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Edited by Bedimir: 11/30/2017 3:17:28 PM
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Masterwork Weapons, New Modifications, and a Brief History of Sandbox Management

Following the Bungie Post on "Where we're headed" released by Bungie this morning I'm actually rather pleased with the idea of Masterwork weapons. I've been critical of new systems, but I'm not going to comment on this prematurely by bashing the inherent weapons system of Destiny 2 (Kinetic, Energy, Power...although I still like to call it Heavy Ammo). Rather I'd like to take a look at the possibilities posed by the Masterwork system. For any new players who aren't familiar with the meta, in Destiny 1 Bungie adjusted and fine tuned Weapon Classifications (Auto Rifles, Scout Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Hand Cannons, etc.) by altering elements of that class like fire rate, magazine capacity, recoil, flinch, damage drop off and other factors. In Destiny 1, each weapon was randomly rolled, and carried an assortment of perks. Players can farm for better rolls on already great weapons to suit their playstyle. This was a wonderful system full of possibilities. However, Bungie failed to predict how overwhelmingly challenging managing this system of randomly rolled weapons would be, and was only able to modify weapon strength by class of weapon or weaken the perk across the board. This meant if one gun needed to be nerfed, the entire weapon class was nerfed. This led to several sandbox updates that resulted in controversial decisions to begin manipulating ammo available in crucible matches, rather than the weapons themselves. This led to the Heavy Weapon ammo dropping once per match, special ammo being lost upon death, and side arms and regenerative weapons like Invective and IceBreaker being favored in the crucible. The prevailing theme here is that no matter how much Bungie tried, Destiny players figured out what weapons were good, what rolls were needed, and used only those weapons. A Matador 64 with Rangefinder, Clever Dragon with Glass Half Full, and Eyasluna with a range perk are just a few examples. We've seen the same in Destiny 2. Anybody who's spent time in the Crucible can tell you that the Uriel's Gift, Mida Multi-Tool, Antiope-D and Last Hope are dominating the Meta Right now. The initial Destiny 2 sandbox management idea to reduce all rolls on weapons to 1 possible perk set truly did cement the balance of the game (not to say it balanced it just that the balance was permanent). Bungie had a few options left to manage this overwhelming Mida and Urial-abuse: they could nerf the weapons, remove the weapons, or make something stronger. Bungie chose to do nothing, and in fact we haven't really seen a sandbox update since launch. I remember my least favorite time to be a Destiny 1 player was during dry content spells, especially when shotgun abuse was happening. That Meta lasted 6 months. So it's a little disappointing to see that this wasn't addressed, but it's understandable given that many players were promised endgame, and Bungie was busy trying to figure out how to deliver. So why does the Masterwork Weapon system represent a great opportunity? It's because it puts the meta control in the hands of the players to a certain degree. If you have a weapon with just a little too much recoil, suddenly a stability perk on a Masterwork could make that gun viable. Guns that were locked out of the meta may have their time in the sun, or at least a shot. More importantly, it adds another element of customization beyond the simple: Here's a Gun, here's its element, you can change its color. I openly admit that this system could lead to rampant abuse, seeing as how the strong guns can still get stronger under this new system, but I'm excited that it adds an element of experimentation to the game. In addition, Bungie gave itself the ability to edit each weapon individually in Destiny 2. I like this Masterwork Weapon system because it gives players a way to counter the meta changes should they choose. In 3 weeks if Uriel's Gift is nerfed and has its recoil increased, a stability mod could assist. Pulse Rifles with slow reloads could get a buff in power, and a Reload Mod could increase its viability in the Crucible. More to the point, this returns to a system that somehow gave a game that takes its PVE and PVP content so seriously but refuses to separate them a fighting chance. In Destiny 1, the initial launch didn't see many weapons. Players had collected them within a few months. Sadly I wasn't there, but I remember my clan mates complaining that there were so few weapons it was staggering. As I've covered in previous posts, the game was delivered incomplete due to a massive overhaul of the game once actual production had already begun, so it launched with less content. This may have been in the original draft, but a benefit of allowing weapons in PVE to be used in PVP and vice versa was that the developers didn't have to create specific load outs for each, they just had to design guns and balance them. This did two things: it limited PVE weapon power for fear of breaking PVP while the meta still only gave us a few guns that were PVP viable. Sure I could bring every gun into crucible, but I'm not going to because I know what's good. I see what's killing me and I see how much Guardians are running it. The Weapon Roll system mitigated that slightly, giving guns that didn't stand much of a chance their 15 minutes of fame if you could get the right perks. We've seen the same in Destiny 2, however without random rolls, there was no mitigating factor to give lesser weapons a chance. The meta, as previously stated, was cemented and without sandbox updates for Bungie even crucible players (the most dedicated in my mind and I say that as a PVE player primarily) are getting a little bored. The Masterwork Weapon gives us as Guardians a chance at self regulation, it adds depth to a customization system beyond the cosmetic, and it represents a new tier of weapon between Legendary and Exotic. While it isn't an entirely new weapon class, it does stand apart and it will impact the game in a way that will force players to learn, adapt, grow and meet challenges. In terms of impact, I'm going to put Masterwork Weapons just above the Iron Lord Artifacts, which gave Guardians new passive buffs in Rise of Iron. It isn't an entirely new game asset, but it does add to the customization and options available to us as a players. The existence of inherent Masterwork Weapons which drop at higher rates will give incentive to players who participate in higher tiered activities, like raids and Nightfall Strikes. Will this repair the meta system that Bungie has? No. But it is a step in the right direction, and will offer a wealth of customization and is an example of new content that we've been craving so much.

