Destiny 2 released update 2.6.0.1 which adds the Shadowkeep expansion, the New Light free-to-play version of Destiny 2, and an interesting feature to the combat system. The update adds the Finisher System. With this, all players need to do is press the finisher button and they get to finish critically wounded combatants. This is sure to make combat more interesting, to say the least.
Update 2.6.01 also makes some changes to the PvE difficulty. According to the Destiny Dev Team, this change is expected to widen that sweet spot where fighting against higher-level combatants offers a challenging, rewarding, and fun combat experience. The Team hopes that this means players are going to look for greater challenges and confront enemies that are at a higher level. Specific changes include:
- Combatants that are 10–40 levels higher take less time to kill and deal less damage.
- Higher-level combatants continue to increase in difficulty up to 100 Power levels above the player.
- When enemies are 100 Power levels or higher above the player, they are immune to damage.
- Nameplate icons on higher-level combatants have been updated to reflect these changes.
- These changes affect only higher-level combatants; the at-level or over-level experience remains unchanged.
Still on the matter of PvE, tweaks were also made to the Damage Numbers Display. The reason for this was to give players legible and useful feedback for any damage dealt to enemy combatants across years of Power progressions. The improvements are:
- Displayed damage numbers for damage dealt to non-Guardian enemy combatants are crunched.
- Damage dealt is displayed using fewer digits to enhance readability of damage output.
- Occurrences of displayed damage getting capped at 999,999 should be significantly reduced or eliminated.
- The exponential curve used to calculate damage numbers for display is replaced with a new linear curve that is built to last for many years.
- As players grow in Power, displayed damage numbers increase at a much more measured pace than previously.
- This is a UI update only; player damage output, whether measured as hits to kill, time to kill, or DPS, remains unchanged by this update
Instant Reloading
One change that players are also sure to love is for reloading. The Destiny Dev Team revealed that while Lunafactions and Rally Barricade did exist at the start, they were clunky to use. Though they continued to have a strong impact on gameplay despite being in that state, the Team wanted their effects to be easier to manage. The problems came with them have long been part of the game. Over time, the problems were magnified due to new abilities, weapons, and perks introduced to the Destiny 2 sandbox. The impact of something that takes reloading out of the equation means that other effects or perks simply fall to the wayside.
Reloading remains to be one of game's mechanics that while simple, has a rather wide range of consequences. The effect on gameplay on removing reloading is inversely proportional to the size of the weapon's magazine and how slow the general reload animations are. This means it benefits weapons like Shotguns and Rocket Launchers. Combine this with the increase in in general access to damage bonus effects like Well of Radiance, it resulted in the effect being removed from the two sources since they were causing things to snowball quickly out control. Thus:
- Titan Rally Barricade
- This ability now provides a large increase to reload speed for the duration of the effect.
- This ability no longer automatically reloads your weapons from reserves.
- Warlock Rift/Well of Radiance
- Lunafaction Boots now provides a large increase to reload speed for the duration of Well of Radiance.
- This exotic no longer automatically reloads your weapons from reserves.
You can view the complete list of changes here.
