A few suggestions to keep Destiny 2's loot hunt heading in the right direction.
After the Destiny 2 community expressed their desire for more incentives to grind for loot, Bungie introduced the Masterworks system that attempted to quell the anger and bring the glory days of the original game back.
Many fans had been calling for a return to the first game’s weapon system, whereby no two weapon drops were the same due to random perk rolls. You could get the same gun twice in a row but they’d function differently – a crucial aspect fo the endgame grind. Players would spend hours in the hope that their favourite weapon would drop with the optimal perk set.
Masterworks borrows much from the original game’s random perk rolls, but it’s a little more limited. You’ll now have the chance of earning a Masterwork Legendary weapon once you’re above Power Level 250. These are special versions of existing Legendary weapons that have a bonus stat boost, track kills and generate Orbs of Light upon multi-kills.
Now Guardians have a reason to grind for their favourite weapons again, although it’s still a system that’s in its infancy and lacks some depth. We know that Bungie has confirmed it’ll be iterating on Masterworks in the near future, but we’ve put together a few things we’d like to see improved upon.
If you’re after an in-depth breakdown of how the Masterworks system functions, make sure you check out our Masterworks guide!
Masterworks: Improvements we’d like to see
Masterwork Armour Sets
Currently we really enjoy hunting down Masterwork versions of our favourite weapons, or re-rolling them to get the optimal perk for the activities we like participating in. It’s a definite step in the right direction, but it begs the obvious question – why not have Masterwork armour pieces too?
Masterwork armour sets could work in a similar fashion and provide random stat bonuses. Instead of generating Orbs of Light, these unique armour pieces could provide a bonus that’s specific to the class or subclass you’re playing – improved glide speed for Warlocks, for example.
More Meaningful Perks
All of the perks we’re aware of in-game affect things like reload speed or handling. While these are definitely helpful, it’s actually pretty difficult to tell if they’re making a difference when you start comparing them to their non-Masterwork version.
While we’re aware that small differences could prove crucial in certain situations, we believe that Destiny is at its best when weapons are fulfilling a crazy power fantasy.
Give us Masterworks with unique perks that drastically alter the way a gun’s projectiles act. Turn bullets into homing missiles, perhaps produce an explosion whenever we reload, or release a healing wave with every sword swing.. The possibilities are endless!
Raid, Trials or Strike-specific Loot
Guardians have been calling for activity specific loot to return for some time now. For context, imagine you complete the Leviathan Raid and receive a brand new Power Weapon. It could be a Rocket Launcher that does bonus damage to enemies specific to the Raid, or it reloads incredibly quickly whenever you’re in a certain Raid encounter.
The Masterworks system could be a perfect way to add activity-specific loot to the game. Perhaps when you’re competing in Trials of the Nine, Raid encounters or Strikes you gain a chance to receive unique Masterwork weapons or armour pieces with bonus perks and stats that specifically help you out in these modes.
This doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see brand new activity specific weapons or armour sets, it’s just that Masterworks could be a way of extending the reach of these items.
Exciting Exotic Duplicates
Duplicate Exotics in Destiny 2 don’t add much excitement to the game, and we believe these top-of-the-range items deserve to be included in the Masterworks system – or at the very least, a system that’s similar.
Again, it could work in a very similar manner. You could have one extra Intrinsic Perk to choose from, or a completely different Intrinsic perk altogether. While it may seem outlandish, we hope that Bungie addresses Exotic duplicates sooner rather than later, and not just their Legendary equivalents.
That’s what we’d like to see for Masterworks anyway, but what do you think? Sign up and let us know how you think Bungie can improve this area of the game in the comments!
