'Destiny' Update Features 90+ Gameplay Changes; Removes Strike Exploit

When Bungie first revealed details for their upcoming Destiny update (1.0.3) most of the focus was on the addition of the Strike Team Chat feature, which allows matchmade teammates to communicate using an additional voice channel. What the developer didn't tell us was that the update would also introduce some significant gameplay changes as well.

Now that the update has gone live we know that this substantial update does more than just add Strike Team Chat. As Bungie has revealed in their patch notes, this update paves the way for The Dark Below expansion and sets the new rules for Iron Banner 2.0, but it also improves, or at the very least tweaks, the game for regular players.

Obviously, going change-by-change through the 2.5 GB update would be a fool's errand, but there are some tweaks worth highlighting. Post-patch, for example, Destiny players will be able to carry 10 bounties at a time instead of 5, which alleviates the need to keep going back and forth to The Tower.

Bungie has also squashed a few exploits on both the single player and multiplayer side of things, removing advantageous spots from a few Crucible maps and knocking out the hiding spot from the Askor boss fight in the Winter's Run strike. And coincidentally, the Winter's Run strike just happens to be the Weekly Nightfall.

The good news, though, is that strikes should be getting easier thanks to this update. According to the patch notes, difficulty will now scale less for a 3-player Fireteam than it did before, essentially making each event easier to complete. Previously, the strikes' difficulty scaled on a much higher curve when played with multiple players.

As we said, the update is more than just a few simple changes. Here are the full patch notes:

Voice

Added a new social feature that enables users to access a channel for Team Chat
Matchmade teammates will now be able to talk to each other in Strikes and team-based Crucible matches
To learn more about how to toggle between chat channels

Classes

Fixed an issue in which two players who performed a melee lunge simultaneously would teleport through each other
Fixed an issue in which Blink Strike damage would be caused by colliding with the Blink Strike, rather than melee impact
Fixed an issue in which Warlock Bonds dismantled into Titan materials

Weapons

General

Reduced camera shake when being hit with explosive rounds

Perks

Clown Cartridge: Replaced Clown Cartridge perk with other perks in shotgun upgrade trees
Headseeker: Fixed an issue in which the bonus Precision Damage perk did not always get applied

Activities

Missions

Buried City: Fixed an exploit in Mars that would clear all enemies from Clovis Bray

Strikes

Winter's Run: Fixed an exploit zone in the Aksor boss encounter
Difficulty will scale less for 3-player Fireteams, making Strikes less deadly for them

Heroics

Fixed an issue in which engrams earned during Daily and Weekly Heroic activities were not displayed in the post-game carnage report

Players must now be level 20 and above to lead an Iron Banner Fireteam
Players below Level 20 can only accompany players above Level 20
Lord Saladin now has 5 reputation ranks (increased from 3)
New Features Added: Tempered Buff, Reforging
For more detailed information, visit the Bungie website

Cinematics

Fixed several issues with the synchronization of cinematic subtitles in various languages

Destinations

Combatants

Fixed an issue in which Vex Cyclops and Hive Shrieker health bars would not update properly
Reduced the number of Stealth Sword Vandals that spawn in the basement of the Terrestrial Complex on lower difficulties

Events

Public Events will occur 10-15% more frequently in all public spaces

Vendors

Increased the number of Bounty slots in the Inventory from 5 to 10
Added shaders to Eva Levante's stock in the Tower
Shader preview functionality added to vendor and inventory screens
Emblems on vendors can now be previewed in the inventory screen
Marks and Reputation icons and meters were adjusted to better differentiate the two
Fixed an issue in which Strange Coins and Motes of Light would not route to the Postmaster if your inventory was full
Fixed an issue in which engrams were not displaying the possible contents in the Cryptarch vendor menu
Fixed an issue in which players did not receive Bounty or Mission credit when assisting in the killing of a Walker or Vex Cyclops
Armor Stat upgrade potentials added to item compare on vendor and inventory screens

PVP

General

Enabled revive scoring for Skirmish and Salvage
Fixed an exploit with revive scoring when entering a kill volume and having a teammate revive you for easy points
Adjusted Join in-Progress settings for all playlists to minimize long periods of unbalanced teams due to players quitting out of matches.
Added new functionality to match pre-formed fireteams against each other. This will slowly roll out to all playlists over time, but will start with the 3v3 playlists. In 3v3 games, Fireteams of 2 or more players will match together more frequently. In 6v6 games, Fireteams of 4 or more players will match together more frequently.

