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Destiny 2 Gambit changes - what’s new in the Witch Queen update?

Lock and load, Guardians - It's time to check out the latest Destiny 2 Gambit changes and gear up for another fight against the Primeval

destiny 2 gambit changes: three Guardians in Gambit Prime armour

There’s a lot of ways to face off against other Guardians in Destiny 2 and Gambit is one of them – it’s one of the most popular competitive modes available in Bungie’s sci-fi looter shooter. This hybrid mode pits two teams of four against each other in a race to defeat a Primeval boss. There are a lot of moving parts with this mode and Bungie is constantly updating it. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest Destiny 2 Gambit changes.

Destiny 2 is a live service game and it’s always being updated by Bungie. Each week, the developer releases a new This Week At Bungie (TWAB) blog detailing upcoming changes and highlighting discussion points within the community. Gambit isn’t always a focus of these TWAB blogs, which might be disappointing to hear, but there’s always balancing changes being made to this mode outside of major updates. If you want to win your Gambit games, it’s important to keep track of these.

So, to help you out, we’ve gathered all the latest Destiny 2 Gambit changes for you below. From the most minor of tuning to the biggest enhancements, we’ve got everything you need to know before you drop into your next game of Gambit.

Destiny 2 Gambit changes for The Witch Queen

Bungie’s Update 4.0.0.1 is going to introduce some major changes to Destiny 2’s Gambit mode. Releasing alongside the Witch Queen expansion, the following changes are being made in an effort to improve player engagement and make Gambit more appealing to a wider audience.

In Bungie’s TWAB, the following changes have been revealed. They are expanded upon in the update 4.0.0.1 patch notes and you can check all of them out below.

Destiny 2 Gambit changes – Core Activity

  • Freelance node added
  • Rotating seasonal selection of curated encounters
  • Respawn points added to all Fronts
  • Players will now always drop half the Motes they were carrying if defeated
    • These can be picked up by any player, Invaders included
  • Players can be revived two seconds earlier
  • Auto-Respawn delayed by two seconds
  • All shields have increased resistance to non-matching damage types
  • “Rules of Gambit” node added to launch screen
  • 10 Mote Phalanx Blocker health increased from 500 to 1000
  • 15 Mote Knight Blocker now has Stasis attack
  • Mote drain from multiple Blockers continues even if the opposing team is in Primeval phase
  • Mote drain is paused if a player is near the bank or engaging Blockers

Destiny 2 Gambit changes – Ammo Economy

  • New ammo chest spawn when completing a Front
    • Can be looted once by each player
    • Contains a small amount of Special and Heavy ammo
    • Will time out 20 seconds after first interact
  • Killing a high-value target will spawn one Heavy brick for each player;
    • During the Primeval phase, ammo chests spawn every 60 seconds;
  • Limited Special and Heavy ammo bricks spawn from enemies if you have finder mods equipped

Destiny 2 Gambit changes – Primeval Tuning

  • Primeval health and Slayer stack bonus has returned
  • Envoys now spawn with friends in the Fronts, not the bank area
    • Envoys will have reduced health, varied elemental shields, and will not be affected by Slayer stacks
    • Envoy health reduced from 2000 to 1000
  • Envoys will put an invulnerability shield on Primeval boss
  • Envoys respawn at 30% of Primeval boss damage done
    • This increases 10% with every Envoy spawn and will only occur five times
  • The Primeval Servitor boss has been removed
    • Malfeasance quest now starts on first Primeval kill

Destiny 2 Gambit changes – Invasions

  • Level advantage disabled for Invader PvP
  • Invasions now trigger at 40 Mote and 80 Mote thresholds
    • Primeval phase invasions are unchanged
  • Invasions can’t be saved up anymore
  • Invaders can no longer see how many Motes enemy players are carrying
  • Player nameplates fade out when the invader is aiming down sights
  • Invader kills heal Primeval exactly 27% every time

destiny 2 gambit changes drifter: The Drifter holding up a green medallion

Destiny 2 Gambit changes – Rewards

  • Focusing changes
    • You can now focus Gambit engram into “Gambit Armor” or “Gambit Weapons” for 10,000 Glimmer and 50 Legendary Shards
    • Gambit Weapons: Crowd Pleaser, Bottom Dollar, Trinary System, Borrowed Time, Servant Leader
  • New Gambit weapons are drop-only for a single season before being made available for focusing
  • Bygones, Trust, and Bad Omens removed from Drifter vendor
    Gambit memento for weapon crafting can drop after any match
  • Older Gambit shaders have a small chance of dropping after each match
  • Primeval Servitor cosmetic drops can drop at the end of any match
  • Furtive Shell ghost can drop at the end of any match

Well, that’s everything you need to know about the latest Destiny 2 Gambit changes. Bungie is always talking about the future and there are changes coming to Gambit bounties and balancing tweaks in the works. We’ll keep you updated with the latest information when it becomes available.

If you’re trying to put together a Gambit fireteam with friends on different platforms, check out our Destiny 2 cross-play guide here and get clued up on how you can all play together. Happy hunting, Guardians.