Destiny Auto Rifle Nerf on the Way

We are now six months into Destiny's life, and chatter about the game only seems to be increasing – a huge departure from most other games. Alien: Isolation, The Evil Within and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare were all released after Destiny, but none have been able to come close to the levels of discussion surrounding Bungie's latest hit.

Much of that is due to Destiny's ability to be both addicting and annoying at the same time. And while much of the discussion on Bungie's open world blockbuster has been negative thanks to numerous foibles by the developer, Guardians are still logging long hours, grinding away against Crota, Atheon, and their minions.

This last week was especially full of discussion online as (rumored) weapon and armor leaks surfaced about Destiny's second expansion, House of Wolves. Gamers indulged in speculation – ourselves included – in whether or not those leaked items were real, and if they were, what it means for the game.

The leak also included a speculated release date for House of Wolves of May 19th. While that date hasn't been confirmed, it seems very probable thanks to today's weekly update from Bungie Community Manager David Dague (DeeJ).

House of Wolves Release Date

In his post to Bungie.net, DeeJ revealed that the House of Wolves expansion won't be available until "Q2" of this year. He then explained to those who aren't familiar with yearly quarters that the DLC will release in April, May or June. That lends credence to the May 19th rumor then, however, it is also the expected release date of The Wither 3: Wild Hunt. So, it's possible Bungie may opt to release on a different day rather than compete with the highly anticipated CD Projekt RPG.

In his post, DeeJ also teased the upcoming Destiny 1.1.1 update, which promises to fix to the heavy ammo issue, along with making a few other tweaks. However, that update won't be coming for a few more weeks, and here's why:

"Between now and the end of this month, we’re hard at work making sure that these changes won’t wreak cataclysmic havoc on the game – like changing your Guardians into Tower sweeper bots, or worse. That gives us some time to talk about what else you’ll be downloading. The conversation continues today."

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Honestly, that sounds like Bungie didn't start working on the heavy ammo fix until very recently, though we can't say whether or not that's the case. Despite that, we're not sure why it has taken so long – maybe the requests to make the fix hit a breaking point, or maybe there just aren't as many loot caves left to close up. Whatever the reason, we're excited it's finally coming.

DeeJ also touched on the topic of pulse rifles. Yesterday Destiny asked players what their favorite pulse rifles are in the game and the responses were less than kind. DeeJ admitted in today's post that they "poked the Internet bear" with the question and shared a few tweets of users' responses, which revealed players' lack of excitement for the gun category. While the responses are entertaining, it looks like Bungie is taking the lack of pulse rifle love seriously. Destiny players can expect some serious updates to the weapons (pulse rifles and others) in the 1.1.1 update.

Auto Rifles Are King

In addition to the snarky tweets, DeeJ also included a telling infographic in his post about the game's guns, which shows auto rifles as the reigning champs in the battle for favored Destiny primary weapon. According to the infographic, players use auto rifles for 18 percent of the kills "in the wild," with scout rifles and hand cannons coming close behind with 16 percent and 13 percent respectively. Pulse rifles lag behind with six percent.

In the Crucible Control matches it's a lot more slanted. Auto rifles account for 19 percent of kills, with the next most effective primary weapon being the hand cannon at seven percent. Scout rifles make up a measly three percent, while pulse rifles scrape the bottom of the barrel (pun intended) for two percent of kills.

Weapon Balance Changes on the Way?

However, the auto rifle's popularity doesn't come as much of a surprise. Since Bungie "balanced" weapons for the Crucible Control matches, winning a gunfight requires a gun with a high rate of fire. Thus, auto rifles became king.

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We'll see how the weapon changes from the 1.1.1 update affect these numbers, though. It's possible Bungie will "buff" the power of pulse rifles, which if done correctly could help increase their popularity. Of course, it could also cause pulse rifles to become overpowered, resulting in everyone running around the Crucible with Bad Juju instead of SUROS Regime.

We'll be very interested to see how the current pulse rifle imbalance affects Bungie's plans for The House of Wolves and other future DLCs. At this point, anything could happen.

What do you think of the latest Destiny news from Bungie? Are you excited we're finally getting the heavy ammo fix, or have you stopped caring at this point? Sound off in the comments.

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Source: Bungie