With the release of the second Destiny 2 expansion just over the horizon, Bungie is starting to show off all the improvements it has in store, with some coming in the form of changes to exotic weapons. Yesterday fans got to see these changes in action with regards to the exotic pulse rifle Graviton Lance and now it seems Bungie has more to share.

In the latest edition of "This Week At Bungie", Bungie's weekly Destiny 2 blog, Senior Designer Jon Weisnewski discussed some more exotic weapons receiving buffs in the May update, namely the scout rifle Skyburner's Oath and the sidearm Rat King. The blog entry also came with videos to show the extent of the buffs which can be seen below.

With the first weapon, Skyburner's Oath, Weisnewski observed the gun is strong regardless of if its shot from the hip or while aiming down sites but "it lacks spectacle to give it that exotic feeling; it kind of plays just like any other gun." To remedy this, Skyburner's Oath will now feature explosive rounds as an inherent perk but the real change comes when firing from the hip.

When aiming down sights Skyburner's Oath will function as it always has - full auto, low fire rate, high impact - but when firing from the hip, the weapon will now fire slower projectiles with a higher fire rate. The projectiles will not only also be explosive but also track the enemy in its center mass. Weisnewski describes the dual feature weapon as "rapid-fire grenade launcher that can transition to a precision death dealer with the press of a button." This is sure to come in handy if rumors of a new co-op horde mode prove true.

This brings us to the second exotic getting a buff in season 3, Rat King. The defining trait of Rat King is a buff to several stats (reload speed, fire rate, damage, etc.) when multiple fireteam members are using the sidearm, up to 6 total. In Season 3, fireteam members will only need to have the weapon equipped for Rat King users to see the benefits. Bungie has also made it so the benefits are front-loaded, meaning players will see the Rat King's stats increase at a more dramatic rate if one or two teammates are using Rat King versus a whole raid fireteam.

The other primary change to the Rat King comes in the form of its rate of fire. While the rate of fire increases thanks to the Rat King buff, most players were not able to pull the trigger fast enough to realize the weapon's full potential. To rectify this, the weapon is being made fully automatic, making it so players are certain to feel the difference when the buff is active.

Destiny 2 Warmind

All of these improvements are likely to come as a relief to Destiny fans who felt that exotics no longer felt special and were not worth chasing. The question now is which exotic buff will players see next? Luckily fans probably won't have to wait long to find out, as the team at Bungie teased some more exotic reveals next week.

Warmind is going to be a make or break release for Bungie. After Curse of Osiris failed to live up to everyone's expectations, Bungie seems determined to right past wrongs from weapon alterations to changes to the power level grind. Let's just hope it's not all too little too late.

Destiny 2 and its Curse of Osiris expansion are available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Warmind launches May 8, 2018.