Destiny 2 is a very different game from its predecessor, despite the two sharing a lot of themes and even content, with the second title reprising all sorts of things from the first. An example of this is how Destiny 2 has lots of characters and locations, as well as weapons themselves, being reprised over the course of four years, and this has had a big impact on Bungie's space magic looter shooter in many ways. And yet, Destiny 2 is also built differently at its very core, starting from the fact that characters in the game have three abilities instead of two, and that the first Darkness subclass—Stasis—was implemented in Beyond Light after a narrative build-up of several years.
Stasis has changed a lot of aspects of Destiny 2 after it was introduced, both in PVE and PVP, with the latter being impacted much more because of Stasis abilities slowing and freezing targets, essentially suppressing enemy players and hindering them. In PVE, this is not dissimilar from other abilities and Supers capable of clearing adds very fast, whereas Stasis is more of a crowd control class with a modular identity, allowing players to build their characters in numerous different ways. In PVP, however, Stasis has been dominating in different ways for a long time, and Bungie's nerfs to it even had an impact on PVE, which led to some players advocating for separate sandboxes to keep things more balanced in each of them.
What the Shatterdive Nerf Means for the Future of Destiny 2
Destiny 2's PVP has seen a lot of changes made to it since its release, and the Trials of Osiris mode happens to be one of the most reworked ones ever, further highlighting a problem with competitive modes. However, Bungie's latest rework to Trials of Osiris has been enjoying a lot of success and positive feedback, which is a testament to the company's hard work and commitment to the game. However, some players still lament a few issues or propose additional solutions to better improve every aspect of the experience, and a recurring request has been to straight-up nerf Revenant Hunters' Shatterdive because of its one-shot capabilities and ease of use.
Of course, not every single Destiny 2 player is on board with this, and it shows with a recent Tweet from one of the developers, and also with the replies the post has been getting. The gist of it is that Shatterdive is indeed going to be nerfed when the 30th Anniversary Pack comes around this December, alluding to many other abilities being nerfed in order to promote a different meta that's more based on gunplay. This is not entirely new, and the idea has been around for quite some time now, even though there is a fair amount of considerations to make as to why this argument is valid, and why other solutions might be beneficial.
For starters, nerfing Shatterdive and other abilities means that these changes will go live for both PVE and PVP, further emphasizing that the sandboxes might suffer in different ways from the change, even if it's for the best and the balance of the game. While Destiny 2 has always been about the guns, it's always been about space magic too, meaning that a drastic change in that department might take away options from players at best, or take something away from the franchise's identity at worst. As such, this is a very delicate subject, and it's very likely that Bungie will take the community's feedback quite seriously - especially since this will be a mid-Season patch that is supposedly shaking the very foundations of Destiny 2.
Why Destiny 2 Shifting Towards More Gunplay is a Delicate Balancing Act
With a more gunplay-oriented sandbox comes inherently less build diversity to Destiny 2, which is already hampered by obsolete systems and the fear of missing out that still plagues the game. This is because Destiny 2's gameplay was never ability spam or pure gunplay, but rather a mix with a fragile balance that combines the best of both worlds into something unique. Without gunplay, Destiny 2 would be more akin to a magic-based game, but without abilities, it would lose a part of its identity and become more like any other FPS out there.
As such, Bungie's work has to not be disruptive, but rather try to identify what the problems currently are with abilities and fix them. Shifting the focus towards guns can be alright too, but it doesn't have to mean to slow things down and massively increase ability cooldowns to reduce usage. Something like that would be reminiscent of the meta of the original Destiny, where PVP was very sluggish and gameplay relied on some heavy precision fire to take out opponents from a distance. Today's Destiny 2 meta is more varied, and while flawed, this diverseness shouldn't be taken away.
Furthermore, encouraging more gunplay in Destiny 2 might have issues moving forward with infinite Primary ammo and seasonal mods, where the game promotes shooting so much that the "make each bullet count" argument loses grip. Nerfing Shatterdive can be fine, but this means that the gunplay needs to be more balanced and have a better feel to it in both PVE and PVP, maybe reducing aim assist for the latter and improving ammo economy for the latter.
Making guns more easily acquired is also a priority in this case, as relying on the world loot pool for so many weapons in Destiny 2 is not great. Ultimately, Bungie's decision might not be exactly unexpected, but the sandbox patch coming in December has the onus of living up to the expectations that a "gunplay over abilities" direction imposes.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
