Destiny 2 players want Trace Rifles buff to offset Double Special nerf

Following the nerf to double Special loadouts in Season of the Witch, Destiny 2 players are now urging Bungie to consider buffing Trace Rifles with the playerbase being concerned that the laser guns won’t have a place without it.

Since Season 15, running two Special weapons had been the meta in Destiny 2. This is because doing so greatly increased the drop rate of Heavy ammo which greatly improved overall DPS.

One of the biggest changes to the meta in Season 22 came in the form of a double Special nerf. Running two Special weapons no longer enhances Heavy ammo drop rates driving players back to using Primary guns instead.

This nerf hit Trace Rifles hard which are almost exclusively used for ammo economy. However, with the double Special nerf an ammo economy-centric weapon no longer makes much sense leaving the laser guns in an undesirable spot.

Destiny 2 fans feel Trace Rifles need damage buff after double special nerf

Confused about why anyone would continue to use a Trace RIfle in Season of the Witch, many Destiny 2 players took to Reddit to point out their shortcomings.

One such post reads: “Most of Trace Rifle’s appeal came from running Double Specials with optimized ammo efficiency, but now that it’s almost impossible to run Double Specials. I’m having a hard time justifying choosing it over Fusion Rifles/Shotguns/GLs/Snipers when I’m already using a primary.”

OP’s proposed solution was for a new Trace Rifle archetype to be added: “I guess I just think it would be cool if we got an ‘Aggressive frame’ trace that sacrifices ammo efficiency for more damage… I like powerful space lasers.”

Since double specials’s viability was severly tuned down, shouldn’t trace rifles get a damage buff?
by u/Muriomoira in DestinyTheGame

The suggested damage buff proved popular: “They should yes, Traces saw a lot of popularity since Lightfall because of the increased heavy, but as someone who used Hunter Trace since Gyrfalcon rework its damage is severely limited to level or just above content.”

Damage buffs weren’t the only potential buff proposed: “No. But I do think they should have an intrinsic special ammo finder or don’t split special ammo pickups with other special weapons.”

Another player questioned if Trace Rifle ammo economy was even good to begin with: “I find the ammo economy on Trace Rifles bad… Or it’s just the lack of dmg, idk, but I feel that I have to shoot way too much to kill something, and the ammo just vanishes.”

Although double special loadouts have been nerfed in Season of the Witch it’s still possible to use them. However, players now have to take advantage of ammo-increasing effects like Special Ammo Finisher, Aeon Swift, Cenotaph Mask, and Scavenger mods.