Destiny 2 is soon polishing up the meta in PvP – finally making handguns make sense again

In Destiny 2, yesterday’s TWaB revealed new information for PvP. So you can expect many weapon adjustments at the end of the 17th season. You can find out what these are and whether the changes will really stir up the meta here.

What was published? Bungie releases its every Thursday night This Week at Bungie blog post. It will update players on the Destiny 2 development team’s weekly steps and future plans.

This time it’s PvP’s turn. Bungie already caused a stir with the adaptation of the popular Iron Banner, but now there are more changes coming to PvP players. We will now tell you exactly which and when they will come into effect in PvP.

All the changes in PvP that will await you

What changes is Bungie making? In general, some weapon classes and types will be improved or nerfed. This includes popular Exos that have dominated PvP for a little too long.

Changes are mainly changes in the PvP area. However, some adjustments also affect PvE, but we will mark them for you:

air effectiveness

• Reduced mid-air penalties for all primary weapons – these changes are roughly equivalent to increasing the base AE stat of primary weapons by ~15 at low stats
  • Reduced airborne accuracy penalty at low AE by 20% – 40% depending on weapon type.
    • Auto Rifle, Pulse Rifle, Scout Rifle, Submachine Gun – 40%.
    • Handgun, Pistols – 20%.
    • Arch – 30%.
  • Reduced the mid-air aim assist penalties for the above weapon types and changed the stat scale to give more utility to each point
    • The penalty for mid-air auto-aim (missile deflection, M+K, and controller) has been reduced by 20%.
    • Reduced air magnetism (stickiness of reticle, controller only) by 40%.
• Some perks now give a static AE stat buff in addition to their other effects.
  • Air Attack: +10 AE at all times, in addition to +60 (for a total of 70 AE) at low health.
  • Extended Magazine: +10 AE.
  • Steady Rounds: +7 AU.

Weapon Types – Adjustments

• 180 rate of fire handguns
  • Body shot damage increased from 37 to 40, critical hit increased from 57 to 60.
  • Can now kill 2 bodies vs guards in 2 crit, kills in body shots in 1.33 seconds.

These handgun changes should be the ones players will be most excited about, as they bring the 180 handguns back up and make them worth equipping again. Apparently Bungie still has a heart and understanding for the gunslingers.

• 450 rate of fire auto rifles
  • Increased body shot damage from 19 to 20, accuracy multiplier from 1.6 to 1.5 (crit damage stays the same at 30).
• 180 and 150 rate of fire scout rifles
  • Increased body damage from 34 to 38, critical hit from 54.4 to 60.8. (for 180s)
  • Can 2 Crit 2 body against 197 HP (health + shields) or less, kills in 1.33s on body shots against 190 HP or less, 1.67s against higher resilience. (for 180s)
  • Increased body damage from 38.2 to 42, critical hit from 66.9 to 73.5. (for 150s)
  • Can 2 critical 1 body against 189 HP or less, kills in body shots in 1.60 seconds. (for 150s)
• Shotguns (PvE only)
  • Shotgun PvE damage bonus increased from 10% to 25%. Applies only to shotguns with non-precision cases.
• Linear Fusion Rifles
  • The increased flinch when fired bothered many players in PvE. The increased flinch now only occurs when shooting at players in PvP. In PvE it is therefore reduced.
• glaive
  • You now get 2 shots per special ammo block.

Exotic Weapons

• Lorenz drive
  • Aim assist value reduced from 32 to 22.
  • Reduced suction against players.
• Gjallarhorn
  • The primary rocket no longer has a proximity detonation.
  • Wolfpack projectiles now deal half damage to players.

Not quite the nerf we were expecting, but it does mean players will at least have to aim the Mythic Rocket Launcher better to fully utilize its potential.

• Last word
  • Precision aiming angle of hip fire reduced by 50%.
  • The precise aiming angle determines how far from the head you can aim and still have aim assist grant you a critical hit instead of a body shot.
  • Reduced damage and aim assist falloff distance by 3m.
• trailblazer
  • Increased ammo per special ammo block from 3 to 4 in PvP.
  • Ammo per special ammo block reduced from max to ~16 in PvE.
• Eriana’s oath
  • Increased ammo per special ammo block from 1 to 2 in PvP.
• Adjustments for air effectiveness on Exos
  • SUROS regime from 23 to 31.
  • Worm Whisper from 9 to 20.
  • Monte Carlo from 21 to 29.
  • Trailblazer from 22 to 27.

When do the changes take effect? Bungie isn’t sure yet. They aim to implement the changes a month before the release of Season 18. However, they could also be activated a week before Season 18. However, Bungie wanted to give players a preview of the changes so that you can already unpack the right weapons for this potential meta change.

What do you think of the upcoming changes? Do you like them and what about the handgun fanatics among you? Do you think the 180 handgun change is right and celebrating? Please let us know!