Bungie confirms huge weapon changes for Destiny 2 Season 23

Destiny 2 developer Bungie has confirmed a raft of significant buffs and nerfs will be hitting some of the game’s most iconic weapons in Season 23.

Though the release date is yet to be announced, if previous schedules are adhered to, the new season should drop on November 28. It’s also set to be the final season ever, with the game switching to an episodic format when The Final Shape releases in February 2024.

Details are currently thin on the ground, but players will get a new dungeon to work through. Additionally, the story is likely to involve the Hive God of War, Xivu Arath. As a disciple of The Witness, a confrontation with the Guardians is near-guaranteed.

More information is now emerging on specific systems changes, however, many of the weapons on offer will see at least some level of tuning.

Season 23 is set to see several buffs to often-overlooked weapons

In a Dev Insights post on the official Bungie website, the developer confirmed a series of changes that could see some weapons come out of de-facto retirement.

One of the most exciting is Thorn, and fans are thrilled at changes that will make the beloved weapon more useful in PvE and viable in PvP. Specifically, picking up a remnant will now overflow the magazine up to 40 rounds, as opposed to the standard 9. A new catalyst will also greatly buff the stats and offer another remnant-centered buff.

Other weapons are also on the agenda for buffs and nerfs. Here’s a complete list of exotic alterations coming in Season 23:

Destiny 2 Season 23 weapon buffs & nerfs

VEX MYTHOCLAST 

• Increased damage versus:
  • Minor (red bar) combatants by 10%. 
  • Bosses by 25%. 
  • Champions by 200% when in the Linear Fusion Rifle mode. 

REVISION ZERO 

• Increased damage versus Champions by 100%. 

THORN 

• Picking up a Remnant can overflow the magazine, up to 40 rounds max. 
• Catalyst:
  • +20 range 
  • +10 stability 
  • Getting kills or picking up a Remnant grants additional range, handling, and mobility. 

CLASS GLAIVES 

• Grant 1 ammo when you activate the perk, so you can use it even if you are out of ammo. 
• No longer passively drains shield energy when you special reload to activate the perk. 
• No longer deactivated by reloading or stowing the weapon. 

EDGE OF INTENT (WARLOCK) 

• Changed the effect of the healing turret projectiles to grant cures and provide restoration.  
• Increased the AoE radius to 8 meters to benefit more nearby allies. 
• Increased its magazine size from 4 to 5. 

EDGE OF ACTION (TITAN) 

• Passing through the bubble now grants bonus reload speed, handling, and a small amount of stacking bonus damage in addition to the overshield. 
• Reduced the health of the bubble from 8000 to 2400 to account for the increased uptime and improved effects. 

OSTEO STRIGA 

• Removed the SMG damage bonus scalar that was affecting the poison damage. This brings Osteo Striga poison down to match standard Necrotic Grip poison, though as an Exotic, it will still deal 40% bonus damage against minors. 

EDGE OF CONCURRENCE (HUNTER) 

• Lighting Seeker now jolts targets on impact. 
• Reduced the direct hit damage of Lightning Seeker to account for the free ammo granted.  

SALVATION’S GRIP 

Placed a speed limit on the detonation when damaging Stasis crystals. This will help prevent the detonation from being able to shatter too many crystals on a single frame, which would sometimes kick the player to orbit with an error code. 

WINTERBITE 

• Increased the detonation damage of the large projectile by 25%. 
• The self-damage blast radius has been halved, and the self-damage has been reduced. 

The changes don’t end there, with overarching amendments to weapons archetypes also set to make their debut. A full list of those changes below:

GENERAL 

• Updated Drang and Zaouli’s Bane to load ammo at the correct point in the animation. 

AUTO RIFLES 

Auto Rifle DPS is generally in a pretty good place, but they were lagging slightly behind when it came to damage against minor combatants.  

• Increased damage against minor (red bar) combatants by 10%. 

PULSE RIFLES 

• Increased damage against minor (red bar) and major (orange bar) combatants by 12.5%. 

GLAIVES 

• Reduced the delay after firing before you can melee from 0.75 seconds to 0.2 seconds.  
• Made the shield energy now recharge passively when the Glaive is held at a rate of 1% per second. 
• Set up the base Glaive shield damage resistance to be tiered in PvP.
• Base Glaive shield damage resistance remains at 50%. 
• Damage resistance against Primary ammo weapons and melee attacks has been reduced to 30%. 
• Increased projectile speed by 30%. 
• Increased projectile damage in PvE by 25%. 
• Decreased projectile damage in PvP.
  • Aggressives: 123 (edited 10/25/2023 at 1:15 PM PDT) 
  • Adaptives: 113 
  • Rapid-Fires: 101 

SNIPER RIFLES 

• Increased Sniper Rifle PvE damage with a flat buff of 15%. (This also applies to Exotic Sniper Rifles that use Heavy ammo.) 

That’s the full list of weapon changes that players can expect for Season 23. With plenty of time before the new season releases, there could well be further updates confirmed by Bungie before it arrives.