Last week, Bungie outlined their changes coming to the weapons and ability sandbox in update 2.0. They outlined their goals with the update, including their desire to make your guardian feel more powerful and to decrease the overall time to kill, which is the average time is takes to defeat an opponent in PvP. A good example is with Hand Cannons. Currently, you are required to land between 4-5 shots before defeating an opponent. After the 2.0 update, Hand Cannons will now only require 3 hits to defeat opponents, similar to how things were in Destiny 1.

Slowing It Down

The pace of the game was slowed from Destiny 1 to 2 in an attempt to provide a much more tactical and team-driven experience. This change was supplemented with the changing of the weapon slot system, pushing a second primary weapon into your arsenal in place of Special weapons like shotguns and sniper rifles. In Destiny 2 year 1, you were significantly less lethal than your Destiny 1 counterpart. The excitement was gone, the high-octane action was significantly toned down. Having to output more firepower to take down a single opponent significantly lengthened the time you need to recover heath and ammunition, which made you vulnerable from follow-up attackers. This promoted the team-shot culture of Destiny 2 PvP. Hero moments became a thing of the past. Hero moments included time where you performed an amazing play that helped ensure victory or at least ensured your victory in the match.

In Destiny 2 update 2.0, those moments are coming back. Firstly, thanks to the revamped weapon slot system I outlined a few weeks back. Next is the updates to the sandbox, and third is the way ammo economy is being revamped.

The Sandbox

The Destiny sandbox is the group of systems that define how you interact with your world, primarily in reference to combat. They define things like sprint speed, weapon and ability damage, and the ways enemies fight back. In Destiny 2, everything is becoming more lethal. You will be able to dish out much more damage on a regular basis. In reference to PvP, you will be able to defeat an enemy with 2 melee hits instead of the current 3, and defeat an enemy with a single titan shoulder charge. Supers are more powerful. Finally, kinetic precision damage is receiving a significant increase, bringing primary weapons to a place where they can genuinely respond to a special weapon like a shotgun or fusion rifle.

Ammo Economy

In regards to PvP ammo economy, you’ll spawn with 2 special ammo. If you have 1 special weapon, like the Perfect Paradox, which will be finding its home in the kinetic slot, you will have 2 shotgun shells. However, if you have 2 specials equipped, like a shotgun and sniper rifle, those 2 bullets will be split up, granting you 1 in each weapon. On top of that, there will be no special ammo containers. You will need to refill your ammo by picking up ammo dropped by defeated enemies. This seems like an extreme solution, but it’s extreme enough to where it just might work. It will reward a precise or tactical hand, while still promoting enough primary play to keep them relevant in the Crucible sandbox.

With all of the new stuff coming in Forsaken, it’s nice to know that the core structure of the game is being tended to with such care. Bungie wants this to not just be a hobby for players, but a fun hobby you actually enjoy playing. They want you to feel like a god, and the 2.0 sandbox update will be a very significant step towards that goal.

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