The next patch for Destiny, Update 1.1.1 in February, will shake up the weapon balance. The shotgun will become stronger in PvE, while popular Crucible weapons like the auto rifle will lose power.
On Thursday, February 5th, the Weekly Update briefly mentioned the DLC House of Wolves House of Wolves. It will not be released until the second quarter of 2015.
The vast majority of new information in Destiny referred to a change in weapon balance. This necessity arose from the fact that players disproportionately preferred the auto rifle in the Crucible and rarely used the pulse rifle. In PvE, shotguns are at a disadvantage.
It is important to balance it so that each weapon type fulfills its intended role. Similar balance changes occurred last year.
This is how the changes are envisioned for February. The “Sandbox Designer” Jon Weisnewski is in charge of it.
Auto Rifle: Less Damage, Shorter Range
The auto rifle is currently too strong in the Crucible. 6 of the 10 deadliest weapons were auto rifles. This is not only true for the Suros, the queen in PvP.
The dominant position of auto rifles as a weapon for every occasion is something they want to change. Bungie is consequently nerfing auto rifles by 2.5% and reducing their effective range. The latter affects auto rifles with high range less, while those with shorter range will be affected more.
Pulse Rifle – Nearly 10% Stronger
The pulse rifle, on the other hand, was hardly used in PvP. It was the least used weapon type overall. In PvP, it was only used 2% of the time, and in PvE only 6%. The pulse rifle is planned as a solid weapon for mid-range that can do a bit of everything.
To ensure that the pulse rifle plays a larger role in the future, its damage will be increased by 9.7%.
Hand Cannons – Weaker at Long Range
Hand cannons are seen by Bungie as a weapon for medium range in Destiny, which can be fired from the hip but has weaknesses in sustained fire. Currently, they compete in the distance with the intended long-range weapons, the scout rifle and the sniper rifle.
Therefore, their effective range is reduced, and follow-up shots are weakened, as they are now more difficult to place.
Fusion Rifle – Beam Wider, but Less Focused
Fusion rifles have a unique role in Destiny; they require players to play proactively and demonstrate good awareness. Guardians must ensure they remain undisturbed while charging.
The fusion beam will be spread wider with 1.1.1 and will be less focused, especially at long range. This should make single “sniper” kills rarer, while dealing more damage to tightly grouped enemies. In the Crucible, players will start with less ammunition.
Shotgun – Double Damage in PvE
The shotgun is the big winner in PvE, in the fight against monsters. Its damage will simply be doubled. Here, it was completely underrepresented before, practically not appearing in the wild at all.
However, it will be made a bit weaker at long range to prevent players from killing from afar in the Crucible. The shotgun should remain a pure close-range weapon in Destiny.
Ammo restrictions in the Crucible also apply to it.
And the rest? It remains
With the sniper rifle, scout rifle, and the two heavy weapons, the rocket launcher and the machine gun, they are satisfied and make no changes.
The changes are set to arrive with patch 1.1.1. It will also fix the issues with heavy ammo and will be rolled out to the servers by the end of February.
Here is another impressive image from Destiny, illustrating the discrepancy in weapons that makes these changes necessary. This is how much percentage of kills top players in Destiny make in story missions (above) or in the Crucible (below) with four different weapon types:
Xur will arrive in the Tower of Destiny much earlier than the patch. Xur will be there on Friday, February 6th at 10:00 AM, and we will report on it.
