5 major changes in Destiny 2’s new patch: 2.1.4

Destiny 2: Black Armory’s season of content is coming to a close. But Destiny 2 patch 2.1.4 aims to breathe some new life into the game ahead of the Season of the Drifter and Joker’s Wild. Not only does this patch re-balance some problems in PvP, it’s rebuilding a few of the older Supers for the modern age. There are also some nice quality-of-life changes to the Forges and another shot at making scout rifles useful.

Let’s take a look at the five things you need to know about Destiny 2’s latest patch, with the full patch notes to follow.

1. Old supers are getting some reworks

This is easily the biggest change in this entire patch. Some of the older supers, are getting significant changes, with most supers getting a damage buff (Blade Barrage, Spectral Blades, and Nova Warp will see nerfs, however).

Golden Gun’s Six-Shooter version now gives ammo back to the player for each kill, meaning it can be extended with good aim and quick kills. On the top tree, headshot kills with Golden Gun now refund even more energy. The Moebius Quiver Nightstalker is getting buffed as well, with longer tether radius, activation time, and increased damage from the arrows themselves.

Other classes are seeing improvements to their Supers. Titans, for example, will now get a buff to all damage when standing in a Sunspot, rather than just the Super itself. The buff has also been increased to five seconds. Warlock’s Nova Bomb is getting a big bump in damage on both Vortex and Cataclysm mode, which should help it be more useful in boss fights as well as groups of enemies.

2. Scout rifle buff, round two

Scout rifles have been in a bad spot basically since Destiny 2 launched. With the exception of the MIDA Multi-tool in 2017, scout rifles have been replaced in the meta with auto rifles, pulse rifles, and hand cannons. Even after previous buffs, scout rifles are still bad.

But not this time. Maybe. This time, things will probably be different. Bungie has increased the damage of lightweight and rapid-fire scout rifles in PvP. Even better, scout rifles got a 10 percent buff across the board in PvE content. However, Bungie noted that these guns are designed to be lower damage, because you can use them safely at range.

Bungie

3. More weapon buffs even the playing field

The Destiny 2 meta has been pretty concrete for the past several months. Hand cannons, pulse rifles, and shotguns have ruled the world — leaving little room for anything else.

Auto rifles that fall into the families of rapid-fire, adaptive, and high-impact are seeing some changes. Bungie felt that they were a little too slow to kill at any kind of range, especially with the power that special weapons afford players in the Crucible. Their potency is being adjusted to compensate, with 5 percent or so on each of the three archetypes.

Similarly, rapid-fire snipers are getting a sizable buff in PvP and can now kill a Guardian with only two shots to the body.

4. Exotic tuning

The exotic landscape is pretty broad in Destiny 2 now, with tons of different options for players to choose from. Telesto has been a terror in Crucible and is finally getting knocked down a peg. Legend of Acrius and Trace Rifles have suffered because of the cementing of the meta, but both are getting some love in the new patch.

Bungie is buffing Legend of Acrius to feel like a shotgun worthy of the purple brick, bringing its power up quite a bit with a 50 percent damage buff. Trace rifles are seeing an even more significant boost. They’ll now get more ammo when you pick up special bricks, which should offset the problems the weapon type has since they can’t benefit from any of the armor perks like scavenger. Wavesplitter, the currently PlayStation 4-exclusive trace rifle, is getting nerfed in PvP in order to prevent this change from making it too powerful.

Perhaps the most important change here is the one to Telesto, the fusion rifle which has been rampaging through PvP since Forsaken released last year. Telesto should be more on the fair side for PvP, and has been tuned to be in line with other fusion rifles. However, Bungie stated that it’s hopeful these changes won’t completely kill the gun’s usability.

5. Forges are getting more friendly

Forges have been the go-to grind activity in Black Armory, but there have been some aspects surrounding them that are less than player friendly. In this new patch, players will be able to hold Ballistics Logs over the weekly reset, with a maximum of five per character.

