14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Bungie is preparing to launch a new expansion for Destiny, called The Taken King, but the company is also committed to making sure that gamers who do not pick it up get an improved experience with the social shooter once the accompanying 2.0 update is launched.
Jon Weisnewski, one of the developers working on the core mechanics, says that the studio has compiled an extensive list of changes that it plans to make in order to better balance all the included weapons.
He explains that Bungie believes rolling out tweaks for a limited segment of the array would be unhelpful, which means gamers will get the complete re-balancing just before The Taken King is released.
For Destiny auto rifles, the base damage will be increased while the falloff will be higher, and for pulse rifles, gamers will have to display more skill in order to constantly hit targets at longer ranges.
A wide array of tweaks to the hand guns, the shotguns, the sniper rifles and the rocket launchers are also planned, designed to make each category more unique while giving players options for the various modes included in the shooter.
Exotic weapons in Destiny will also be tweaked in the new update
Jon Weisnewski adds, "Fair warning: Some of these changes are intended to make you feel better while killing with the weapon, and some are intended to make you feel better while being killed by the weapon."
Bungie is also working on the core stats for weapons, trying to make sure that gamers can no longer use the base upgrades to make any of them into an overpowered implement of destruction.
Some of the values are being reduced, in accordance with the profile of each type of gun, and the perk stats also have a smaller impact or come with an attached trade-off.
The talent grids in Destiny are also reworked to give gamers clearer options.
Weisnewski says he is sure that the community will have plenty of feedback about weapon balance when 2.0 launches and plans to listen to their opinions and implement the required changes.
The Taken King for Destiny will be launched on September 15 on all platforms and gamers can probably expect the major patch to arrive one or two days before that.
The expansion will also introduce some surprise changes linked to weapons that the studio is not yet willing to address.