Weekly Update

Big news is the weapons balance is changing again.

-Auto Rifles getting a slight damage increase

-Pulse Rifles getting a damage reduction

-Hand Cannons getting an increase to ADS accuracy

-Shotguns damage fall off is getting a big range reduction (into melee lunge range) and a slew of other changes (slower movement while ADS, more time to actually ADS, etc)

-Luck in the Chamber on Snipers will only buff precision damage, not body shots

EDIT: And I missed it due to looking at the weapons stuff:

New Exotics are on the way. Some brand new, some are new Y2 version of old Y1 exotics. Apparently being added to the normal loot tables for exotics, so it seems like not more quest specific things.

While a lot of what I'm reading about the damage changes are probably a good thing, Bungie can't balance things for shit and will probably end up over-correcting like usual. Strap yourselves in everyone! Don't delete any weapons you come across, because who knows what the next God Weapon will be after they flip the car five times and land us in a ditch!

Everything looks okay on paper, but only pushing the patch out will tell.

I will say that the Pulse Rifle damage reduction seems like it might be a little extreme. 9% sounds like a lot.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

New Exotics are on the way. Some brand new, some are new Y2 version of old Y1 exotics. Apparently being added to the normal loot tables for exotics, so it seems like not more quest specific things.

Holy crap, I am excite. There are quite a few Y1 exotics I miss using actively. I mean, it sounds like at least some of them will be a little different, but still.

Given how pulse rifles outshoot both Scouts and Autos at this point, it is probably time to tweak them down a bit. I noticed they still retain the heavy flinch they picked up around TDB.

I'm now going to have to try to get the first curse. I've tried a few times for the 9 head shots but the gun is so weak vs. pulse rifles that it was a major task.

I'm sorry to see shotguns get even further reduced to halo levels. I haven't seen them dominate much this cycle, even as I run around with Chaperone. Everyone seems to love snipers.

Although I admit that could be somewhat rage inducing.

1. Reducing Fusion Rifle ammo capacity is mad stupid.
2. With so many nerfs to Hawkmoon over the course of the game, they might as well just completely redesign the weapon.
3. Balance changes hit way harder given the inability to upgrade many weapons. I am hoping my 310 Villainy that I worked so hard to get to 310 won't end up sucking now. Especially since I used a Surros to get it there, which now might be amazing instead.

- No text -

C'mon, Bungie.

Stop it.

2. With so many nerfs to Hawkmoon over the course of the game, they might as well just completely redesign

How much damage will it deal mow? Is a 1.2x modifier enough to two-shot any more? If not I'd literally be better off with a LitC Uffern from Omolon.

And I just got into running Defender with NBP and Invective. Sigh. It's probably for the best, though it makes snipers an even better option (and this is apparently already year of the sniper. I played 2 games today with whole teams of snipers. It was boring as sh*t)..

Thinking about it - whose melee range are they talking about as the base range? If Warlock, sweet. If Titan... No thanks.

Fabian strategy will be my new jam. I love
My arminius-d with high stability but it's only useful at short range. Hopefully with the new design where the gun changes from med to high rof it'll be the perfect fit for my play style.

Also I'm surprised by how much of a reduction the pr's are getting. 8%? Didn't they buff them 10% initially to make them effective? I hope they didn't go too far.

Who knew that all it would take is year two (and other games) for us to be in agreement on so many things? :D

Wasn't the big bump to Pulse Rifles a while ago 9%? If so, this will just bring them back to where they were in the Three Little Words era. I'm fine with that. Especially given that most of the rest of the sandbox is probably slightly less powerful than back then.

- No text -

- No text -

- No text -

Hawkmoon's been dead since TTK dropped. Now they're just beating the corpse.

I'm glad Jade Rabbit isn't getting nerfed yet. I want to have one before they nerf it five times like they did Hawkmoon.

I'm trying to understand their logic here. They give out an overpowered shotgun through a quest, and an overpowered pulse rifle through Iron Banner, then say that they need to nerf all of the shotguns and pulse rifles because they're overpowered. Why not just go after the 3 or 4 weapons that are dominating?

