KEY POINTS

  • A plethora of exotic weapons are getting buffed in the midseason update
  • A handful of weapon archetypes are getting rebalanced to fit better into the meta
  • Changes will go live once the Dec. 7 update is released

“Destiny 2” developer Bungie has released a hefty information dump covering most of the changes that players can expect from the big December update, “Witch Queen” and beyond.

Perhaps the most exciting bits of news in this week’s TWAB are the upcoming changes to weapons and perks. Next month, players will see an interesting shift in the meta as a number of weapon archetypes receive buffs, nerfs and balance changes all around.

Considering the sheer length of “Season of the Lost,” having a midseason update was for the best. It is not only getting more stagnant by the week, but many of the game’s most powerful weapons are also currently overshadowing literally every other option in the game. Hopefully, the December update will introduce a breath of fresh air for “Destiny 2.”

For starters, pellet shotguns, bows and linear fusion rifles are all getting a small bump to their PvE damage values in the coming patch, which should make each weapon type more appealing in activities outside of the Crucible. Seeing linear fusions get buffed is definitely an interesting choice considering how dominant the weapon type is in the current season.

The Dead Man's Tale exotic scout rifle in Destiny 2
The Dead Man's Tale exotic scout rifle in Destiny 2 Destiny 2

Meanwhile, sidearms, fusion rifles, and caster frame swords are getting some small improvements. Sidearm and fusion rifles have been fixed and will no longer be treated as projectile weapons. Meanwhile, caster sword heavy attacks will be more spammable thanks to an ammo cost reduction.

On the other hand, slug shotguns will get their damage reduced to 20% in PvE.

As for the exotics, here’s a quick summary of the incoming changes:

  • Buffed
    • Whisper of the Worm
    • Cryosthesia 77K
    • Leviathan’s Breath
    • DARCI
    • Malfeasance
    • Dead Man’s Tale
    • Suros Regime
    • Sleeper Simulant
    • Arbalest
  • Nerfed
    • Vex Mythoclast
    • Heir Apparent (now weaker in PvP)
    • Lorentz Driver
    • Traveler’s Chosen
  • Rebalanced
    • Fighting Lion

Bungie also revealed that Adrenaline Junkie will now work similarly to Swashbuckler. The perk will now give one damage stack per weapon kill, while scoring a grenade final blow will give five stacks instead.

Pulse Monitor is also getting buffed. The perk will now have a higher health threshold, which means players won’t have to be so close to death for the perk to activate.

Meanwhile, the maximum number of stacks for Whirlwind Blade to reach max damage is getting increased from five to 10. Vorpal Weapon is also getting rebalanced. The bonus damage for heavy weapons is being reduced to 10%, while the bonus for primary weapons is getting buffed to 20%. Special ammo weapons remain unchanged.

The changes will go live once the update is released on Dec. 7.

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