Some items that remain in inventories when the weekly reset hits will now be refunded into other items instead. Gold weapon frames will become a Ballistic Log, silver frames will become three Modulus Reports, and Radiant Matrixes will be removed.

Other issues, like quest item rarity and Black Armory Lore drops, have also been improved.

For a complete list of the changes coming to Destiny 2, check out the full patch notes below.

Bungie

Full patch notes: 2.1.4

Here is the complete list of changes from patch 2.1.4 from Bungie’s website.

Sandbox

Super Tuning

Hunter: Gunslinger

Golden Gun Super

• Increased damage to bosses by 40%
• Includes Six-Shooter and Celestial Nighthawk

Golden Gun Six-Shooter

• Base damage increased from 275 to 300 per shot
• Kills now return a bullet to the Golden Gun’s magazine

“Line ‘Em Up” Perk

• Doubled precision damage bonus per stack of the buff

“Practice Makes Perfect” Perk

• Stack limit increased from 3 to 5
• Super regen modifier increased by 20%

Blade Barrage Super

• Impact damage decreased from 150 to 35
• Explosion damage increased from 150 to 250
• Now deals self-damage
• Our goal for AoE supers of this type is that they incur self-damage when activated too close to a target. We consider Blade Barrage not causing self-damage a bug, which we are now addressing.
• In other words, Hunters will know how Warlocks feel when they throw a Nova Bomb into a wall.
• Fixed an issue in which Blade Barrage projectiles could track allies

Hunter: Nightstalker

Moebius Quiver

• Tethered targets now have the full damage increase, rather than needing to be tethered by multiple Shadowshots
• Additionally, the Shadowshot damage bonus to tethered targets was increased
• Increased Moebius Quiver tether radius by 20%
• Increased Moebius Quiver tether lifetime
• Made it easier to fire successive Shadowshots

Developer Commentary: This is step one for Shadowshot, and we intend to keep improving the way it works. For this pass, we focused on Moebius Quiver quality of life. We plan to continue to make it more effective and globally relevant in the future.

Spectral Blades Super

• Bonus damage resistance while in stealth decreased from 15% to 5%
• While in Spectral Blades AND in stealth total damage resistance is 62%
• Total Super duration while invisible decreased by 3.67 sec

Hunter: Arcstrider

Arc Staff Super

• Heavy ranged and slam attack damage increased from 220 to 300
• Heavy palm blast attack damage increased from 400 to 700

“Lethal Current” Perk

• Bonus hit damage has been increased from 100 to 130

Raiden Flux (Exotic Armor)

• Damage bonus decreased from 20% to 13.5%
• This change keeps the bonus damage granted by this Exotic about the same. Because this is calculated on a scaler instead of a flat number, any big changes in base damage have a large effect on the Exotic.

Titan: Sunbreaker

Sunspots

• Damage increased from 25 to 50 per tick

“Sun Warrior” Perk

• Buff now increases ALL damage output from the Sunbreaker by 20% in PvP; 25% in PvE
• Buff duration has been increased from 3 to 5 seconds

Burning Maul Super

• Spin melee attack damage increased from 65 to 80 per hit
• Slam detonation radius increased from 5 to 6 meters
• Improved Slam attack projectile tracking

Titan: Sentinel

Sentinel Shield Super

• Final melee combo hit damage increased from 300 to 390
• Damage to PvE combatants increased by 17%

Titan: Striker

Fist of Havoc Super

• Heavy slam attack (R2/RT) base damage decreased from 325 to 275
• Damage to base, elite, and miniboss combatants increased by 7%
• Damage to bosses increased by 23%
• Damage to vehicles increased by 60%

“Terminal Velocity” Perk

• Changed the way that bonus damage from this perk is granted
• Added a third threshold tier based on how long you are in the air before impact
• Arc damage hits per tier increased from 3 to 4
• Tier 1 = 4 hits
• Tier 2 = 8 hits
• Tier 3 = 12 hits
• Increased damage per Arc hit from 100 to 112

