Auto rifle buffs, new commendation system, and comprehensive weapon tuning in Destiny 2’s latest update
Major Update Overview
Destiny 2’s significant 7.0.5.0 update delivers substantial weapon balance changes, introduces new social features, and addresses numerous quality-of-life concerns that have impacted player experience.
Bungie’s latest patch represents one of the most comprehensive balance passes in recent seasons, with particular focus on revitalizing underperforming weapon archetypes. The auto rifle category, which has struggled to compete with submachine guns in close-to-mid range engagements, receives particularly noteworthy attention with substantial damage increases against PvE combatants.
Beyond weapon adjustments, the update introduces the Best Dressed commendation, expanding the social recognition system that launched with Lightfall. This addition addresses player feedback requesting more diverse ways to acknowledge teammates’ contributions beyond combat performance. The fashion-focused commendation provides an outlet for Guardians to showcase their aesthetic creativity and receive recognition for their style choices.
Practical Tip: With auto rifles receiving such substantial buffs, now is the ideal time to revisit your vault for high-range auto rifle rolls that previously felt underwhelming. Weapons like the Chroma Rush, Suros Regime, or Seventh Seraph Carbine may now outperform your current primary options in many PvE scenarios.
Weapon Balance Changes Deep Dive
The weapon balance changes in update 7.0.5.0 represent a strategic shift toward making primary weapons more effective in endgame PvE content. The damage increases are specifically targeted at red-bar (minor) and orange-bar (major) enemies, which constitute the majority of combatants in most activities.
- Auto Rifles: 25% damage increase
- Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, and Sidearms: 20% damage increase
- Scout Rifles: 10% damage increase
Exotic weapons receive targeted adjustments to address balance concerns and functionality issues. The Ikelos SMG, which had become dominant due to unintentionally low recoil, now behaves consistently with other Aggressive-frame SMGs. Meanwhile, Revision Zero receives substantial PvE damage buffs to its specialty firing modes, making the exotic pulse rifle more viable in high-level content.
Special weapons see significant changes as well. Rapid-Fire sniper rifles receive a 50% recoil reduction and 30% total ammunition increase, addressing their previous shortcomings in sustained damage scenarios. Trace rifles get a nuanced adjustment with base damage increased by 4% but precision multiplier slightly reduced, resulting in a net damage increase while reducing their dominance in precision-focused play.
Common Mistake: Many players overlook that these damage buffs only apply to PvE content. The changes won’t affect weapon performance in Crucible matches, so don’t expect your auto rifle to suddenly dominate in competitive play.
Optimization Tip: With rapid-fire snipers receiving substantial buffs, consider pairing the new Improved Alone Against the Dark with damage-per-shot enhancing perks like Firing Line or Focused Fury for maximum boss damage potential.
Crucible & Competitive Updates
Crucible players will find significant quality-of-life improvements and new playlist options in update 7.0.5.0. The introduction of a new 6v6 connection-based matchmaking (CBMM) Weekly Rotator provides a more casual alternative to skill-based matchmaking, featuring classic modes like Clash, Zone Control, and the returning Rift game type.
- New 6v6 CBMM Weekly Rotator: Clash, Zone Control, Rift
- Updated 6v6 Party Rotator: Mayhem, Momentum Control, Scorched
- Enhanced respawn overshield strength across all Crucible modes
Competitive Division players receive new recognition options, with Ascendant-ranked Guardians now able to purchase exclusive emblems from Lord Shaxx. The update also fixes issues with Glorious and Dredgen title awarding, though affected players will need to reclaim or regild their titles if they’ve completed the necessary Triumphs.
Rift receives specific adjustments to prevent exploitation of movement abilities. Players can no longer drop the Spark when activating Grapple, and dunking while moving faster than 15 meters per second or using Grapple abilities is now prohibited. These changes preserve the strategic elements of the game mode while preventing cheese strategies.
Practical Tip: The strengthened respawn overshield provides a brief window of increased survivability upon spawning. Use this to your advantage by immediately pushing objectives or engaging nearby enemies rather than retreating to safety.
PvE Activities & Endgame Updates
Endgame PvE content receives numerous fixes and quality-of-life improvements in this update. Legend difficulty Defiant Battlegrounds now feature weekly rotating weapon overcharge bonuses, providing variety and strategic considerations for players farming these activities.
