Among the various additions Bungie made toDestiny 2with The Witch Queen expansion, weapon crafting is arguably one of its most ground-breaking systems.Destiny 2has always been about obtaining the best loot, but weapons are made of five different main components that constitute a “god roll” only when the gun has the best overall perk for all five slots. Thus, obtaining a god roll was always incredibly dependent on RNG, to the point that many players could never really get the item they wanted no matter how long they farmed.
The concept of weapon crafting theoretically aims to solve this issue by allowing players to toy with specific guns and grind out the best perks in each slot. This is achieved by introducing severalweapon patterns inDestiny 2, which allow players to craft a basic version of those guns and then make the weapons better with time and currency. Unfortunately, even the god roll version of a crafted weapon has limits, leading to random god rolls on seasonal weapons and Adept weapons being better overall despite the RNG.
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Why Destiny 2’s Craftable Weapons are Worse Than Seasonal and Adept Ones
The problem with weapon crafting is that players are supposed to spend a lot of time and resources crafting a specific gun for it to be perfect, especially so with Enhanced traits. Enhanced traits are supposed to be improved versions of a given perk, but they cost a lot of currency, meaning if players want to change those perks in favor of something else they would essentially waste all the currency they spent earlier. The current iteration of weapon crafting punishesDestiny 2playersfor sticking to a trait, and it punishes those who craft an enhanced perk, as the only options in the aforementioned example are to either craft another copy of the same gun or change the existing perks.
This is not an ideal approach to the issue becauseDestiny 2is an ever-changing game, and it’s likely some perks or weapons will become more-or-less viable as time passes. Crafted weapons, no matter how much currency players pour into them, have the limit of a single perk per-column, which is problematic when considering that a specific perk may be best suited for a different activity or even for a different enemy type within the same mode. For example, thePalmyra-B rocket launcheris currently one of the best DPS options in the game because it can be crafted with Enhanced Auto-Loading Holster and either Lasting Impression or Explosive Light.
Lasting Impression and Explosive Light are both fantastic damage traits, but they cater to different styles and bosses; the former being more useful in boss fights such as theCaretaker in Vow of the Disciple, and the latter against Rhulk. Realistically,Destiny 2players won’t be crafting multiple copies of the same gun, level it up to unlock all perks, and craft the best Enhanced traits for each activity in the game.Destiny 2also features both PvE and PvP game modes, and it would be crazy to think players are supposed to craft at least two copies of each craftable weapon to hit each individual mode.
NormalDestiny 2weapons have access to two different perks on the first and second columns, whereasseasonal weapons and Adept gunscan come with an extra perk on column three, column four, or both. As such, a god roll for seasonal or Adept weapons could have more options than the god rolls for craftable weapons despite player choice being involved. Players could say obtaining a god roll for random weapons is an uncommon occurrence, but the principle of craftable weapons being worse in most cases still stands.
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How Bungie Could Make Destiny 2’s Weapon Crafting More Rewarding
WithDestiny 2’s meta changing constantly, it would only be fair to give players a way to either change their crafted perks with less currency costs, or to give them extra options altogether. If players ever want to change an Enhanced trait into something else, they should either be refunded part of the currency spent with the original craft, or even get a free swap to another Enhanced trait of their choice becauseAscendant Alloys are so rare.
If freely changing Enhanced perks sounds too powerful and defeats the point of crafting entirely, Bungie could tackle this issue by providing a single free perk change once every 10 weapon levels, for example. This approach would promote more diversity and experiment with weapons, which seems to be the idea behind theweapon crafting system, and it would also promote using craftable weapons more because there is a tangible reward for doing so. Currently, the only incentive to use any given craftable weapon is provided at level 20 with a slight increase in some stats.
Ultimately, Bungie should opt to make it so that players can craft at least another row of perks for each column on craftable weapons, bringing them more in-line with regular and seasonal or Adept guns, especially considering the amount of time and effort that goes into them. This solution wouldmakeDestiny 2’s weapon crafting more rewarding, engaging, and allow players to not be afraid of crafting Enhanced perks - which are supposed to be additional bonuses, not something that makes the gun potentially useless down the line.
Destiny 2is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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