Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Gamescom 2025 schedule
  • Gamescom
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
Destiny 2 The Edge of Fate
Destiny Bungie says "we never intend to ship 'stealth nerfs' in Destiny 2" as Edge of Fate players find unmentioned changes: "We would be completely out of our minds if we thought we could slip something under the rug without players noticing"
Destiny 2 pink and gold guns
Destiny I always like gunplay builds in RPGs like Fallout or The Outer Worlds, but Destiny 2's new "Weapons" stat feels wrong for an MMO, and I'm not the only one who seems to hate it
Diablo 4
Diablo Blizzard puts the nerf bat down, reaches for a dash of buffs instead, then says screw it and buffs literally every Diablo 4 class in the next update
Destiny 2 Titan wearing Edge of Fate armor
Destiny All Destiny 2 Armor 3.0 changes in Edge of Fate
Destiny 2 Edge of Fate Exotic weapons Graviton Spike and Third Iteration
Destiny All Destiny 2 Edge of Fate Exotic weapons and armor we know about so far
Battlefield 6 multiplayer screenshot
Battlefield Battlefield 6 beta changes are a mixed bag: Movement and shotgun nerfs are welcome, but Rush is staying small and open weapons remain the default
Destiny 2 Edge of Fate weapons and armor
Destiny As a 10-year player I'm kind of scared of the Destiny 2: Edge of Fate patch notes, which might be a Bungie record for new currencies and MMO loot MacGuffins
Destiny 2 Edge of Fate hunter running through train carriage with auto rifle in hands
Destiny How Destiny 2 Gear Tiers work in Edge of Fate
The best Splitgate 2 weapons
FPS Games The best Splitgate 2 weapons to use
Monster Hunter Wilds screenshot of a man with his mouth open.
Monster Hunter Capcom forgot to buff one of the worst and least popular weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds, but the rest of the Title Update 2 balance changes sound pretty good
Battlefield 6 key art showing four soldiers looking across scenes of all-out warfare
Battlefield Battlefield 6 beta players pray for nerfs as the M87A1 shotgun becomes a sniper rifle, dev says it's already fixed "in a different build"
Fortnite Season 4 Chapter 6 Shock 'N Awesome weapons Bug Blaster
Fortnite All Fortnite new weapons, vaulted and unvaulted for Season 4 Shock 'N Awesome
Destiny 2 The Edge of Fate
Destiny 1,769 hours into Destiny 2 on Steam, The Edge of Fate has killed my interest in playing with one of the worst leveling systems I've seen in an MMO
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Monster Hunter I've waited literal months for these Monster Hunter Wilds changes, and I don't say this lightly, but I think we might actually be back
Destiny 2 Edge of Fate
Destiny After a disastrous weekend for Destiny 2, Bungie suggests the MMO's latest raid "requires far more than expected" and says it's investigating issues making bosses impossibly tanky
  1. Games
  2. FPS
  3. Destiny

Bungie re-balances Destiny's entire weapon roster. Here are the 10 biggest nerfs and buffs

News
By David Houghton published 17 July 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Time for something new and improved...

Time for something new and improved...

What's changed in Destiny's 2.0.0 re-balance? Rather a lot, actually. A hell of a lot, in fact. But these are the big 10 adjustments you should be aware of first.

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Auto rifles

Auto rifles

Increased base damage.

Damage falloff starts closer to the player to emphasize the AR's role as a close to medium-range weapon.

Small reduction in base stability. Landing shots at optimal range is unaffected, but repeated precision hits require more weapon control to land consistently.

Boost damage by 10% against AI combatants.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
Hand cannons

Hand cannons

Damage falloff starts closer to the player to limit long range lethality.

Small reduction in ADS accuracy, targeted at making long range snap-shooting less reliable.

Reduction in final accuracy when firing from hip. Fast firing from hip is less reliable.

Reduction in magazine size for all base inventory stats.

Reduction in base Optics (zoom) for all Hand Cannons. ADS now grants more width in favor of depth.

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Scout rifles

Scout rifles

Increased base damage for medium to high rate of fire scout rifles. Does not affect time-to-kill in PvP on a Guardian with full health.

Increased magazine size for all base inventory stats.

Reduced Final Accuracy when firing from hip. Fast firing outside of ADS will be less accurate.

