Destiny 2 Previews Primary Weapons Buffs For Mid-Season Update

Bungie has released an in-depth preview of its upcoming mid-season weapons update for Destiny 2, featuring substantial buffs to a number of primary weapons. The Exotic SMG Tarrabah and Legendary Ikelos SMG will see PvP nerfs in this update, with a number of other tweaks and balances on the cards.

The major focus of this weapons balance pass is to shore up the sometimes lacklustre primary weapons class, especially as PvE content gets more challenging. Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, Sidearms, and Scout Rifles will all be getting buffs in the update. Bungie explained that SMGs and Bows have been used for the “benchmark” for these buffs, with the intention being to bring other weapons up to the same level of effectiveness.

Auto Rifles will see a 25% damage buff against red and orange bar enemies in PvE, Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, and Sidearms will get 20%, while Scout Rifles get a 10% buff. The weapons team has said that you should be more likely to one-shot red bar enemies in Heroic and Legendary content. In a comment on Twitter, Bungie clarified that the above buffs also apply to Exotic weapons, and will stack with the 40% damage boost against red bar enemies.

Bungie has also been looking at weapons that are currently dominating the PvP meta, with an eye to balancing outliers. First in the crosshairs is the Ikelos SMG, which turned out to have some legacy custom tuning that heavily reduced its recoil. This effect has now been removed, bringing the Ikelos’ recoil more in line with other SMGs.

The Tarrabah is also getting a nerf, with Bungie reducing the amount of Ravenous Beast energy generated from taking damage from 3% to 1%, as well as reducing zoom from 16 to 15.

The weapons team has also given a peek at changes that are in line for Season 21’s launch, which will include a damage nerf to Aggressive Frame SMGs, a major rework to hip fire reticules, a 10% buff to Sniper Rifle damage in PvE, and more individual Exotic weapon buffs.

Season 20 Mid-Season Update Weapons Preview

PVE PRIMARY WEAPON BALANCE

• Increased the damage of the following weapon types against red and orange bar enemies in PvE:
  • Auto Rifles: 25%
  • Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, and Sidearms: 20%
  • Scout Rifles: 10%

WEAPON ARCHETYPES

• Submachine Guns
  • IKELOS SMG:
    • Removed some tuning in the custom scope causing these weapons to have significantly less recoil than intended. The recoil is now in line with other Aggressive Frame SMGs.
• Fusion Rifle
  • Increased burst damage by 15 (damage per burst goes from 245 to 260, damage per bolt goes from 27.2 to 28.9).
  • Damage in PvE is unchanged.
• Trace Rifle
  • Increased base damage by 4% (base damage goes from 12 to 12.5).
  • Reduced precision hit multiplier from 1.4x to 1.35x (crit damage goes from 16.8 to 16.9).
  • Increased the effectiveness of stability at reducing flinch by 10% at 100 stat (scales down at lower values).
• Sniper Rifle
  • Reduced recoil by 50%.
  • Increased total ammunition (magazine + reserves) by 30%.

EXOTIC WEAPONS

• Final Warning
  • Can no longer mark targets through Titan Barricades.
• Tarrabah
  • Reduced the amount of Ravenous Beast energy generated when taking damage from 3% to 1%.
  • Reduced zoom from 16 to 15.
• Revision Zero
  • Fourth Times the Charm will now be reset when entering Hunter’s Trace.
    • This will prevent the issue of firing a single shot while in Hunter’s Trace and being forcibly returned to Pulse Rifle mode when FTTC activates.
  • Increased PvE damage of the Hunter’s Trace rounds by 25%.
  • Increased PvE damage of the Häkke Heavy Burst rounds by 75%.