Bungie has addressed players‘ complaints regarding Destiny 2’s endgame content and lack of transparency, and revealed plans to fix them.
Destiny 2 launched with remarkably positive player feedback in September, but in the subsequent months, the game’s vocal critics have expressed frustration with everything from the experience system to the endgame content. Bungie has been listening to the criticism and the studio announced several major changes coming to the game soon.
“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 [ 2] to be their hobby — the game they return to, and a game where friendships are made,” Bungie said in a blog post.
In December, Destiny 2 will introduce a “Heroic Strikes” playlist that will give players better rewards for completing the cooperative missions, and better rewards will also be coming to the open-world Adventures and Lost Sectors. Additionally, players will now be able to equip a new tier of weapon dubbed “Masterworks.” These weapons will feature stat tracks, extra re-rollable stat bonuses, and technically fall under the “Legendary” category, so you won’t be limited in the same way as “Exotic” weapons. Legendary weapons can be turned into Masterworks and they can also be found as drops “for any source of Legendary weapons for characters above 250 power.” They also generate orbs on multi-kills, which should help your Guardian earn their super ability more quickly.
Xûr, the mysterious traveling merchant who appears on weekends to offer Exotic equipment, is also being changed. He will sell “Fated Engrams” for Legendary shards, and when taking them to the Cryptarch, they are guaranteed to become an Exotic item you don’t already own.
Bungie also addressed a decision it had made regarding experience points in the post. Previously, the game used a scaling system for earning experience to make both open-world activities and larger missions worth players’ time, but after players discovered the system, they took issue with the studio’s lack of transparency.
“We were able to disable the system with a server-side change, but a new solution is now needed to re-balance the experience in Destiny 2,” Bungie said. “We have begun that work, and will continue to provide updates to you about timelines and specifics.”
Updates for Destiny 2 will be rolling out on December 5 and December 12. The game’s first expansion, Curse of Osiris, also arrives on December 5 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It features a new playable planet — Mercury — as well as an increased level cap and new story missions.