Damage bosted by 5% against AI combatants.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
Shotguns

Shotguns

Shotgun perks that enhance lethality at range should be less effective when combined with a high initial Range stat. Shot Package accuracy buff decreased by 30%. Rangefinder adds a 5% base Range increase on ADS (was 20%).

Reduced Precision Damage multiplier on Shotguns by 10%.

Reduced damage against AI combatants by 10%.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Gjallarhorn

Gjallarhorn

Damage of Wolfpack rounds reduced. Intent is to reduce Gjallarhorn's status as 'the one true weapon', and thusly avoid situations in which Raid parties will not entertain players without it. Which is nice.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
The Last Word

The Last Word

Range stat reduced to 10 (was 20), Stability reduced to 20 (was 30).

Reduced effective range while in ADS.

Increased accuracy and precision damage aim assist scale when firing from the hip.

Fixed bugs with Hipfire damage bonus applying incorrectly.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Thorn

Thorn

Reduced base damage of Thorns Mark of the Devourer DoT (Damage over Time) to roughly 1/3 of what it was in PVP and PVE.

DoT can now stack up to 5x across multiple landed projectiles.

This is a net buff for Thorns DoT, but reduces the lethality of the weapon in PVP.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Ice Breaker

Ice Breaker

Recharge time for Ice Breaker's self-replenishing rounds increased to 1 every 8 seconds. Was previously 1 round every 5 seconds. The intent here is to add extra tension to those moments when Ice Breaker will utterly destroy the problem in front of you, but you're still waiting for that one.. bullet... to reload...

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Hawkmoon

Hawkmoon

Added a stack limit to Luck in the Chamber and Holding Aces so that only 2 of the bonus perks will ever stack on one round. This should prevent Hawkmoon from 1-hit killing full health players in PvP.

Add 2 rounds to Hawkmoons magazine when Holding Aces is unlocked.

Luck in the Chamber damage bonus reduced by 3%.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Necrochasm

Necrochasm

Base Stability increased to 60 (was 40).

Magazine size increased.

Cursebringer perk will always trigger on a precision kill.

Cursebringer explosion has increased radius and deals more damage.

In other words, Necrochasm isn't the total, blistering disappointment it used to be. Hooray!

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
CATEGORIES
PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms
David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.

Balancing Destiny’s weapon roster is a lot like patching up a punctured bouncy castle, while standing on said fully inflated dirigible fortress, and wearing track spikes while you do so. Every time you take a step forward to repair or improve something, you’ll turn around to find something else busted up directly behind you. Alongside, no doubt, an unhappy child and a long, deathly ‘prhprhrphrhrrp’ noise. That’s just the nature of a massive, malleable shooter with eight billion guns (give or take), a ton of stat variants, and a huge PvP element. And when you have the same weapons and gear shared across a rich suite of vs. and co-op modes? Egad. Egad indeed.

The best approach to dealing with that unwieldy, inconsistently buoyant beast? Every so often you’re going to have to take the whole thing down, submerge it in a bowl of water (you have very large bowls), see where the bubbles come out, and deal with them all in one fell swoop.

Today is one of those days. With update version 2.0.0, Bungie has dropped a major, across-the-board rework of its weapon balancing, making notable changes to basically everything. Every class of gun has had fundamental changes made, and for the first time we have a raft of tweaks addressing specific, popular, but rather problematic Exotics. Thorn and Gjallarhorn, your great reckoning is finally at hand.

You may like
  • Destiny 2 The Edge of Fate Bungie says "we never intend to ship 'stealth nerfs' in Destiny 2" as Edge of Fate players find unmentioned changes: "We would be completely out of our minds if we thought we could slip something under the rug without players noticing"
  • Destiny 2 pink and gold guns I always like gunplay builds in RPGs like Fallout or The Outer Worlds, but Destiny 2's new "Weapons" stat feels wrong for an MMO, and I'm not the only one who seems to hate it
  • Diablo 4 Blizzard puts the nerf bat down, reaches for a dash of buffs instead, then says screw it and buffs literally every Diablo 4 class in the next update

The broad overview? Auto rifles have been pitched yet further into the medium-range comfort zone, shotguns have had a reduction in the effectiveness of their range-boosting perks, scout rifles are now resolutely long-range weapons, and hand cannons are no longer pocket snipers. And you’re going to have to work a bit harder to get the best out of snipers and fusion rifles too. So hurrah.

