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.