If you're a Destiny player, it's likely your favorite weapon was weakened by Bungie's last patch. The developers took some time to explain their reasoning in a recent blog post, which will hopefully help some disappointed players understand the decisions.
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Auto Rifles, for example, have inarguably been the most effective (and thus, most popular) weapon type in the game, and the developers thought it necessary to level the playing field. And if you're upset about the nerf, it unfortunately sounds like more are on the way.
"The Auto Rifle archetype is designed to appeal to players who like to throw up a wall of bullets and not worry if a few miss their target," the post explains. It is intended to inflict sustained damage at close to medium range, but to lose effectiveness at longer ranges.
"Today the Auto Rifle is too effective at long range, even beating Scout and Pulse Rifles in some circumstances. Expect stability and/or damage adjustments to the Auto Rifle to address this in the weeks ahead."
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The weapon class was weakened in general, and the exotic Vex Mythoclast Auto Rifle was specifically targeted. The post explains that, as a reward for beating the difficult Vault of Glass raid, Bungie believes the gun should be superior to most. However, while the developers wanted to balance it against other players in the Crucible, they think the patch decreased the effectiveness too much in PvE. Further experimentation and changes will continue to as they try to find a damage value that works for both missions and the Crucible.
Of course, not every player was using an Auto Rifle. Some stuck to Scout Rifles, and those who did have been rewarded with a boost. Pulse weapons have been left alone, but most know the Scout Rifle damage was increased--and more improvements are coming:
"Scout Rifles are for players who like to keep their enemies at medium range and hate to miss. They are intended to be an awkward weapon to use at close range but to be dominant - as long as you land your shots - at medium and longer ranges.
Scouts just aren't hitting hard enough today when compared to other precision weapons. We'll be addressing this soon."
Bungie states that these changes will start to be implemented "soon", and that another more substantial update going through certification is taking up most of the team's time at the moment. This gameplay changes will become the focus soon as the developers seek to find a balance between weapon types and exotics like the Suros and Mythoclast--a few more specifics are available in the blog post if you're interested.
