Destiny 2 December 17 patch notes: Legendary Tonic buffs and bug fixes

A new update has dropped for Destiny 2, bringing the latest changes in Episode Revenant. This time around, Bungie has made some key improvements to Tonics in response to community feedback.

Ever since Revenant started, the Tonic system has been divisive. While they certainly help players in their search for seasonal loot, its flaws have received a lot of criticism. In particular, there has been a push for weapon crafting to return, with it being almost entirely absent this episode.

If these changes end up being impactful enough to silence the critics is to be seen, but they are certainly substantial. Tonics now guarantee the loot associated with them, and their durations have been increased, seeing a 50% buff across the board. All of these changes and a whole heap of bug fixes were outlined in today’s patch notes, which can be seen in full below.

Destiny 2 Update 8.1.5.2 patch notes

Activities 

Seasonal

Tomb of Elders

• Fixed an issue where players could join Contest of Elders after the final encounter had been completed.
• Fixed an issue where one of the bonus chests during Contest of Elders would only reward Glimmer.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes only five out of six explosive tanks would spawn during the Spider Tank encounter, resulting in a soft lock.

Onslaught: Salvation

• Reduced the number of visual and sound effects in Cabal boss rooms.

Vanguard Ops

• Fixed an issue where the Inverted Spire strike was disabled in the playlist.

Lost Sectors

• Fixed an issue where weapons would not drop on certain days.

Raid and Dungeons

Crota’s End

• Fixed an issue where the Master version of Crota’s End was not saving player checkpoints.

Salvation’s Edge

• Fixed an issue where the Master version of Salvation’s Edge was not saving player checkpoints.

Vesper’s Host

• Fixed an issue where the nuclear core could get stuck under the floor in the final encounter.
• Fixed an issue where player’s Ghost could get stuck in a bad location when traversing between the second and third encounters.

Gameplay and Investment

Revenant Tonics

• Legendary Tonics now 100% guarantee their specific reward.
• Legendary Tonics now increase the chances of obtaining the specified gear from the activity they are made for.
  • For instance, Tonic of Vangate Point (Onslaught) will increase the chances of that weapon dropping from Onslaught: Salvation chests.
• Increased the base duration of Tonics across the board.
  • Uncommon: 40 minutes
  • Rare: 60 minutes
  • Legendary: 80 minutes

Exotic Armor

Hunter

• Fixed an issue where Knucklehead Radar was applying its target marking players instantly on hits.
  • It should now only mark players only when breaking their shield.
  • Functionality remains the same against combatants.

Weapons

Weapon perks

• High Ground
  • Damage bonus against players has been fixed. Perk has been reenabled.
  • Increased the height differential required to activate High Ground’s damage bonus against players by 150% when using a Primary ammo weapon.
    • Let Bygones be Bygones…

Weapon crafting

• Fixed an issue where trying to craft a Garden of Salvation weapon without its pattern unlocked would show an incorrect dialog.

Abilities

Titan

• Sentinel Shield
  • Fixed a bug that was unintentionally multiplying Sentinel Shield damage.
  • Increased non-Champion PvE-combatant damage by 44%.
  • Increased Champion PvE-combatant damage by 15%.

Hunter

• Spectral Blades
  • Increased non-Champion PvE combatant damage by 66%.
  • Increased Champion PvE combatant damage by 30%.

Power and Progression

• Fixed an issue where the requirements for Guardian Rank 6 didn’t have the proper descriptions.

General

• Corrected an issue that prevented Warlocks from purchasing the Lucent Night Bundle in the Eververse.
• Updated Street Fighter finisher bundle inventory check to avoid instances of items being sent to the Postmaster.