[GameSpot] - Destiny 2's Vex Mythoclast Finally Gets A Crucible Nerf

[343iBot]

When Bungie added the Vault of Glass, Destiny's first raid, to Destiny 2, it also brought along Vex Mythoclast, a Destiny 1 Exotic fusion rifle of some renown. At first, Mythoclast was a bit underwhelming, but after some tweaks, the gun has become very powerful--so powerful, in fact, that it has dominated in the Crucible as a go-to gun for many players. Destiny 2's latest update for Bungie's 30th Anniversary content drop has helped to rein Mythoclast in some with a slight but meaningful nerf.

Bungie detailed the change in its patch notes for Update 3.4.0, which included a whole host of other alterations for the sandbox. When it comes to Vex Mythoclast, the adjustments go to its targeting, making it a little tougher for players to land headshots with the gun, and its special Overcharge ability. Here are the changes, according to Bungie

• Reduced Aim Assist stat by 25.
• Reduced the Linear Fusion Rifle mode Aim Assist Cone scalar from 1.1 to 1.05.
• Now requires three player kills for full Overcharge instead of two.

Mythoclast sports two firing modes--an auto rifle-like automatic mode and a linear fusion rifle-like Overcharge shot that can kill with a single headshot. Aim Assist helps your shots hit their targets, even if your aim isn't perfect. For the last few months, Vex Mythoclast's stats in this regard have felt pretty high, making it a bit easier for players to pile up a lot of quick headshots with the gun. With the Overcharge mode, landing that headshot guaranteed a kill. So the Aim Assist changes should lessen the ease with which players can use the gun against opponents. The gun will remain as powerful if you land your shots, but landing those shots will be a bit tougher.

It'll also be harder to power up the Overcharge ability in order to get the one-hit-kill linear fusion shots with the gun. Before the update, killing two enemy Guardians was enough to unlock the Overcharge mode on Mythoclast. The update bumps that to three, meaning that you'll need to stay alive longer and fight harder in order to earn Overcharge shots.

Tweaking Mythoclast is tough for Bungie, because the Exotic weapon is a raid reward--but one drops randomly for players. Because it's a tough reward to earn from a high-level activity, it needs to have some prestige about it and feel like it's worthy of the effort you'll need to expend to get it. By the same token, though, if Bungie leaves Vex Mythoclast too powerful, it feels like an unfair advantage to players who can't run through the Vault of Glass raid or who haven't been able to run it over and over again to increase their chances of snagging the gun.

The changes aren't huge, but they should be just enough to tweak Vex Mythoclast so it's not overbearing in the competitive Crucible, while still feeling good. We'll have to see how Vex Mythoclast fares now that it's been adjusted once again. Then again, it might be that nobody's worrying about Mythoclast for a bit, since players now have both the Gjallarhorn Exotic rocket launcher and the Forerunner Exotic sidearm to chase.

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