‘Destiny’ Changes Coming To Weapon Parts And Game Economy
Bungie continues to tweak and adjust Destiny for PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The developer revealed some of its plans for a coming November update to the shooter with a focus on economy items such as Weapon Parts, Etheric Light, and Worm Spore.
Destiny Weapon Parts loot took a hit when Bungie reduced the number obtained from dismantling Uncommon and Rare weapons by 25 percent in the 2.01 patch, as previously covered by the Inquisitr. The reduction in Weapon Parts appeared to be in response to players who managed to horde hundreds of Weapon Parts. However, this experience was not universal, as many players voiced their displeasure at the change due to the fact they had very few Weapon Parts.
Weapon Parts are needed in Destiny and are a necessary part of the new Infusion system that gives players the opportunity to increase the Attack/Light level of their weapons. Since dismantling weapons is the only source of Weapon Parts, the pain of scarcity was felt by those who did not have a horde of parts prior to the release of The Taken King or did not spend hours farming in the game.
In this Weekly Update, we’re looking back and forward, at the same time! https://t.co/8dZVvdLfqR pic.twitter.com/J9mU3Sciuw
— Bungie (@Bungie) November 5, 2015
The disparity between the hoarders and those barely keeping enough Weapon Parts on hand to infuse their weapons was perhaps most noted by the following sarcastic comment from Community Manager David “Deej” Dague’s in the Weekly Update.
“My Boss says things are getting dire for him! He’s down to only 1,656 of them, so we need to act fast,” he said before explaining the Weapon Parts change.
The November Destiny update will not make any changes to how many Weapon Parts will be given when weapons are dismantled. Instead, players will able to purchase Weapon Parts from the Gunsmith, Banshee-44, using Glimmer. This should be an acceptable trade-off, as Glimmer is a resource that is readily available and earned by players.
Bungie also has changes in store for Etheric Light. Petra Venj in the Reef social area will have some use for the material, though Bungie hasn’t specified exactly what yet with the November update.
Etheric Light was introduced in the House of Wolves expansion and can be earned from the Prison of Elders and was used to increase the Attack and Defense ratings for Year One weapons and armor. Upgrading weapons and armor that way was phased out with the release of Destiny: The Taken King, leaving players with nothing to do with Etheric Light and not much reason to play Prison of Elders.
Meanwhile, Worm Spore has quickly turned into another item that players have been hoarding. The Destiny November update will give players the chance to use the resource gathered from the Dreadnaught with Eris Morn in the Tower. This is another area where exact details haven’t been given. Still, this is good news, as the current option is to simply discard excess Worm Spore.
“In all sincerity, as the curators of your living social world, we reserve the right to tinker with the economy. We also reserve the right to change our minds again once we’ve had a chance to read the forum. Thanks for giving enough of a damn to tell us what’s up,” Dague wrote. “On that note, you’ll see yet more welcome changes to the in-game economy in the December update. Rumor has it that Petra will have use for your Etheric Light, and Eris has been asking if anyone out there is hoarding a surplus of Worm Spore. Turns out she loves the stuff.”
Another interesting note provided by Bungie is the impact the changes to Trials of Osiris made to the number of players that reached the Lighthouse. This number dropped from 188,342 in May to 133,444 this first weekend since the launch of The Taken King. A total of 820,986 players tackled the competitive multiplayer event this past weekend, though it’s unknown if that is an increase or decrease over previous weekends.
What do you think of the changes to the Destiny economy? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Bungie]
