Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter nerfs Queenbreaker, Full Auto perk on shotguns

In Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter, changes will be made to the Full Auto perk on shotguns, and you can expect nerfs for Queenbreaker and the One-Eyed Mask  Exotic.

Alongside the Gambit quality-of-life changes, Bungie will fine-tune some weapon archetypes when Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter kicks off. The studio said these weapon changes should freshen up the gameplay experience.

One of the weapon changes to expect is the nerfing of the Full Auto perk for all rapid-fire shotguns, which Bungie mentioned in the latest preview of update 2.2.0.

According to the studio, Full Auto perk feels "far too important" to Shotguns in PvE, as it effectively "doubles the damage output of any given Shotgun," due to the rate of fire increase.

Because the efficacy was so great, rapid-fire Shotguns became the go-to for PvE; therefore, the Full Auto perk is being reduced from 100% to 10% on shotguns. In addition, this no longer increases the Shotgun pellet spread.

The hope is once the changes go into effect,  you'll give other shotguns a try, especially since all Shotguns will receive a damage multiplier in PvE activities, effectively doubling their damage - except for The Legend of Acrius.

Here's more on changes coming to Shotguns when Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter kicks off:

• Ammo reserves for Shotguns were re-evaluated due to the increased efficiency of having more damage per shot.
• Default rate-of-fire values will be shifted:
  • Aggressives are 55 RPM, up from 45 RPM
  • Precisions are 70 RPM, up from 55 RPM
  • Lightweights are 80 RPM (they were erroneously stated to be 90 RPM previously)
  • Rapid-Fire 140 RPM, down from 200 RPM (they were previously natively 100 RPM, but due to the intrinsic full auto, actually had 200 RPM)
  • Also reduced base damage for Shotguns across the board to align with their new rates of fire on a per sub-archetype basis.
• Shotguns for the Crucible have also been adjusted. While Shotguns will remain effective in the Crucible, we have toned down the range at which Shotguns could secure a one-shot kill.

Linear Fusion Rifles, which have dominated Gambit, will receive an adjustment to reduce effectiveness at very long ranges.

Queenbreaker is one of the Fusion Rifles receiving a major adjustment. Apparently, the weapon has double the intended aim assist which means you can expect it to be nerfed when update 2.2.0 rolls out.

Across the board, Linear Fusion Rifles will have a lower aim assist, but to compensate, all will receive a 10% damage increase in PvE.

Balance changes are coming to the One-Eyed Mask Exotic, and will release with update 2.2.0. Bungie feels the Exotic is too effective, becoming a "non-choice" for Titans in PvP.

Even with the following changes, the studio believes One-Eyed Mask will "still be potent if used well," even with more opportunities to counter it.

• The duration of the Mark of Vengeance has been reduced from 15 seconds to 8 seconds
• The way players refill health after a successful kill has changed. Before, it restored all of your health and the overshield refilled over time. Now, the health refills over time alongside the overshield. This should give a leg up when encountering situations where multiple people are fighting one person with the One-Eyed Mask equipped.
• Vengeance will no longer trigger for players in Super. This was making Supers far too potent.

As part of the update 2.2.0 preview, Bungie also provided a list of resolved issues coming with the patch. Read up on those below.

To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings

Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter update 2.2.0 - resolved issues

Triumphs, Emblems, Bounties

• “Mint Condition” Triumph: The “Mint Condition” Triumph is not unlocking.
• “Forged in Fire” Triumph: The “Forged in Fire” Triumph is not unlocking.
• “Master Smith” Triumph: The “Master Smith” Triumph is not updating for Rare research frame completions.
• “Calculated Trajectory” Triumph: The “Calculated Trajectory” Triumph and medal do not trigger in Iron Banner.
• “The Eternal Return” Emblem: The emblem “The Eternal Return” is not updating each time players conquer Dûl Incaru in the Dreaming City.
• “Senior Recruiter” Emblem: The emblem “Senior Recruiter” is not updating for Refer-a-Friend referral completions.
• “Black Armory Devotee” Bounty: The “Black Armory Devotee” bounty does not progress when using non-frame Black Armory weapons.

Relics of the Golden Age

An issue that has caused confusion regarding the Relics of the Golden Age quest for Sturm will be resolved with the update.

Currently, one of the steps in this quest directs players to “decrypt” five Legendary engrams and one Exotic engram. When the update rolls out, the quest description will update to direct players to “pick up” these engrams,.

To set the correct expectations, here are special cases that players should be aware of when completing this step:

• Prime Engrams do not count toward this quest step.
• Vendor rank-up rewards and Cryparch-purchased engrams do not count toward this quest step.
• Fated Engrams and direct-purchase Exotics from Xûr do not count toward this quest step.
• Engrams left in activities that recover to postmaster do not count toward this quest step.
• Year 1-style Legendary and Exotic engrams that slot into players’ inventories and require manual decryption do not count toward this step. These are very rare, but are still available from some sources.

Finally, and this one is for Hunters, when Destiny 2 Season of the Drifter goes live March 5, you'll be able to see your entire cloak when previewing shaders. This means you can finally inspect your entire cloak in the character view screen. Lovely.

Prepare yourself for the new content by finishing up your Black Armory questlines, and check out our extensive Destiny 2: Forsaken guide here a read for additional tips.