Destiny 2 is nerfing popular OP weapon archetype so it’s no longer “great at killing everything”

Destiny 2 Episode Heresy comes out on February 4^th. So far, Bungie has revealed some awesome new weapons coming at the start and during the Episode, and they have also revealed some mega buffs and new abilities. Now Bungie has just announced even more upcoming balance changes, including buffs to Titan, Warlock, and Hunter, along with nerfs for a popular OP Destiny 2 weapon archetype so it’s no longer “great a killing everything”.

Destiny 2 Episode Heresy Rocket-Assisted Frame Sidearms nerf

On the newest TWID blog post, Bungie has announced a flurry of imminent buffs and nerfs for Episode Heresy. Here we are focusing on the weapon archetypes as it reveals some incoming significant nerfs for a popular archetype that is OP.

Per Bungie, they are nerfing Rocket-Assisted Frame Sidearms. This is because they want to make the archetype a “niche [that is] less universally useful in all situations”. They will remain a “viable, ammo efficient option for clearing minor-, major-, and Champion-tiered targets with direct hits,” but they will no longer be “great at killing everything nearby the primary target”.

Below are the balance changes announced for Rocket-Assisted Frame Sidearms:

• Reduced PvE detonation damage by 45%.
• Increased PvE impact damage by 100%.
• Reduced Aim Assist falloff and maximum distance by 8m.
• Reduced magnetism falloff and maximum distance by 8m.
• Reduced damage by 30% vs boss, vehicle, and miniboss targets.
  • Buried Bloodline’s body shot damage is unaffected, critical hit damage is buffed by 8%.
• The range stat was vestigial to the weapon subfamily, so we’ve removed it.
  • Range masterworks and enhanced intrinsics will be replaced with something more appropriate.

Reacting to the incoming nerfs on Reddit, fans actually appear supportive of the incoming nerfs. This is because there is an acknowledgement that the archetype is significantly OP, and has been dominating all content due to it being good at everything.

Destiny 2 Episode Heresy buffs and nerfs for weapon archetypes

Below are all of the other weapon archetypes buffs and nerfs announced for Destiny 2 Episode Heresy:

PvE Damage Tuning:

• Scout Rifles
  • +15% vs minors
  • +30% vs majors
• Auto Rifles
  • +10% vs minors and majors
• SMGs
  • +5% vs minors
  • Additionally, in 8.1.5.3 we increased base magazine size by 10-15% rounds based on the mag stat.
• Trace Rifles
  • +20% vs minors
• Linear Fusion Rifles
  • +10% vs all combatants

Glaives:

• Significantly increased Aim Assist, Aim Magnetism, and Damage Falloff Ranges across the board for all Glaives.
• Improved Glaive projectile hit registration.
• Increased the baseline effects at all stat values for:
  • Handling speeds, including shield ready speed and draw and stow speed.
  • Magazine size
  • Projectile speed
  • Reload speed
• Final hit of the melee combo deals double damage.
  • This hit also inflicts much more flinch on PvE combatants.

Aggressive Frame Fusion Rifle(s):

• Aggressive Frame Fusion Rifles now fire three bursts of four pellets in increasingly wide spreads.
• Increased minimum damage when fully outside of damage falloff range from 45% to 65%.
• Increased range falloff start by 4m relative to normal Fusions.
• Increased range falloff end by 3m relative to other Fusions.
• Increased damage versus minors and majors by 15% relative to normal Fusions.

Support-Frame Auto Rifles:

• Range now increases how far away you can heal another Guardian.

Check out Bungie’s TWID blog post for all other details pertaining to Episode Heresy.

For more Destiny 2, Bungie has explained divisive lore dubbed a “d**k move” by fans, and the developer is currently investigating an exploit after banning a large number of accounts. Players can also check out the 2025 roadmap to see everything announced by Bungie so far.