Destiny 2 will never be a true looter shooter until crafting is gone for good

Weapon crafting has become a seriously hot topic in the Destiny 2 community as of late, with many players believing that Bungie’s plans to phase it out are misguided.

Added in The Witch Queen, weapon crafting was Destiny’s Pandora’s Box, opening up a world where Guardians could create the best guns in the game with far less effort. These shaped weapons often feature meta perks, customizable masterworks, and even adjustable barrels and magazines.

Of course, you still have to unlock the pattern, but once that’s done, you have access to perfect rolls of some of the best guns in the sandbox. This includes meta-defining weapons like Apex Predator, Aberrant Action, and Commemoration, the latter of which has been the best Machine Gun for over four years.

How weapon crafting ruined loot forever

While this is convenient, it causes some serious problems when looking at Destiny 2 as a looter shooter. Realistically, if you already have access to all of these craftable weapons, you don’t need to farm the majority of new guns.

For example, look at The Dawning 2024. Mistral Lift, the new Linear Fusion Rifle, is a great option that is well worth picking up to future-proof yourself for any potential LFR buffs. That is unless you can already craft Doomed Petitioner, which is 95% as good and will serve you equally well in the overwhelming majority of content.

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You could argue that this is true of non-craftable weapons too, as an RNG drop of Doomed Petitioner with perfect perks would lead you to the same conclusion. However, most people wouldn’t have that roll because it would be harder to get, but anyone can stroll over to The Enclave and make a perfect version in just a few minutes.

Realistically, the only way RNG loot can compete in the current sandbox is to offer perks that are way better than what’s already craftable. That’s exactly what Bungie has tried to do in Episode Revenant, introducing new meta-defining weapons and making them exclusive to loot pools. The downside is that this causes rapid powercreep, but this is difficult to avoid if players want compelling loot.

The likes of Vantage Point, Tinasha’s Mastery, and VS Velocity Baton all provide something new that can’t be crafted. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have competition, but rather that if you want exactly what these have to offer, you need to farm them the good old-fashioned way.

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This is exactly how it should be, as committing the time to find god rolls should be rewarded. It used to be exciting to get a perfect roll on a gun, but weapon crafting diminished that. These days, a near-perfect RNG roll is fine, but why should I get excited when I can craft a perfect roll that’s almost as good in a fraction of the time?

The real problem with RNG

However, the community does have some valid points. Not necessarily about weapon crafting itself, but rather why crafting can be considered a necessary evil, at least with how Destiny 2 is currently designed.

The problem with random loot is that there is effectively no form of bad luck mitigation. Outside of Tonics and underutilized mechanics like double perk rolls, you are completely at the whim of luck, and sometimes, luck just isn’t on your side.

The solution to this problem isn’t to make more weapons craftable; it’s to make farming them more engaging. Tonics were Bungie’s attempt to do just that. You drink these concoctions to receive a temporary buff, with many of these buffs focused on weapon farming, theoretically giving players more agency over their loot.

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With that said, there’s one problem – Tonics suck. They are the lone reason why this entire debate began in the first place. Not only do they not actually do what you think, but they are also awkward to make. This is because high-level Enriching Tonics require Enriching Flakes, which only drop from Revenant activities. If you aren’t playing these activities, you can’t make these Tonics.

Fixing the problem

Thankfully, Bungie has confirmed that improvements are coming in Revenant Act 3. These should make Tonics more fun to use, but they won’t make them easier to make. Even if the latter was improved, Destiny 2 does such a poor job of implementing bad luck mitigation elsewhere that it hardly matters.

An ideal loot system would involve several ways to improve your odds that are all driven by gameplay. By completing triumphs, challenges, and so on, you could improve your chances of getting desired weapons. This system already exists for certain Exotics, so let’s use it elsewhere to encourage players to engage with the game in a meaningful way, rather than complain that they are being forced to do so.

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Everybody loves Attunement, a feature that is somehow exclusive to Onslaught. Rather than keep this mechanic tied to a single activity, spread it out and use it in other content. There is a world where completing a unique quest in Grasp of Avarice gives you the ability to attune Matador 64, finally getting you that dream PvP shotgun you’ve wanted for years. That’s a world that doesn’t need crafting.

Unfortunately, something like that feels a million miles away. Instead, what we have is a clumsy potion system that only applies to specific activities and is almost universally disliked in its current form. I may not like weapon crafting – I genuinely believe it ruins Destiny as a looter shooter – but even I’ll admit it’s better than what Bungie has decided is our only alternative.