The weapon sandbox in Destiny 2 has been changing as Bungie tries to keep all weapon types on a fairly flat footing, however, the studio is planning to make some major changes to one weapon type, especially one that players have long considered the most important in PvE. Weapon types that underperform in . With the start of Season of the Deep, the game has undergone a series of changes, as it does with each season or expansion release of the game, to accommodate the seasonal weapon mods that both bring. The game’s next major update won’t arrive until halfway through the season, but players now know what to expect when the game goes live.
Season of the Deep is the current season in Destiny 2, sending players back to Titan, who returned after the Witness went missing and brought back Deputy Commander Sloane. Sloan asks the Guardian to help protect the mysterious creature that lives deep in the moon’s methane ocean, as it may hold useful information about the Witness’s origin and how to stop it. However, the hive god Xivu Arath also took notice of her influence and began to exert a more direct influence in the solar system as her forces sought to thwart the Vanguard’s plans.
In its latest Destiny of the Week post, Bungie took the opportunity to answer questions the community had previously asked about aspects of the game they were curious about. One of them is about the current state of the hand cannon and if there are plans to buff the weapon type to bring it back to “Shadowkeep level”. The studio seems to agree with this, saying it’s planning some changes in the Season of the Deep midseason update and beyond, though the hand cannon won’t return to the damage seen in Shadowkeep.
The weapons team said they don’t want to go back to the “Shadowkeep level” as it would cause a “substantial nerf” to non-critical hits, and will instead get a 20% damage buff across the board in the mid-season update. Based on current playtests As a result, future seasons may see a 15% reload speed buff when the stat is at zero, as well as a 20% and 75% damage buff to red-bar and orange-bar enemies, respectively. Bungie will also introduce a new sub-family of hand cannons in Heavy Burst Hand Cannons, the first of which will be Warden’s Law and fire two bullets.
How effective these buffs and changes will ultimately be remains to be seen, but it shows that Bungie is working hard to address player complaints about the hand cannon. Select hand cannons can still provide this punch in both PvE and PvP, though these often end up as exotics like Last Word or Thorns, as they can rely on their unique perks to make up for any damage drops. If these planned changes prove to be effective, players can expect to see more hand cannons, especially in endgame events.
Destiny 2 is currently available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.