In Destiny, Bungie explains why the Hunter class has been nerfed.
The June update 2.3.0 caused double groans for Hunters: not only did the PvP events flop, but even their favorite class in Destiny was weakened. The Titans had already been addressed after “The Taken King”, and the Warlock adjustments were part of the April update. And now it was the Hunters’ turn. As Bungie shows, this intervention was urgently needed.
Hunters stood out too much in the Crucible
While the cloak-wearing Guardians slowly get used to the new sandbox, Bungie presents a graphic that illustrates the urgency of the Hunter changes:
The average “kill-death ratio” in PvP over the past weeks can be seen – in 6v6 game modes. The top two lines represent the Blade Dancer and the Gunslinger, which were evidently significantly superior to the other classes.
Sandbox designer Grant Mackay commented:
If a class becomes the default choice for anyone wanting to succeed in the Crucible, then we see that as a problem.
Therefore, Bungie’s goal was to remove this dominance from the Hunters. Every class and every Guardian should have a fair chance to perform well in the Crucible.
A suggestion from the community that reached Bungie was to simply make the other classes stronger. However, the developers were concerned that this could make the game too “deadly and chaotic”.
Of course, Bungie wants players to feel powerful while playing Destiny. Still, it should also be possible to react to enemy attacks and make tactical decisions.
Whether the Hunter nerf was successful will be shown only in the future. Bungie points out that every shot you fire is recorded by Bungie User Research. Because the work of the Sandbox Design team is never finished.
If the goal is truly to bring all subclasses to a similar level, the Defender Titans still need a buff or two, according to the graphic above.
How do you feel about the Hunter adjustments?
Here you can view all the changes from update 2.3.0 in Destiny – including the Hunter adjustments.
