The best players in Destiny 2 have been struggling for more than a year with the high TTK and a sluggish PvP focused on team shots. Hero moments are rare. How will the PvP change with the major expansion “Forsaken”?
What does TTK mean? The “TTK” is the “Time to kill”, meaning the time it takes to reduce an opponent’s health from full to zero.
How does the TTK affect gameplay? The TTK determines the playstyle of PvP players.
- With a low TTK, individual, highly skilled players can turn the tide. If one surprises the opposing team, they can take out many players before they can react. Such situations, where a single player decides the match, are called “hero moments.” Streamers especially rely on providing these to their viewers.
- With a high TTK, individual players have little impact. They take too long to eliminate someone. The element of surprise is less valuable. Teamplay becomes more important than quick reflexes and personal skill. This allows beginners to understand why they just died, rather than just noting the number of the truck that just ran them over.
In summary: The TTK determines whether the PvP is fast or slow. The best players prefer the fastest possible PvP, as the “skill ceiling” is higher, indicating the maximum impact an individual player can have on the course of a match.
Skill Ceiling and Hero Moment
How was it in Destiny? Destiny 1 had a relatively low TTK.
This led to so-called “hero moments”: A player who performed well could significantly impact and eliminate many enemies.
This created a situation where some top PvP players gained nearly legendary reputations. Their streams were sought after, their names well-known. Every weekend, they met in the “Trials of Osiris” to sweat it out together.
In Destiny 2, the TTK has increased significantly: This means players tend to stay in teams, shooting together at an opponent, with the so-called “team shot” dominating.
Veterans from Destiny 1 reject this PvP and long for earlier times. Already in February, Bungie announced a “Go Fast” update. However, it still proved to be “too slow.”
Eagle Eye Sees Clues in the Trailer
This is what happened: PvP specialist TrippleWreck explained on reddit that in the new trailer for Breakthrough the TTK has become “significantly faster.”
Assault rifles dealt 21 damage instead of 17 damage on a crit. This would mean a DPS increase of 24% and thus a significant reduction of the TTK from 1.1s to 0.9 seconds.
These 0.2 seconds less on the clock are viewed very positively by TrippleWreck. He puts forth the motto
Empower the individual. Embrace Speed. Promote gameplay depth.
Translated, this means: Great, if the PvP gets faster, I can achieve more and more viewers will watch my PvP streams.
Bungie Confirms Adjustment – TTK Will Decrease
What does Bungie say? Bungie has generally confirmed that they are working on the TTK (via Bungie). They have globally adjusted the “Time to Kill”. The answer seems clear: Yes, the TTK will decrease with Forsaken.
However, Bungie is currently not releasing details.
In a livestream on August 7 at 7:00 PM, these details are expected, where they will present the combat in Year 2. We will accompany the livestream on Mein MMO.
What does this mean? For most casual players, the Time-to-Kill is not that important. However, for PvP enthusiasts, it is a crucial question. This topic has been following Destiny 2 for more than a year now. Bungie’s decision to significantly increase the TTK has been sharply criticized.
The general sentiment is: In an attempt to make Destiny 2 “eSport-ready” and more accessible overall, Bungie has significantly killed the PvP. They likely want to improve this with Forsaken. The ultimate question will be whether Bungie succeeds.
