Destiny’s 1.1.1 update is coming later this month and it’s set to include weapon tweaks that essentially nerf auto-rifles and buff pulse rifles, among other things.
According to a bungie.net post from sandbox designer Jon Weisnewski, the team at Bungie solicited reports from countless players, monitored games, and conducted internal playtests to arrive at the conclusions they have with their latest upcoming update.
In general, here’s what’s being tweaked:
— Auto-rifles, designed for close to medium-range combat, are getting a nerf, seeing a base damage reduction by 2.5% in addition to a reduction in effective range.
— Pulse rifles, which are among Destiny’s least-used weapons, will be getting a DPS buff of up to 8.7%.
— Hand-cannons, or pistols, are designed for medium range and will be seeing a loss in effective range and initial accuracy.
— Fusion rifles will see a wider blast radius making them slightly easier to use, but their starting ammunition will be reduced so players will have to hunt for secondary weapon ammo.
No major tweaks are being made to heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, scout rifles and sniper rifles, but Bungie expects that players will be able to find more mileage out of these weapons with the tweaks going into the previously mentioned weapons.
“You may discover new reasons to start using some of these weapons as part of your combat strategy,” wrote Weisnewski.