Season 17 brought significant changes to Destiny 2, and one of the biggest was the new Airborne Effectiveness stat. This new stat determines how well a weapon will perform while a Guardian is in the air--the higher the stat, the more accurate the weapon will be. Certain weapons, perks, and Exotics helped Guardians build this hidden stat so that they could become mid-air monsters if they so chose.
Unfortunately, the new Airborne Effectiveness (AE) options also came with a general nerf to the AE of every weapon in the game. The idea here was that if Guardians wanted to fly, they had to build for it.
It seems that Bungie might have missed the mark slightly as even with a dedicated build, most Guardians found AE too hard to build for in order to be effective. So Bungie has announced some AE tweaks will be introduced in the coming mid-season patch to bring a little more airborne gunplay back to Destiny 2.
To start, the AE penalties for all primary weapons will be reduced, which amounts to around 15 additional AE points for all weapons. Primary weapons are also seeing reductions in their airborne accuracy penalties, with Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, Scout Rifles, and Submachine Guns seeing a 40 percent penalty reduction, Hand Cannons and Sidearms a 20 percent penalty reduction, and Bows a 30 percent penalty reduction.
In-air auto-aim penalties are being reduced 20 percent across the board, and the reticle stickiness penalty on controller while mid-air is being reduced 40 percent. Some perks will also improve the AE stat in addition to their normal benefits, with Air Assault an Extended Mag providing a flat +10 to AE, and Steady Rounds providing +7 AE. Several Exotics, including Suros Regime, Whisper of the worm, Monte Carlo, and Forerunner are also getting additional AE buffs.
The mid-season refresh is also changing the damage and performance of several weapons. Precision Hand Cannons, 450-RPM Auto Rifles, and Precision and High-Impact Scout Rifles are all getting damage bonuses in PvP, while Pellet Shotguns are getting a 15 percent damage bonus in PvE. Lorentz Driver will see reduced aim assist and player suction, while Gjallarhorn’s Wolfpack Rounds will see reduced damage in PvP. Last Word is also getting nerfed with reduced range and precision aim angle.
For the full details on the coming sandbox changes, check out the TWAB here.