As a seasoned Guardian with over a decade of Destiny under my belt, I can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia when it comes to weapon crafting. It was like opening a magical box filled with the perfect guns, tailored to my playstyle and needs. However, as much as I appreciate the convenience, I understand the concerns about its impact on loot and RNG.

recently, there’s been a lot of buzz among the Destiny 2 community regarding weapon creation. Many gamers feel that Bungie’s decision to eventually remove it is ill-advised.

In The Witch Queen expansion, weapon crafting became Destiny’s equivalent of Pandora’s Box, unleashing a realm where players could effortlessly forge top-tier weapons in the game. These custom-made weapons frequently incorporate meta perks, customizable masterworks, and even modifiable barrels and magazines.

Absolutely, you’ll need to figure out the pattern first, but after that, you’ll gain access to top-tier ammunition for some fantastic guns within this playground. This collection includes game-changing weapons such as Apex Predator, Aberrant Action, and Commemoration, with the latter being the best Machine Gun for more than four years now.

How weapon crafting ruined loot forever

In essence, having the ability to craft numerous weapons in Destiny 2 makes it less necessary for you to gather most of the newly introduced firearms through regular farming. This setup, though beneficial in terms of convenience, could pose issues when considering Destiny 2 as a looter shooter.

Consider The Dawning 2024 event. If you haven’t already mastered crafting the Doomed Petitioner (which performs nearly as effectively in most content), then the fresh Linear Fusion Rifle, Mistral Lift, could be a smart choice for you to prepare for potential future buffs on Linear Fusion Rifles. However, if you can already create the Doomed Petitioner, it will serve you equally well in most situations.

As a gamer, I’d say it’s clear that craftable weapons offer more control over their stats compared to non-craftable ones like the Doomed Petitioner. While it’s possible to get a perfect roll for the Doomed Petitioner through RNG, the odds are stacked against most players. But here’s the beauty of having craftable weapons – I can simply head over to The Enclave and whip up a flawless version in no time!

Realistically, the only way RNG loot can compete in the current sandbox is to offer perks that are way better than what’s already craftable. That’s exactly what Bungie has tried to do in Episode Revenant, introducing new meta-defining weapons and making them exclusive to loot pools. The downside is that this causes rapid powercreep, but this is difficult to avoid if players want compelling loot.

These items – Vantage Point, Tinasha’s Mastery, and VS Velocity Baton – each offer unique qualities that can’t be replicated. However, it’s important to note that they do face competition. But if you seek these specific qualities, you’ll have to acquire them through traditional methods, much like farming in the old days.

Instead of always striving for the perfect divine find, it’s more satisfying now to be rewarded for investing time in locating god rolls. Previously, discovering an ideal weapon roll was thrilling, but the advent of crafting weapons somewhat lessened that excitement. Nowadays, a near-perfect random roll is acceptable, but why get excited about it when I can create a nearly perfect one in much less time through crafting?

The real problem with RNG

Indeed, there are some compelling arguments raised within the community. It’s not so much about the act of weapon crafting itself that they question, but more about understanding why it might be viewed as a necessary, albeit problematic, aspect in Destiny 2’s current design.

The issue with randomly obtained loot is that it lacks any means to reduce the impact of bad fortune. Apart from Tonic items and infrequently used features such as double perk rolls, your fortunes are entirely dictated by chance, and at times, luck simply doesn’t favor you.

A better approach for solving this issue isn’t about creating more weapons that can be crafted; it’s about making the process of obtaining them more interesting and interactive. Tonic potions were Bungie’s effort in achieving this goal. By consuming these mixtures, players receive temporary enhancements, with a majority of these enhancements geared towards weapon farming. This would theoretically provide players with greater control over their loot acquisition.

In summary, there’s a major issue at hand – tonics are less than ideal. They sparked this entire discussion in the first place because they don’t perform as expected and are difficult to create. The trouble is that advanced Enriching Tonics need Enriching Flakes, which can only be obtained from Revenant activities. If you aren’t engaging in these specific activities, you won’t be able to produce these tonics.

Fixing the problem

It’s great news that Bungie has confirmed enhancements for Revenant Act 3, which are expected to make Tonics more enjoyable without necessarily making them easier to create. However, even if the production process were simplified, Destiny 2’s lackluster approach to bad luck mitigation elsewhere means it wouldn’t significantly affect the challenge.

A well-designed loot system should offer multiple methods to boost your chances of acquiring coveted items, all based on active gameplay. Accomplishing achievements and challenges, for instance, could enhance your likelihood of obtaining preferred weapons. This approach is already implemented for certain Exotics, so let’s apply it more broadly to motivate players to actively participate in the game, instead of feeling compelled, by fostering a sense of purpose and enjoyment.

Instead of limiting Attunement, a beloved feature exclusive to Onslaught, to just one activity, consider expanding its use across different types of content. Imagine a scenario where finishing a distinct quest in Grasp of Avarice grants you the ability to attune Matador 64, providing you with that long-desired PvP shotgun for years. This is a world that wouldn’t require crafting systems to enjoy such unique rewards.

Regrettably, that scenario seems very distant. Instead, what we’re stuck with is a cumbersome potion system that caters to particular tasks and is generally disdained in its existing state. While I might not be fond of weapon crafting – I genuinely feel it undermines Destiny as a looter shooter – even I must acknowledge it’s preferable to the alternative Bungie has opted for us.

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2024-12-17 19:51