Prepare your bandwith because Destiny’s 2.0 Patch is Dropping, and at just shy of 20gb for most players…I feel the hearts of all Australians sink. Year 2 of Destiny has begun.
This is the first and major patch in a series of patches over the course of the next week to prepare Destiny for the upcoming major changes being implemented as a part of The Taken King expansion, due out in around a week. With this first patch comes the majority of changes to the current game, whereas subsequent patches will add new content.
The first major change is one which a lot of people will welcome, and that is the level cap being upped to 34 (and then to 40 with the expansion) and the removal of light leveling. Destiny systems will calculate your new level based on your current gear and light level, and determine a new exp level for you based on this. All new players will be able to level using solely experience from 1-34 from this day forward.
But the Light will not go away. Instead, it will be shifted into a different stat for your guardian which all of your items contribute to. This will go on to effect how much damage you can deal and how much damage you can take.
Next Major change is to weapons. A lot of weapons and weapon classes are being nerfed or buffed to fit into a new damage system which is set to balance out destiny combat and pvp. This is something that a lot of people are going to either be really happy about or really angry about. The happiness will hopeful come from a more balanced crucible (or multiplayer) experience accross the board. The Anger will be caused by fan favourite exotic weapons like the Gjallarhorn, Ice Breaker and Thorn will be nerfed (which is made worse considering they will not be getting a year 2 beef up like some other exotic weapons).
Alongside changes to weapon types, armor stats and guardian abilities, Destiny will also see changes to how Strikes will operate in regards to loot and loot distribution. This is in an effort to avoid players afk-ing and still receiving equal benefits to those who do the work. Furthermore, damage modifiers in weekly and nightfall strikes will now favour AI enemies over players, to amp up the challenge.
Non-sony players will rejoice as all crucible maps and all strike maps, including those originally exclusive to playstation, are now available to everyone. Just something new to experience prior to The Taken King making his arrival into the world of Destiny.
Finally, we will bid a fond farewell to “Dinklebot” as our guardian’s ghost will be revoiced by voice acting veteran Nolan North. I know not everyone liked Peter Dinklage’s performance, but as one of my favourite actors, I cherished our time spent together exploring worlds and fighting baddies.
For the full patch notes, click here, and for all your Destiny news, Zahra and Pat have you covered right here at NovaStream.
