The Destiny community has seen better days. Partially rocked by allegations of a particularly harsh XP scaling system, the community has been airing their grievances throughout livestreams and the dedicated Reddit communities — so much so that Bungie issued a statement that systems and Destiny 2‘s in-game economy would be getting new changes, to be announced this week.
In a developer blog post dubbed “The State of Destiny 2,” Luke Smith and Chris Barrett took to the community to report that we would be getting a litany of updates, including timelines for previously-revealed changes and newly-added ones.
To begin the update, the development team struck a reconciliatory tone with the recurring Destiny 2 fanbase, saying they will make sure to cater specifically to them:
Going forward, Destiny 2’s post-launch game systems, features, and updates are being designed specifically to focus on and support players who want Destiny to be their hobby – the game they return to, and a game where friendships are made. We want Destiny to be a game that fits into your life, providing you with reasons to log in and play with your friends, clans, and families. We want Destiny to be a world you want to be a part of.
Bungie then said that all rollouts would be taking place in a three-tier push — the first major update being next week on December 5, 2017. That first update will include brand new armor ornaments to offer more distinct customization for the often-generic armor pieces. Unlike exotic weapon ornaments, these armor ornaments will be unlocked by completing objectives and will be permanently available for each Guardian on an account.
Next, Banshee — the lovable robotic weaponsmith — will now be accepting weapon and armor modifications to help you start clear out your inventory. Not only that, but mods will be available for direct purchase if you are looking for specific ones. And that direct purchase isn’t limited to Banshee — Master Rahool will be selling both Legendary Engrams for Legendary Shards.
On top of that, Reputation Tokens will be getting some changes. In the words of the blog:
- Daily Challenges will have Reputation Token awards increased across the board
- Cayde’s Treasure Chests still offer variable rewards, but now guarantee (at minimum) a payout of destination appropriate Reputation Tokens
- Strikes will drop a larger number of Vanguard Reputation Tokens
- Common quality Destination Resource Tokens will have their drop rates increased to 100%, and values per Token increased as well (by 50% for common quality Tokens and 250% for rare quality Tokens)
- On the balance, Reputation required per Reward Engram will increase for Destination Factions (+37%) and Gunsmith (+50%)
- Leviathan Raid Tokens will be redeemed at Benedict immediately upon obtaining a Token, instead of requiring a full clear before unlocking
The next update rollout will be December 12, which will bring a bit more to the table. First is an introduction of a new class of weapon: Masterworks. Masterworks (much like Exotics) will have a few advantages, including an in-game counter for kills, orb generation (to charge Supers), and other weapon stats. These Masterwork weapons will drop from Legendary engrams, for an idea you can check the image below:
Next on the list, Xur will be starting to bring some new exotics to his weekly party. This includes “Fated Engrams” with Legendary shards that will decrypt into unowned exotics. Not only that, but Three of Coins will reportedly be more consistent, taking away (using Bungie’s own words) “obscure stacking mechanics” or the need to apply between bosses.
Other (perhaps less notable options) include Gift consumables that will help you more easily earn Legendary Shards and UI updates with vendor rewards. On top of that, players will have the ability to exploit chests and nodes a little more regularly.
Last but not least, they’ve laid out some things coming Early 2018 that players can expect. These include:
- January update will provide better incentives to complete Prestige activities
- Rewards for Adventures and Lost Sectors
- The much-promised private PvP matches
- A “Quitter Penalty” for PvP play to penalize those leaving losing games
- Changes to the mod economy
- Duplication protection for exotics
- Emote interface improvements
Destiny 2 is currently available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.