Destiny 2 update 8.2.0 early patch notes for Episode Heresy buffs, nerfs and more

The long-awaited Destiny 2: Episode Heresy has arrived! Fingers crossed that it surpasses the Revenant Act 3, given the promising signs, such as its simultaneous release with a Star Wars crossover. To build anticipation before its launch, Bungie has shared several details. Herein, you’ll find early Destiny 2 update 8.2.0 patch notes that outline buffs, nerfs, and additional changes for Episode Heresy.

Early Destiny 2 update 8.2.0 patch notes for Episode Heresy

On February 4th (9AM PT/12PM ET/5PM GMT), we will publish the patch notes for Destiny 2 update 8.2.0. Before that, here’s a sneak peek at some early patch notes for Episode Heresy, which include details about buffs, nerfs, and more.

Destiny 2 update 8.2.0 patch notes – balance changes (via TWID Jan 16th):

Hunter

Arc Strider

  • Tempest Strike
    • New additional effect added.
      • Killing any jolted target grants a stack of Bolt Charge.
    • Increased damage against PvE enemies by 57%.
  • Disorienting Blow
    • Now grants a moderate amount of Bolt Charge stacks when dealing damage with Disorienting Blow.
    • Disorienting Blow now deals significant damage in an area around the target hit, instead of just single target damage.
    • Increased the Blind AoE from 6m to 9.6m.
  • Arc Staff
    • Reflecting an attack will grant a stack of Bolt Charge.
  • Ascension
    • Increased Fragment slots to three on Arc.
      • Note: Ascension was already granting three Fragment slots on Prismatic.
    • Activating Ascension will now activate the effects from the following abilities: Gambler’s Dodge, Marksman’s Dodge, Empowering Dodge, and Threaded Specter.
      • Note: We don’t plan to make Ascension activate every Hunter class-ability perk, but we may add more interactions in the future.

Threadrunner

  • Ensnaring Slam
    • Activating Ensnaring Slam will now activate the effects from the following abilities: Gambler’s Dodge, Marksman’s Dodge, and Threaded Specter.
      • Note: We don’t plan to make Ensnaring Slam activate every Hunter class-ability perk, but we may add more interactions in the future.
    • Threaded Specter
      • Increased the clone’s PvE damage resistance from 40% to 70%.

Titan

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All Titan Subclasses

  • Barricade
    • Increased damage resistance vs. combatant splash damage attacks when standing behind Barricade from 60% to 80%.
    • Taunt strength and range no longer fall off over time.

Striker

  • Juggernaut
    • While Juggernaut shield is active, players now have splash damage resistance.
      • 60% splash damage resistance in PvE, 10% in PvP.
    • While the Juggernaut shield is active, players now have 10% damage resistance vs PvE combatants.
    • When the Juggernaut shield blocks damage, players are granted a stack of Bolt Charge.
  • Ballistic Slam
    • Sprint time requirement before activation significantly reduced.
    • Damage now scales based on distance traveled.
    • Damage vs. PvE combatants increased by 30%.
    • Each enemy damaged by Ballistic Slam grants a stack of Bolt Charge.
      • Up to the max of 10 stacks if you manage to hit 10 targets with a single activation.

Sentinel

  • Unbreakable
    • Increased the rate that the Unbreakable offensive throw charges up when blocking damage.
    • Increased max damage dealt from the offensive throw by 20%.
    • Increased the health pool of the shield to make it less likely to break when under heavy fire.
    • Increased the Void Overshield charge rate while holding the shield.
    • Throw now costs half of a grenade-energy charge instead of a full charge.
    • While Sentinel Shield is equipped, Orb of Power creation cooldown increased from 1s to 4.5s.
      • Note: Unbreakable has received a significant buff here. We want it to be strong, but we’ll be monitoring it closely to make sure we haven’t gone too far.
    • Ward of Dawn
      • Ward of Dawn now does a Weaken pulse when the Ward is created.

Sunbreaker

  • Consecration
    • Reduced scorch-wave and slam-wave damage in PvE by 55%.
      • Note: When reviewing the damage-cost ratio for certain abilities, it became clear that Consecration was doing too much for too little. We didn’t want to take away from the dramatic pop moment of landing both waves on a target though, so we kept its increased Ignition damage bonus and instead reduced the wave damage. We suspect we may also need to adjust the Ignition damage in the future.

Warlock

Stormcaller

  • Stormtrance
    • Increased non-champion PvE damage by 20%.
  • Chaos Reach
    • Increased non-champion PvE damage by 15%.
  • Lightning Surge
    • Removed Amplified on cast.
    • Now grants a stack of Bolt Charge for each enemy hit with Lightning Surge.
    • Increased damage vs. PvE combatants by 30%.

