by Greg on Feb 25, 2015
The latest Destiny patch to focus on balancing weapons and abilties has hit the live servers. In it comes sweeping changes to almost all of the game's weapons with the most notable being the damage reduction of autorifles, which are now 2.5% less effective, and the buff to pulse rifles (base damage increase of 9.7%).
Other key notes of the patch are the inclusion of the weekly heroic strike into the matchmaking system. Nightfall strikes will still require a premade group, so don't go abandoning your friends just yet!
General
Fixed an issue in which armor with perks that increase ammunition carrying capacity resulted in ammunition loss upon respawn Decreased over-penetration value for weapons with armor piercing perks Fixed an issue where items from the PS3/360 Destiny demo were using old power values. They have been adjusted to regular levels Song of Ir Yut weapon tooltip now advertises the correct magazine size Shoot to Loot: Two-second cooldown added to perk to prevent extra ammunition gains while ammunition bricks despawn Dark Breaker perk will now correctly damage Hive Shriekers Snap Discharge will now increase attack speed as per the description Thunderer perk now has priority on the 4th Horseman tooltip Full Auto: Fixed issues in which the weapon perk stopped working while the trigger was being held downAuto Rifles
Reduced base damage of Auto Rifles by 2.5% Reduced effective range valuesPulse Rifles
Increased base damage of Pulse Rifles by 9.7%Hand Cannons
Slightly reduced effective range Slightly reduced initial accuracyFusion Rifles
Widened blast pattern on a Fusion Rifle burst cone Reduced starting ammunition in PVPShotguns
Increased damage against all non-Guardian combatants by 2x (100% increase) Reduced high-end range values Damage falloff starts sooner Reduced starting ammunition in PVPStrikes
Weekly Heroic Strike now is a matchmade activity Strikes will be less likely to repeat in Matchmaking rotations for full FireteamsGeneral
Players will now unlock all playlists (Control, Clash, Rumble, Skirmish) simultaneously when unlocking the Crucible. Added a new notification when Crucible modes unlock Crucible maps will be less likely to repeat in Matchmaking rotations for full Fireteams Guardians no longer drop heavy ammunition when killed in PvP Guardians now drop much less special ammunition when killed in PvP Completed matches will now award gear with the proper power level Fixed a bug where there was no audio playing for the bullet that kills themEvent: Iron Banner
Iron Banner playlist now contains smaller maps in rotation “Focused Aggression” Bounty can now be completed with headshots from Pulse Rifles, Scout Rifles, and Hand Cannons