Destiny update makes sweeping changes to its most powerful weapons

Tweaks exotics, kills Templar cheese, fixes Xbox One frame-rate issue.

News by Wesley Yin-Poole Former Editor-in-Chief

Updated on Dec. 1, 2014

Bungie has released a new update for first-person shooter Destiny that makes significant changes to the game's most powerful items.

The 75.09MB update, which brings the game up to version 1.1, buffs a raft of exotic class guns and nerfs one of its most popular.

Today's Destiny update comes a week before the release of expansion one: The Dark Below.

"Exotic Weapons are designed to look, feel, and sound overpowered," the developer wrote on Bungie.net.

"At the same time, they are not supposed to break the balance of the game. We hope these weapons challenge the way players think about their loadouts. Exotics will be a constant work in-progress."

Of particular interest, the much-maligned Thorn and Bad Juju guns have been buffed. Meanwhile the Suros Regime auto rifle, used by many players, has been nerfed.

Bungie has also changed the way you upgrade exotic weapons and armour. In a move clearly designed to help players fully upgrade their best items before next week's release of expansion one The Dark Below, exotics no longer require the tricky-to-get Ascendant Materials to upgrade. Now, the final node of all exotic gear requires a new material called Exotic Shard.

You can get an Exotic Shard from dismantling unwanted exotics or buying them from once-a-week NPC vendor Xur for seven Strange Coins. It's worth noting that exotic weapons now start at a higher base attack value, but have a narrowed upgrade range to compensate for the changes Bungie has made with today's update.

Here's a significant change: destination materials (Spinmetal, Relic Iron, Spirit Bloom and Helium Filaments) now drop from completing the Daily Heroic mission and the Daily Patrol Bounty. You can also buy them using Vanguard Marks and Crucible Marks. The exchange rate is 10 Marks for 20 upgrade materials. This changes the way material farming works so that hunting down chests in Patrol mode is not the only realistic option for players.

Those who play the game's raid, Vault of Glass, will be disappointed to know that Bungie has tweaked the Templar boss fight so that it can't be forced off its platform. Using grenades to do this was a popular "cheese" tactic among players.

And finally, Bungie has fixed an issue that was causing the Xbox One version's frame-rate to drop for those who were using party chat.

Here are the patch notes in full:

Weapons

Exotics

In preparation for the Dark Below, Exotic Armour and Weapons no longer require Ascendant Materials to upgrade
The final upgrade node of all Exotic Gear will require an Exotic Shard
Exotic Shards can be obtained by one of the following means:
Dismantling unwanted Exotics
Purchased from Xur for 7 Strange Coins
Exotics now start at a higher base Attack value and have a narrowed upgrade range to compensate
Thorn
Projectiles now briefly highlight targets on impact
Mark of the Devourer DoT (damage-over-time) upgrade increased against PvE enemy targets
Reload Speed increased
Magazine Size increased
Ammo inventory size increased
Stability and Weapon Handling increased
Bad Juju
Magazine Size increased to 8 bursts (was 5)
Ammo inventory size increased
String of Curses now also decreases the cooldown of your Super on kill
Adjusted effects to not block first person reticle
Hard Light
Stability increased
Perfect Balance upgrade replaced by Fitted Stock (increases maximum possible weapon Stability)
Suros Regime
Lowered total damage at the end of the mag on SUROS Regime upgrade to be more in line with the Glass Half Full perk on Legendary Auto Rifles
Monte Carlo
Stability increased
Range slightly decreased
Monte Carlo Method upgrade now also has a chance to fully charge melee ability on kill
MIDA Multi-Tool
MIDA rounds now have increased knockback against targets in both PvE and PvP
Hawkmoon
Send It upgrade (which was redundant) replaced by Speed Reload
Red Death
Rate of Fire increased slightly, but Burst Damage reduced to compensate
Plan C
Weapon Handling speed increased
Player Speed increased while Plan C is in hand
Pocket Infinity
Speed Reload upgrade replaced by Extended Clip which allows the option to increase magazine size (5 bursts)
Vex Mythoclast
Attack Power increased to 323 (from 300)
Base Damage increased, fixing bug we introduced in previous patch
Enhanced Battery upgrade by Extended Mag (this change still allows for a significant upgrade to Magazine Size, but less than before)
Invective
Reload Speed increased significantly, auto fires slightly slower
Ice Breaker
Send It upgrade replaced by Lightweight (which was redundant as Icebreaker already had maximum range)
New effects for enemies killed by Ice Breaker upgrade
Patience and Time
Snapshot upgrade replaced by Custom Optics (provides a lower zoom option)
Super Good Advice
Stability increased
Truth
Magazine Size increased to 3 (was 1)

Activities

Raid
Fixed an issue we introduced in a previous patch, in which Atheon did not correctly send 3 players through the time gates
Fixed an exploit where the Templar could be forced off its platform
Daily Heroic Story
Destination Materials now drop from completing the Daily Heroic
Bounties
Removed the 'Relic Hunter' Bounty
Destination Materials now drop from completing the Daily Patrol Bounty

Vendors

Reduced Cryptarch reputation gain from Engrams, but reputation reward packages now have an increased chance for Legendary Engrams
Players will now be able to use Vanguard Marks and Crucible Marks to purchase Spinmetal, Relic Iron, Spirit Bloom, and Helium Filaments from the Vanguard and Crucible Quartermasters in the Tower
Xur now sells a new material, Exotic Shards, to upgrade the final node of Exotics for 7 Strange Coins
Faction Class Items (ex: FWC Cloak, Dead Orbit Mark, etc.) are now replaced by Faction Emblems in the rank-up reward packages from Faction Vendors

Technical