Voidwalker

  • Handheld Supernova (Chaos Accelerant’s Magnetic Grenade Variant)
    • Increased total projectile count from five to nine.
    • Increased the width of the cone’s blast by roughly two meters.
    • Increased the height of the cone’s blast by one meter.
    • Reduced projectile damage in PvP from 20 to 15 per projectile to account for additional projectiles.
      • Note: Adding four projectiles is potentially a substantial damage increase, but due to the increased size of the cone blast, all projectiles won’t land on a single smaller target. This means PvP potency should remain similar but in PvE this becomes a much more reliable add clear tool or single target burst damage option against larger targets.

All Classes

Solar

  • Radiant
    • Damage bonus reduced from 25% to 20% in PvE
      • Well of Radiance damage bonus remains unchanged.

Stasis

  • Frost Armor
    • Increased DR per stack from 4.5% to 6.25%.
      • At max stacks, DR goes from 36% to 50%.
      • Note: This change is PvE only, PvP values remain unchanged.

Arc

  • Amplified
    • While Amplified, PvE combatants are now less accurate against you.
      • This is similar to how The Manticore’s Exotic effect works while in air.
    • While Amplified, players now have 15% damage resistance against PvE combatants.
  • Spark of Discharge
    • Added effect: Picking up an Ionic Trace grants a stack of Bolt Charge.
  • Spark of Momentum
    • Added effect: Sliding over ammo bricks now also grants a stack of Bolt Charge.
    • Removed the bespoke melee energy bonus from sliding over ammo bricks since each stack of Bolt Charge comes with bonus melee energy.
    • Reduced the amount of time you need to be sliding to activate Spark of Momentum.
      • This should make it so if you start your slide on top of an ammo brick, Spark of Momentum will still activate instead of previously needing to slide into the brick after roughly 0.75s.
    • Spark of Frequency
      • Added effect: While Amplified, gain a bonus stack of Bolt Charge from all sources, in addition to previous effect.
    • Spark of Volts
      • Added effect: Finishers grant a stack of Bolt Charge in addition to granting Amplified.
    • Spark of Ions
      • Added effect: Targets defeated with Bolt Charge will also make an Ionic Trace, in addition to previous effect.

Prismatic

  • Facet of Hope
    • Can now be activated by Bolt Charge.
  • Facet of Purpose
    • Now grants a stack of Bolt Charge on orb pickup when an Arc Super is equipped instead of granting of Amplified.
  • Facet of Sacrifice
    • Can now be activated by Bolt Charge.

Modifiers

  • Brawn
    • Tuned healing sources to better balance the health economy when this modifier is active.

Trials of Osiris (via Episode Heresy Crucible updates):

  • Trials of Osiris Rework for Heresy
    • Move Trials away from a “Flawless” based system to a “get seven wins on a card” system that rewards win streaks, with multiple tiers and exclusive aesthetic rewards for higher win streaks.
    • Provide a selectable alternative experience that is closer to Iron Banner in terms of reward structure and matchmaking to get more players into the Trials ecosystem.
    • Adding new rewards, including an armor set, Ghost Shell, ship, Sparrow, and emblem.
    • Simplify engagement and matchmaking systems.
  • Skill and Player Score Stat, Competitive Point System Rework
    • We want skill to be more transparent and easily understood so players can get a better feeling of where they sit or how they performed relative to other players in their games.
    • Competitive point gains should feel like they make sense and give you more agency over climbing the Ranked ladder.
  • Playlist Reorganization
    • Using what we’ve learned over the last year, consolidate and solidify our playlists into options that better represent the experiences Destiny PvP can offer, without splitting the population into too many separate slices.
    • Introduce Iron Banner Quickplay, which offers a more relaxed variant of Iron Banner, using our Open Skill matchmaking to provide minimal stratification and a focus on the less serious game modes.
  • Ability Sandbox Updates – We aren’t going to spend too much time discussing the ability tuning, as much of it is self-explanatory and we have a lot to discuss in terms of the other three items.
    • General
      • Baseline Crucible ability cooldown penalty increased from 15% to 20%.
        • Supers go from 20% to 25%.
      • Prismatic Only
        • Unpowered Knockout melees will no longer spawn Diamond Lances on kills against players.
        • Active energy refund on Prismatic decreased by 20% in Crucible.
          • This affects energy refunds from things like Gambler’s Dodge, Shiver Strike, and armor mods, but generally excludes Exotic effects.
        • Added a 10% cooldown penalty to Supers so that there is more of a tradeoff to picking these subclasses in modes where Super timing can be vitally important, like Trials or Competitive.

