Having played through the Warmind missions, I find myself in a really strange spot with Destiny 2.
On one hand, there’s some really cool stuff (Valkyrie anyone?), and the core game is as perfect as it has always been, mechanically, visually, audibly etc.
But on the other hand, it feels exactly the same….
I feel like I’ve gone back to an old relationship. We’ve had our disagreements, had time apart, and despite all the expectations and low-key changes, we’re both essentially still the same people.
It isn’t a bad thing, not by any stretch. I just wonder if really it’s what I need anymore.
Change is good
So, Bungie are apparently working hard to change and appease the core player base, and that’s great.
New missions, new planet and open area to explore. Cool….
It’s definitely better than the Osiris DLC, and I feel that it’s much more lore-involved, which is great for someone that read so many grimoire cards in the past! I love the concept of a Warmind, and whilst it’s not a meaty addition to the overall story of Destiny, it is adequate for a small expansion, I guess.
I think some of the better changes come to the exotic weapons to be honest.
Here’s a rundown from the official Bungie blog:
Exotic Kinetic WeaponsSweet Business
- Increased the ammo gained when players pick up Kinetic ammo
- Increased ammo inventory
Vigilance Wing
- Recovery is set to maximum while the Last Stand perk is active
The Jade Rabbit
- +20 stability
Rat King
- Enhanced the total stat benefits of running with a pack
- Benefits are front-loaded; there are now larger damage benefits when two people equip the Exotic, with slight damage increases for each additional player
- The Rat Pack perk can now activate and stack while Rat King is stowed
- Added HUD notification text for when the Rat Pack perk is activeIncreased ammo inventory
- Added full auto
Crimson
- Refined damage, rate of fire, and recovery time between bursts
- Increased ammo inventory
Sturm and Drang
- Sturm: Increased base stability stat
- Overcharged rounds from Drang now deal 80% bonus damage
- Added HUD status notification and visual feedback for when the magazine is overcharged
- Drang: Kills with Drang reload Sturm and add one overcharged round even if Sturm’s mag is not full
- Increased magazine sizeNow has the Rampage perk
Exotic Energy WeaponsHard Light
- Can now be manually reloaded to change the damage type
- Hits after its rounds bounce now deal double damage
Graviton Lance
- Now fires two-round bursts
- Increased stability
- Reduced recoil on its final round in a burst
- Cosmology explosion deals more damage
- Cosmology explosion now spawns secondary Void projectiles
- Enemies eliminated float up and back, detonating closer to their death location
- Improved aim assist
Skyburner’s Oath
- +10 aim assist+30 increased handling
- Now has the Explosive Payload perk
- Hip fire now lobs slower-moving projectiles with tracking
Riskrunner
- Now deals more damage while Arc Conductor is active
- Enhanced Arc damage resistance to 50% while Arc Conductor is active and Riskrunner is in the player’s hands
- Arc damage resistance is now enabled against Guardians in the Crucible
- Arc Conductor can be activated while the weapon is stowed
- Added Arc FX to the player while Arc Conductor is active
Sunshot
- Increased damage and radius of kill explosion
Coldheart
- Damage now ramps up faster
- Reduced incoming flinch
- Increased precision modifier to 1.4x (was 1.05x)
Prometheus Lens
- Increased magazine size to 100 rounds
- Deals more area damage and less beam damage
- Increased precision modifier to 1.4x (was 1.05x)
Fighting Lion
- Deals more blast damage and less direct hit damage
- Increased ammo inventory
- Increased spawn ammo
- Kills with this weapon guarantee Energy ammo drops
Exotic Power WeaponsTractor Cannon
- Weapon damage now suppresses targets
- Weapon damage now makes targets more susceptible to Void damage (+50%) for 10 seconds
D.A.R.C.I.
- Reduced flinch
- Reduced zoom on scope
- Increased precision damage to locked-on targets (up to 4x)Increased aim assist
Borealis
- Reduced flinch
- After breaking the shield of an enemy (a combatant or a Guardian using a Super) with the matching elemental damage type, it deals double damage for the remainder of the magazine
The Prospector
- Grenades now stick to surfaces
- Grenades now cause burn damage over time
So, yeah. Good stuff! Exotic weapons feel…..exotic and special. Nice!
Truth be told, though. These aren’t changes because of the Warmind expansion. These were coming anyway, and to be honest, they shouldn’t have been needed in the first place.
The power of choice
Here’s where I really feel that Destiny 2 lets us down as fans.
We have little-to-no control over the activities we choose. Want to do a strike? Cool, join the playlist and hope it shows up. Want to play crucible? Sure thing, just hope you don’t want to play a specific gametype, because you’re going to have to sit in a playlist and hope for the best.
Honestly, seeing that this hasn’t changed yet is a little soul destroying. Some strikes aren’t particularly fun, especially with randoms, and I just prefer specific crucible gametypes. Why remove the ability to choose, that we had in the original Destiny?
Presumably it’s to do with matchmaking, and always having busy playlist queues.
Why not see what content isn’t popular and change it, make it viable, and make sure that people are enjoying everything on offer, instead of forcing folk into things they don’t want to do, in the hopes that they’ll get to tackle what they do want to do, eventually?
Pre-Warmind changes
To be fair, Bungie have been busy, adding things into Destiny 2 that fans missed.
Making your guardians feel more powerful, by decreasing the amount of time it takes to get a super, and increasing base speed etc. You feel like you’re actually that super-powered space hero that you built in the original game.
Adding to that, they’ve brought in “masterworks” which are versions of weapons and armour that can see the base perks being “re-rolled” for something different. This is particularly important, because a lot of the post-game in Destiny was about getting good weapons, with good rolls of perks. The randomness was harsh, but the joy of getting a “god-roll” was sublime.
Now we have a watered-down version of this, but it’s something, and it’s a step in the right direction.
Looking forward
At this stage, I’m about done again with Destiny 2. Sure I’d love to tackle the raid and see it through to completion, and I’d love to have a crack at the raid lairs. However, between struggling to get the clan together, and the time commitment it takes to get up-to-level etc, I’m not sure I care enough anymore.
Lists of changes are coming, but Bungie have relied heavily on my love for the first game to keep me coming back to D2, and honestly, I’m ground-down.
Loads of promises, but they’ve broken promises over and over. It’s a sad state of affairs really. Solid gameplay, fun with friends, but a really shallow experience now, and without feeling like I’m part of something massive, I’m struggling to be interested beyond a quick check of recent additions.
Hopefully things will turn around, but if they’re constantly back-tracking and working to get it right, 6 months after release. What did the initial development plan look like, and how far behind is it now?
The rose tint on my glasses has faded dramatically and I’m not really sure how much more leeway I can give Destiny before I write it off like I would any other game.
I’ll give it some more hours, grind out an exotic quest, but beyond that, I’ve lost all hope.
Such a shame.