Bungie muzzled Destiny's Hunters because they were head and shoulders above the competition
Annoyed that your Hunter has been toned down a little bit? Buddy, we need to talk about the numbers.
Destiny was updated during E3 2016 with a bunch of great changes - and a significant nerf to Hunters.
Although Destiny's sharpshooting class was overdue a balance pass, with Titans and Warlocks already brought back into line in past updates, the changes naturally upset loyal Hunters - especially Bladedancers and Gunslingers.
One of my outraged pals, who had regularly dominated Destiny's Crucible, described the pre-nerf Gunslinger as the "platonic ideal" - but looking at Bungie's data it seems pretty obvious that there was a problem. Check out this chart of average KDR by class prior to the June Destiny update:
Those top two lines, standing well above the rest of the pack, are the issue.
"When one Class becomes the default choice for anyone who wants to do well in the Crucible, we see that as a problem," sandbox designer Grant McKay wrote on Bungie.net.
"We chose to bring the Hunters down from their position of dominance because it is our hope that every variety of Guardian will have a fighting chance."
McKay said Bungie has heard and rejected player suggestions to simply make the other Destiny classes more powerful.
"Our concern is that this would eventually make the game way too lethal and chaotic overall," he wrote.
"We want you to feel powerful when you're playing Destiny. At the same time, we want to make sure that you still have the time you need to react and make tactical decisions when you are engaged in combat."
It looks like Titan Defenders could still use a bit of a buff before Destiny is truly equal, but I suppose someone needs to be the designated support class.
Hopefully the nerfs haven't been enough to make you quite Destiny in a rage, but if it has we'll see you when Destiny: Rise of Iron releases in September on PS4 and Xbox One.