It's currently the least efficient archetype. Bungie must agree because it's actually getting a stealth buff - the Ttk on all other PRs is getting slower, but the Nirwen archetype is staying the same.

It seems they are going to rework Fabian Strategy into a higher RoF auto rifle... that could be interesting. I already like the gun, I hope this is an overall buff to the gun seeing as they gave the gun to us broken. I might even bring it into PvP just for kicks and giggles.

So Pulses are pretty much back to launch status. AKA my sweet, sweet Bad Juju is no more...

So, +9.7-9=+0.7...

If they weren't powerful enough before how does dialing them back to almost exactly what they were make sense? Unless my vague feeling is correct and other guns like Assault Rifles and Shotgun getting nerfed since then has shifted the whole sandbox's time to kill a bit higher?

So, +9.7-9=+0.7...

If they weren't powerful enough before how does dialing them back to almost exactly what they were make sense? Unless my vague feeling is correct and other guns like Assault Rifles and Shotgun getting nerfed since then has shifted the whole sandbox's time to kill a bit higher?

This isn't the first time weapon balance changes have made me scratch my head a bit. It was just under a year ago that Bungie released stats in a weekly update that illustrated just how useless Pulse Rifles were in PvE and PvP. I get that they're too powerful now. They clearly need tweaking. But why revert them to the same point they were at in the beginning? Same thing as what they did with Shotguns in PvE. They weren't powerful enough. Pretty much everyone agreed. So they doubled the damage of shotguns in PvE. Then they decided "they're too good now" but instead of splitting the difference they reverted them all the way back to their original state.

I mean, I know Bungie is making these decisions for a reason. They must be using some kind of data to back up these changes. But on the surface, it seems a bit counter-productive to me.

Luck in the Chamber is being changed to only grant snipers a bonus for precision damage. Outside of insane shots like this one and the occasional lucky res snipe if you're rolling with a lower impact sniper, where will LitC actually benefit snipers now?

-Disciple

- No text -

So basically rolling the car and killing everyone inside. So Scout Rifle is now the God Class of weaponry in the game, huh? Hung Jury gonna be destroying everything.

So basically rolling the car and killing everyone inside. So Scout Rifle is now the God Class of weaponry in the game, huh? Hung Jury gonna be destroying everything.

Well, if they did things correctly then AR's should be able to take Scouts short-medium, so it should depend on the map.

What bothers me is how well Scouts and snipers can still hit when they are getting pelted by an AR.

So basically rolling the car and killing everyone inside. So Scout Rifle is now the God Class of weaponry in the game, huh? Hung Jury gonna be destroying everything.

Well, if they did things correctly then AR's should be able to take Scouts short-medium, so it should depend on the map.

What bothers me is how well Scouts and snipers can still hit when they are getting pelted by an AR.

If someone's using a sniper up close while you're pelting him with an AR, and can still hit his target, he's WAY better than you.

If he's far away, you shouldn't even be ABLE to pelt him with an AR, so this is an unreasonable complaint.

:)

And I just got into running Defender with NBP and Invective. Sigh. It's probably for the best, though it makes snipers an even better option (and this is apparently already year of the sniper. I played 2 games today with whole teams of snipers. It was boring as sh*t)..

Likewise. Last night I tried out my No Backup Plans, Monte Carlo, & Conspiracy Theory D. I had a lot of fun, but my range finder shotgun clearly isn't overpowered (in my hands) as my KDR for the night was just under 1.0.

So basically rolling the car and killing everyone inside. So Scout Rifle is now the God Class of weaponry in the game, huh? Hung Jury gonna be destroying everything.

Well, if they did things correctly then AR's should be able to take Scouts short-medium, so it should depend on the map.

What bothers me is how well Scouts and snipers can still hit when they are getting pelted by an AR.

If someone's using a sniper up close while you're pelting him with an AR, and can still hit his target, he's WAY better than you.

If he's far away, you shouldn't even be ABLE to pelt him with an AR, so this is an unreasonable complaint.

:)

Ehh, I've pelted someone with an AR from mid range and he still got a head shot off. It's really annoying. But it's mostly the Scout rifles.

