Weapon chase and getting the perfect God Roll of a weapon has always been the main appeal of Destiny 2. This game is at its core a looter shooter, and grinding has always played a major part in this franchise. Getting the perfect weapon version has always relied on luck and RNG. However, sometimes RNG was so harsh that players could not get the roll they wanted even after grinding for hours. This forced Bungie to take a step to counter the RNG problem.
Solution: Craftable Weapons
With the launch of The Witch Queen expansion, Bungie introduced the concept of weapon crafting. Players did not need to rely on RNG to get the roll they wanted; instead, they could grind and then craft the perfect roll. The concept of Red Border weapons was also introduced. These were special versions of the weapon drops that, when dismantled, counted towards the crafting progression.
This system had its own issues at the start, but with later updates, Bungie kept on improving it, and it reached a satisfactory state. Craftable weapons also introduced Enhanced Perks. In the beginning, every craftable weapon could level up and get enhanced perks. These perks were slightly better than their normal version. This led to a feeling among the community that there was no reason to use normal weapons. Bungie would later remedy this by allowing other weapons to be enhanced.
Problems with Craftable Weapons
Every new activity that came in Destiny 2 after The Witch Queen had craftable weapons. Every Raid and seasonal activity had craftable weapons, and older Raids were being updated to have craftable weapons. After two years, players were getting tired of this system, and they felt like the loot chase had died in Destiny 2. There was no reason to grind for a weapon, and the activities had lost their replayability value. It was more of a checklist than a grind.
During Season of the Wish, Bungie released the Into the Light mini-expansion. It featured the Onslaught activity. It also came with a set of 12 weapons that had extremely good perk options. Surprisingly, these weapons were not craftable and instead had an attunement mechanic. This allowed players to have a specific weapon drop more than the others. Players loved it and were happy that they were once again getting a reason to chase loot. The overall feedback was very positive.
Changes with Revenant
Inspired by Into the Light, Bungie decided to make the seasonal weapons non-craftable with Episode: Revenant. However, there was no attunement mechanism; instead, tonic making was introduced. This allowed the players to brew a tonic that allowed specific weapons to drop when defeating combatants or completing an encounter. However, it was still not enough, and players were frustrated that they were not getting the God Rolls of the weapons they wanted. Players who wanted a loot chase were once again asking Bungie to either implement another system to counter RNG or implement crafting.
Current Situation
Weapon crafting and RNG are tricky situations in Destiny 2. Players want a loot chase, as that is the point of a looter shooter. However, players also want their time to be respected and not feel like they are being cheated on. Weapon crafting values players’ time, but it greatly diminishes the excitement of getting the perfect roll of a weapon. Bungie should currently explore more options to counter RNG instead of just implementing crafting everywhere. Weapon crafting is a great feature in Destiny 2 but it is not something that should be implemented in every activity of the game. Players want the feeling of excitement over getting the perfect loot as it.
