Destiny 2 version 1.2.3 — arriving next week — is the last major update scheduled for the game before Destiny 2: Forsaken comes out. As usual, Bungie has been fairly secretive regarding all the changes coming in the new patch, including the return of bounties. In the studio’s latest weekly update, community manager David “DeeJ” Dague took players through a few of the changes hitting next week.
The return of bounties is the first major change coming in patch 1.2.3. While the system should be familiar to Destiny players, it has a few key differences from the old setup. As usual, players will be able to pick up easily digestible objectives from a variety of vendors every day. However, each bounty will now cost a bit of Glimmer — Destiny’s in-game currency.
As far as rewards, players will be able to turn in these bounties for experience and faction reputation. Some bounties will offer “even better rewards,” although it’s not clear what exactly that means.
Bounties will now expire if not completed in a timely manner, which should make organizing them a bit easier. Finally, Bungie offered a tease about the upcoming expansion, suggesting that some bounties will drop in the wild once Forsaken launches. The number of bounties and the quality of the rewards will also increase in Forsaken, the studio said.
In addition, Bungie listed a few quality-of-life changes coming in Destiny 2 v1.2.3. The highly requested clan chat feature is finally coming to the game’s Windows PC version on July 17. Mercury Forge weapons from Curse of Osiris will now be purchasable from Brother Vance in the Lighthouse after players have earned them. And Bungie has fixed a few bugs for certain exotic armor pieces.
Some of the more controversial heroic strike modifiers are also being changed in this patch. Blackout will see a reduction in damage depending on the Guardian’s power level. Grounded and Glass will also be far less punishing to high-level players. Bungie says that all of these changes are meant to make powerful Guardians feel the growth of their level, while warning that lower-power Guardians will still struggle in heroic strikes.
Finally, DeeJ addressed the Prismatic Matrix, a feature added to the game’s real-money store with Warmind. Bungie has been collecting feedback on the system since May, and has decided to put it on hiatus until Forsaken launches.
It’s currently unclear if any of the leftover Activate Matrix codes will remain until Forsaken, so players may want to check the final offering this weekend if they have any remaining. Bungie will offer more information on how the Eververse real-money store will be changing in Destiny 2: Forsaken before the expansion is released for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One on Sept. 4.
Destiny 2 v1.2.3 arrives on the same platforms July 17.