Destiny 2 Season 18 is just a few weeks away, and it's packing some of the most-requested Exotic changes in recent history, including more intrinsic anti-Champion mods.
Bungie outlined a big batch of weapon changes in its latest weekly blog post. As Bungie explained earlier this summer, a non-trivial chunk of Season 18's weapon changes were pushed to the current season to help keep the game healthy. Consequently, this update is overall smaller than some seasonal sweeps, but it still packs a heck of a punch.
Exotic changes are leading the pack, with a precious handful of guns gaining anti-Champion functionality. Here's the full lineup:
- Le Monarque - intrinsic Overload (on poison arrows)
- Thunderlord - intrinsic Overload
- Malfeasance - intrinsic Unstoppable (on explosions)
- Wish-ender - intrinsic Anti-Barrier
That ought to unlock some new loadout combinations for dealing with specific Champion types in things like Nightfalls. Players have been asking for more intrinsic Champion mods for multiple seasons now – Champion fatigue was also one of the weak points I highlighted in a previous piece about Destiny 2's core content needing help – so these additions can't come soon enough.
Several Exotics are also getting more general buffs. For example, the old and overlooked Legend of Acrius now has Trench Barrel on its Exotic Catalyst, Fighting Lion's damage buff has been fixed (for, I believe, the fourth time), and Ticuu's Divination will draw arrows slightly quicker.
Three Exotics are also getting more dramatic reworks, starting with the infamous Lord of Wolves, which has overrun PvP on at least three separate occasions. Bungie's nerfing its ammo and PvP damage while buffing its PvE performance to make it less of a problem child. Dead Man's Tale, meanwhile, is getting some changes to its unique Cranial Spike perk. This perk will no longer buff PvP damage, but maxing it out will increase hip-fire RPM by 50 to sell the "hip-firing cowboy rifle" fantasy Bungie's going for. Finally, the new raid Exotic Collective Obligation is getting some quality of life changes to make its unique Void buffs easier to trigger and utilize.
Other standout weapon changes include PvE buffs to scout rifles and heavy grenade launchers, as well as blanket boosts for high-impact auto rifles and lightweight bows. Glaives have also been updated to trigger the Exotic perks for Necrotic Grips, Karnstein Armlets, and ACD/0 Feedback Fence. A few weapon perks and origin traits have been buffed too, so the likes of Ambitious Assassin and Wellspring should feel better to use going forward.
Check out the full list of changes for all the nitty-gritty stuff coming next season.
A new Destiny 2 subclass has seemingly leaked ahead of the August 23 Lightfall showcase.