For every 1% damage reduction to shotguns in PvP, increase 5% shotgun damage in PvE!

Actually, you know what, forget it--let's just put PvE shotguns at 5000% damage and be done with it.

Yes, I'm that shallow.

Walk up to Oryx and just mace him with a 4th Horsemsan...

It will be interesting to see how the weapon changes pan out, but it would be nice to adjust the grenades. Nothing is worse than throwing an arcbolt/firebolt, then getting killed before it hits the ground, so it doesn't work. There are other grenades that will, but why not these? Also Arcbolt grenades suck now, I was finding myself doing MUCH better with skip grenades.

They will let you headshot them, over and over. It's lame, it's cheese, it is very easy to do.

Last night I was wrecking the world with my Jade Rabbit. Honestly the best I've ever done in Iron Banner, ever.

With the new changes, every other archetype is getting nerfed except for scouts. The net result is that scouts are about to rise well above the rest of the fray.

Last night I was wrecking the world with my Jade Rabbit. Honestly the best I've ever done in Iron Banner, ever.

With the new changes, every other archetype is getting nerfed except for scouts. The net result is that scouts are about to rise well above the rest of the fray.

Jade Rabbit and I are the year 2 equivalent of Cody and the Hawkmoon. It's the gun I've wanted most since I first laid eyes on it, yet it continues to evade me. Hope I'm able to get one to drop eventually :)

In the meantime, I've actually had a lot of luck with Hung Jury from time to time. I need to adjust my playstyle and hang back a bit more than usual. Once I get into that mode, it works quite nicely.

Last night I was wrecking the world with my Jade Rabbit. Honestly the best I've ever done in Iron Banner, ever.

I think Bungie just accidentally made Tlaloc a super weapon. Ahah pun intended. Seriously, that scout was bonkers good before the update.

The only reason I even use Tlaloc is that MIDA rate of fire. Now I can have it all the time without holding onto my Super :D

The only reason I even use Tlaloc is that MIDA rate of fire. Now I can have it all the time without holding onto my Super :D

In case you missed this :)

I'm disgustingly pleased with the news

Jade Rabbit has grown on me. When I first got it, I just thought it was utter garbage. I don't like the sight, don't like the sfx, the kick is slightly off... But now I love the damn thing. Plus it has a bunny on it!

Keep using those 3s of Coins and farming the gatekeeper and you'll get one eventually.

Jade Rabbit has grown on me. When I first got it, I just thought it was utter garbage. I don't like the sight, don't like the sfx, the kick is slightly off... But now I love the damn thing. Plus it has a bunny on it!

Keep using those 3s of Coins and farming the gatekeeper and you'll get one eventually.

I've seen people mention this before... is there a particular reason that farming the Gatekeeper is more effective than simply running strikes? Is there a higher drop rate for some reason?

I think it is just because you can get to him fairly quickly.

This is it. Once you kill him, if you immediately go to orbit, you keep the checkpoint for the boss. So a "farming run" of him takes about 30 seconds of actual gameplay. Any time I go to orbit, I kill the gatekeeper once before doing whatever the next thing I was going to do was.

Also, when I'm watching football games on Sundays, I kill the gatekeeper during each commercial break.

note: Because you can kill him soooo quickly, I don't recommend just farming him over and over since there's still a 5-6 minute hidden cooldown on the 3 of Coins, and sitting in orbit for 5 minutes between runs is boring.

…blah blah blah blah I HAVE JADE RABBIT NEENER NEENER blah blah blah blah…

I'm with Cruel - I'm never going to see the Rabbit this year. Destiny seems to think that I REALLY want a bunch of Hereafters instead.

Which is fine because K/D means nothing in the real game.

Well, given the amount of high autoaim snipers in he current meta and the fact that flincch doesn't seem to be a thing against a lot of snipers, it isn't surprising that sniping is the tendency. Though I am curious how the fusion rifle changes will end up working out as a more intermediate option.

I think Fallout did a video on it and showed that Tlaloc will fire faster than Mida, but still hits like Vision of Confluence. That's stupid crazy. Of course the trade off is that you don't get super kills and make orbs for your team and when used normally its just kinda meh.

