Destiny 2 servers back online, major patch released (update)

Destiny 2’s servers are currently offline for a few hours, with a big new patch set to go live later today.

Bungie is conducting maintenance on the servers and preparing for Destiny 2’s first major patch of 2018, which will bring the game to version 1.1.2. Downtime began at 11 a.m. ET and is expected to last until 3 p.m. ET; at noon ET, anybody who’s still playing will be kicked out to the title screen.

The v1.1.2 update, which Bungie detailed last week, is the first in a series of patches planned for release in the early part of 2018. The Destiny community’s morale is at a low point, and Bungie has been promising to roll out changes to the Destiny 2 experience that are direct responses to fan feedback. The improvements in this patch include an overhaul of raid loot, multiple revisions to the semi-regular Iron Banner event — which is returning this week — and the introduction of Masterwork armor.

Check back later today for Bungie’s full patch notes.

Update (1:36 p.m. ET): Bungie has concluded its maintenance work an hour and a half ahead of schedule, and has released the v1.1.2 update. The patch notes refer to the update as “The one about Armor Masterworks,” although it changes much more than that.

Any legendary armor drop now has a chance of being a Masterwork version of that armor piece, and the chance is increased for loot from raids, raid lairs and Trials of the Nine. Masterwork armor has a base stat: a 3 percent buff to damage resistance, for each piece equipped, but only while in a super state.

Guardians can upgrade existing armor to a Masterwork version for five Masterwork Cores and 20 Legendary Shards, a process that “may rework the stat of the armor.” It’s also possible to rework Masterwork armor for a different stat package, which costs one core and 10 shards.

Alongside a raft of bug fixes, the update also makes a few quality-of-life fixes. Beyond level 24, players will now receive an Illuminated Engram (the name for a bright engram in Destiny 2’s second season of content) for every 120,000 experience points they earn. This addresses a complaint dating back to November, when players discovered that the game was misleading players about the amount of XP they were earning. (Bungie’s “solution” at the time was to double the actual XP required for a bright engram from 80,000 to 160,000.)

Today’s patch also reduces the cooldown timer for rewards from Lost Sector chests to five minutes from 10 minutes. And it finally fixes Prometheus Lens, an exotic trace rifle that was broken when it debuted in Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris. In an effort to quickly address how overpowered it was, Bungie made the weapon exceedingly weak in mid-December. Now the studio has increased its base damage — presumably to a properly balanced level — and set its Flame Refraction perk to generate ammo.

For more on Destiny 2 v1.1.2, check out Bungie’s full patch notes.