Complete guide to Destiny 2 Season 23 weapon changes with expert tips for maximizing performance
Season 23 Weapon Meta Transformation
Destiny 2’s upcoming Season 23 represents a substantial shift in weapon balancing that will redefine the game’s combat meta. Bungie has officially announced comprehensive adjustments targeting both exotic weapons and core weapon archetypes.
Season 23 marks a pivotal moment for Destiny 2’s arsenal, with Bungie implementing strategic buffs and nerfs that will significantly alter how players approach both PvE and PvP engagements.
Based on established seasonal patterns, the release is projected for late November, coinciding with the transition from seasonal content to the new episodic format beginning with The Final Shape expansion in early 2024. This timing makes these weapon adjustments particularly crucial for players preparing for the upcoming content shift.
Beyond weapon changes, Season 23 introduces new challenging content including a dungeon that likely continues the narrative confrontation with Xivu Arath, the Hive God of War and disciple of The Witness. Understanding these weapon adjustments will be essential for tackling this new endgame content effectively.
Exotic Weapon Game-Changing Updates
The most impactful changes target exotic weapons that have struggled to find their place in the current meta. Bungie’s development team has focused on revitalizing underutilized exotics while refining overpowered ones.
Thorn receives arguably the most transformative update, with its remnant collection mechanic now allowing magazine overflow up to 40 rounds compared to the standard 9. This fundamentally changes how the weapon handles in extended engagements. The new catalyst provides substantial stat boosts including +20 range and +10 stability, while remnant collection or kills grant additional range, handling, and mobility bonuses.
Vex Mythoclast sees significant damage scaling improvements across multiple enemy types, with particular emphasis on champion elimination in Linear Fusion Rifle mode. The weapon now deals 10% increased damage against minor combatants, 25% against bosses, and a massive 200% boost against champions when transformed.
Other notable exotic adjustments include:
- Minor (red bar) combatants by 10%.
- Bosses by 25%.
- Champions by 200% when in the Linear Fusion Rifle mode.
- +20 range
- +10 stability
- Getting kills or picking up a Remnant grants additional range, handling, and mobility.
Weapon Archetype Balancing Overhaul
Beyond exotic adjustments, Season 23 introduces systematic changes to weapon archetypes that will affect entire categories of weapons. These changes address longstanding balance issues and create new strategic possibilities.
Auto Rifles receive a targeted 10% damage increase against minor combatants, addressing their underperformance in add-clear scenarios while maintaining their balanced DPS profile. This makes them more competitive against other primary weapons for general gameplay.
Glaives undergo substantial quality-of-life improvements, including passive shield energy regeneration at 1% per second when held and reduced melee delay from 0.75 to 0.2 seconds after firing. These changes significantly improve their fluidity in combat. The shield damage resistance in PvP now tiers differently, maintaining 50% base resistance but reducing to 30% against primary weapons and melee attacks.
Sniper Rifles receive a universal 15% PvE damage buff that applies to both special and heavy exotic variants, making them more viable for boss damage and major elimination. This addresses their recent underutilization in high-level PvE content.
Auto Rifle DPS is generally in a pretty good place, but they were lagging slightly behind when it came to damage against minor combatants.
- Aggressives: 123 (edited 10/25/2023 at 1:15 PM PDT)
- Adaptives: 113
- Rapid-Fires: 101
Strategic Implementation and Loadout Planning
Successfully adapting to these weapon changes requires strategic planning and loadout optimization. The Thorn adjustments, for example, transform it from a niche PvP choice to a viable PvE option, particularly in content with dense enemy populations where remnant collection becomes consistently achievable.
For Vex Mythoclast, the champion damage buff in Linear Fusion mode creates new strategic possibilities for champion management in Nightfalls and other endgame activities. The weapon now serves as both a versatile primary and potent special weapon against high-priority targets.
Glaive improvements make them significantly more user-friendly, with the reduced melee delay enabling more fluid combat transitions. The passive shield regeneration allows for more consistent defensive play without sacrificing offensive capability.
Common mistakes to avoid include overestimating the Auto Rifle buffs—while helpful, they don’t fundamentally change the weapon’s role—and underestimating how the Glaive shield resistance changes will affect PvP survivability strategies.
Advanced players should focus on creating synergistic loadouts that leverage multiple buffed weapons, such as pairing the improved Thorn with a high-damage special weapon to capitalize on the mobility and handling bonuses from remnant collection.
Technical Fixes and Quality Improvements
Season 23 also includes several technical fixes addressing longstanding issues with weapon functionality and gameplay stability. These changes improve the overall player experience while maintaining game balance.
A critical fix addresses the Stasis crystal detonation issue that could cause game crashes when shattering multiple crystals simultaneously. By implementing a speed limit on detonations, the game prevents the error codes that previously disrupted gameplay during intense Stasis ability usage.
Weapons like The Prospector receive both damage increases and self-damage reductions, with the large projectile detonation damage boosted by 25% while the self-damage blast radius is halved and overall self-damage reduced. This makes the weapon safer to use in close-quarters situations.
Animation timing corrections for Drang and Zaouli’s Bane ensure these weapons load ammunition at the appropriate point in their firing sequences, creating smoother gameplay experiences and more consistent performance.
Placed a speed limit on the detonation when damaging Stasis crystals. This will help prevent the detonation from being able to shatter too many crystals on a single frame, which would sometimes kick the player to orbit with an error code.
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