The developers at Bungie share an explanation with the Destiny community as to why the Hunter class in the sci-fi shooter gets such a heavy nerf with the latest update.

With Destiny being an ever-evolving multiplayer shooter, the game requires an almost constant amount of updates, tweaks, and refinements in order to ensure fans get the best and fairest possible experience while playing the title. However, some Guardians were upset over last week's weapon and class rebalancing after Bungie decided to nerf the fan-favorite Hunter class in the game.

Nevertheless, as a part of its weekly update for Destiny, Bungie's developers laid out a case as to why Hunters had to be weakened, stating that they were being used too frequently in the action-RPG's Crucible mode, with its subclasses typically providing a higher kill/death ratio than its counterparts found under Titans and Warlocks. To be specific, Hunters using the Bladedancer and Gunslinger subclasses had consistently higher K/D ratios at rates of 10 percent than their competitors since the beginning of May.

As seen in the data set found below, Hunters were dominating other Destiny classes by a pretty wide margin in the Crucible. With this being the case, as explained by the game's Sandbox Designer Grant Mackay, the decision to nerf Hunters was made to ensure that all play styles have a viable chance at coming out on top, or at the very least, that they won't be utterly destroyed.

"When one class becomes the default choice for anyone who wants to do well in the Crucible, we see that as a problem. We chose to bring the Hunters down from their position of dominance because it is our hope that every variety of Guardian will have a fighting chance."

Bungie also went on to discuss the persistent matchmaking issues that have been present in the game since last week, and those which ultimately caused the studio to cancel Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner events at a moment's notice. According to developers, the problems seem to have been taken care of, as a a recent hot fix intends to have Trials return soon. However, the studio has stated that it may have to reschedule Iron Banner for next week.

In the early days of Destiny, around the time of its launch, in fact, it's interesting to note that the Hunter class was far from fans' favorite choice in the game. Nevertheless, the class became relevant after Bungie's introduction of the Crucible mode, as it was able to hold its own in PvP settings due to the ability to quickly deal high amounts of damage at a short range. Not to mention, Hunters were a go-to once The Dark Below DLC dropped, as the class was downright lethal against Crota.

Naturally, though, as is the case with any competitive shooter, altered stats from rebalances are a must in order to keep the gameplay varied, and Bungie is well within its rights to reduce the potency of any asset within Destiny that it sees fit. So, while the Hunter has been weakened for now, it's definitely possible for the class to get buffed once again in the future.

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

Source: Bungie