Bungie says it is planning to introduce big changes in the upcoming "Destiny" update to be released later this month to balance out the weapon sandbox in both PvP and PvE modes.
"Destiny 1.1.1" will see the toning down of the auto rifle, hand cannon, and fusion rifle and the tuning up of the pulse rifle, which is the least used weapon in many a "Destiny" players arsenal.
The changes, says sandbox designer Jon Weisnewski, are the result of listening to feedback from players, observing players in the wild, and conducting internal playtests. While many of the changes will have a subtle effect, others will get noticed more immediately.
"It all depends on how you play," he says. "This is an opportunity to change up your combat strategy in new ways and/or double down in the areas that still feel good to you."
Auto rifles, which are the most used weapons in PvE and PvP modes, are extremely effective in most scenarios. In fact, Weisnewski says it is "so effective that it's intended role in the Primary family is 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," Weisnewski says.
Pulse rifles, on the other hand, will get a 9.7 percent increase in base damage, making them optimal at medium range but also effective at close and long ranges.
Meanwhile, hand cannons are deemed by Bungie to be "a little too effective at longer ranges" when they were meant for precision work. With the upcoming update, hand cannons will have reduced effective range so that shots will have to be paced out and damage will be lower until players are closer to their target.
"Our goal is that they are ideal at close to medium-range," Weisnewski says. "They reward the calm hand that can pace shots under chaotic combat situations."
On to secondary weapons, fusion rifles are pretty to land one-hit kills or deal massive damage from a long range. To remedy this situation, Bungie will be increasing the blast pattern of fusion rifles, so that they are less effective at hitting a single target but much better at dealing damage to a group.
Shotguns, interestingly, are widely used in PvP but not in PvE. To balance the scales a little bit, Wiesnewski says Bungie will increase damage to aliens in shotguns by 100 percent but damage falloff will be increased so that players will have to be nearly right in front of their target's face to kill with a single shot.
Scout rifles, sniper rifles, heavy machine guns, and rocket launchers will, for the most part, be unchanged.
As to the question of why Bungie decided to nerf the most used weapons instead of just improving the least used ones, Wiesnewski says Bungie wants to keep "Destiny" an interesting experience for gamers while giving them a roster of impressive weapons to work with.
"If we brought up all the other weapons to account for lethality spikes that occur in specific situations, then our TTK (time to kill) would get faster with every patch," Wiesnewski says. "It is important to us to keep TTK values such that your arsenal feels lethal, but also both allows for some drama while you fight, and creates opportunities for counter-play when you're being attacked."
