Destiny 2 Lightfall update to shake up meta with Linear Fusion rifle nerfs, LMG buffs, exotic tweaks

Liam Ho
destiny 2 lightfall screenshot

Destiny 2’s Lightfall update will be shaking up the current meta, with major nerfs to heavy hitters such as Linear Fusions Rifles, buffs to LMGs, and several tweaks to existing exotic weapons.

The next major expansion of Destiny 2 is slowly approaching as, on February 28, 2023, the gates to Neomuna will open and guardians will be able to take on Calus and his Shadow Legion in Destiny 2: Lightfall.

Before that time, however, Bungie has revealed that the meta will be shifting as well, alongside the story. Bungie has announced in a recent blog post that they’ll be shifting certain weapon archetype power levels, in order to shake things up a bit.

Bungie is looking to change Linear Fusion Rifles, Machine Guns, and Heavy Grenade Launchers, particularly on Lightfall’s release. They’ll be buffing and nerfing in accordance with their current power level and presence in the meta. Alongside this, they’re tweaking several exotic weapons in the wake before Lightfall, allowing them to better use Light 3.0.

Linear Fusion Rifles will be receiving a nerf across the board, losing out on 15% damage against all champions, bosses, minibosses, and vehicles. This is a huge change to Linear Fusions as they’ve been the go-to DPS weapon for a good time now, with weapons like Cataclysm and Stormchaser devastating chunky health bars.

Heavy Grenade Launchers are looking to be the next DPS king as Bungie is buffing several aspects of the weapon. In Lightfall, Heavy Grenade Launchers will deal 20% more damage to bosses, minibosses, champions, and vehicles, whilst dealing a bonus of 40% to minor enemies. They’ll also be given improved projectile collision, which makes all shots easier to land, resulting in a more consistent DPS phase.

Kinetic Weapons will also be receiving a small buff in Lightfall, as their damage multiplier is going up in both its special and primary weapon variants. Bungie has also announced that a new Kinetic damage perk will be arriving with Lightfall to let it compete with the other damage types.

Finally, Bungie is looking to tune exotics by giving them a bit more oomph. This is in the form of adding or tweaking several exotics so that they align better with Light 3.0. This means adding several Light 3.0 keywords to exotics inherent kits. These can have huge impacts on the viability of the weapon, and we might just see some old faces return in Season 20 when Light finally falls.

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About The Author

Liam is a writer on the Australian Dexerto team covering all things gaming with an emphasis on MMOs like Destiny and FFXIV along with MOBAs like League. He started writing while at university for a Bachelor’s degree in Media and has experience writing for GGRecon and GameRant. You can contact Liam at liam.ho@dexerto.com or on Twitter at @MusicalityLH.