[UPDATE: Bungie has debunked the claims of hacking and deleting items. It appears the Destiny player in question accidentally deleted Thorn by dismantling an item in-game and moving an item using the app. So, be careful.]

Reports are circulating that a new exploit is being used to target Destiny players where it hurts — their hard-earned inventory. Griefers have apparently found a way to dismantle another player's weaponry and gear, leaving them with no recourse other than to acquire the items all over again.

A Reddit user going by the name DeafSpaceWizardry made a post late last night describing his experience. Following a Rumble match in the Crucible, he received a message from another Guardian suggesting that he shouldn't use the much-vaunted Thorn hand cannon in the mode, and instead should simply dismantle it.

The message itself was innocuous enough — it seemed that the player was either venting their hurt feelings after underperforming in the Rumble match, or they were simply trying to offer some advice. DeafSpaceWizardry responded by saying 'why would I dismantle it, I worked hard for it.'

This is where the story turns sour. The accused player fired back a message saying 'that's OK I'll do it for you', at which point DeafSpaceWizardry has his game boot back to the menu and display an error code. When he got back into the game, his Thorn had been reduced to one Shard and three Weapon Parts.

The idea of other players being able to remotely dismantle weapons sounds like your classic gaming rumour, but there's some reason to believe that this story is legitimate. For one, there was another report on Reddit a month ago that described the series of events necessary to do this to another player.

It's still unclear whether or not this is a real exploit, but for now it seems fair to give DeafSpaceWizardry the benefit of the doubt. If it is indeed possible for other player's to dismantle your Guardian's gear, this could potentially have a bigger impact on the Destiny community than any griefing that we've seen in the game to date. However, you can expect Bungie to make an expedient response to the problem, if it does turn out to be real.

The studio has been very clear about the zero-tolerance policy on bad apples in the game's multiplayer, and few would argue against them enforcing harsh punishments for an exploit with such massive potential to spoil the experience for other players. The only question is, how soon can the developers isolate the issue?

Destiny is available now for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.

Source: Reddit