Destiny 2: Shadowkeep will see reduced player numbers, damage buff changes

After two full years of Destiny 2, some player powers have gotten a bit out of hand. Every expansion or season that goes by, it gets easier and easier to hit 999,999 damage on a once difficult enemy.

Bungie is changing how damage buffs work in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, as well as the numbers players deal. Supers and Heavy ammo will also be a bit less frequent. Destiny franchise director Luke Smith explained how these new systems will work in his recent Bungie blog post.

Players can deal very high damage numbers because of the multiplicative buffs in Destiny. Well of Radiance adds a damage buff that stacks with 100 other effects to instantly decimate a boss. Bungie is toning that down this fall.

Instead of buffs being multiplicative, buff sources will now only give the highest possible buff to the player. For example, if a player has Weapons of Light from a Ward of Dawn bubble and steps into a Well of Radiance, they won’t double up their bonus. Instead they’ll keep the damage bonus of Weapons of Light — because the damage buff is more powerful — and receive the healing from Well of Radiance. If Weapons of Light runs out, then they’ll gain the damage buff from Well.

Enemies can also only take one debuff at a time now, which should reduce player’s ability to stack efficiently. While buffs stacking for overall effects are changing, individual effects aren’t — there’s still a reason to stack Rampage when you have Weapons of Light.

The numbers themselves are also going down for player clarity. However, Smith was clear that players won’t deal reduced damage after the expansion drops, just that the visual numbers will change.

Players will also be able to complete activities at a greater disadvantage in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep. Previously, players who were 50 Power or more under an enemy would deal no damage. Now, players can deal some minor damage to enemies up to 100 Power over them. Smith claimed that nothing will change for players who meet or exceed an enemy Power level.

Supers will also get their day in court this fall. In both PvE and PvP, Supers will be less frequent. Bungie is nerfing the Orbs of Light system, and each orb will grant less Super energy than before. Overall, players should expect to Super more than they did at Destiny 2’s launch, but less than they do now.

Ammo for heavy weapons will also be more communal in Destiny 2: Shadowkeep. Each heavy brick will grant less ammo, but players can share ammo with allies. After players pick up a brick of heavy from a wall, teammates can follow up for a short time and grab some as well.

Bungie will release Destiny 2: Shadowkeep and New Light on Oct. 1 for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One. The Google Stadia version will come later this year.