Tormentors, the formidable darkness-wielding enemies introduced in Lightfall, now provide revive tokens when defeated in certain activities, functioning similarly to Champions and Hive Guardians. This change standardizes revival mechanics across different high-level enemy types and provides additional strategic considerations for endgame loadouts.
- Fixed Hive door locks in Heist Battlegrounds for consistency across activity versions
- Adjusted difficulty tuning in Heist Battlegrounds within Vanguard and Nightfall playlists
- Resolved checkpoint sharing between Legend and Master difficulty raids and dungeons
Multiple raid and dungeon issues receive attention, particularly in the Root of Nightmares and Duality. The Scission encounter soft lock in Root of Nightmares has been resolved, along with fixes for Nezarec’s wipe mechanics and visual effects. In Duality, the Nightmare of Gahlran can now properly teleport back to the encounter space after falling through the environment.
Common Mistake: With checkpoint sharing fixed between Legend and Master difficulties, players can no longer use lower-difficulty checkpoints to access Master content. Plan your raid sessions accordingly and ensure your fireteam is prepared for the appropriate difficulty level from the start.
Quality of Life Improvements
The update addresses numerous quality-of-life issues that have impacted player progression and system functionality. Guardian Rank requirements receive adjustments to better reflect actual player accomplishments, with fixes for objectives that previously didn’t count completions from before reaching certain ranks.
- Solo Spelunker (solo dungeon completion) now properly tracks pre-Rank 10 completions
- Master raid completion objective correctly counts pre-Rank 10 completions
- Fixed Guardian Rank 3 progression block for players who previously purchased all subclass Aspects
Armor and ability functionality receive multiple fixes. The Peacekeepers exotic leg armor now consistently activates its reload perk after stowing energy slot SMGs. Phoenix Cradle properly extends the Sol Invictus buff duration while Burning Maul is equipped. Stasis Shards generated by the Glacial Harvest aspect correctly grant melee energy to Penumbral Blast regardless of equipped weapon.
Weapon crafting and acquisition systems see improvements as well. Root of Nightmares Adept weapons can now be upgraded with enhanced traits for players who have unlocked Deepsight on these weapons. Master dungeon tooltips properly indicate Artifice Armor as rewards, providing accurate expectation setting for endgame content.
Optimization Tip: With the fix to Guardian Rank progression blocks, players who were stuck at Rank 3 should check their progress immediately. The system should now properly recognize your purchased Aspects and allow advancement to higher ranks.
Post-Update Hotfix Details
Following the initial update deployment, Bungie released additional hotfix notes addressing issues discovered after patch 7.0.5.0 went live. These corrections primarily target mod interactions, activity-specific exploits, and system inconsistencies.
The Terminal Overload activity on Neomuna received critical fixes to prevent reward exploitation. Players can no longer repeatedly loot the chest for unlimited rewards and crafted weapon progress. Crafting progression now properly comes from the key chest rather than the base activity completion chest, aligning with intended design.
- Fixed Terminal Overload chest reward exploitation
- Crafting progress now sourced from key chest only
- Resolved mod interaction issues with grapple melee abilities
Strand subclass mod interactions receive clarification and balancing. When using grapple melee after grappling from a point, Super gains from Ashes to Assets are reduced by 50% to prevent excessive ability spam. Mod combinations like Ashes to Ashes with Hands On or Firepower with Heavy Handed now properly limit their effects to prevent double-dipping on benefits.
A significant safety improvement makes fall damage nonlethal to players, joining collision damage in being survivable. This change prevents frustrating deaths from miscalculated jumps or unexpected geometry issues, particularly in platforming-heavy content like the Prophecy dungeon or various raid jumping puzzles.
Practical Tip: With fall damage now nonlethal, you can take more aggressive positioning risks during platforming sections. While you’ll still take significant damage from long falls, you won’t face instant death, giving you opportunities to recover with healing abilities or find safer footing.
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Destiny 2 update 7.0.5.0 patch notes: Auto Rifle buff, best-dressed commendations, more Auto rifle buffs, new commendation system, and comprehensive weapon tuning in Destiny 2's latest update