After an Episode in Destiny 2 where it seems like almost nothing has gone to plan, Tonics are finally working the way they’re supposed to, at least according to Bungie. Alongside the game’s weekly Tuesday reset, Bungie communicated that it tackled a few pesky bugs haunting Guardians throughout Episode: Revenant.
Episode: Revenant is the current Episode of live content in Destiny 2, but the season replacement hasn’t exactly gone off without a hitch. There have been bugs and issues present since day one, with players discovering that some may have even been tucked away within the game long before the Episode. The game was first rocked by Weightgate, exposing issues with certain weapon rolls, and then Tonicgate revealed that the whole Tonic system powering Episode: Revenant was also broken. The winter holiday Dawning event topped things off, releasing with almost no working parts.
Seemingly to make up for the myriad of issues with Tonics, Bungie also buffed how they all work. Now, hopefully, the tides are turning with this first change and buff to how Tonics work in Destiny 2, along with a few other spirited attempts to smooth out other pain points.
Tonics are now (mostly) worth using
In a patch notes communication, Bungie confirmed that Tonics would now work as intended. “Legendary Tonics now 100% guarantee their specific reward,” the studio noted. Bungie also explained that it added a new feature to incentivize using specific Tonics for specific activities. The patch notes described that “Legendary Tonics now increase the chances of obtaining the specified gear from the activity they are made for.” Essentially, players consuming a Tomb of Elders Tonic will further increase weapon drops from the Tomb of Elders activity.
Tonics also got a flat-out buff in the form of a duration increase across the board. The base Uncommon Tonics have had their effects lengthened from 20 minutes to 40, Rare Tonics have gone from 40 minutes to an hour, and Legendary Tonics now offer 80 minutes of an impact as opposed to the original hour. With this change, players may still need to reapply Uncommon or Rare Tonics in more prolonged activities like Onslaught: Salvation. However, a Legendary Tonic should cover most Guardians for all but lengthy Dungeons or a Raid.
Other 8.1.5.2 fixes
Update 8.1.5.2 didn’t just take a swing at Tonics; it also attempted to iron out some of the other problems players have been having throughout the Episode. For the newish activity, Tomb of Elders, Bungie fixed an issue where not all objectives would spawn during a round, resulting in the inability to progress particular bonus objectives. Additionally, the team “fixed” the chest at the end of Tomb of Elders that initially only rewarded Glimmer, but that’s under the assumption it wasn’t supposed to do that from the get-go.
Despite the Inverted Spire Strike getting a pretty respectable glow-up, it apparently wasn’t included in the Vanguard Ops playlist. Bungie has resolved this issue, so it should start showing up aside from when it’s featured as a Nightfall. The team also got to a Lost Sector bug preventing weapon drops on certain days. On the Raid and Dungeon front, Master Crota’s End and Salvation’s Edge will start respecting player checkpoints again, and a few bugs have been fixed in Vesper’s Host, including stuff getting stuck in the floor.
Sentinel Shield Titans have had enough fun, as Bungie has fixed the bug causing massive Super damage. The team did buff the Super a bit as it brought it back into line, though. It now does 44% more damage against non-Champions and 15% more against Champions. Similarly, Hunters’ Spectral Blades got some tuning to make it more competitive. The Super now does 66% more damage to non-Champions and 30% more damage to Champions.
Also, for Hunters, the Knucklehead Radar Exotic helmet was applying its effect on a hit instead of on a shield break; this has been resolved. Finally, the High Ground weapon Perk is now reenabled, as Bungie corrected the bonus damage issue against other players. In doing so, the team increased the height differential required to trigger the effect by 150% when using primary ammo weapons.
While the fixes and change to Tonics are the most significant news to take away from these patch notes, at least Bungie is working toward fixing some of the other issues in the game. It might be too little too late for some Destiny 2 players, but this is the kind of caretaking that keeps the game from reaching the quality control lows it has recently found itself stuck in.
Published: Dec 18, 2024 02:14 pm