With the launch of Destiny 2: Beyond Light, developer Bungie is retiring pieces of major content for the first time in the game's 4-year history. Some seasonal content and activities have gone away in the past, like the Seraph Bunkers or the Sundial 6-player activity, but this is much more significant than that. Bungie is putting whole planets and destinations into the Destiny Content Vault and it's unclear when (or even if) they will ever return.

But while players will miss zipping around Titan to complete quick Public Events or using the Castellum to farm Cabal kills, there are other elements of Destiny 2 that are also going away. Arguably one of the most useful is the Tribute Hall, which became a de facto firing range for the game once players acquired all of the upgrades/tributes.

The Tribute Hall is Retiring

In the Tribute Hall, Destiny 2 players could test out different builds, mods, and weapon perks to see how they affect enemies of certain difficulty tiers. There were also a lot of different scenarios that lent themselves well to the Tribute Hall, like using the ammo “displays” to fill up on ammo before heading into an activity.

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In a few months, though, the Leviathan ship is heading into the Destiny Content Vault and with it the Tribute Hall. Players will have to revert back to their old ways when it comes to testing weapons and builds, assuming that Bungie doesn't introduce a replacement in Beyond Light. Hopefully, Bungie does create a truly dedicated firing range, because Destiny 2 has been sorely in need of one for a while.

Firing Range for Testing Weapons

Firing ranges offer a variety of uses to a variety of players. In the most obvious sense, a firing range allows players to test out their weapons and see how they work. Recoil patterns, handling speed, reload speed, and even range are all qualities that players likely want to know about a weapon before using it in an activity. The stats on a bar don't truly show how a weapon will perform; players need to test them in live scenarios to get a good sense of their utility.

Obviously, it's relatively painless to jump into a Patrol Zone and test out the weapon there, but a firing range would make the whole process simpler. Maybe a Destiny 2 player wants to see how a new perk like Killing Wind impacts a pulse rifle and they would be able to use the Firing Range to test that. Bungie plans to add more new perks to the game that are less about buffing obvious qualities like damage or reload speed, and as a result, players might not realize if a weapon roll is good or not. Oftentimes a weapon sounds good on paper, but after using it for a few seconds it becomes painfully obvious that it doesn't fit that person's style.

Destiny 2 players could also take things a step further and test out how weapon mods (or even armor mods) impact the weapon. Some weapon types are better served with a Counterbalance Mod, for example, while others need the boost of Targeting Adjuster. So much goes into making a weapon “good” in Destiny 2 that it would be useful to test everything out ahead of time.

Destiny 2 Builds and Theorycrafting

The firing range is also a useful tool for testing out builds, which has become a major part of Destiny 2 this past year. Unique mod combinations can lead to serious damage output, but oftentimes it takes theorycrafters a while to figure out how best to combine everything. Rather than waiting for a group of basic enemies to surround a boss, the firing range could allow players to recreate any scenario on the spot and.

Another advantageous element of a firing range is a potential "no-cost option," which allows players to test builds and loadouts without spending upgrade materials. They could see how a fully masterworked armor set with a full complement of mods will improve their build instead of spending a bunch of Enhancement Prisms, Shards, and Glimmer just to find out their idea isn't going to work. Or worse, if they chose the wrong Elemental Affinity for the armor and need to start again.

So many Destiny 2 players likely don't even know that there are some really cool armor builds out there that will take their favorite weapons and exotic armor pieces to the next level. And while they may not use a firing range to test for themselves, those that do enjoy this type of theorycrafting could create more content to highlight useful builds.

There are numerous possibilities that a true Destiny 2 firing range could offer and if Bungie's goal is to deepen the RPG and the investment, the game needs something like the Tribute Hall in the game. Taking it away limits a lot of the important testing that is necessary to see what is good and what isn't in a game filled with loot.

And ironically, the next best option for a firing range in Destiny 2 is shooting the Ogre boss in the Titan Lost Sector (many call him Greg) but that planet is going away too. If Bungie doesn't add a firing range a lot of top Destiny 2 content creators will have to find a new way to communicate some very useful information.

Destiny 2: Beyond Light releases November 10, 2020 for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.

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