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  • A very well though out post, In a lot of way you're correct on the potential behind the Masterwork system. What they showed us in the state of D2 was definitely more of a taste than a big reveal so once it's implemented in game I am sure that there will be more to it for us to learn.

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  • I'm really surprised at how enthusiastic this post is about Masterworks. It feels tepid in comparison to random rolls and it concerns me that it won't address the shallow nature of this core element of the game. I just can't see how the Uriels example is a plus rather than a minus. Devs balance OP gun - but user has the power to counter. Net result, same gun still dominating the meta. Kind of makes it pointless. Random rolls may leave you at the mercy of RNG - but it gave people reasons to replay. Will of Crota for the Malok with counter balance - Crucible for the Eyasluna with rangefinder etc. The fact that it's difficult to manage is neither here nor there, that's the price you pay for delivering a unique game with huge amounts of re-playability. However - I'm completely willing to be proven wrong about Masterworks, I just can't see it yet. It will be disappointing if we go through all this and find that the 'limited perks' actually amount to a small hill of beans. Let's be honest, other than the top tier (Mida/Uriel's/Last Hope) - all the other guns (excluding hand canons on console) are pretty much in the same league regardless of the perks they have. i.e. perks don't add a great deal in this game. Whatever happens, it's still going to be a huge climb down from what we had in D1.

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  • I agree.

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  • If they brought in decent perks outside of stat perks, It would make a difference. Where’s LiTC? Where’s Third Eye? Final Round? Firefly? Icarus? Tripod? Those were perks that actually meant something. What we have now is a neutered beta male cuck version of perks.

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  • I'd rather have "flawed" random rolls than the continuous duplicates I have now....

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  • Honestly, I would suggest not getting to hyped up about the new master roll X. If you think some X roll auto riffle is going to beat an X rolled Uriel's, its not going to happen. Uriel's with a second perk is going to be insane, god forbid you be able to roll a damage perk/ stat boost of some kind. Especially since flinch increases with damage dealt and it already has HC. At least console wise, because we all know PC is all about da Hand cannons. Which leads yet again another round of we have to nerf the whole class to kill one thing. Also I dunno why everyone thinks using RNG to grant rewards is fun. Then again I'm not a gambler.

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    3 Replies
    • lol

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    • GREAT post my dude

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    • I agree with what you are saying to an extent. The D1 system of random rolls was flawed I that it was going to be impossible to balance. With the number of perk and weapon combinations there were bound to be some that just dominated. That is not good for PvP or PvE. To fix that there were really 3 options. Nerf or buff perks; nerf or buff weapons; or eliminate the offending weapon. Bungie chose something more like option 3 for D2. It is what many MMOs already do. Though those MMOs will have a deeper loot pool. I think a lot of people advocating for the old system are doing so for the very flaw it had. It let some weapons be over powered compared to others. It also left something to do in a long grind for weapons. People here want customization. We can get it with this new system, and maybe an enhanced modification system. The new mods could add perks, even a bit watered down perks. They could be disabled in PvP. They could even have quests or missions tied to obtaining the ones we want. Also, some current perks need to be ditched or improved. With static weapons we need perks that are actually useful so no weapon is complete garbage. More weapons and archetypes should be added to allow more variety. Maybe it’s coming, but this is a first step.

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    • masterworks doesnt address what the players wanted, either random rolls, or control over our rolls.

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    • The main meta pattern I saw was usually: [spoiler]reduce magazine capacity all around, reduce shotgun (and usually hand cannon) range, remove perks or weaken attributes (especially those that deal with magazine capacity), give blade dancer a middle finger, and nerf current meta weapons based on least commonly used weapon on chart (except for hand cannons, they seemed to suffer along side shotguns).[/spoiler] I favor a defensive support or offensive Grenadier play style. As such, my favorite loadout was always a high capacity machine gun, a shotgun, and either a pulse rifle or hand cannon. The idea was to either suppress and hold a position, or overwhelm and quickly neutralize a target, which in turn made me fall in love with the defender class. So each meta nerf/update felt a bit more personal than it probably should have. I'm hoping this Mastercraft system has some of the features I've gone on about for years in terms of actual weapon customization, but feel it's more of an attempt to win people back than be an effective system.

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    • Good post. I agree, the new system has great potential to make the game more refreshing through, hopefully, a less stale meta. However, it is likely, like you said, that powerful weapons could become more powerful. Increased range on Last Hope and Antiope-D? Even higher stability on Uriel's Gift? Increased magazine or range on Blackscorpion? (a criminally underrated weapon) That is some nightmare fuel right there. Also, unless I missed it, there was no mention that exotics could be Masterwork, which means exotic weapons will lag further behind the current meta legendaries. I will keep using my Graviton Lance, but I guess I will be going through an even steeper hill than it is right now.

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