Big weapon balance changes come with Destiny 2 Update 7.0.5.0

Earlier today, Destiny 2 was taken offline to roll out the 7.0.5.0 update. The new patch introduces a bunch of tweaks to the overall experience alongside weapon balance updates. One of the larger changes is to Rapid-Fire Sniper Rifles that see their recoil halved. Rapid Fire Fusion Rifles have also been buffed, doing more damage per shot. PvE damage for most weapons has also been upped, making for an easier time when dealing with red and orange-bar enemies. Here’s a full breakdown of all the changes in Destiny 2.

Destiny 2 Update 7.0.5.0 patch notes

ACTIVITIES

SEASONAL BATTLEGROUNDS

• Fixed an issue where the Consecrated Essence could appear duplicated.

CRUCIBLE

• Added a new 6v6 connection-based matchmaking (CBMM) Weekly Rotator, which includes Clash, Zone Control, and Rift.
• The existing 6v6 Party Rotator is now Mayhem, Momentum Control, and Scorched.
• Updated tutorial crucible quest to reflect changes to available playlists.
• Added a metric showing off your Competitive Division rank.
• Ascendant Competitive Division players can now purchase an emblem from Shaxx.
• Fixed errant Glorious and Dredgen awarding/gilding. All players must reclaim/regild their titles if they have completed the requisite Triumphs.
• Increased the strength of the respawn overshield in Crucible.
• In Rift, activating Grapple no longer drops the Spark.
• In Rift, players can no longer dunk the Spark while moving faster than 15 meters per second or while using a Grapple ability.

VANGUARD OPS

• Legend difficulty Defiant Battlegrounds now rotate their weapon overcharge weekly.
• Defeating Tormentors now provides revive tokens like Champions and Hive Guardians in some activities.
• Fixed Hive door locks in Heist Battlegrounds to behave the same in all versions of the activity.
• Tuned difficulty in Heist Battlegrounds present in Vanguard and Nightfall playlists.
• Fixed an issue where a crash could rarely occur shortly after picking up the first Solar Cell in The Arms Dealer.
• Fixed an issue where The Arms Dealer enemies, which continually respawn to drop required Solar Cells, could be farmed limitlessly for points.

RAIDS AND DUNGEONS

• Fixed an issue in the Duality dungeon where Nightmare of Gahlran could not teleport back to the encounter space after falling out of the environment.
• Fixed an issue where checkpoints were shared between Legend and Master mode for raids and dungeons.
• Fixed an issue in Root of Nightmares where the Scission encounter would sometimes soft lock preventing progress.
• Fixed an issue in Root of Nightmares where sometimes the intended screen VFX did not play when players failed the encounter.
• Fixed an issue in Root of Nightmares where Nezarec will sometimes not cast a wipe when intended.

EXOTIC MISSION

• Fixed an issue where players could sometimes get pushed through walls by Vex traps and then get stuck there.

DESTINY 2 GAMEPLAY AND INVESTMENT

ARMOR

• Fixed an issue where the Peacekeepers’ reload perk wouldn´t activate after you stowed an energy slot SMG.
• Fixed an issue where Phoenix Cradle was not consistently extending the duration of the Sol Invictus buff while Burning Maul was equipped.

WEAPON

• Fixed an issue where certain Gambit weapons were not contributing to the Dark Age Arsenal Triumph.

PVE PRIMARY WEAPON BALANCE

• Increased the damage of the following weapon types against red and orange-bar enemies in PvE.
  • Auto Rifles: 25%
  • Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, and Sidearms: 20%
  • Scout Rifles: 10%

WEAPON ARCHETYPES

• Submachine Guns
  • Ikelos SMGs
    • Removed some tuning in the custom scope that was causing this weapon to have significantly less recoil than intended. The recoil is now in line with other Aggressive SMGs.
• Hand Cannons
  • Fixed an issue causing the Adept Exalted Truth to have a lower magazine size than the standard version.
• Fusion Rifles
  • Rapid Fires
    • Per burst: 245 to 260
    • Per bolt: 27.2 to 28.9
  • Damage in Destiny 2 PvE is unchanged.
• Trace Rifles
  • Increased base damage by 4% (base damage goes from 12 to 12.5).
  • Reduced precision hit multiplier from 1.4x to 1.35x (crit damage goes from 16.8 to 16.9).
  • Reduced flinch by 10% at 100 stability stat (scales down at lower values).
• Sniper Rifles
  • Rapid-Fire Sniper Rifles
    • Reduced recoil by 50%.
    • Increased total ammunition (magazine + reserves) by 30%.
• Heavy Grenade Launchers
  • Fixed an issue where Omolon Heavy Grenade Launchers were missing their VFX.
  • Fixed an issue where Dimensional Hypotrochoid could be obtained with a range masterwork. This fix prevents the weapon from dropping with range and changes any existing copies with range to the equivalent handling tier.

EXOTIC WEAPONS

• Final Warning
  • Can no longer mark targets through Titan Barricades.
• Tarrabah
  • Reduced the amount of Ravenous Beast energy generated when taking damage from 3% to 1%.
  • Reduced zoom from 16 to 15.
• Revision Zero
  • Fourth Times the Charm will now be reset when entering Hunter’s Trace.
    • This will prevent the issue of firing a single shot while in Hunter’s Trace and being forcibly returned to pulse mode when Fourth Times the Charm activates.
  • Increased PvE damage of the Hunter’s Trace rounds by 25%.
  • Increased PvE damage of the Häkke Heavy Burst rounds by 75%.

PERKS

• Fixed an issue in which the enhanced version of the Wellspring perk generated too little energy when the player had any number of charged abilities.

OTHER CHANGES

• Added the capability to upgrade Root of Nightmares Adept weapons with enhanced traits. If you have unlocked Deepsight on weapons, an enhancement socket will be available to perform this upgrade in the weapon details screen.
• Fixed tooltips for Master dungeons to properly list Artifice Armor as rewards.

ABILITIES

• Rally Barricade
  • The area of effect now extends slightly further behind and above the Rally Barricade to make staying in the buff area more achievable, especially on uneven terrain.
• Fixed an issue where Stasis Shards created by the Glacial Harvest aspect would not grant melee ability energy to Penumbral Blast if the player had a Sword or Glaive readied.
• Fixed an issue where Jolt chain lightning was unable to target some types of PvE combatants.
• Fixed an issue where trying to throw rapidly while carrying a Tangle could result in an uncharged melee attack.

BOUNTIES AND PURSUITS

• Fixed an issue where players couldn’t interact with the Evidence Board after the Exotic Glaive pursuit is completed.

GENERAL

• Added the Best Dressed Commendation.
• Fixed an issue where the objective to complete a dungeon solo Solo Spelunker does not count completions from before the player is Guardian Rank 10.
• Fixed an issue where the objective to complete the raid on Master difficulty does not count completions from before the player is Guardian Rank 10.
• Players who have crafted their first Exotic Glaive from The Witch Queen can now claim the Patterns for their other characters from the Evidence Board.
• Veteran players now receive the correct amount of lore books when they reach Guardian Rank 7 for the first time.
• Fixed an issue where players are blocked from progressing past Guardian Rank 3 if they previously bought all available subclass Aspects.