The Destiny 2 Beta is just three weeks away, and there are a number of small features and changes to the Destiny formula that have changed from Destiny 1 that are worth knowing before going into the beta. Knowing this should help players in the Destiny 2 Beta, especially when it comes to PvP.
6 1. ‘Time To Kill’ is longer
Bungie says that the “Time to Kill” (often called TTK in shorthand) is longer, meaning that the PvP of Destiny 2 plays a little bit slower and gives players more time to react to incoming attack. That is the result of a lot of small changes, says Bungie, like the change to the weapon system by placing all one-hit-kill weapons like sniper rifles, shotguns, and fusion rifles into the Power Weapon slot.
There are effectively no one-hit-kill weapons or abilities in PvP anymore (besides Power Weapons that will require limited ammo pickups to use)—grenades and melees no longer provide one-hit kills.
The change to 4v4 only in PvP is also credited with the game playing out a little slower and more methodical than Destiny’s sometimes-chaotic 6v6 matches. And of course, also playing into that is how the developers have tuned the actual damage of each weapon.
PvP definitely relies much more on what Destiny 1 players would call Primary Weapon play, as Special Weapons are further their reach in the new Power Weapon slot.
5 2. Motion Tracker has changed
The Motion Tracker still exists in Destiny 2, but works differently from the first game. In Destiny 1, the Motion Tracker searches for enemies at a set distance. If it does not find any enemies within that radius, it expands its radius, continuing to do so until it finds an enemy. That will not be the case in Destiny 2, instead it will have a set radius within which it will pickup enemies, so those outside of that radius will be "invisible."
Additionally, crouched enemies will still show up as a pulsing red section; however that pulse will be less frequent than it was in Destiny 1.
4 3. Maps are being designed with specific modes in mind
While this was surely a thought process when making maps for Destiny 1, it seems like it has been a bigger priority and goal in Destiny 2 to develop Crucible maps to specifically serve one mode. Bungie says that maps and modes are being more tightly held together, which has led to maps being designed with specific flanking routes in mind or certain areas of engagement, catered to specific game modes like the new Countdown mode.
3 4. Hip fire is more accurate
Now that players have started getting their hands on Destiny 2 at events like the Destiny Reveal Event and E3, many of them have been able to test certain features of the game. Twitch streamer Gigz was able to test the hip fire of Scout Rifles, specifically, and found that hip fire is much more accurate than it was in Destiny 1, offering more options of fire besides having to aim down sights to land every shot.
2 5. No sprint lock
Sprint lock has been removed from the game. For those unfamiliar, sprint lock was an intentional design choice in Destiny 1 that put a cooldown on the sprint ability once a Guardian came out of the sprint animation. In the Rise of Iron expansion, the Memory of Jolder artifact got rid of the sprint lock and allowed players to stop sprinting and then instantly re-engage it. For Destiny 2, it appears that will be an inherent function
1 6. Flying with Dawnblade Super
As detailed in our Destiny 2 subclass guide, the Dawnblade Warlock has in-air options to dodge similar to the Destiny 1 Titan exotic Twilight Garrison. Fans have already discovered that the Dawnblade is able to stay airborne during the entire length of its Super ability, by launching attacks and using the dodge ability. If players get the hang of this maneuver, it could be difficult for enemies in the Crucible to track a quick moving enemy in the air as they rain down fiery blows from above.
The Destiny 2 Beta begins July 18 for those who pre-order the game on PS4, and then rolls out to other consoles (and eventually becomes an open beta) in the days following.
Destiny 2 launches September 6 on PS4 and Xbox One, with a later launch on PC on October 24.