Code of the Juggernaut

• Fist of Havoc shoulder charge energy cost reduced by 83%

“Trample” Perk

• Can now trigger the energy return every 0.5 sec, up from 1 sec

Warlock: Voidwalker

Cataclysm Nova Bomb

• Initial detonation damage increased from 900 to 1500
• Detonation radius increased from 8 to 10 meters
• Seeker projectile detonation damage increased from 205 to 300
• Improved seeker projectile turning radius and homing to make it more consistent to use against bosses/single targets
• Fixed an issue where seeker projectiles could be prematurely detonated

Vortex Nova Bomb

• Initial detonation damage increased from 900 to 1200
• Linger volume damage increased from 10 to 23 per tick

Nova Warp Super

• Slightly slowed movement while charging
• Charging costs more energy
• Initial charge cost (each time you trigger your super) increased by 60%
• Sustained drain cost (holding) increased by 60%
• Duration decreased by 6.8 seconds
• Decreased Super damage resistance from 56% to 54%
• Damage against Guardians decreased by 27%

Warlock: Dawnblade

Daybreak Super

• Increased damage against minor, major, and miniboss combatants by 43%
• Increased duration by 3 seconds

Warlock: Stormcaller

Stormtrance Super

• Increased chain lightning maximum target count by 1

Weapons Tuning

Auto Rifles

• Increased base damage on rapid fire by 9%
• Increased base damage on high-impact Auto Rifles by 5%
• Increased base damage on adaptive Auto Rifles by 6%

Scout Rifles

• Increased base damage on lightweight Scout Rifles by 5%
• Increased base damage on rapid-fire Scout Rifles by 6%
• Increased all Scout Rifle PvE damage by 10%

Sniper Rifles

• Increased base damage of rapid-fire Sniper Rifles by 8%
• You can two-shot to the body to defeat other Guardians in PvP

Grenade Launchers

• Tweaked Grenade Launcher projectiles to feel more consistent on direct hits
• Proximity Grenades can no longer impact directly (prevents Special ammo Grenade Launchers from one-shotting with the perk active)
• Increased ammo reserve size of Special ammo Grenade Launchers
• Increased initial spawn ammo in PvE for Special ammo Grenade Launchers

Bows

• Made the effect of draw time from bow string perks more noticeable (High Tension String, Flexible String, Elastic String, and Polymer String)
• The accuracy stat from High Tension String was increased from 10 to 15 to better compensate for the slower draw time
• Known issue: The tooltip for High Tension String was not updated to show the larger accuracy increase; this will be addressed in a future update

Legend of Acrius

• Range increased by 0.5 m
• PvE damage increased by 50%

Telesto

• Reduced base damage of each bolt from by 19%
• Increased optics stat from 15 to 20 to be comparable with other Fusion Rifles with scope perks
• PvE damage increased by 30%

Trace Rifles

• Trace Rifles now gain additional ammo when picking up Special ammo
• Reduced damage output of Wavesplitter against Guardians
• Reduced by 19% on medium-damage mode
• Reduced by 27% on high-damage mode
• Adjustments were made to keep the damage output the same in PvE activities

Exotic Armor

• Tuned energy values on Shards of Galanor to accompany changes to the Blade Barrage Super
• Reduced maximum energy return from 90% to 75% of the total Super
• Now only returns energy on the knife impacts
• Reduced energy return on Gwisin Vest from 10% to 7% of the total Super

Miscellaneous

Abilities

• Fixed an issue where players could retain Super energy for Chaos Reach even when being suppressed mid-Super
• Fixed an issue where players could equip Celestial Nighthawk mid-Super to partially benefit from “Hawkeye Hack” perk when using the Six-Shooter subclass

