Bungie has released an in-depth preview of its upcoming mid-season weapons update for Destiny 2, featuring substantial buffs to a number of primary weapons. The Exotic SMG Tarrabah and Legendary Ikelos SMG will see PvP nerfs in this update, with a number of other tweaks and balances on the cards.
The major focus of this weapons balance pass is to shore up the sometimes lacklustre primary weapons class, especially as PvE content gets more challenging. Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, Sidearms, and Scout Rifles will all be getting buffs in the update. Bungie explained that SMGs and Bows have been used for the “benchmark” for these buffs, with the intention being to bring other weapons up to the same level of effectiveness.
Auto Rifles will see a 25% damage buff against red and orange bar enemies in PvE, Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, and Sidearms will get 20%, while Scout Rifles get a 10% buff. The weapons team has said that you should be more likely to one-shot red bar enemies in Heroic and Legendary content. In a comment on Twitter, Bungie clarified that the above buffs also apply to Exotic weapons, and will stack with the 40% damage boost against red bar enemies.
Bungie has also been looking at weapons that are currently dominating the PvP meta, with an eye to balancing outliers. First in the crosshairs is the Ikelos SMG, which turned out to have some legacy custom tuning that heavily reduced its recoil. This effect has now been removed, bringing the Ikelos’ recoil more in line with other SMGs.
The Tarrabah is also getting a nerf, with Bungie reducing the amount of Ravenous Beast energy generated from taking damage from 3% to 1%, as well as reducing zoom from 16 to 15.
The weapons team has also given a peek at changes that are in line for Season 21’s launch, which will include a damage nerf to Aggressive Frame SMGs, a major rework to hip fire reticules, a 10% buff to Sniper Rifle damage in PvE, and more individual Exotic weapon buffs.
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