Given that Bungie has a showcase planned for August 23 that will go into detail about Season 18 and the future of Destiny 2, we weren’t expecting big things from this week’s TWAB. True to form, it’s a pretty light one in terms of the developing story, and instead focuses on changes Bungie is making to the PvE sandbox.
The TL;DR is that Bungie is buffing some archetypes that are neglected in PvE activities, such as Scout Rifles and Heavy Grenade Launchers. Perks will be re-jigged, so Guardians can feel more confident pulling out some of those dusty old weapons they love to use but simply don’t get their Sparrows revving anymore. Other notable changes include reworked perk pools for Dares of Eternity weapons, with an Origin Trait added for good measure.
Most importantly, though, several popular but underutilised Exotic weapons are receiving buffs, including new anti-Champion perks to make them more viable in pinnacle PvE activities like Legend and Master Lost Sectors, Raids, Dungeons and high level Nightfalls.
Exotic bow Le Monarque will have anti-Overload functionality added to its Poison Arrow perk, while the Thunderlord heavy machine gun will have a similar perk added to its standard damage output.
The Gambit-focused hand cannon Malfeasance will have anti-Unstoppable added to its explosions, which is perhaps the most exciting. Malfeasance is an excellent weapon, but up until this change has rarely been used outside Gambit.
Finally, the Wish-Ender bow will have anti-Barrier added to its damage output. Unlike the other three, this will also have increased damage versus Champions and bosses, as well as its draw time decreased. Given how long a process it is to unlock this bow, these changes are well overdue. Besides these four, several other Exotics are being buffed and reworked primarily to make them more viable in PvE.
End-game content in Destiny 2 has always forced players to switch subclasses and gear loadouts for maximum effectiveness or, in some cases, any effectiveness at all. While this encourages the use of different gear and abilities, it also locks the meta up pretty quick each season. These changes mean more freedom to mix and match Exotic weaponry with different subclasses and some of the best Destiny 2 armor, opening up the possibilities for diverse and even surprising choices to emerge.
The changes are even more significant given that Bungie usually focuses more on tweaking weapons for the competitive sandbox. It’s not often we see a big shake-up to the PvE meta like this, not only improving the usefulness of Exotic weaponry but giving players more build options for pinnacle solo and group content.
Bungie has a lot in store for Season 18, including the advent of Arc 3.0 that will finally allow us to create the best builds possible across all subclasses, whether we’re running Hunter, Titan, or Warlock.
Check out this week’s TWAB in full for more details on what’s changing in the build up to Season 18.