As part of Bungie’s effort at newfound transparency regarding Destiny 2 development, that sometimes means hearing bad news. This week Bungie updated their roadmap that lays out future content plans, and a few important things have slipped to unknown future dates, like the much-anticipated rework of the mod system, which now seems like it will not launch alongside DLC 2 this spring.
With that said, however, personally I believe that Destiny 2’s biggest update is coming a month from now, and may be what finally flips the switch to make D2 the game it should have been from the start. March 27th is the date of the big sandbox update, which is not getting pushed back so far as I can tell, and it’s been dubbed the “go fast” update, which increases player speed and decreases cooldowns.
Here are some of the key points about the “go fast” update when it was detailed a few weeks ago:
- All three glides plus Catapult and Strafe Lift have been retuned and buffed to make them more unique and faster.
- The mobility stat has had its range expanded and been completely retuned as well. In short, everyone gets faster and the high end is higher.
- The players’ ground speed cap has been increased, allowing for faster total movement speed, regardless of how you may get there.
- Arcstrider, Sentinel, and Striker all move faster, and at the same speed as one another, while in their Supers.
- Supers recharge faster for everyone!
As I’ve remarked in the past, going back to play Destiny 1 after playing Destiny 2, I didn’t feel a lack of power per se, as in, my guns were doing less damage to enemies than they do in D2. But I did feel less powerful, which is an important difference, and one that I think is linked to speed and these cooldowns.
This is why I believe that even minor changes to player speed and cooldowns could make a huge difference in how it feels to play Destiny 2. Even just a 20% bump in speed could make a world of difference, and make our Guardians feel far less sluggish. The increase in super charge is good as well, and combined with masterworks in PvE especially, should make our supers up way, way more often than ever before.
The one thing I would like to also see addressed during this update that does not seem to be mentioned is melee and grenade cooldowns as well. Every time we talk about sandbox issues, these two never come up, but I think they’re hugely important all the same, especially grenades. The difference between grenade recharge from Destiny 1 to 2 is absolutely astonishing, and it totally changes the way the game plays. I know Bungie buffed grenade damage once upon a time in D2, but that wasn’t really the core of the issue. Cooldown is the key factor, and I am constantly reaching for my grenade in Destiny 2 and having it not be there, which is frustrating. I feel like this is almost certainly to cater to PvP players who have previously complained about grenade spam in the mode, but it was a pretty devastating change for PvE, and one that I hope gets fixed at some point, though it is worrying that it isn’t mentioned here.
Obviously Destiny 2’s problems are numerous, and it’s going to take more than one sandbox update to fix things. But with that said, I think it shouldn’t be underestimated just how significant this movement speed/recharge speed update could be, as it could genuinely make Destiny 2 feel like Destiny 1 again in a lot of ways, which is something it has been missing from the start.
I for one am really excited for this update. More so than I would be even actual new content (though obviously the game needs that too). I really do think this could go a long way to solving a core issue of Destiny 2, but the real question is at this point is if Bungie can get enough people to care.
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