…blah blah blah blah I HAVE JADE RABBIT NEENER NEENER blah blah blah blah…

I'm with Cruel - I'm never going to see the Rabbit this year. Destiny seems to think that I REALLY want a bunch of Hereafters instead.

At least you guys have a chance at it. By the time us Xbox players can get it, it'll be nerfed all to hell, just like Hawkmoon was. ): I got a Hawkmoon a week after TTK dropped and thought, "This is it?" That gun blows chunks.

- No text -

Yeah, it was around the third stupid nerf that I realized Xbox folks would never really get Hawkmoon. That weapon went from Gjallarhorn to Nechrochasm by the time September rolled around, and that really sucked.

Similar situation for the Horseman. It's still a fantastic gun, but back when it did 200% damage? Lawd...

That's why I'm worried about Jade Rabbit. So far, PS4 exclusives have truly been exclusive. Hawkmoon was the free weapon that I got from Rahool, and it went straight to the vault after the first missions.

If there's one thing that I hate about Destiny, it's how overboard Bungie goes with applying multiple nerfs to a weapon at a time (usually applied with a general class nerf, too), and Hawkmoon got it like no other, which is frustrating, because there was nothing quite as satisfying as the Magic Bullet...

Yeah, it was around the third stupid nerf that I realized Xbox folks would never really get Hawkmoon. That weapon went from Gjallarhorn to Nechrochasm by the time September rolled around, and that really sucked.

Similar situation for the Horseman. It's still a fantastic gun, but back when it did 200% damage? Lawd...

That's why I'm worried about Jade Rabbit. So far, PS4 exclusives have truly been exclusive. Hawkmoon was the free weapon that I got from Rahool, and it went straight to the vault after the first missions.

If there's one thing that I hate about Destiny, it's how overboard Bungie goes with applying multiple nerfs to a weapon at a time (usually applied with a general class nerf, too), and Hawkmoon got it like no other, which is frustrating, because there was nothing quite as satisfying as the Magic Bullet...

I think if as a rule they just make every change they do half as much, then the situation will be better.

Every change is just this drastic reaction to the current preferences and strategies. Auto Rifles are too good. Okay we'll nerf them. Now Hand Cannons are too strong. Okay nerf those. Now we have pulses on top. Nerf those. People are just going to flock to whatever works and is best. The shotgun nerfs are too much. If you have their range drop to melee range, then you need a way to get in close. That means quick scope and blink. But no, Bungie nerfed those, so now it's oing to be harder to get in, and shotguns will primarily be for campers. This is the nerf (minus the ads and movement speed tweaks) that needed to be done ages ago, before they nerfed blink.

As for Hawkmoon, I spent 50 weeks trying to get it, only to have it now be garbage because of the hand cannon nerfs. Every single patch hawkmoon loses effectiveness in some way. I was a good weapon, but I've always felt it was a poorly designed one. It's basically "This gun sometimes does extra damage, sometimes a lot extra". That is the most boring thing ever. Exotic should be exotic.

These drastic changes suck, because it's super hard to level up your weapons now. You put time into getting a weapon up to par, and then it suddenly becomes garbage. That's not cool at all.

The solution is more frequent, smaller changes. Not only would that prevent the overreacting, but it would give you time to phase out your weapons.

So, +9.7-9=+0.7...

If they weren't powerful enough before how does dialing them back to almost exactly what they were make sense? Unless my vague feeling is correct and other guns like Assault Rifles and Shotgun getting nerfed since then has shifted the whole sandbox's time to kill a bit higher?

Time to Kill is def up across cross the entire sandbox since 2.0, I think Wisnewski mentoined that on a Crucible radio podcast.

Post thorn/tlw/shotgun dynamics it's probably up about 25%.

In that context then the nerf fits in pretty well, and it will probably keep pulse average TTKs in line. The effect of the range nerf is perhaps more important. If that gets pulled back too far then hitting those bursts is going to be rough, and even though the damage drop is fairly small, there's going to be a lot more 4-5 burst fights.

If hand cannons end up very reliable, they may being beastly again. Three shot hand cannons have low TTks.