A host of tweaks are coming to Destiny 2's weapons in its upcoming Beyond Light expansion. According to Bungie, the developer based the changes on player feedback.
Destiny 2's latest expansion aims to dramatically alter the landscape of the first-person looter shooter. In addition to the game's narrative reaching a critical moment, big changes are coming to the Solar System. Much of the game's base content, as well as DLC and previous expansion content, will be moved to what Bungie is calling the "Destiny Content Vault." In their place, players will find new locations like the moon Europa, where Beyond Light's story takes place. Further, the expansion will see the return of a couple of locations and characters from the first Destiny.
In terms of mechanics, broad changes will be made to weapon families. Bungie clarified what this means for those who are unfamiliar with their setup. Each weapon family contains "frames" that relate to a weapon's rate of fire. For example, Adaptive hand cannons fire 140 rounds per minute. Bungie based most of the changes based on Rate of Fire (RoF).
As far as the actual changes, the hand cannon weapon family appears to have received the most attention. According to the dev team, the intention is to improve diversity among hand cannons and give players a reason to use each type. To that end, Bungie broke out a new frame for "Aggressive" hand cannons, which have an RoF between 110 and 120 rounds per minute. The developer says that this will allow for custom tuning of stats. In addition, Lightweight hand cannons will fold into the Adaptive subfamily. This subfamily will also receive greater benefit from the Range stat.
For the other weapon families, Bungie stated that it wanted to retain the powerful feel of sniper rifles without making them dominant. Thus, it adjusted how aim assist interacts with a sniper rifle's zoom level. Higher zoom levels receive more aim assist, and vice versa. Scopes with about 50 zoom, Bungie notes, remain unchanged. Other changes include: damage per bullet slightly reduced for adaptive auto rifles; scout rifles received some extra benefit from aim assist; and rocket launchers now have slightly increased reserves.
Destiny 2 will be a very different game when Beyond Light launches next month. With its third anniversary coming up, Bungie has increased its efforts to bring new players into the Destiny family. Whether this will be a positive turning point or another blunder for a series that never quite lived up to initial expectations, time will tell.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light releases November 10 for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series versions to follow.
Source: Bungie