Destiny 2 Episode Heresy patch notes – Weapons and armor (via TWID January 23rd):

Hunter

Sealed Ahamkara Grasps

On the Hunter class, the challenge with using Sealed Ahamkara Grasps has been their struggle against the numerous reload choices Hunters were already provided. To give it a more distinctive Exotic feel and gameplay style, we’ve revamped its behavior.

  • Reworked with a weapon-swapping focus to differentiate it from other Hunter reload Exotics. Perk description now reads as follows:
    • Powered melee and finisher final blows grant Nightmare Fuel, increasing handling and airborne effectiveness. While active, freshly drawn weapons deal additional damage and grant Nightmare Fuel on final blows. Gaining Nightmare Fuel reloads all holstered weapons.

Gwisin Vest

Following the latest modifications in Super abilities, we thought it necessary to adjust this Exotic slightly so that it can truly excel in its intended function. Additionally, we aimed to provide it with some usefulness beyond its Super activation.

  • Now progresses its Super returns on Super hits as well as kills before becoming invisible.
  • Improved the maximum possible Super energy gains per return while also increasing the amount of progress needed for maximum gains.
  • Now also emits a cloud of weakening smoke when you exit invisibility while nearby an enemy.
    • Works both in neutral and while in Super.

Renewal Grasps

With Frost Armor now established within our sandbox, we believe it’s safe to make Renewal Grasps more generous when bestowing it.

  • Doubled the rate of Frost Armor gain while in the enhanced Duskfield grenade.

Foetracer

Although Foetracer provides a great method for boosting your damage, we’ve discovered that its benefits are short-lived when stacked against other available options.

  • Increased the bonus weapon damage duration from 10 seconds to 15 seconds.

Radiant Dance Machines

Radiant Dance Machines has been updated so that the additional dodge charges it provides now function as actual dodges, enhancing both perks and aspects. To balance this, the mechanism activating extra dodges demands more player input. However, this alteration significantly boosts its power and usefulness. Additionally, we’ve included direct advantages for Primary weapons, which could be a significant advantage for players who value gun feel and performance when moving swiftly.

  • Improves airborne effectiveness and hip fire mobility, range, and accuracy for Primary ammo weapons.
  • Multi-kills with Primary ammo weapons refund dodge energy. When dodge energy is full, multi-kills grant extra charges. Powerful combatants and Guardians count as more than one kill.

Relativism – Spirit of Galanor

By significantly speeding up the regeneration of roamer entities, it became quite straightforward to string together multiple instances of roaming Supers consecutively, essentially rendering weapons unnecessary in activities. In order to counterbalance this, we are slightly diminishing this capacity on the armor side, particularly for Silkstrike and Golden Gun.

  • Reduced the maximum amount of energy refunded for Silkstrike and Golden Gun to 30% (down from 50%).

Relativism – Spirit of the Foetracer

Spirit of the Foetracer has inherited the changes made to Foetracer.

Titan

Citan’s Ramparts

Previously, Citan’s Ramparts was fine-tuned to address its overpowering nature in Player vs Player (PVP), however, this change affected its overall utility throughout the game. In the present game environment, we’ve discovered that numerous of its drawbacks can be eliminated safely in Player vs Environment (PVE) without causing any toxic play patterns, despite a minor boost it receives in PVP.

  • Removed several downsides applied by Assault Barricade to bring it in line with base Towering Barricade behavior. Cumulatively, these changes result in a Towering barricade you can shoot through with no other downsides while Citan’s is equipped (in PVE – see below).
    • Increased barricade health from 400 to 500.
    • No longer increases Barricade cooldown.
    • No longer decreases Barricade duration.
  • Further increased damage dealt to Citan’s barricades by Guardians from 125% to 160%.
    • This results in near-identical effective Barricade health in PVP (~2.5% less after these changes).

Eternal Warrior

To make Eternal Warrior enticing for players who are focusing on Fists of Havoc, whether in Player versus Player (PvP) or Player versus Environment (PvE), we’re enhancing its Super’s duration upon final blow. This change not only appeals to longtime players but also aligns thematically with the Exotic weapon.

  • Final blows with Fists of Havoc now grant extended Super duration.

Ursa Furiosa

We’ve made adjustments to Ursa Furiosa to make it compatible with the Unbreakable feature, but these changes haven’t led to much usage yet. Therefore, we’re considering enhancing Unbreakable even more by altering the type of energy produced when blocking with it to be grenade energy instead.

