With Destiny 2: Forsaken just around the corner Bungie is front-loading a lot of changes this week so we can all be a little more prepared for the rest of the changes coming on September 4. While there is a lot happening on the back end with balancing weapons and armor there are some obvious changes to the system UI as well with a new planet select screen in the Director and changes to the way the Subclasses look.
If you are interested in all the minutiae of the changelog it can be found at bungie.net but I will try to give you the most important points here so you can know what to expect moving forward.
More: Everything we know about Destiny 2: Forsaken
Weapon changes
This is the biggest and most important change to the 2.0 update before the release of Forsaken. The weapon slots have been completely altered, bringing them more in line with the original Destiny system while maintaining a level of choice from the original Destiny 2 loadout.
The weapon slots have been completely altered, bringing them more in line with the original Destiny system
The change seems to be focused on the ammo and the way it used by the assorted weapons, so instead of Kinetic, Energy, and Heavy you now have Primary, Special, and Heavy, much like you did in Destiny 1 but the big difference is those ammo types are not tied to the same slots as they were before.
Heavy is still tied to heavy but the rest of the ammo is now tied to specific weapons rather than slots. So snipers can once again be used as your secondary weapon and have plenty of ammo to boot while some snipers, exotic ones mainly like the Whisper of the Worm, will keep using Heavy ammo to maintain their balance?
The new ammo system opens up more avenues to play differently.
It feels like it could be confusing but really it just opens up more avenues for people to play differently. Do you enjoy playing like Destiny 1 with specific types of weapons in specific slots? you can do that now. Do you like the Destiny 2 style of having two auto rifles in your arsenal and a sniper in your heavy? you can do that too, this system really does give you the best of both worlds.
Bungie has given us a list of which weapons types fit in which slots and it may take getting used to, but with everything else happening in Forsaken one more thing isn't going to make to much difference. The list is as follows:
- Primary Ammo Weapons
- Hand Cannons
- Scout Rifles
- Auto Rifles
- Pulse Rifles
- Sidearms
- Submachine Guns
- Special Ammo Weapons
- Fusion Rifles
- Shotguns
- Sniper Rifles
- Trace Rifles
- Single-Shot Grenade Launchers
- Heavy Ammo Weapons
- Drum-Loaded Grenade Launchers
- Rocket launchers
- Linear Fusion Rifles
- Swords
Interestingly, Bungie made no mention of the new weapon type, bows. I assume they are holding that back for the 2.0.0.1 update that will arrive on September 4 with all the new content though it would be nice to know where they fit in the new hierarchy.
Small changes
As I said earlier there are lots of small changes in the 2.0 update that don't make a huge difference but are noticeable. The planet UI has been shifted around to allow for the reef to take over the right-hand side of the map. Guessing by the amount of room they have given it, I think the Reef will have multiple entry points, perhaps the Reef proper and the Prison of elders again.
The other UI change is how the Subclasses are laid out, again because of the introduction of new supers and new subclasses, though whether they are fully new subclasses remain to be seen, they have shifted all the information over to the left side of the screen to make some room.
The former residents of the Prison of elders are loose though they do not, as yet, drop any loot.
There also new enemies roaming the world that can appear at any time. They are the former residents of the Prison of elders though they do not, as yet, drop any loot. When Bungie says the former residents I don't know if they mean Skolas and his friends or the new barons that Cayde-6 put away. I'm sure one of you guardians will have spotted one by the time this article goes live though so let me know.
The final noticeable change is the retiring of the Tokens used by each of the planet vendors. Now you seem to use just the planetary consumables you find in the world to level up your guns and pay for the unique armor and weapons the planetary vendors like Ana Bray give you. This seems to be a complete reworking of the way we buy and sell in the game so I will definitely be looking into this in much more depth as the days count down to Forsaken.
Final thoughts
This is an unusual step for Bungie. By bringing about some of these changes before the main update on September 4th Bungie is giving everybody a taste of what is to come. They are even opening up the Gambit game mode on September 1st for us all to try out. This is a good move as they need people to want to buy forsaken and invest in this next year of Destiny 2.
How do you feel about these changes Guardians? I know a lot of people have wanted a return to form for the Destiny team but is this just going backward for fanservice? let me know in the comments?
