It is now Tuesday afternoon in the Eastern Time Zone, and right on schedule the Destiny 2 1.1.4 patch—that's the "Go Fast" one—is now live. We've already got a pretty good idea of what's in store, and now the full patch notes are here to lay out all the details.
The overall theme, in case the name isn't clear enough, is making things happen more quickly—and by "things" I mean the infliction of death and destruction upon everything that moves. Pulse rifles, scout rifles, hand cannons, sidearms, SMGs, linear fusion rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles have all had their PvE damage boosted, anywhere from 15 to 50 percent depending on type, and have been tweaked in various other ways as well. Sidearm accuracy and ammunition inventory have been boosted, for instance, while linear fusion and sniper rifles have increased aim assist. The notable exception here are the meta-dominant auto rifles: Precision auto rifles have had both their range and their aim assist decreased.
Super regeneration rates have also been cut from 6:40 to 5:00, and the sprint speed of "melee supers"—Fist of Havoc, Sentinel Shield, and Arc Staff—will automatically be set to the fastest possible movement speed when supers are active. Likewise the mobility stat, which has generally been overlooked in favor of resilience and recovery, has also been boosted to provide "a significant boost in player speed" across the board.
Classes are also being hastened individually. Titans will move farther and faster via increases in distance moved via untargeted shoulder strikes and boosts to Strafe and Catapult Lift. Arc Staff animations have been sped up so Hunters can get to the killing more quickly, and the area of effect has been increased so they can do it more effectively. And Warlocks will enjoy increased speed and maneuverability when they use their Glide ability.
PvPers will have more time to claim kills and assists in Quickplay modes, and will earn increased Super energy rewards for their efforts, which combined should make the Crucible a much more dangerous place. Power weapons—rocket launchers, sniper rifles, and other such heavy hitters—should take on a larger role as well, as ammo respawn timers have been cut and players carrying power ammo will now drop half of it when they're killed. Crates will also drop more power ammo for some weapons: five shotgun rounds (six for slugs) for instance, and five fusion rifle bursts. (The Colony stays at four rounds, though, which I'm kind of bummed about.)
Moving away from the "more explosions" angle, Nightfall Strikes will now drop Legendary weapons and Exotic accessories along with the usual blue garbage as rewards, with drop rates increasing as score thresholds are hit, and Exotic engrams will no longer drop back-to-back duplicates—welcome relief for players who have just popped their seventh consecutive Khepri's Horn, no doubt, but not much help for anyone who already has them all. There is good news on that front too though, as Strike-exclusive exotics—at least one of which has already been dug up by Reddit—are now on tap.
The full patch notes are far more detailed and you should definitely give them a look if you want to know, say, what's happened to the Kill Clip perk. (It's been increased from 1.33x to 1.53x.) The short version is that it's a lot of small changes that, assuming all goes as planned, will add up to more action for everyone. Whether it will be enough to bring lapsed players back into the fold, or keep those who remain from straying, remains to be seen—but for now, don't be shy about telling Bungie what you think.
The Update is live. Now we watch and listen to see what impact it has. We've stated our goals. You'll inform us as to the realities in combat. Log some trigger time and sound off, Guardians.March 27, 2018
