Destiny 2’s next season reworks shotguns and more

In this week’s This Week at Bungie, Bungie’s weekly blog, the studio announced some big changes coming to Destiny 2 in Season of the Drifter. Gambit will be seeing some interesting changes, but the most impactful updates are coming to some of the game’s guns — namely shotguns.

Shotguns have been a cornerstone of players’ loadouts since the original Destiny — with a brief hiatus in Destiny 2 Year 1. On March 5, they’ll see some significant changes. In all PvE activities, shotguns will now deal double damage (except the exotic heavy shotgun, Legend of Acrius). Yet, the rate of fire — how many rounds they fire per minute, or RPM — of the most popular shotguns will decrease.

Shotguns with Full Auto will now only see an increase of 10 percent bonus firing rate, down from 100 percent. The firing rates of other shotguns are being adjusted as well. Aggressive shotguns are up from 45 RPM to 55 RPM. Precision shotguns are up from 55 RPM to 70 RPM. Lightweight shotguns are now 80 RPM — they were previously classified as 90 RPM, which was incorrect. Rapid-fire shotguns are down to 140 RPM from 200 RPM.

Shotguns have had their base damage decreased in some cases to compensate. But Bungie’s goal isn’t to cut shotguns from the meta — quite the opposite. Bungie stated that the goal for these changes is to create more viable shotguns in PvE play.

Before, it was inconceivable to take anything other than a rapid-fire shotgun like the IKELOS or the Threat Detector into a PvE activity — the faster it fired, the more damage it put out. But with the increase in damage and slowing of shotguns across the board, players should have more choices in what they carry into battle.

Bungie also stated that it’s “taken the opportunity to slightly adjust shotguns for the Crucible.” Shotguns will still remain powerful in the Crucible, but they won’t be able to one-shot kill from the same ranges as before. The extent of these changes aren’t clear, and Bungie should offer more information in the coming weeks.

Bungie is also adjusting linear fusion rifles in Season of the Drifter. All linear fusions will get a 10 percent increase in damage in PvE. However, the most popular linear fusion in PvP and Gambit, the exotic Queensbreaker, is having its aim assist adjusted to be more in line with other linear fusion rifles. This should make it much harder to use, making the gun more skill-based.

The popular Titan exotic One-eyed Mask is also getting a change next season. The Mark of Vengeance — which highlights a player when they attack the wearer — now only lasts eight seconds instead of 15. Bungie is adjusting the health refill on kill. Instead of instantly refilling player health, a player’s health (as well as their overshield) will refill over time. This means a Titan that wins a fight with One-eyed Mask won’t be able to instantly re-engage without healing. One-eyed’s healing perk will also no longer trigger at all when players are in their Super.

These changes should help players diversify their loadouts in the Season of the Drifter. For most Titans, One-eyed Mask was mandatory in PvP, like Queensbreaker in Gambit. Players spent two full seasons using the IKELOS shotgun, and only recently were able to add Threat Detector into the mix. These adjustments should make new weapons and armor pieces viable without completely killing players’ darlings.