We are less than three weeks from the release of The Witch Queen expansion and Destiny 2 is gearing up with some big sandbox announcements. Easily the biggest is the return of Destiny's weapon foundries with all-new Origin Traits.
Destiny 2's entire world loot pool will be replaced with 12 new weapons from the four foundries, Suros, Omolon, Hakke, and Veist. In addition, each of the core playlists will get one more foundry weapon for four total. Each weapon will use familiar Year 1 Destiny models but will have new colors and revamped perk pools that reflect each foundry's design: big damage for Hakke, consistent performance for Suros, rapid-fire shooting for Veist, and weird stuff for Omolon.
In addition, each of these new foundry weapons will come with a brand new Origin Trait. These traits will go in a new third column for each weapon and will always be the same. For example, all Hakke weapons will have the "Hakke Breach Armaments" weapon trait which deals increased damage to vehicles, barricades, turrets, and Stasis crystals.
And it's not just the foundry weapons that'll receive new Origin Traits either. Witch Queen will ship with 14 Origin Traits that reflect the source of each weapon. Weapons obtained from Vanguard Ops, for example, will come with the "Vanguard Vindication" trait which provides a small health boost after each kill. Crucible weapons will come with "One Quiet Moment," which provides 40 reload for being out of combat for four seconds.
Trials of Osiris, Gambit, Nightfalls, Iron Banner, and other activities will have their own Origin Traits. It's also possible for a weapon to have two Origin Traits. Bungie provides the example of the new Gambit Hakke High-Impact Auto Rifle (Herod-C) which will let the player choose between using the "Invader Tracker" and "Hakke Breach Armaments" Origin Traits.
Today's TWAB is also full of sandbox updates coming in Season 16, including a buff to High Impact Fusion Rifles and Pulse Rifles, changes to Kill Trackers, and a whopping 40% increase in PvE damage for all primary Exotic weapons.
Destiny 2: Witch Queen arrives on February 22.