Sandbox changes for Bungie’s Destiny 2 were teased before the holidays began. Now that the development team is back at work, a release date for the next major sandbox tuning patch has been provided. Some preliminary patch notes were also released, courtesy of designer Dan Gniady.
In Bungie’s weekly update blog, it confirmed that update 2.1.4 would go live on January 29th. It also noted that things could change in the next few weeks, so keep that in mind when going through the patch notes. Gniady started off by noting, “If you want just the quick takeaway: damage was increased for most Supers (and slightly reduced for Blade Barrage and Nova Warp), and we’ve injected a couple new tricks into some of the older subclass paths.”
Golden Gun has seen a damage increase, both for its three-shot and six-shot variants, along with Shadowshot’s Moebius Quiver. Arc Staff, Burning Maul, Fist of Havoc, Sentinel Shield, Daybreak, and Nova Bomb’s Cataclysm and Vortex have also seen damage increases. Meanwhile, damage has been reduced for Blade Barrage and Nova Warp. Players annoyed with the latter, especially its potency in Crucible, will note that movement while charging has been slowed.
Charging also costs more energy, and the overall duration of the Super has been reduced. Damage resistance has also been slightly reduced, though additional changes were made for the PvP side. For the full patch notes, see below.
Hunter
Gunslinger
Changes:
Golden Gun
- Six-Shooter kills return a bullet
- Practice Makes Perfect Super regen increased
Blade Barrage
- The damage is now heavily weighted on the delayed explosion instead of the knife impact
- Now deals self-damage if the knives explode too close
- Fixed a bug where the knives would track allies
Notes: This Golden Gun change brings increased uptime with your Super. For the Way of the Outlaw, this means a skill-based mechanic to extend it. For Way of the Sharpshooter, it’s the ability to earn your Super more quickly.
Nightstalker
Changes
Moebius Quiver
- Entire damage bonus is applied on the first hit instead of stacking and multiplying
- Increased tether radius and lifetime
- Made it easier to fire successive tethers
Spectral Blades
- Damage resistance in stealth decreased
- Duration of Super while invisible slightly decreased
Notes: This is step one for Shadowshot, and we intend to keep improving the way it works. For this pass, we focused on Moebius Quiver quality of life.
Arcstrider
Changes:
- Super damage is now more heavily weighted toward the heavy palm strike attack
- No attack damage was reduced, but much of the added damage for this Super went into the heavy attack
- Lethal Current bonus damage increased
Titan
Sunbreaker
Changes:
Sunspots
Doubled the damage of the burn on enemies
Sun Warrior
- Buff length increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds
- Now increases ALL outgoing damage
Burning Maul
- Slam radius increased
- Slam fire tornado improved homing
Sentinel
Changes:
- Super damage is more heavily weighted on the heavy shield charge attack.
- No attack damage was reduced, but much of the added damage for this Super went into the heavy attack
Striker
Changes:
Terminal Velocity
- There are now three tiers of hang time
- The amount of hang time for each tier has been reworked
- Each tier of hang time now causes four damaging shocks instead of three
- The damage for the hang time bonuses has been increased significantly
Trample
- The light shoulder attack Super cost has been reduced by ~85%
- Trample can now trigger every 0.5 seconds, up from every 1 second
Notes: For Code of the Earthshaker, the change to Terminal Velocity should make it more engaging. The first tier is now easier to achieve. For the second tier, you’ll probably want some high ground, but if all you have is flat land, a directional slam near the peak of your lift can proc it. Finally, there’s a new third tier that will require some serious height to activate. On top of that, you’ll not only need to land your hang time slams, but also do it quickly enough to get in all four possible to maximize damage.
With Code of the Juggernaut, if you play it right, you can extend your Super for minutes (in PvE). I know this sounds crazy, but it takes foresight and strategic choices. The light shoulder attack is almost a movement mode with the new cheaper cost. With the increased mobility, you should be able to lay some shoulder on bigger targets and then go on a run for little guys to rebuild your Super energy.
Warlock
Dawnblade
Changes:
Super duration increased
Voidwalker
Changes:
Cataclysm
- Increased detonation radius
- Cluster damage increased
- Improved cluster bomb homing to make it more consistent against single targets
- Cluster bombs no longer detonate one another
Vortex
Linger damage increased significantly
Nova Warp
- Slower movement while charging
- Charging costs more energy and overall duration is reduced
- Damage resistance reduced very slightly
- PvP damage reduction
- Charged detonation will no longer be able to one shot another player in their Super, provided it has damage resistance
Notes: Summed up: “Nova Bomb, now not just for large groups.” The Nova Warp changes above are all small, but we think together they will help bring it down into a good place—a place similar to the Supers that we’re raising up.
Stormcaller
Changes:
Stormtrance
Increased number of targets for chain lightning by 1