The final This Week at Bungie update before the launch of Destiny 2: Beyond Light covers a wide range of news and updates, beginning—in terms of importance—with a nerf to the Hunter's Dodge that increases the cooldown period by a few seconds.
It might not sound like much, but Hunter is the most popular class in the game partly because the Dodge is the best class ability. Depending on how you spec it, the Dodge grants free reloads or melee charges (both with Dragon's Shadow) and is also useful for breaking enemy tracking. The reaction among Hunter mains probably won't be universally enthusiastic, but I am told by someone who knows about these things that it's possible to charge the Dodge every nine seconds currently, and I think we can all agree that's a bit much.
Other sandbox changes:
- Traveler's Chosen - Reduced muzzle flash intensity.
- Point of the Stag - Increased Point of the Stag's Max Power Level to 1310.
- Divinity - Fixed a bug that prevented some weapons from dealing precision damage to the Divinity cage (e.g. Eriana's Vow).
- Anti-Champion Mods - Anti-barrier rounds will now penetrate Taken Phalanx shields, and all Anti-Champion mods have been shifted to armor, rather than taking a weapon mod slot.
- Orbs of Light have been changed to Orbs of Power as they can now be consumed by Light and Dark subclasses.
Bungie also revealed a couple of new kiosks coming to the Tower in Beyond Light: the Quest Archive, where players will be able to easily pick up old quests they've previously discarded (and for veteran players to play through the New Light tutorial quests, if they're so inclined), and, more interestingly, the floridly-named Monument to Lost Lights Exotic Archive.
"Here, players may acquire various Exotics and Legendary Pinnacle/Pursuit weapons that were once available through now-retired quests," Bungie explained. "As many of these Exotics were tied to lengthy quests or difficult objectives, we wanted to make sure their prices reflected those previous efforts. Players will need an amount of Glimmer, destination materials, masterworking materials, and an Exotic Cipher or Ascendant Shard in order to purchase the Exotic or Legendary which they desire."
A new Spoils of Conquest currency, which can only be acquired by completing raids, is also being introduced, which will be required to access exotics that were tied to Vaulted raids. Perfect if you still don't have Anarchy from Scourge of the Past somehow.
The snake-faced bastard Xur will also begin offering a quest that will let players earn one Exotic Cipher per week, a change that will enable players to catch up on quest exotics much more quickly and easily.
As for the newest patch, the login screen is dark now, which at least one Destiny 2 player (yes, it's Tim) is extremely excited about, and full-screen menus now have a dark background style too. The Destiny 2 character creation system has also been changed changed: Guardian head and hair models will be replaced with "improved versions," and it will now offer "Masculine" and "Feminine" options rather than "Male" and "Female," which is a nice touch.
Bungie also served up a "parting gift" for Destiny 2 players unhappy about the looming expiration of Cayde-6's expired ramen coupon. "We know this one stings a bit. It’s a byproduct of us cleaning up inventory systems and doing general maintenance," it said. "These coupons can’t be redeemed for spicy ramen, but they can decorate your desktop for as long as you desire."
Destiny 2: Beyond Light goes live on November 10. Here's what you can expect from it.