Weapons

• Fixed an issue where the arrows the Spiteful Fang left lodged in targets did not match the arrows it fired
• Fixed an issue where Anarchy’s trap detonation was not dealing damage if the owner had died
• Fixed an issue where the Auto-Loading Holster perk was not reloading the magazine in some circumstances
• Fixed an issue where the muzzle blast and spent shell effects had become misaligned on the Suros Regime and its ornaments
• Fixed an issue where the No Feelings Scout Rifle had incorrect stats when Masterworked
• Fixed an issue where the Tempered Dynamo Fusion Rifle wasn’t playing all of its charge-up audio on consoles

Crucible

Breakthrough

• Fixed an issue where deploying the Breaker or hacking the Vault exactly as time expired could end the round in an incorrect state

Heavy Ammo Tuning

• Competitive
• Control
• Initial timers stay the same
• Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 45 seconds, now 120 seconds)
• Clash
• Initial timers stay the same
• Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 45 seconds, now 120 seconds)
• Survival
• Initial timers stay the same
• Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 45 seconds, now 60 seconds)

Rotators:

Showdown

• Initial timers stay the same
• Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 30 seconds, now 60 seconds)

Rumble:

• Initial timers stay the same
• Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 60 seconds, now 120 seconds)

Ammo Counts (All Modes)

• Reduce Heavy crate ammo for Machine Guns

Redrix’s Broadsword Quest:

Valor Rank Resets:

• The Valor rank resets step will now look at previous seasons accomplishments as well.
• Five Valor resets are still required during a single season, but this is no longer restricted to the current season. Ex: If a player had five Valor resets in Season 4, this will now grant progress towards the quest.

Completion Inconsistencies

• Fixed various issues where the quest was not progressing to the pickup step until a player re-entered orbit.

Crucible Ranks

Enhancement Cores

• Fixed an issue that prevented Enhancement Cores from being awarded when reaching Legend in Valor and Glory ranks

Activities

Raids

Scourge of the Past

• Fixed an issue where players could initiate damage phases for the boss encounter too early
• Fixed an issue where the “Like a Diamond” Flawless Triumph was not being rewarded properly

Black Armory and Forges

• Fixed an issue where players were not being properly credited when consuming keys for the Mysterious Box quest.
• Players already affected by this issue will be awarded credit for the keys they’ve used the next time they log in.
• It is still possible, on rare occasions, for players to use a key and not complete the objective. When this happens, returning to orbit should resolve this issue.
• Forge emblems are now awarded from forge completions, rather than forge-specific bounty completions
• Modulus Reports and Ballistics Logs will now go to the postmaster if lost; cap on Modulus Reports remains at 15 per account
• When hunting for high-value targets on Nessus for the “Siviks’s Delivery Note” quest step, all players who damage the enemy will be given credit toward the kill
• Players can no longer purchase weapon frames if the Pursuits bucket is full
• Black Armory lore drops have been increased to 20% (up from 10%), and successful forge completions are now required to earn the reward

Weapon Frame Updates:

• Ballistics Logs no longer removed at reset
• Ballistics Logs increased cap to five per character
• Ritual Frame quests carried across reset now “refund” into purchased currency
• “Gold” frames refunded into one Ballistics Log
• “Silver” frames refunded into three Modulus Reports
• Any instance of a “Radiant Matrix” removed on weekly reset
• Players should stop experiencing frames “missing” from Ada’s inventory on a week-to-week basis
• Players may still only purchase up to two “Gold” frames per week
• All Nessus Fallen Captain high-value targets around the Exodus Black will now spawn correctly

Public Events

• Whispers on Io now occur more frequently

General

• Fixed an issue where the Fastidious Miser Triumph was not properly unlocking for players
• Fixed an issue there the Veterans of the Hunt emblem was using the wrong art
• Fixed an issue where the Knife Flip emote did not properly loop

Eververse

• Fixed an issue where the Summer’s Altar and Jupiter Midnight Sparrows shared the same appearance
• Fixed an issue where the “Visions of Iron Bundle” and the “Form Given Function Bundle” did not show the correct message if players did not own proper DLC entitlements for purchase
• Satou and Rassmussen Ghost Projections now have the correct imagery