Bungie reveals a damage nerf coming to the popular Still Hunt exotic sniper rifle soon.
After confirming the upcoming Destiny 2 Seasonal Artifact perks for Act 2, Bungie confirmed that the Still Hunt exotic rifle is seeing a slight change when used in conjunction with the Hunter’s Celestial Nighthawk helmet. After three weeks of a semi-hiatus, Episode: Echoes Act 2 is set to begin once more on July 16. The next act of Destiny 2 will not only continue the part of the Nessus storyline but bring new activities as well as the annual Solstice event.
However, one of the biggest reveals during the livestream is that Bungie is acting on player feedback by releasing all Destiny 2 Episodic story content at once when Revenant arrives later this year. One of the bigger criticisms of Episode: Echoes is the perceived timegating going on, with Act 1 releasing over the span of 3 weeks, then a 3-week hiatus, with the cycle across 2 additional acts. The added downtime left many without anything to do, so as an alternative, Bungie has decided to try something different and offer all of the story at once with Episode 2 in a Netflix style method of content delivery. However, new content isn’t the only thing Bungie has planned for next week, as the studio also confirmed some balance changes on the way as well.
As part of its weekly blog update, Bungie announced that the popular Still Hunt exotic sniper rifle in Destiny 2 is getting an adjustment very soon. While a specific release date wasn’t mentioned, Bungie confirmed that the Still Hunt’s Golden Gun shot damage is being reduced by 25% when a Hunter player is also wearing the Celestial Nighthawk exotic helmet, so this update won’t impact the other classes at all. Bungie felt that Hunters were outpacing Warlocks and Titans due to the helmet’s boost, and with this adjustment, not only does it bring the Hunters back in line, but the studio is hoping to help other weapons become viable options. Specifically, Bungie called out Whisper of the Worm, which, when paired with the upcoming Seasonal Perks, should now outshine Still Hunt when attempting to stack damage against bosses.
More Destiny 2 Changes On The Way
While the Still Hunt adjustments may be disappointing to fans, Bungie also announced even more changes on the way as part of its Destiny 2 Act 2 livestream. Titans are getting a boost through increased damage when using Twilight Arsenal and Hammer of Sol against elite enemies and bosses. Eriana’s Vow is getting a 67% boost against Barrier Shields and all Tex Scout Rifles are getting a 30% damage bump in PvE. Adept mods are also seeing their stat penalties removed, which should help players create even more interesting builds.
The Still Hunt announcement may also clarify some details surrounding the upcoming enhanced Seasonal Artifact that Bungie revealed. During the livestream, Bungie showed off the five new perks coming to the Seasonal Artifact, all of which seemed to provide a huge boost to solar and precision weapons, like sniper rifles. At first glance, this seemed to make the already powerful Solar Hunter build in Destiny 2 even stronger, when Still Hunt was combined with Celestial Nighthawk and the Prismatic subclass. It’s clear that this nerf is Bungie’s way of making sure the damage disparity won’t reach absurd levels, keeping the 3 classes more or less in line with one another.
