Destiny 2 devs reveal major incoming nerfs for special weapons performing “too well”

Destiny 2 Episode Heresy Act 2 has begun, and Bungie recently shared the update 8.2.5 patch notes to confirm buffs, fixes, and nerfs for the beginning of their second chapter. Now, in their latest TWID blog post, Bungie has revealed incoming nerfs for Destiny 2 special weapons performing “a bit too well,” and they have also announced other nerfs and fixes intended for the next and future updates.

Bungie announces incoming Destiny 2 nerfs

In their latest TWID blog post, Bungie has announced that The Closing Time perk is getting a nerf in a “future patch”.

Per Bungie, the perk “grants some great stats when your magazine is low, especially when enhanced on Special ammo weapons,” and “As players always spawn in with low Special ammo, these stat buffs are almost always on in the Crucible, making various weapons perform a bit too well in 1v1 combat”.

The example cited by Bungie is Zealot’s reward as it “can hit some pretty far ranges thanks to this perk and the ‘always on’ nature of its functionality”.

Bungie hasn’t shared exactly how they will nerf the perk, but they have hinted players will no longer always spawn with low special ammo, and they have said they are tuning the perk “specially on Special weapons”.

In addition to The Closing Time perk, Bungie is fixing Warlock “Snap Skating,” which is an “unintended movement technique that gives players some great advantages in map control and general movement during combat”.

It is a movement that is creating “rough balance issues within the PvP space” for both 3v3 and 6v6, and Bungie plan to address it in a future update.

Next D2 update

Below is what Bungie has announced for the next Destiny 2 update, 8.2.5.1:

Hip-Fire Exotics

Tommy’s Matchbook has become a frequent conversation among our online community, and rightly so! For many years, this weapon has been a bit of a sleeper in terms of the strength of its baseline improved hip fire functionality.

With the recent changes to Radiant Dance Machines, we’re seeing more Hunters pulling this Exotic out for some silly hip-fire-only builds. Like we did with Dead Man’s Tale and The Last Word, we’re going to tune this interaction in 8.2.5.1, and will have more details in a future TWID.

We will also be re-enabling Dead Man’s Tale and The Last Word to interact with Radiant Dance Machines with a much more limited set of buffs that do not increase range but still provide them with some amount of increased accuracy.

Radiant Dance Machines

Radiant Dance Machines have surged in popularity in Crucible since the rework, but the increased usage has not been unilateral. In fact, we see nearly three times the adoption on mouse and keyboard compared to controller.

After the recent issue with Lodestar’s hip fire precision aim assist being significantly higher on mouse and keyboard than controller, we dug deeper into Radiant Dance Machines setup and realized that the same issue is present, albeit in a less significant amount.

In 8.2.5.1, we will be normalizing the precision angle threshold bonus provided by the accuracy buff between controller and mouse and keyboard when using Radiant Dance Machines and have also corrected the issue in a few other places that it could appear; for example, the Legacy Frame intrinsic on Redrix’s Estoc and BxR-55 Battler. This will reduce the ease of getting critical hits when hip firing on mouse and keyboard when paired with one of these items and should bring the effectiveness more in line with controller.

For more Destiny 2 news, check out the newly leaked pre-order bonuses for Apollo.