Primary Complications. (Destiny)

by Harmanimus , Friday, March 30, 2018, 10:21 (2374 days ago) @ squidnh3

I can definitely agree with the fact that Bungie did swing too far into narrowband primaries. And while Y1 was probably the most fun time for PvP in D1 in broad strokes, the primary meta was broken. Out ranging Scouts with a Hand Cannon was pretty easy. You do have to hit a balance between versatility and power. The acknowledgment of power weapons as having narrow use options (limited by range or skill factors) supports that. Pretty sure the flexible/fallback is the first reason why we now have Kinetic/Energy. Elemental Primaries feels secondary to that.

Definitely primary weapons need to have wider use options than we sometimes see. But the wider use you get the more you have to control their power level to keep other options competitive. I also think there are more ways to reinforce range bands and skill limits than just damage values. In the same regard a Hand Cannon probably shouldn’t be the best option and Scout ranges, a Sciut shouldn’t be really easy to use in Hand Cannon range. Both of these were issues in D1 at various points and to various degrees. (Personally I like, conceptually, that you manage shorter range weapons with accuracy and damage ranges and long range weapons with minimum aim assist ranges and other handling characteristics)