The "This Week at Bungie" update published this week was a bit meatier than usual. In addition to the announcement of a 24-hour trial for Gambit, the developer also provided fans with a preview of what's going to happen to grenades and specific exotic gear pieces as Destiny 2 transitions into its second year.

All throughout the lifespan of Destiny and now Destiny 2, Bungie has continually adjusted how guardian abilities and gear function in an effort to improve the overall player experience. The next weekly reset on Tuesday, August 28 will be applying another patch meant to prepare the game for the arrival of Forsaken. Bungie detailed some of the changes coming with this patch, their focus being upon grenades and certain exotic armor pieces.

With the exception of the Skip, Scatter, and Void Wall variants, grenades will be getting an increase in base damage across the board. Specific changes for each type include increased tracking time for Axion Bolts, increased initial wave damage for the Void Wall grenade, a double detonation for attached Magnetic grenades, increased impact damage on impact drones for Skip grenades, and more reliable damage for the Scatter grenade. This is probably just a balancing decision, but it might also be necessary in order to keep grenades viable in the adjusted weapon system.

destiny 2 gambit armor

Exotic armor pieces receiving adjustments include the Celestial Nighthawk, Wormhusk Crown, Skull of Dire Ahamkara, Transversive Steps, Helm of Saint-14, and Mask of the Quiet One. The Celestial Nighthawk will now restore 33% of super energy if an enemy is killed with the Golden Gun, while the Wormhusk Crown will grant a larger increase to shields and health upon dodging instead of instantly prompting health and shield recovery.

The Skull of Dire Ahamkara will now award more super energy for nova bomb kills, and it will also award even more energy for higher ranked enemies.  In addition to awarding enhanced mobility, the Transversive Steps will also reload the equipped weapon after the wearer sprints for a short time. Helm of Saint-14 will now grant allies a brief overshield as they pass through the Ward of Dawn bubble. Finally, Mask of the Quiet One will award more energy for damage taken, and it will grant healing for killing enemies when the user's health is at critical levels. With such useful abilities, one wonders if applying Year 2 mods to these will even be necessary.

See below for a full breakdown of the upcoming changes:

destiny 2 year 2 exotic changes

destiny 2 year 2 grenade changes

With Gambit getting a preview trial and the new Forsaken raid now named and dated, it seems as though most of the important pre-launch information has finally been released. The expansion and the changes coming with paint a very pretty image, but fans won't know for sure until it finally launches. Hopefully, it all comes together to create the kind of experience Destiny fans have been waiting for since the game launched a year ago.

Destiny 2: Forsaken launches for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 4.

Source: Bungie