Bungie wants to buff Destiny 2 snipers but is hesitant for one big reason

A Bungie developer has spoken about the state of snipers in Destiny 2 PvE admitting that they are “underperforming,” before going on to confirm that a buff isn’t coming in Season 22 with Bungie hesitant to strengthen sniper rifles for one big reason.

In PvP snipers have almost always been a great choice and the current meta is no exception. The likes of Beloved, Adored, and especially Cloudstrike have cemented themselves as some of the strongest guns in the Crucible.

However, the long-range rifles have struggled to have the same impact in PvE. With the exception of standouts like Izanagi’s Burden and Whisper of the Worm, most snipers don’t see much use due to their lack of damage, increased flinch, and high base zoom.

Given their limited use, many Destiny 2 players have been questioning why snipers haven’t received a buff and now a Bungie developer has provided insight.

Destiny 2 snipers buffs are coming but not until after Season 22

Mercules, Bungie’s Associate Weapons Designer spoke on the Destiny Massive Breakdowns podcast on July 28. Episode 302 of the long-running podcast saw the developer speak on a variety of topics including the Double Special meta, the ideal PvP time to kill, and the state of snipers in PvE.

While discussing this latter topic Merculus admitted that snipers aren’t in the best spot: “We can safely say that [snipers] are underperforming a bit. There’s a reason we’ve been pretty slow to move snipers upward.”

The developer continued on to explain why snipers haven’t been buffed yet: “Basically, you have a weapon class that has functionally unlimited range, and the second snipers become the best at something it invalidates a lot of other things.”

Timestamp of 17:16

Looking ahead to a potential sniper buff, Mercules stated: “Even after the most recent 10% damage buff, I think [snipers] are still underperforming a little bit. So we’re probably going to take another pass at them. I don’t think we have anything planned for Season 22 but I’d expect in a future season we will.”

Although the Bungie developer wouldn’t go as far as to confirm anything it sounds as though sniper rifles will be buffed either in Season 23 or a later season. It won’t be happening anytime soon but perhaps Destiny 2 could see a sniper meta emerge again sometime in the future.