Due to the sheer size of Destiny 2, Bungie often has to deal with bugs and glitches ranging from minor issues to severe, game-breaking ones. This mostly comes from how many different interactions there can be in Destiny 2, as the game focuses on both abilities and guns at its core, even though subclasses, mods, and Exotics all change what happens. As such, it's not uncommon for some of these combinations to become problematic, like the current state that Stasis Hunters with Shatterdive are in, shaping and destroying the whole PvP meta.
While Shatterdive is more a case of overtuned ability in an otherwise gunplay-oriented mode, Destiny 2's glitches have a long history. An example comes from the infamous "laser tag weekend," which was largely based on Bungie knowing the Exotic trace rifle Prometheus Lens was dealing unintended amounts of damage, but still letting Xur sell it so players could have fun before an inevitable nerf. Still, there is something else that has been incredibly problematic for Bungie: Telesto - an Exotic fusion rifle that has broken the game too many times to count.
Why Telesto is Often Bugged in Destiny 2
Telesto has always been a problematic weapon because of how it was designed in a way that affects many of Destiny 2's elements. The issue is Bungie conceived Telesto as a tool meant to have several different interactions based on what happens in the game, incluuding enemy and player behavior - something almost no other weapon does. One of the main functionalities of Telesto is to create several bolts per shot, with each bolt attaching to either enemies or solid surfaces.
The second layer to Telesto's behavior is that each sticky bolt comes with an innate duration, which makes the projectile disappear over time. However, while the bolts remain in place for a few seconds, enemies can trigger them by walking over, making them explode and deal damage. If players shoot directly onto enemies, this will cause the detonation to occur immediately. The simple fact that Telesto bolts act differently based on what happens around them is enough to make their collision properties unique when compared to any other weapon.
Having collision as a property in Destiny 2 means there can be issues with objects, enemies, and players, so Bungie made Telesto bolts completely immune to shots in order to avoid further issues. The bolts retain that collision aspect and make projectiles and grenades bounce off though. Because they retain collision, have a duration, and trigger when enemies step onto them, now the bolts explode repeatedly after they are triggered instead of disappearing. There are simply too many things to address with each of its shots, and it interacts in different ways with everything in Destiny 2.
The final issue that makes Telesto so hard to fix is that trying to make the gun better translates into Bungie having to devote part of its time and resources beyond creating new content with ongoing expansions. This makes it more likely for Bungie to let issues slide if they are not causing severe harm to Destiny 2. Ultimately, the best way to handle Telesto would be to try and reduce the number of interactions it can lead to without having to change the gun's identity, and that's incredibly hard.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.