With the upcoming Bungie showcase, season 18, and a reprised original Destiny raid less than two weeks away, Destiny 2 fans have a lot to be excited for in August. But ahead of the reveal, Bungie has released some new information about how certain weapon types and Exotics will be changing later this month.
First, Bungie revealed some minor changes coming to weapon archetypes. Scout rifles are getting an overall damage buff, as are heavy grenade launchers. Other weapons, like lightweight bows and high-impact auto rifles, are also getting adjustments. Glaives are getting a buff to their melee, allowing their hits to activate three Exotics: ACD/0 Feedback Fence, Karnstein Armlets, and Necrotic Grip.
Bungie will also make some changes to existing perks when season 18 starts on Aug. 23. The Gambit and Iron Banner perks are both being reworked completely, and Dares of Eternity weapons (the ones based on Bungie’s other games, like Halo) will be getting their own Origin trait. Ambitious Assassin is getting a major increase to its overflow potential (up to 150%) to keep up with the Overflow perk. Wellspring will also have its hidden cooldown removed, so it’ll give ability energy on multikills now.
The biggest update in the Bungie blog is to Exotics. Many older weapons will get anti-Champion capabilities in season 18, and some Exotics are getting entirely new effects.
Here are the Exotics getting anti-Champion updates:
- Le Monarque – Overload on poison arrows
- Thunderlord – Overload
- Malfeasance – Unstoppable on explosions
- Wish-Ender – Anti-Barrier
Wish-Ender is also one of the Exotics that’s getting a substantial buff, as it’ll hit most enemies three times instead of twice, and deal an additional 10% damage to Champions, majors, and minibosses.
Dead Man’s Tale’s Cranial Spike perk will no longer deal bonus damage to players (the buff remains against PvE enemies), and will instead increase reload, aim assist, and range per stack. At max Cranial Spike stacks, the Catalyst will cause the weapon’s hip-fire RPM to skyrocket to 180.
Collective Obligation, the Exotic Void pulse rifle from the Vow of the Disciple raid, will be much easier to use in Season 18. The Void Leech timer will be five seconds longer in PvE activities, have no cooldown, and be much easier to activate for players.
Finally, Bungie announced that fans will learn about Arc 3.0 — the final update for the old subclasses — ahead of the Destiny 2 showcase on Aug. 23. Players will likely hear more about it next week.