Fans of Bungie's massive hit shooter Destiny are in for a treat as the game's sandbox designer Jon Weisnewski just unveiled the latest weapons and armors changes featured in the upcoming December Update.
On Bungie's official website, Weisnewski said the tweaks that they have made to the game's armaments were heavily influenced by the data collected from in-game matches, feedback from the fans and internal discussions to help make the gaming experience more enjoyable overall.
Base Weapon Updates
Auto Rifles
One of the primary changes Bungie made in the December Update was to fix issues with the Auto Rifles. The option to use these weapons in PvP matches were brought back with the Destiny's 2.0 update, but according to the game data, they proved to be ineffective when used against Pulse Rifle users during close range battles.
The Auto Rifles are now more efficient when fired at close to medium range. They also match better against Pulse Rifles in PvP combat.
Changes made to the weapons' base damage include a 3 percent base damage increase for Suros Regime and An Answering Chord; a 7 percent base damage increase for the Zhalo Supercell and Paleocontact JPK-43; and a 4 percent base damage increase for the Arminius-D and Necrochasm.
Pulse Rifles
Destiny's Pulse Rifles have gained the reputation as some of the most efficient and adaptive primary weapons in the game.
The base damage of the rifles is enough to give the wielder an edge against Auto Rifle users, while their effective range allows a player to maintain a steady distance against Scout Rifle users. The burst cadence feature of Pulse Rifles can also cause problems even to high-proficient Hand Cannon wielders.
Weisnewski said that while they like that the Pulse Rifles are having a "moment" right now, they decided to place some limitations to the raw utility of the weapons.
The design team has reduced the base damage for The Messenger and Spare Change by 9 percent; the Hawksaw, No Time To Explain and Red Death by 8 percent; the Bad Juju by 8 percent; and the Grasp of Marok by 2 percent.
Hand Cannons
The December Update features better ADS accuracy for Hand Cannons to make them more reliable when used at close to medium range. The designers, however, pointed out that the Golden Gun will not be affected by any changes to Hand Cannon weapons.
Shotguns
Updates to Shotguns include a reduced base damage falloff in order to match melee lunge ranges, slower ready and stow times, added recoil across the Stability stat range, slower reload time across the Reload stat range and slower time to Aim Down Sights for all types of Shotguns.
Fusion Rifles
When it comes to Fusion Rifles, the designers want to turn them into specialized weapons that would require players to focus on a set of skills to be able to wield them effectively.
Some of the changes to the rifles include an increase in charge speed for fast charging Pulse Rifles but with reduced burst damage, a reduction in Hip Fire Stability and an increase in Crouch Stability and ADS for all Fusion Rifles.
Sniper Rifles
Sniper Rifles have always been tricky to use when a player is forced to fire at close to medium range, but the latest update to the game will make it even more challenging to wield the weapons.
The Luck in the Chamber perk now only boosts precision damage for Sniper Rifles.
More Exotic Equipment
According to Bungie's website community manager David Dague (DeeJ), the December Update will also have more exotic equipments in store for players.
Two of these items have been made Year Two exclusives, while others, such as armor and weapons, are from Year One that have been updated to match characters at Level 40.
Dague also hinted that some of the reprisals from Year One could even feature new upgrades in their talent trees.
