Players hoping to dive into Destiny's next expansion in March will have to wait a little longer. Despite rumors that the game's upcoming House of Wolves expansion would release sometime in March, Bungie says in their latest weekly update that isn't the case.
Instead, players can expect to play the new expansion sometime between April 1 and June 30. The news does match up with a recent Destiny leak from the expansion, which seemed to indicate House of Wolves would release sometime in May in addition to highlighting some of the new weapons and armor that will players will have the opportunity to obtain.
Bungie has gone on record to say that the leaked gear is old, out of date and subject to change.
"What you see here are very old ghosts from our pre-launch database," Bungie community manager Deej said earlier this week. "These are not necessarily the wolves you're looking for."
Along with word on the expansion come concrete details on a number of changes coming in Destiny's next big update, scheduled to release before the end of February. The update in large part will address weapon balancing, in particular Destiny's dominant auto-rifles and supremely underwhelming pulse rifles.
There is no question auto-rifles are the weapon of choice for top players -- they account for 18 percent of kills by top players in the Crucible, compared to the pulse rifle's measly 2 percent.
"It's extremely effective in most combat scenarios and engagement distances," writes Destiny sandbox designer Jon Weisnewski. "In fact, it is so effective that it's intended role in the Primary family is being partially obscured. We want you to be able to deliver a steady stream of precision damage with an Auto Rifle, and you still can, but you'll need to get a little bit closer."
Auto-rifles, as of next patch, will do less base damage and have their effective ranges reduced. It's the exact opposite for the game's underpowered pulse rifles, which will see a 9.7 percent base damage increase across the board. Players can also expect to see the effective range of their hand cannons reduced and have less ammo for their fusion rifle and shotguns in crucible matches. Sniper rifles, Scout rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket launchers will remain unchanged (for now.)
