Destiny 2 creators, Bungie, are unique as a gaming studio in that they have continuously provided weekly updates to the community in the form of a weekly update ‘TWAB’, otherwise known as This Week At Bungie, or even developer insights that talk through major gameplay components or changes.
In itself, TWAB’s, and all their forms of communication, are an incredible feat that the Destiny 2 community is fortunate enough to have at our disposal. The level of constant discussion is almost unheard of in the industry and is widely appreciated by the players.
It is a very careful balancing act to juggle, one that I do not envy. This week’s insight is centered around the data/feedback Bungie received since the launch of Lightfall and they share their perception as well as changes moving forward. I wanted to share the highlights of impending changes and my response as a passionate Guardian.
Guardian Ranks/Commendation
A brief breakdown of the outlined changes that we will see in the upcoming seasons.
Guardian Ranks
- Ranks should be a better indicator of player experience/skill
- Goals are refined for seasonal resets to be easier to renew their rank in the following season
- Your rank displayed to everyone will reflect your highest rank earned last season
- Guardians will be reset to rank 5 and achieving rank 7 will become easier, the intention is to adjust the curve on achieving ranks
- Rank renewal will be fast-tracked, so most players will have quickly renewed rank 7 by playing seasonal content
Commendations
- These will be reset each season with the intention that you won’t lost full progress and should reflect the most current events in Destiny 2
- Our Commendation score and breakdown will be tracked each season, and you’ll only lose a percentage of your Commendation score each season
- Commendations are still tied to progress in game, but adjusted to reduce the requirements
Guardian ranks have been an alright addition the game; Its great for new players as its the fix towards helping them overcome the “what the hell do I do” issue. It is also pretty neat to have an additional objective to work towards for the more dedicated players. However, I think the system needs a lot of work.
- It doesn’t feel gratifying to see just a Guardians Rank above their head, the rest of progression feels mute and sometimes players can get stuck on objectives
- While I understand why they want to reset it each season, its just another tedious grind to add to the already onerous workload that more casual players struggle to keep up with
- Overall the tweaks suggested are heading the right direction, but are not enough to prove to me its a worthwhile venture
Commendations are a joke. Not to be overly critical, but they serve no discernable purpose in game and generally speaking most players don’t care for them.
- Tying them to progression is a massive flaw that does not work at all. Period
- Bungie’s feedback indicates to me this system is here to stay (not sure why they are so attached to it)
- They insist on keeping it coupled to progression, just a big oversight and shows the misalignment on where the community stands on this issue
- Adding another ‘title’ is also meaningless, 99.9% of players don’t even know what title they are commendation another guardian for. You just quickly select whatever you can before the activity screen closes
Difficulty Adjustments
Ultimately, Bungie has tuned difficulty across the board in a big way with the release of Lightfall. The thought behind the decisions is an effort worth applauding as it allowed for less grind and a more streamlined challenge in increasingly more difficult activities. Not all the changes quite as well as they hoped so they are tweaking some modifiers to put this more in line with they player experience.
Legend/Master Activities
- Enemy HP scalar reduced by 10%
- Co-op scalar converted Enemy HP should be reduced by about 33% in a full fireteam
- Make enemies less bullet-spongey
Heist Battlegrounds
- Reducing the frequency and number of some combatant waves in all boss fights
- Enemy frequency lowered in more difficult activities
Neomuna Patrol
- Increased the spawn rate of Vex Strike Force event
- Reduced the rate that rank-and-file (red bar) enemies are replaced by tougher Elite (orange bar) enemies
- No adjustment to difficulty, only making activities more accessible and reducing orange bars
Lost Sectors
- 10% enemy HP scalar reduction (as mentioned earlier)
- Power level offset will remain and no other adjustments made
Vanguard Scoring/Reputation
- Take a pass at low map score multipliers and individual objectives to make sure everything feels better, specifically Guardian Ranks Nightfall scoring objectives and Legend Dares of Eternity bounties
- Multiplayer scoring adjusted in the player’s favor per each difficulty level
Exotic Armor Drop Rates
- Increased the Exotic drop rates from both Legend and Master Lost Sectors
- The Vex Strike Force event in the Vex Incursion Zone will drop a new piece of Exotic armor if you have any left to collect, if all are collected a random exotic will drop
- An emphasis on more exotic drops in Lost Sectors and the ability to more easily acquire exotic armor you don’t have
These improvements are pretty minor considering; Events like patrol and lost sectors definitely are not in the best place and need more attention (outside of difficulty). Sure some activities will become slightly more accessible, but it isn’t enough of a difference to matter. Other improvements need to be made like increased rewards across the board or enemy density adjustments to higher/lower pop areas.
Part II: Future Changes: Link to Article
This Article is intended to be Informational
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