This Week At Bungie - 9/12/2019

This week at Bungie, we're looking into the near future.

We've talked a lot about how Shadowkeep will change the way we play Destiny, and we're not even done yet. We'll have more to say before October 1 about how the game is about to evolve. There might even be a final pre-launch Bungie ViDoc about Year Three next week, but that's not my promise to make. Keep your eyes up.

Seeing Guardians rejoin Eris on the Moon for a new adventure is not the only thing we're looking forward to when we daydream launch day. As this new campaign against the minions of the darkness begins, a new Season of Destiny gameplay will begin with it - followed by three additional seasons of updates. We're about kick off a whole new year of explorations, rewards, and surprises.

But not everything should be left to surprise. We know that Guardians like to plan their gaming sessions. This calendar shows what's coming free to all players of Destiny 2, what's in store for Shadowkeep, and what's included with Season of the Undying:

Save these dates! If you're not one to over-plan your life, you know we'll keep you up to date from week to week on what awaits you in the game. That's just what we're about to do right now.

Shadowkeep Sandbox Update: Weapons

Last week, we did a bit of a deep dive on upcoming changes to abilities in Shadowkeep. This week, we'll be giving a patch note preview on how your weapons will be fine-tuned. For this pass, the team put some love in to a few Exotics that may have been collecting dust in your vaults. On top of that, a bit of tuning has been done in how damage is applied to different targets in PvE environments.

In terms of how these changes will impact your PvP experience, a few weapons and archetypes are being buffed, with some seeing more aggressive range falloff to give breathing room to Scout Rifles and other weapons.

Combatants - General

• Minor enemies (Rank-and-File) no longer take more precision damage than other enemies.
  • These enemies previously took twice as much damage to their precision hit locations than enemies of higher ranks.
  • You will still deal precision damage, but this is now entirely dependent on the weapon, as it is for higher ranked enemies.

Weapon Changes - General

• Weapon mods are now treated as reusable unlocks instead of consumables. Any mods you have in your inventory will be converted to unlocks
  • This gives players the opportunity to play with different mods more frequently
  • If the only copy of a mod you have is already in a gun, you will need to reacquire one to unlock it
• Auto Rifles
  • PvE damage increased between +30% and +25% depending on combatant rank
• Bows
  • PvE damage increased by +31% against minor enemies, and +26% against major enemies
  • Fixed an issue where bow draw times were displayed incorrectly in the inspection screen
• Hand Cannons
  • PvE damage against minor enemies increased by 30%
  • Lightweight and Adaptive hand cannons use a new firing animation while aiming down sights
    • This change was made to increase weapon accuracy when firing these weapons as fast as possible
    • Ex: Currently, players can shoot faster than the recoil animation of 140/150 archetypes - so while the handcannon looks to have fully reset from recoil, the following projectile will be shot as if the weapon was still in a recoiled state.
  • Reduced the effect the range stat has on damage range falloff (effective range) for this weapon archetype
• Machine Guns
  • PvE damage against minor enemies increased by 25%
  • Increased the effects of damage range falloff on this weapon archetype
• Pulse Rifles
  • PvE damage against minor enemies increased by 28%
  • Increased the effects of damage range falloff on this weapon archetype.
  • Archetype specific damage changes (impacts both PvE and PvP gameplay)
    • Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifles now deal 14/23.8 base/precision damage (Previously 13/21.4)
    • High Impact Pulse Rifles now deal 21/33.6 base/precision damage (Previously 20/32)
• Scout Rifles
  • PvE damage increased between +36% and +18% depending on combatant rank
• Sidearms
  • PvE damage increased to minor and major combatants by 16%
• Sniper Rifles
  • PvE damage increased by +47% against minor enemies, +20% for others
    • Exotic sniper rifle perk damage bonuses have been modified to compensate for this change and they will not receive the full benefits as a result
• Submachineguns
  • PvE damage increased by 22.5% against minor/major combatants
  • Aggressive Frame
    • Removed the intrinsic effect of "Deals bonus damage at close range."
    • This bonus was 10%, but was unintentionally always active
    • The bonus damage has been moved to the base damage for 750 RPM Submachineguns, resulting in no damage change
    • As a result, Tarrabah and The Huckleberry gain 10% damage in both PvE and PvP

Exotics

• Sweet Business
  • Increased magazine size from 100 to 150.
  • Increased PvE damage by 15%.
  • High Caliber rounds have been replaced with Armor Piercing rounds.
  • Damage changed to 15/21.2 base/precision (Previously 13.21/21.14)
  • This weapon no longer requires you to be firing when you pick up ammo to have it automatically reload.
• Graviton Lance
  • PvE damage increased by 30%
• Sunshot
  • Increased magazine size to 12
• Vigilance Wing
  • PvE damage increased by 25%
• Crimson
  • Damage changed to 19/30.5 base/precision (Previously 13.76/24.75)
  • Fixed an issue that was causing this weapon to deal higher flinch than intended
• Merciless
  • Fixed the missing aim assist stat for this weapon
• Ace of Spades
  • Memento Mori's damage bonus is now affected by range falloff
• Lumina
  • Noble Rounds should apply their buff to allies more reliably now
• The Colony
  • "Serve the Colony" now functions as Auto Loading Holster does

Perks

• Subsistence
  • Reduced the impact of this perk on total reserves
• Ricochet Rounds
  • Removed the hidden bonus to damage falloff
• Swashbuckler
  • Perk now activates when getting a kill with Ball Lightning
• Grave Robber
  • Perk now activates when getting a kill with ranged melee abilities (ie: Ball Lightning, Explosive Knife)
• One-Two Punch
  • Reduced the effectiveness of stacking One-Two Punch and Cross Counter (Liar's Handshake)
  • Ex: Players won't be able to defeat Riven in less than three seconds after Shadowkeep launches using the combo of One-Two Punch and Liar's Handshake, but we know many of you will try other builds... and potentially even succeed.

