The Biggest Sandbox Changes Coming In Destiny 2 'Beyond Light'

As we are rounding the corner to Destiny’s next expansion, new information has been highly anticipated on how our favorite weapons will perform once the season starts. This week’s This Week At Bungie gave us a ton of insight. Here are the biggest takeaways.

Hand Cannons

Destiny’s most iconic and beloved weapon type is getting yet another nerf. In Beyond Light, Bungie will be updating all Lightweight Hand Cannons with 150 RoF (Rate of Fire) to the Adaptive subfamily 140 RoF. This move will be a painstaking blow to those that rely on Hand Cannons in the Crucible as it will only make the TTK (Time To Kill) worse. This is leaving many in the community with questions like where is this change coming from, why does Bungie always nerf Hand Cannons when they are the most iconic weapon type in the game, and why is Sunshot the only Hand Cannon immune to this change?

Bungie does say that they are implementing this change to combat the fact that 150 Hand Cannons are the only ones really being used in the Crucible, but isn’t this because they are the only ones capable of competing with other weapon types in the game?

Sniper Rifles

Sniper Rifles are getting a slight but meaningful change in the next expansion. Lower zoom scope snipers will be receiving a reduction in aim-assist while higher zoom snipers will be receiving a buff. And while this change comes after Revoker and others are being sunset, it does make me wonder what it means for the next pinnacle sniper rifle. I was hoping to see a damage buff come to snipers for PvE activities but alas, I will put my Whisper back in the vault again.

Auto Rifles

This was the most disappointing section in the entire TWAB to me. Auto Rifles have been dominating Destiny 2 and the Crucible for the majority of its existence. After the increase they had last season, they have become the most used weapon type in the game, and the changes put forth make it seem like that will continue. Prior to Season Of The Worthy, Auto Rifles with an Adaptive archetype fired bullets with a 600 RoF and each bullet hit for 13.75 damage. With the changes made after, they were increased to 15.75. In Beyond Light, they will be brought down to 14.25. I don’t feel this will be a strong enough nerf with the crazy range and deep magazines most Auto Rifles have in the game, especially with the lack of proper damage fall off.

Scout Rifles

Scout Rifles are rarely used in comparison to Pulse Rifles in majority of the activities in the game. Bungie is hoping to combat this by adding in increase of up to 15% to the aim assist cones. This is one of those changes that seems like a big deal, but we will not know for sure till we see it in action.

Rocket Launchers

If you were expecting some big changes to Rocket Launchers like better damage or more rounds in the clip, I am sorry to say this isn’t the TWAB for you. Rocket Launchers are getting more ammo reserves though by one or two bullets though depending on the Inventory stat. I guess that is cool.

Here are some other highlights I found that I think needed another spotlight:
Mountaintop

Mountaintop is gone *crab rave meme here*. Despite already being sunset, Mountaintop is also receiving a reduction in splash damage, projectile velocity, and in-air accuracy. This is specifically targeted to the PVP use of the weapon, and even though we will be seeing it far less in Competitve game modes already, this ensures we will see it even less in Quickplay matches.

Falling Guillotine

Falling Guillotine is seeing a substantial decrease in heavy damage by 24%. Bungie states that though this will bring it more in line with other swords, we will still see a noticeable difference in the damage it does.


Ruinous Effigy

I was not expecting to write about Ruinous Effigy today, but Bungie did nerf the damage of the transmutation spheres you create when you defeat an enemy with the gun. I am baffled as to why Bungie is reducing the aerial melee by 25%, but I am sure the reduction in damage caused by the aurora of the sphere has something to do with trapping frozen enemies.

I will say that I am neither satisfied nor disappointed with the news this week. It is leaving me feeling very neutral. The majority of these changes seem to be slowing the game down and that after all, seems to be the theme of the next expansion.