  • Blocking damage with Unbreakable now returns grenade energy instead of Super energy.
    • Grenade energy is returned at the end of Unbreakable and is scaled based on the amount of damage you blocked with it.

Khepri’s Horn

Khepri’s Horn undergoes an upgrade: It continues to make your Barricade release harmful solar waves, but with this modification, the intensity has been substantially amplified.

  • Now sends out three waves of flame instead of just one.
    • These waves no longer return towards the Barricade – they only travel outwards once.
    • Tracking on the waves has been enhanced.
    • Combatants damaged by these waves are enveloped in a Sunspot. Players are enveloped if they are defeated.
    • Now requires a Solar Super to be equipped to create the flame waves from the Barricade.

An Insurmountable Skullfort

When the challenge increases, Skullfort might seem excessively harsh if you don’t manage to deliver the decisive hit it requires. To address this problem, we’re expanding its functionality to provide a partial refund for any melee attack, helping you regain the vital momentum you need.

  • Now grants energy to Arc melee abilities when hitting targets with any melee attack. Amount granted varies based on the melee used.
    • From most to least energy granted: Powered melees, non-Glaive unpowered melees while Knockout is active, and unpowered melees (including Glaives).

Stoicism – Spirit of the Bear

Spirit of the Bear has inherited the changes made to Ursa Furiosa.

Stoicism – Spirit of the Horn

The essence of the Hornhorn has adopted the alterations previously applied to Khepri’s Horn. Onboard Thruster, the Spirit of the Horn will now discharge a cross-shaped pattern of four waves.

Warlock

Stormdancer’s Brace

Similar to the Spirit of Galanor, we aimed to adjust the amount of energy returned when Supers were used while roaming, via Exotics. To make up for this change, we wanted to boost the power that Stormdancer’s Brace provides to Stormtrance when you are in your Super.

  • Doubled the damage benefit per stack of Ascending amplitude (up to 20% per stack, from 10%).
  • Now also reduces the cost of Ionic Blink during Super by 50%.
  • Reduced the maximum amount of energy refunded to 30% (down from 50%).

Geomag Stabilizers

A significant aspect of the allure of Geomag Stabilizers diminished when the feature that allowed for a quick sprint to obtain Super was taken away due to problems in Player versus Player (PvP) interactions. With the addition of Bolt Charge to the Arc kit, there was a chance to restore this enjoyable experience without disrupting PvP balance.

  • Added a new perk: “Sprinting while near max Bolt Charge will top it off.”
    • Starts at six stacks of Bolt Charge.
    • Reenabled VFX where boots spark while sprinting near max Bolt Charge.
  • Increased Super energy gained from ionic traces to 7% from 2%.

Secant Filaments (and Spirit of the Filaments)

Since anti-Champion abilities now function seamlessly with elemental verbs, the Secant Filaments have seemed like an Exotic long forgotten in the sands of time. Updating it to create a satisfying loop felt like a great way to show appreciation for both the original Exotic and its Spirit variant.

  • Now gives class ability energy per kill while Devour is active.

Speaker’s Sight

When paired with Ember of Benevolence, Warlocks can accumulate a substantial amount of ability energy through the Healing Turret, even if themselves and their team are fully healed. However, since Speaker’s Sight’s effect is based on actual healing of injured Guardians, we’re adjusting how the Healing Turret chooses its targets to better reflect this.

  • Healing Turret no longer targets allies at full health.
    • Allies need some damage done to their shields to be eligible targets.

Verity’s Brow (and Spirit of Verity)

Instead of the Death Throes buff completely disappearing once its duration ends, we’ve revamped this Exotic to mirror the Wormgod Caress for Titans. Now, the stacks of Death Throes are shown on a meter that gradually decreases through each tier instead of vanishing completely when time runs out, ensuring you don’t lose your grenade advantage as easily.

  • Now uses a meter to track Death Throes
    • New durations per tier:
      • x1: 8 seconds
      • x2: 7 seconds
      • x3: 6 seconds
      • x4: 5 seconds
      • x5: 4 seconds
    • When one tier’s duration elapses, the buff will downgrade to the next lower tier rather than expiring entirely.
    • Bonus grenade recharge per tier:
      • x1: 0.5% per second
      • x2: 1% per second
      • x3: 1.5% per second
      • x4: 2% per second
      • x5: 2.5% per second

“We’ll fill in all the details from the official Destiny 2 Episode Heresy update 8.2.0 as soon as we get the patch notes.”

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2025-02-04 18:14