Bungie launched one of its biggest Fate 2-focused blogs in recent memory this Thursday. In nearly 9,000 words, the studio described some major gun updates coming to their MMO on May 24, with the start of the currently unnamed season 17.
There are too many minutes Fate 2 changes to describe here, so we will break down two of the biggest changes that will have the biggest impact on the players: Glaive and exotic changes.
Glaives have been weak since Bungie released them with his Witch Queen expansion in February. Although they are exciting, they just do not do well in any difficult content. So Bungie fixes it with some major updates.
First, Bungie clarified its intent. Glaive melee fights should contribute to perjury benefits and act as a standard melee. So a melee kill with glaive should trigger the Swashbuckler perk, but only the range attack will get increased damage from perks. At least that is the current plan.
In terms of concrete improvements, PvE enemies next season will take 25% more damage from glaive melee, and shielding will cost 30% less energy than before. All believable projectile velocities will also be scaled with range statistics and move much faster than before. This should help them perform better in high-end content, allowing players to use them as defensive tools that still provide a decent punch.
By switching to Exotics, Bungie is making major improvements to Exotic glaives. The Edge of Action Titan glaive mini-bubble will give all players a Void shield and will benefit from the Helm of Saint-14 Exotic effect, which dazzles targets inside the shield. The Edge of Intent Warlock Exotic glaives healing tower will have increased speed and acceleration. The Edge of Competition Exotic Hunter glaive’s damage is tripled, and it can now link to eight enemies instead of four.
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Photo: Bungie
For non-Glaive Exotics, Bungie makes changes to:
- Fighting Lion
- The eyes of tomorrow
- Leviathan’s breathing
- Huckleberry
- Xenophage
- Le Monarque
- Lorentz driver
- Skyburners ed
- The last word
- Arbalest
- Graviton Lance
- Large opening
- Cold heart
- Prometheus lens
- Wave splitter
- Osteo Striga
- Lord of the Wolves
Many of these changes are simple buffs or nerves to damage, but a few of them get significant reworking.
Leviathan’s Breath, one of the worst Exotics in the game, gets 50% damage buffer. It now also splits damage by detonation and shock, which will allow it to anesthetize an unstoppable master and then inflict damage on it during anesthesia. The goal is to destroy Unstoppable Champions in advanced content, and this update looks promising.
Eyes of Tomorrow, raid Exotic from Deep Stone Crypt, gets a 30% increase to boss and Champion damage. Arbalest, on the other hand, will give 25% less to Champions because of how powerful it is in Grandmaster Nightfalls. Graviton Lance’s Catalyst will now give players Vorpal Weapon and Turnabout instead of Hidden Hand. Grand Overture will be able to fire a full missile barrage again by holding down the trigger, or firing in five rocket bursts with a push of the trigger.
Skyburner’s Oath scout rifle also gets some significant improvements. The aimed shot is now hitscan (meaning it hits the enemy instantly), and both gun modes fire at 150 shots per minute. The hip-fire attack will no longer track enemies, but the shots will detonate in a wider radius and inflict a fire on enemies. The gun has also increased range now, and Masterwork provides increased recharging speed.
The game’s first three exotic track rifles will also see some reworking – in addition to 20% increased track rifle damage against non-red bar enemies. Coldheart now spawns Ionic Traces when it deals damage, giving abilities energy. Prometheus Lens will use a “more useful burn”, which is a bit confusing, but might make more sense when Bungie finally updates the Solar subclasses. Wavesplitter no longer swings between three power levels, and instead sits on the middle setting all the time. But picking up a power ball gives 10s (up to 20) turning it to the old “max power” setting, which also suppresses targets.
This is just a fraction of Bungie’s blog, which focuses heavily on combat in the air for PvP, perks, and some ability changes. Bungie also revealed a wealth of Iron Banner, Trials and Grandmaster Nightfall weapons that will disappear in the next two seasons, and a system that will cause some playlist weapons to drop with additional perks as more players level up in playlists .
Of course, all of these changes will be present in what already promises to be a giant list of patch notes on May 24th.