Destiny 2 is buffing the Exotics you never use and nerfing Warmind Cells pretty hard

Destiny 2 Season 15
(Image credit: Bungie)

Pour one out for Warmind Cells, which are getting absolutely hammered as part of the armor updates coming to Destiny 2 in Season 15. Soften the blow by admiring the new Iron Banner armor pictured above – the first all-new set to grace the event in ages. 

Bungie outlined the big balance changes in its latest blog post, which reads like good news altogether, provided you aren't a small ball of solar energy. The gist is that the most-used Exotics are getting toned down while overlooked Exotics are getting some much-needed changes. Cool but underwhelming Exotics like The Stag, The Bombardiers, Icefall Mantle, and more are on the buff list, while Super-generating Exotics like Ursa Furiosa and Geomag Stabilizers will eat some nerfs that cap their energy refunds. The Lucky Pants sound like less of a meme, too. What a time to be alive. 

Mods are getting some changes as well, and with the long-dominant Warmind Cell mods here to stay now that armor sunsetting is gone, they're getting toned down. Like, a lot. To be honest, the fact that the ability to instantly clear an entire room of enemies with a single well-placed shot hasn't already been nerfed is a surprise. Expect Warmind Cells to deal less damage in a smaller radius, and for their mods to cost more, going forward. But hey, don't be sad; the new Elemental Well mods are getting tuned up, and some of them sound pretty good. 

Speaking of new mods: in what could only be a move to get me, known hater of reloading, to play more often, Destiny 2 is adding holster mods that will gradually reload stowed weapons, not unlike the unique perk on the Deep Stone Crypt raid guns. Here's another nice quality of life change to round things out: the effects of the Traction perk, which Bungie acknowledged "felt mandatory for PvP on controller and unnecessary on mouse and keyboard," are being baked into the settings to free up that mod slot. Rejoice, console players.

Season 15 is also bringing a melee fix players have been requesting for, I don't know, seven years or so, not to mention some Light subclass buffs.

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.