This week saw the launch of Destiny 2’s first minor expansion following the release of its Forsaken expansion. It features some new content, but players have had a tough time actually playing it, though Bungie is hoping to address the issues. The developer also detailed a few changes coming to the crucible, and how this year’s Dawning event will work.
The most pressing issue right now is that the new Lost Forges, the main content new to the expansion, are simply too high-level for even 600-power players to enjoy, and for those who haven’t yet had the time to reach the cap, catching up can feel like a gargantuan task. Bungie hopes to alleviate both of these issues with the next update, 2.1.2, which drops on December 11. While Bungie has already lowered the power requirements by five to address the former issue, after 2.1.2 prime engrams, one of the most potent sources of leveling, will “drop more frequently and with larger power bumps for players under 600 power.” Depending on how this change plays out, Bungie may also further bump up the leveling speed in the future.
Second, the Dawning, Destiny’s annual Winter event, will have new twist. Baking is a major part of the theme, as players will be able to find ingredients to bake “Gjallardoodles or Chocolate Ship Cookies.” Combining different ingredients in various ways will yield different results, with the potential for “mismatched ingredients” leading to poor results. From these ingredients players will be able to gain enhancement cores, mods, gear, and the new Avalanche heavy machine gun by giving the baked goods to various vendors. Players can also get more ingredients with the Bright Dust currency, but must have acquire Essence of Dawnings by playing the game to do so. Of course, there’s also a new round of Dawning gear, including a sleigh-looking sparrow, a new ship, and emotes, along with the regular bonus leveling drops of cosmetic items.
There are also several changes coming to the Crucible soon. The most major change is the reduction of power ammo, which many players cited as being too plentiful and having far too much control over the flow of multiplayer matches. Although the initial spawn time for power ammo remains the same, Bungie is extending the timer for additional spawns after that by anywhere between 15 and 75 seconds, depending on the mode.
The balance team is also looking into potentially buffing sniper, scout, and fusion rifles across the board, nerfing the Nova Warp super currently dominating matches, making melee-based supers more reliable, buffing most pre-Forsaken subclasses, and nerfing Telesto, the fusion rifle most players have opted for after the relative falloff of Sleeper Simulant. Finally, Bungie hopes to release “smaller batches of patches more frequently.”
To read more about Destiny 2: Forsaken, check out our review.
[Source: Bungie]
I haven’t had time to hop into Black Armory yet, but I appreciate the easing of leveling and endgame power requirements. I am, however, a little concerned about the new Dawning format; I don’t think anyone wants to grind the new seasonal content only to come out with a bunch of botched “pastries.” It all depends on how plentiful the ingredients are, I guess.
