Season 22 of Destiny 2 introduces some general changes to weapon archetypes and perks, alongside Exotic weapon changes, to coincide with the halfway point of the Lightfall expansion. Considering weapon behavior in Destiny 2 results from the available stats of a weapon archetype and its specific perks, any minor changes to either can lead to a cascade of overall performance differences. As such, there are some significant changes incoming alongside Season 22.
Weapon archetypes describe the general category of weapons players use, and these archetypes can even have variations within themselves -- like wave frame grenade launchers. On the other hand, perks are the specific traits that a weapon drops with. Each weapon has a pool of perks it can roll with, and naturally, some combinations lead to more potent results.
How are Weapon Archetypes Changing in Season 22?
Defining the very core behaviors of any weapon, its archetype classifies what a weapon is capable of and how Guardians should use it. Naturally, as new weapons, abilities, and Exotic armor appear in the game, some archetypes must also shift to match the near-constant power creep of Destiny 2 players. On a similar note, sometimes a weapon archetype proves too reliable, and Bungie acts to balance it against the game's many options. Here are how weapon archetypes changed for Season 22:
Hand Cannons:
- Reload speed, specifically for weapons sitting at a numerical total of 0 for the stat, has been improved by 15%
- PvE damage has gone up against all but bosses -- a 20% increase against Minors and a 75% increase against Majors.
- A new sub-family with the "Heavy Burst" trait makes its first appearance via the Warden's Law hand cannon. The sub-family shoots a burst of two bullets and can deal precision damage, but it requires both shots to land.
Bows:
- Previous hit registration issues due to the velocity of arrows have been addressed. A fully-drawn precision bow now has increased velocity.
- The reloading animation has been decreased to 0.3 seconds from 0.5 seconds.
- The Lightweight sub-family had velocity at a full draw upped to match precision bows.
SMGs:
- A visual bug displaying the incorrect RPM stat has been corrected for Aggressive SMGs. It now accurately shows 720 RPM instead of 750.
Sidearms:
- Changes to range values led to aggressive sidearms becoming too dangerous, so body shot damage for aggressive sidearms has reduced to 30 from 32
Pulse Rifles:
- The BxR Battler's zoom has been reverted to 20, its original value.
Shotguns:
- A visual bug regarding the impact stat was fixed for The Comedian shotgun. No gameplay alterations occurred.
Fusion Rifles:
- Previously, Enhanced Intrinsic perks and Adept Masterworks could negatively affect the damage of Fusion Rifles when altering the charge time stat. This is no longer the case.
Heavy Grenade Launchers:
- The size and overall self-damaging capabilities of the AOE have been reduced for wave frame heavy grenade launchers.
Swords:
- Sword guard energy now charges much faster after being used and is altered by the guard charge rate stat.
- Heavy attacks can now be used even when not at full sword energy.
- Sword guard damage resistance has increased to 82.5 - 92% in PvE and 52.5 - 65% in PvP.
- Guard efficiency is no longer a stat, and receiving damage no longer decreases sword energy.
- Guard duration has increased across every sword guard type.
- Alterations that augment sword guard now visually affect the charge rate UI element.
- Movement speed while blocking has risen to 0.85 from 0.75.
- The Exotic sword, The Lament, only receives the aforementioned increased guard damage reduction and duration buffs.
How are Weapon Perks Changing in Season 22?
Perks are what give each weapon its unique role. They can differ immensely in function and even in their ease of use. While some perks are clear winners from the moment they appear in the game, others fall by the wayside because they're too niche or don't offer enough compared to other options. In all cases, it's in Bungie's best interest for the health of Destiny 2 to periodically tweak perks to bring outliers in and tone down long-standing dominators. Here are all the perks changing in Season 22:
Bipod:
- The damage penalty has seen a decline from 40% to 25%.
- This perk adds another rocket to Guardian's clip and substantially increases reserves at the cost of a damage reduction.
Envious Assassin:
- The time limit restriction for activating the perk has been removed, and it now functions even if a weapon is already partially overflowed, up to 2.5 times the original capacity.
- Envious Assassin allows players to overflow a weapon with this perk by rapidly eliminating foes with different weapons.
Under-Over:
- This perk now adds bonus body damage on players affected by the Woven Mail buff. It also deals more damage against shields and even more when those shields come from Dark Cabal or Lucent Moths.
- Under-Over adds extra damage to foes with shields or overshields.
Under Pressure:
- The maximum accuracy bonus provided by this perk has been reduced. It is now 0.5, down from 0.75.
- Under Pressure substantially increases stability and accuracy when a weapon's clip dwindles.
Shoot to Loot:
- The perk has been tuned to interact with splash damage, like the Explosive Payload perk, and an unintended ammo exploit was fixed.
- Shoot To Loot allows Guardians to fire at Orbs of Power to claim them and likewise collect plus reload weapons by shooting ammo bricks.
Valiant Charge:
- The perk now halts after the triggering Sword attack.
- Valiant Charge awards players sword lunge reach after guarding and taking damage.
Ambush:
- The perk can no longer deactivate from restoring health, taking damage from a fall, or being shot at by other players.
- Ambush increases handling, range, and damage at the start of a fight.
Explosive Light:
- Enhanced versions of this perk no longer provide two stacks of the buff for one Orb of Power pickup.
- Explosive Light offers additional damage and blast radius if players grab an Orb of Power.
Chill Clip:
- The slow stacks applied have reduced to 40 from 60, and the perk no longer benefits from the Gjallarhorn exotic rocket launcher's Wolfpack Rounds.
- Chill Clip can slow or freeze enemies with the top half of its magazine.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S