Like the last Weekly Update, this update gives a small preview of what's to come in the next patch for Destiny. Perhaps this week's information is a bit more exciting, but it is definitely more controversial and may ruffle some feathers (you've been warned)!
That's right, bring on the buffs and the nerfs. But first...
I talked yesterday about the rumored release date change for the House of Wolves Expansion. The rumor is that the release is now slated for May 19th, instead of the previous March 10th date. This has been somewhat confirmed by Bungie today, with DeeJ stating that the Expanion will drop sometime in Q2, which is any time during the months of April, May and June. Since May 19th is practically right in the middle, this date may be pretty accurate.
DeeJ also hinted at the fact that soon we may be given some details on what Bungie is planning for "this fall." Of course, that is likely a reference to the "Comet" Expansion that's rumored to come out sometime this September. Although I doubt that we will be hearing anything beyond very broad hints any time in the near future, it's still exciting to actually hear Bungie acknowledge that they have stuff planned beyond House of Wolves.
On to the weapons...
In the Update Preview released today, the Dev Team announced that the next patch for Destiny will also include a fair amount of weapon tuning, in addition to the already mentioned fix for our Heavy Ammo disappearing. Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, Fusion Rifles, and Shotguns are each receiving their own handful of tweaks that Bungie hopes will create a more balanced sandbox, both in the Crucible and in the Wild (PvE). I'll go into each of these different weapons a little bit below.
Auto Rifles
- Reduce base damage of Auto Rifles by 2.5% (averaged across Rate of Fire stats, higher RoF took less of a reduction than low RoF)
- Reduce effective range values so that damage falloff and accuracy are a stronger factor in combat decisions
- Range reduction is less severe in the higher stat values, so now your range stat is more critical to long distance engagements
- Increase base damage of Pulse Rifles by 9.7%. DPS is now more in line with other primaries
- Reduce effective range
- Damage falloff starts closer to the shooter, and follow up shots are less accurate at long ranges
- Slight reduction to initial accuracy
- This is unnoticeable at close to medium range, but underscores the range intentions when used from far away
- Blast pattern on a Fusion Rifle burst cone is a little wider
- Close to medium range volleys are largely unaffected, but at a distance the projectiles are less likely to land hits on a single target
- This reduces the reliability of landing a one hit kill at far range, and makes the weapon better at spreading damage into a group
- Initial starting ammo is reduced across all ammo stats. This is change primarily affects The Crucible
- Starting a Crucible match, you’ll have less Fusion Rifle ammo in reserve
- In PvE activities we persistently track your ammo. We only use initial ammo values if you are logging in for the first time, or starting a Crucible match
- Increase damage by 2x (100%) against all non-Guardian combatants (aliens)
- Reduce high end range values - damage falloff starts sooner, so Crucible players with long range shotguns need to be a little closer for successful one hit kills
- (Like the Fusion Rifle) Initial starting ammo is reduced across all ammo stats in the Crucible:
- Starting a Crucible match, you’ll have less Shotgun ammo in reserve
- In PvE activities we persistently track your ammo
- We only use initial ammo values if you are logging in for the first time, or starting a Crucible match
The preview also said that Scout Rifles, Snipers, and Heavy Weapons will remain mostly unchanged in this next update. I will give my thoughts an analysis on these changes in a post sometime this weekend.
Be sure to check out both the official Weekly Update and the Update Preview for a more details and explanations.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. And don't forget to check in later tonight or sometime tomorrow to see Xur's complete inventory and location for this weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment