So . . . weapon slot changes. (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 20:14 (2088 days ago) @ cheapLEY

It's obviously super early at this point, but so far I'm equal parts thrilled about it and also somewhat confused.

I absolutely love this system in terms of how it changes moment to moment gameplay. I was running around Mars using the Winter Wolf, EP Shotgun and Sleeper at the same time, and it was a blast. I finally felt like I was getting close to my D1 guardian in terms of power, effectiveness, and flexibility. I ran strikes for a while using Whisper and some random Grenade Launcher. Super fun, and such a different experience than I've been able to have up till now in D2.

On the flip side, I find the implementation of this system thoroughly confusing. Between the different slots, ammo types, and weapon archetypes, I'm having a really tough time getting my intuitions to adjust. Why does Perfect Paradox use Primary ammo even though its a shotgun? I know it now sits in the primary weapon slot, but ammo type and weapon slot are no longer tied to each other (for example, there are plenty of weapons that sit in the secondary slot, but use Primary ammo). It also doesn't seem to be based on the lack of elemental damage, as that isn't tied to ammo type either (Graviton Lance does void damage, but uses primary ammo, and sits in the secondary weapon slot).

The more I try to figure out the reasoning behind this system, the more it starts to look to me like Bungie may have made all of these decisions on a weapon-by-weapon basis. There are definitely some general rules. I haven't found any Kinetic weapons that use special ammo or heavy, for example. But then there also seem to be exceptions, where they've just chosen the slot and ammo type that seems to make the most sense for that gun. Total conjecture on my part, obviously.

So yeah... I'm puzzled and a little overwhelmed by trying to navigate the new system. But when it comes to actually using these combinations of weapons together, I totally love it.