This week, Destiny 2 developer Bungie gave players a preview of the weapon changes coming with next month's Beyond Light expansion. The post discussed reworkings of some archetypes, buffs to some underused weapons, and an overview of how the Adept Weapon concept will work for Trials of Osiris.
But the biggest point of contention within the Destiny 2 community seems to be the treatment of hand cannons by Bungie. While the weapon class is still plenty popular in both PvE and PvP, many felt that that the viability of hand cannons in Crucible is relegated to a select few options. Specifically, most Destiny 2 PvP players like the 150 RPM hand cannon archetype – the same archetype that Bungie is effectively eliminating in Beyond Light.
In the post, Bungie explained that in its testing, the devs could never find a way to make 140 RPM hand cannons match 150s. So rather than find a way to balance the two, Bungie decided to simply make every 150 a 140 RPM hand cannon, except for the solar exotic Sunshot.
Needless to say, the Destiny 2 PvP community was understandably frustrated by the announcement. 150 RPM hand cannons have become a favorite for top tier PvP players for both the skill they require and their low time to kill. Popping around any Destiny 2 Crucible streamer on Twitch or YouTube will show how popular weapons like Dire Promise and Spare Rations are. Now, those hand cannons are being put into a new category.
Because of how rarely Bungie makes Destiny 2 sandbox changes, Crucible players had high hopes for this upcoming blog post and the eventual Beyond Light update. Now, there is a lot of disappointment within the community.
Admittedly, there are some positives within the TWAB like a nerf to Mountaintop that should hopefully make it less viable in PvP and some tweaks to Auto Rifles to bring them down a little bit. Currently, auto rifles are among the most used primary weapons in Crucible, with the Summoner and the Gnawing Hunger being two of the most popular options. They will still be worth using in Beyond Light, mind you, but not nearly as strong as they are now.
Ultimately, it sounds like Destiny 2 players are just going to have to adapt to a new normal rather than the game change to meet their expectations. Many were hoping that some of the other hand cannon archetypes might get buffs to match 140s, but instead the archetype is no more. 100 RPM hand cannons have been turned into 120 RPM, though, so there might be some potential there.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light releases November 10, 2020 for PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The PS5 version will release on November 12.