We still have a few TWAB's before the release of Shadowkeep, which will shore up our patch notes previews on a variety of topics, ranging from Black Armory Access to bug fixes. Stay tuned!

Reckoning: One more thing...

Destiny 2 Update 2.5.2.2 recently brought some frequently requested Quality of Life changes to Reckoning and rewards. Next week, we'll be making one additional change to the experience, further bridging the gap between you and your desired rewards.

Starting on September 17, all negative modifiers will be removed from Reckoning. This activity will continue to feature a weekly singe, with a daily rotation of Brawler, Grenadier, and Heavyweight. Our goal in this change is to improve the replay-ability of Reckoning, so players will feel more inclined to hop in to matchmaking for some sweet loot. This should also help to address some feedback items from players that specific modifiers could feel too punishing (We're looking at you, Blackout Darkblades).

If you're looking to get your hands on some weapons from Season of the Drifter that have eluded you, I reckon this is your time to shine.

One after another

Fresh on the heels of Update 2.5.2.2, we're prepping 2.5.2.3. Destiny Player Support already has your itinerary prepared, so you'll be prepared for the upcoming download.

This is their report.

Destiny 2 Hotfix 2.5.2.3
Next week, Hotfix 2.5.2.3 will become available to players in Destiny 2. This hotfix targets an issue which is currently preventing a subset of players from enabling Cross Save, and marks the removal of negative modifiers from The Reckoning.

For deployment times when they are available, follow @BungieHelp on Twitter or monitor our support feed on help.bungie.net.

REMINDER: Steam Linking and PC Migration
For the next several weeks, we'll be reminding PC players to link their Steam accounts to their Bungie.net profile, in preparation for our migration to Steam on October 1.

From October 1 onward, any existing PC player who links a Steam account to their Bungie.net profile will automatically be migrated forward to the Steam ecosystem.

To prevent the unintentional loss of Guardians, game licenses, and Silver, it is imperative that all PC players make sure they are linking their correct Steam account to their Bungie.net profile.

REMINDER: Destiny 2 and Silver Purchases on Battle.net
For the next several weeks, we'll also be reminding players that Destiny 2 game content and Destiny 2 Silver can no longer be purchased from the Battle.net Shop.

Existing PC players can continue to play on Battle.net until Destiny 2 migrates to Steam on October 1. At that time, new players are also welcome to jump in with the launches of New Light and Shadowkeep.

Additionally, every existing PC player should be aware that in order for recent Silver purchases to successfully transfer to Steam, players MUST log in to Destiny 2 on Battle.net before October 1 to claim their purchased Silver.

Saw something Husky happen on Mars

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. For some of you Destiny old timers, Husky Raids began a trend in content creation, staging wonderful music videos on the destinations of Destiny. They inspired many to dance to their favorite tracks from the methane seas of Titan to the rocky outcroppings of IO. This week, our runner up is an homage, and we loved every second of it.

Our selection for Movie of the Week just barely edged a win, thanks to some killer tunes and a wonderful array of action from the last two years of Destiny 2. Some of the clips may bring forth wonderful memories before we take our first steps into Year 3.

Movie of the Week: Princes of the Universe

Honorable mention: Saw some strange activity on Mars during Community Week

If you'd like to put your name in the hat for Movie of the Week, make sure to post your content to the Community Creations page on bungie.net, or throw a video to myself or Cozmo on Twitter.

This week was home to Destiny's 5th year anniversary. As I (might) still have your attention, I'd like to tell you a quick story. Five years ago, I was your average Bungie community member. I worked a retail job in San Diego, playing videogames into the dead of night and enjoying time with the communities therein. I had a few ideas on a future, ranging from Architecture to Graphic Design, but wasn't set on anything just yet. The summer before Destiny shipped, DeeJ shot me an email asking if I wanted to help show off Destiny's upcoming "Crucible" PvP environment at E3. It was a gamer's dream, going to E3 and playing a new game early, surrounded by folks eager to see the new stuff. Not only did I meet some wonderful people that I have the pleasure of working with today, I had the opportunity to make some friends from other corners of the Bungie community.

A few days in, I was introduced to a very tall man that went by the name of Cozmo. He was funny, somewhat awkward, and seemed to be the type that would throw something at me for no good reason at all. All things considered, I thought he was a pretty nice guy. He'd just made a new subreddit to follow the development of Destiny. While most of what could be found was purely speculation, it had already grown into a small community. There are many parts of the story that I won't bore you with, but it was the beginning of a wonderful friendship that holds to this day. Destiny has always had that quality about it, making friendships a sort of loot that could be acquired through pure luck. End of the day, I'm glad to have found a perfect roll for a fellow Community Manager, even before we had applied for the gig.

Thank you to everyone who shared their stories on how a game could positively impact their lives. That's one of the things about community that we love most, and we appreciate that you're a part of ours. With 5 years behind us, it's almost time to take our next step. Two TWAB's and a weekend stand between us and Shadowkeep. Feel free to start counting the sleeps.

Cheers,
Dmg04