Destiny fights back against shotgun and sniper dominance in the Crucible

Guardians of Destiny, take heed: your time in the Crucible is about to get a major overhaul, particularly if you find yourself favoring sniper rifles and shotguns (or, if you're like me, find yourself at the business end of said weapons). According to the Bungie weekly update, players in 3v3 Crucible matches will no longer spawn with special ammo.

"The PvP team wanted to increase the use of Primary weapons, especially at match-start," says senior designer Derek Carroll. "Sniper rifles and shotguns, in particular, inspire great happiness or sadness depending on which end of the weapon you find yourself. We wanted to somewhat delay that gratification (and sadification)."

In addition, Bungie is introducing Freelance playlists. Freelance 6v6 and Freelance 3v3 are mixed-mode playlists designed for solo players only - no Fireteams allowed. Freelance 6v6 features a mix of Clash, Control, and Rift. Freelance 3v3 features a mix of Elimination, Salvage, and Skirmish.

Destiny is a constantly evolving game, and its myriad of changes means players must also frequently adapt. Some of the tweaks made are minor and go off without so much as a peep from fans, while others tend to inspire a cacophony of both angry and elated forum posts. I get the feeling these are going to be the latter. The update goes live on February 9.

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