‘Destiny 2’ PC Beta To Include Ammo And Super Balance Tweaks, Anti-Cheat Measures That Block Some Apps

More details for the Destiny 2 beta came to light Thursday. While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version of the beta saw a record number of players, according to Activision, it also had some complaining about how ammo and super abilities were balanced. Bungie has tweaks planned for the PC beta, along with testing some anti-cheat measures that may restrict the use of some popular applications.

The Destiny 2 PC beta will be available via Blizzard’s Battle.net starting Monday, August 28 for those who pre-ordered the game or received an early access code, as previously covered. It will open for everyone else on Tuesday, August 29 and will be available to play through Thursday, August 31.

New Map and Tweaks

Bungie is making some slight changes with this Destiny 2 beta. The content will remain the same with the “Homecoming” story mission, “Inverted Spire” strike, and Countdown Crucible multiplayer on the “Midtown” map. However, the Control gametype will be played on a different map, called “Javelin-4.” Nothing beyond a name of the map has been shared yet.

Additionally, the power ammo and super abilities will receive some tweaks. Bungie previously stated that the console beta build was months old, and it had already retuned the power ammo drops to make them less scarce.

Players also complained during the console beta that the rate to recharge super abilities too long in both PVE and PVP game modes. Bungie says it has made “subtle” changes to both power ammo and super abilities, so fans of the game will want to test it out and give the developers feedback on if more changes are needed.

Anti-Cheat Measures

Cheating is a major concern of any PC release and can negatively impact a game even before it is released. Ubisoft’s The Division, for example, had a rampant cheating problem during its PC beta.

Bungie is taking strict measures with the Destiny 2 beta by blocking any application that attempts to inject code into the game. While some applications are benign, such as streaming apps, framerate counters, and communication apps like Discord, it is an avenue for cheaters to try to gain an unfair advantage or ruin the experience for others.

The decision to block applications that attempt to inject code into the game has a long list of impacts, detailed on Bungie’s help site. This includes only allowing OBS and XSplit game capture applications to capture Destiny 2 action when played in Windowed Mode. Only hardware capture devices like Elgato or a dedicated streaming PC will support the game in full-screen mode.

Additionally, the notification overlays from chat applications like Discord and Mumble will not work Destiny 2, though the applications themselves will still work. Other applications that monitor hardware like Fraps and MSI Afterburner will also not support overlays while playing the game.

Will you be checking out the Destiny 2 beta on PC? Sound off in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Bungie/Activision]