In all, it sounds like a very sensible, well thought out, and long-needed set of changes that is inevitably going to make a lot of crybabies go purple with impotent range because they think that the removal of their unfair advantages is itself unfair. But who cares? Destiny is going to be even better in the long-run, and that’s what counts.

And even more excitingly, Bungie is teasing that the released notes only relate to the guns and systems we know about. Apparently there’s more being tweaked and reworked to take into account September’s major Taken King expansion. With the sheer amount of content also set to come along with that add-on, in a couple of months we should be playing a Destiny almost unrecognisable evolved from its form at original release.

You can get the (many) complete details over at Bungie’s full blog post on the update, but the 10 biggest changes are handily laid out in the gallery above. Enjoy!

See more Playstation News
Read more
Destiny 2 The Edge of Fate
Bungie says "we never intend to ship 'stealth nerfs' in Destiny 2" as Edge of Fate players find unmentioned changes: "We would be completely out of our minds if we thought we could slip something under the rug without players noticing"
Destiny 2 pink and gold guns
I always like gunplay builds in RPGs like Fallout or The Outer Worlds, but Destiny 2's new "Weapons" stat feels wrong for an MMO, and I'm not the only one who seems to hate it
Diablo 4
Blizzard puts the nerf bat down, reaches for a dash of buffs instead, then says screw it and buffs literally every Diablo 4 class in the next update
Destiny 2 Titan wearing Edge of Fate armor
All Destiny 2 Armor 3.0 changes in Edge of Fate
Destiny 2 Edge of Fate Exotic weapons Graviton Spike and Third Iteration
All Destiny 2 Edge of Fate Exotic weapons and armor we know about so far
Battlefield 6 multiplayer screenshot
Battlefield 6 beta changes are a mixed bag: Movement and shotgun nerfs are welcome, but Rush is staying small and open weapons remain the default
Latest in Destiny
Destiny Rising codes
Destiny Rising codes (September 2025) and how to redeem them
Marathon game PS5 reveal screenshots
Bungie CEO Pete Parsons is out, new studio head steps up with Destiny 2 flailing, Marathon in limbo, and the eye of Sony burning
destiny
Almost 11 years since launching Destiny 1, former Bungie CEO says live service isn't right for all games: "It's pretty clear that we can't just pick a business model and say that's a reason to make a game"
Destiny 2 The Edge of Fate
1,769 hours into Destiny 2 on Steam, The Edge of Fate has killed my interest in playing with one of the worst leveling systems I've seen in an MMO
Destiny 2 Edge of Fate
After a disastrous weekend for Destiny 2, Bungie suggests the MMO's latest raid "requires far more than expected" and says it's investigating issues making bosses impossibly tanky
Destiny 2 The Edge of Fate
Bungie says "we never intend to ship 'stealth nerfs' in Destiny 2" as Edge of Fate players find unmentioned changes: "We would be completely out of our minds if we thought we could slip something under the rug without players noticing"
Latest in News
The Goonies
40 years later, The Goonies' long-awaited sequel is "moving in the right direction," says writer: "This is the movie I want to see as one of its biggest fans"
Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine
Dwayne Johnson opens up over frustrations on being "pigeon-holed" as a blockbuster star: "This is what Hollywood wants you to be"
Lego Pikachu tail over the top of the 'Who's that Pokemon?' anime screen
Everyone is freaking out at the rumored $650 Lego Pokemon set, but here's why I wouldn't panic yet
Nobody 2
Nobody 2 is now available to watch on digital, just 18 days after the action movie was released in theaters
Celia Imrie as Brave Five in The Phantom Menace
Star Wars' only female starfighter pilot in The Phantom Menace says she was "told off" by George Lucas for wearing lipstick
Batman Arkham
Former Assassin's Creed director who also worked on Arkham Origins joins Rocksteady, sparking more hopes for a new Batman game
  1. Kaser clad in black and Victor in white clash swords in Lost Soul Aside
    1
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  2. 2
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  3. 3
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  4. 4
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  5. 5
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  1. Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
    1
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  2. 2
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  3. 3
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  4. 4
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  5. 5
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...