At the end of January, Destiny 2 is set to receive a new update aimed at adjusting weapon balance. Bungie has now revealed which weapons will be buffed and which will be nerfed.
After Bungie recently provided insight into how they plan to revise the supers of the individual Guardian classes in January, the studio has now revealed how the sandbox will be adjusted in terms of weapons.
Sandbox Changes in January – What Will Change for Weapons in Destiny 2
In January, Update 2.1.4 will bring changes to entire weapon categories, as well as individual firearms. Bungie’s approach for these adjustments is as follows:
- Underused weapon archetypes will be strengthened
- Particularly strong weapons in PvP will be adjusted
- Adjustments in PvP should not negatively impact the effectiveness of weapons in PvE
With this philosophy, the following changes will be made to weapons on January 29:
These Weapons Will Be Buffed
These examples do not represent all upcoming changes. A complete list of all adjustments will be included in the corresponding patch notes for Update 2.1.4.
Auto rifles: The damage of the rapid-fire, adaptive archetypes, as well as auto rifles with high impact will be increased. Bungie did not specify by how much.
Scout rifles: In PvE, the damage of scout rifles has been increased overall, as well as for lightweight and rapid-fire scout variants. The studio did not provide exact numbers here either.
However, the damage difference between this weapon category and other primary weapons was too large. Therefore, Bungie decided to reduce this difference. There were no details provided for PvP.
Sniper rifles: The rapid-fire archetype will receive a damage buff, making it possible to get kills with two body shots in the Crucible. Landing kills with sniper rifles will then be easier.
Fusion rifles: In the Crucible, it is difficult to accumulate ammo reserves for fusion rifles, as there is no Scavenger perk for these weapons. Therefore, this weapon category will soon receive more ammo. The minimum amount of ammo obtained from special ammo containers will be increased – in both PvP and PvE.
Legend of Acrius: After the launch of Forsaken, this exotic shotgun failed to compete with the strong competition in the power slot. Therefore, at the end of January, its damage will be increased and its range slightly improved. This is intended to make the Legend of Acrius more appealing again.
These Weapons Will Be Nerfed
As of now, only 2 individual weapons are affected by the nerf. Entire weapon categories apparently will not be weakened.
Wave Splitter: Even though fusion rifles are generally getting buffed with the January patch, the Wave Splitter will also face a cut.
With the ammo buff for fusion rifles, the Wave Splitter loses its only real weakness, so Bungie has decided to align it with the other two fusion rifles. Therefore, its damage will be reduced in the Crucible.
Telesto: Some time ago, Bungie announced they would take a closer look at Telesto. Now the popular exotic fusion rifle will be nerfed.
The damage in PvP will be reduced to match other fusion rifles with the same charge rate. The zoom of the scope has also been increased, aligning it with fusion rifles with long range. Bungie expects that the weapon will remain effective after these changes, just not as generous as before.
What do you think of the currently known changes? Has Bungie turned the right screws, or would you have preferred different adjustments?