Medals

Won't Be Beat now triggers correctly when a team wins a game after coming back from a 500-point losing deficit
Mark of the Unbroken no longer requires a minimum player count
Sum of All Tears no longer requires a minimum player count
Sum of All Tears should now trigger consistently

PVP Maps

First Light

Implemented multiple fixes to stop players from getting into advantageous positions

Blind Watch

Addressed some balancing issues for the Control gametype by moving Zones, modifying routes, and adding cover objects
Adjusted landing and respawn points to accommodate new geometry changes
Added protection to prevent players from getting on top of a pipe high above the intended playable space

Firebase Delphi

Added protections to prevent players from getting outside the intended playable area between Control Zone A and the crane room

Rusted Lands

Blocked off the monitors above Control Zone A to prevent players from hiding in them

Shores of Time

Added a Vex pillar to prevent players from sniping through the small gap on the ninja platform
Implemented multiple fixes to stop players from getting into unfairly-advantageous positions

Exodus Blue

Multiple fixes implemented to stop players from getting into advantageous positions, especially the giant hose reel near Control Zone A
Fixed an issue with visibility culling behind Control Zone A

Twilight Gap

Adjusted landing points to keep players from fighting too soon in Rumble matches
Added protections to prevent players from getting into unintended areas, for example, atop the security camera at Control Zone C
Added geometry to fill in small gaps that let players see out of the world

HUD

Improved the readability of Grenade and Melee recharge states
Improved the visibility of objectives in the Motion Tracker
Improved the visual look of Revive waypoint and Last Man Standing
Added skull modifier descriptions to the Navigation Mode screen
Fixed an issue in which the names of downed teammates did not always display on-screen

Orbit

Destiny version number added to the Character Login screen
Added dialog imagery for various events
Fixed an issue in which new items available from the Special Orders vendor would not show up in the message count in the Director
Fixed an issue in which a PlayStation Plus dialog was mistakenly shown when selecting a specific PVP activity
Added countdown timers for weekly/special events
Fixed various issues with Director animations
Fixed an issue in which the Player/Inventory screen would sometimes close during certain parts of the spaceflight sequence
Added the post-game carnage report for the previous games during Matchmaking search

Menus

General

Fixed an issue in which cursor speed in 4:3 and PAL was not consistent

Roster

Network Connection Quality Indicators now added to the Roster
New icons added to the scoreboard and roster to indicate voice problems due to connection issues (NAT issues)
Added support for direct fireteam joins from the roster on the Xbox One

Inventory

Updated Spinmetal, Relic Iron, and Helium Filaments icons to better represent in-game visuals
Fixed and updated several inventory icons
Fixed and updated several talent tree icons

Audio

Improved audio cues for sticking others and being stuck with certain Grenades
Fixed an issue in which an audio cue would not play when completing a Bounty
Fixed an issue in which "Guardian down!" referenced the wrong gender in French, Spanish, and Portuguese

Technical

Added the ability for the Bungie DOC to send in-game alerts and messages
Fixed stability issues across all platforms
Fixed an issue that would cause a rare crash during space flight into activities
Improved patch installation process
Implemented PS3-specific performance optimizations
Fixed some issues causing beetle and lionfish Kicks to Orbit

Interestingly enough, the update is also introducing some unintended changes to the game, specifically with some of the game's exotic weapons. Some gamers are reporting that exotic guns like Thorn are actually seeing a decrease in effectiveness post-patch, and Bungie has since acknowledged that there were some unintentional changes to exotics. However, rather that patch the patch Bungie says they will address these unintentional changes in Thursday's Weekly Update post.

Sounds to us like the guns that Bungie originally said they were going to buff are the main targets of these unintended nerfs. Could be that these buffs just went in the opposite direction and a second update is on the way that flips the numbers from negatives to positives, or maybe something else is going on. We'll have to wait and see.

And for the rest of Destiny players, this latest update is a nice first step towards the release of new content. Bungie is delivering on promises and making concerted efforts to improve the game, even after two months. Now hopefully they can keep that momentum going.

What do you think of this latest Destiny update? What would you like to see fixed or changed in a future update?

Source: Bungie