In Destiny 2, the way you use and level up your weapons is soon going to change fundamentally. What is planned and why Bungie is looking to Destiny 1 for inspiration can be read here.
What is changing for weapons: In the future, you will no longer be able to level up your weapons endlessly (infusion). The weapons will have an infusion cap, a kind of expiration date.
If the timestamp runs out, the weapon will remain at its current level. However, you should be able to level up your weapons for much longer than just one season. According to current plans, the duration should be somewhere between 9 and 15 months.
These weapons are affected: If you are worried about your favorite exotic, you can breathe a sigh of relief. The planned changes will not affect the exotic weapons.
According to Bungie, they want to test the effects “first on the legendary ecosystem.” The focus is initially on legendary weapons and their abilities.
When will it happen? There is still no exact date for the sweeping changes. But Luke Smith announced in his Director’s Cut that more detailed information will follow soon.
They want to inform players “sooner rather than later.” Smith also emphasizes that the changes are not yet finalized and set in stone.
Destiny and the desire for more power
Why are the changes coming? Currently, you can infuse almost all weapons and thus bring them up to your current power level. Anyone can easily keep up in the trending endgame activities or in the Iron Banner with a two-year-old weapon.
According to Smith, this brings three issues:
- New weapons become just a tick on a checklist. The item is earned and then collects dust in the vault or collection.
- This does not do justice to the many work hours spent on the design and development of weapons. “Every legendary [weapon] gets its own portion of special sauce,” writes Smith.
- With each new update, new skills and perks, as well as activities, many eventualities must be checked. It must be verified how all the previous items fit into the current overall picture. You can read here about what problems this can cause.
Power creep is a problem: Bungie cannot simply make each new weapon significantly stronger than the old familiar fire weapons. Where this leads has been seen with overpowered weapons like the Recluse.
Since legendary weapons do not stay in the sandbox forever, they can be given creative abilities and be quite powerful. Because they will not haunt Destiny 2 for years, but have a few seasons to shine. Then there will be new carrots to chase.
The thrill from Destiny 1: Smith compares the situation to Destiny 1. Weapons like the Fatebringer were so cool and memorable because you hunted for them. The weapons could be made so strong because they would eventually “naturally lie by the wayside”.
The Guardians were thrilled when they finally got their powerful gun and still talk about the feelings of happiness today. But veterans remember: back then, old gear was regularly left behind. This made room in the spotlight for something new.
Old weapons do not disappear: Weapons that have expired will not simply vanish in Destiny 2. In many activities, you can still use your beloved old-timers with confidence. But no longer in endgame. For these activities, you should be hunting for new, interesting, and hopefully powerful weapons. Luke Smith jokes that this way the entire tower vault won’t have to be destroyed again.
What do you think of the changes? A good way to consistently bring new weapons into the spotlight or would you prefer to be happy with your trusty favorite weapons until the end of Destiny 2?
We have summarized the status of the end of Destiny 2 and the start of Destiny 3 here:
