP weapon that was available for only a very short time. We just couldn’t bring this Vex Mythoclast back, and we will never do that.”
All these buffs have been demanded by the community for years. Especially hand cannons – which are basically the Guardians’ favorite weapons – have been overshadowed by MPs, as they are currently stronger in PvE.
Most nerfs are coming for PvP
- Shotguns are currently still significantly too strong. However, it’s always intended that a shotgun can kill a Guardian with one shot – nerfing that is difficult but will surely come, according to Yanes.
- Sniper rifles always take priority when nerfing because nothing can be done against these weapons as opponents. A shotgun rusher must always put himself in danger, while a sniper can calmly stand at the other end of the map. (However, no direct nerf for snipers has been announced).
- Special ammunition in PvP is considered problematic because it is too often available. This is set to change in the future. However, how exactly this will be implemented is not known. They never want to return to the time of Destiny 2 vanilla when there were practically no special weapons in PvP.
- The tale of a dead man, the exotic scout rifle, is especially too strong on PC in hip-fire mode. Specifically for Guardians with mouse and keyboard, a nerf is expected towards the end of the season.
- Movement abilities currently provide some classes with too strong advantages. Sooner or later, most of these skills should have something like a prerequisite. For example, the freshly nerfed Colossus Titan must now sprint for a second before being allowed to use his improved slide. It is important, however, that Destiny 2 does not play as slowly as before the “Go fast” update (2018).
- 120 hand cannons are currently still “too hot” in PvP, according to Bungie. We hear nothing directly about a nerf, but the slow revolvers with high range are still dominant even after their recent nerf.
- Dawning Blade: The upper solar super of the Warlocks is “much too hot, that’s no secret.” How they plan to cool down the super is currently unknown.
The opposite of a nerf is a buff. A buffed item is stronger after the patch. This comes from the English word “to buff” meaning “to polish something.”
In general, all powerful skills should have a downside. The shoulder charge kills instantly, is not hard to land, but you have to fight directly up to the opponent who is there with a shotgun. The balance between weapons and abilities, their recharge rates and so on will be addressed after Season 15.
Many primary weapons in the current sandbox are neither too strong nor too weak. Sometimes it doesn’t even stand out due to the overdominant special weapons. Bungie discussed that, for example, pistols and submachine guns are basically right where they should be. Scout rifles should only become slightly stronger in PvP; otherwise, one falls into a boring “lane-watcher meta”.
The problematic Stasis was also addressed in the podcast. We have prepared this for you in a separate article:
Does Bungie completely separate PvP and PvE?
This caused surprise: Yanes said: “We do not separate the PvP and PvE sandbox. One strength of Destiny is that my Guardian is my Guardian everywhere. […] Where we can, we make targeted updates in one of the two areas.” However, he noted that Bungie has no interest in ever completely separating the sandboxes.
Players have been demanding a separate sandbox between PvE and PvP since 2014, from the beginning of Destiny. However, it’s fair to give Bungie credit for actually buffing and nerfing in a more targeted manner lately. Thus, PvE players have significantly less reason to complain about nerfs that occurred solely due to PvP.
That’s it for now about nerfs and buffs, but we’re not done yet. Bungie spoke about the interesting topic of controller vs. mouse and keyboard.
Bungie settles old controversy – what’s better mouse or controller?
What about aim assist? In every shooter that you can play with different input devices, users argue about which option is better. Or whether controllers are unfair due to aim assist or if you can land precise kills much easier with a mouse.
Proctor had clear words on this: Guardians with mouse and keyboard have it better in Destiny 2 than players with a controller. However, at Bungie, they try to balance the unfair advantages in favor of mouse and keyboard. “We create situations in Destiny where controller players are strongly supported by bullet magnetism and the like, but…”
In the podcast, the developer further explains the topic:
- Auto-aim is completely equal with controller and mouse and keyboard in Destiny 2. He explains it like this: “So the way we (Destiny 2) aim for you is identical, no matter what you play with.” He then specifically mentions “bullet magnetism” – meaning, you actually miss the target, but the bullet bends its trajectory as if by magic towards the opponent.
- The “crosshair friction” is something that exists only on controller. This means when you aim at an opponent, the crosshair automatically slows down and sticks to it.
- The hidden stat “precision” is important for both input devices. However, this value is indeed 20% higher with a mouse than with a controller. Proctor puts it this way: “You are more likely to shoot where you aim with the crosshair with a mouse.”
According to the developer, one such situation is the exotic The Last Word, which feels better on controller. This weapon, for example, is getting special tuning to perform poorly on PC. Conversely, firing from the hip with The Tale of a Dead Man feels better with the mouse. This is because recoil and stability are practically nonexistent for mouse users, according to Proctor.
Why stability on shotguns is actually hardly effective or why the devs have to laugh every time when Telesto breaks the game can be seen here in full:
Phew, that was quite a long list. We still don’t know many of the buffs and nerfs in detail. However, we now know what we as Guardians can expect in the long term.
Do you have a weapon or ability in mind that definitely needs to be reworked? Or would you like to discuss the topic of mouse vs. controller? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
