Home Gaming Bungie explains why Thorn is getting nerfed in Destiny

Bungie explains why Thorn is getting nerfed in Destiny

1 min read
33

Thorne-with-Thorn

If you’ve ever hopped into the Crucible of Destiny, chances are high that you’ve been on the receiving end of the Thorn, a hand cannon that probably wasn’t named after a character in The Bold and the Beautiful.

Thorn is an absolute nightmare to obtain as it requires a bit of scavenging and actually being decent in the Crucible, and then topping that weapon bounty quest off by taking on a Strike mission where death is just one moon wizard away.

Once you have it however, the gun is an absolute beast. It’s got a stack of great perks, but none better than its ability to deliver a pint of venom into an enemy. Naturally, that has made Thorn a regular in the Crucible, with many a Guardian wielding it to devastating effect.

With The Taken King around the corner, Thorn and most other Exotic-class weapons are getting nerfed. But when it comes to that legendary hand cannon, Bungie has no choice. Because Thorn is breaking the game.

“Thorn is a problem, we all agree,” said sandbox designer Jon Weisnewski in the new issue of Edge via GR.

It’s frustrating to know you’re going to die [from poison] and not be able to do anything about it. But it’s been in the game a long time, and has only recently been a problem.

Everyone who gets shot by it goes, ‘Well, I need to get that thing,’ so they get it, they go dominate, and it gets bigger and bigger.

So expect to see less of Thorn’s lingering effects going forward.

“When people drop into the Crucible, we want them to see diversity,” senior design lead Sage Merrill said of the upcoming weapon rebalancing.

And that’s kind of cool. Something which I’m saying as a fan of balance in gaming and not just because I’ve been completely unable to obtain the Thorn for myself so that I can also abuse it in the Crucible.

Last Updated: September 7, 2015

33 Comments

  1. The Thorn is for the birds.

    Reply

    • Sageville

      September 7, 2015 at 09:45

      Thornbirds reference on gaming site…. apocalypse incoming.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        September 7, 2015 at 09:48

        😀

        Reply

  2. Jonah Cash

    September 7, 2015 at 08:55

    It has become a big problem, played some Crucible over the weekend and almost all of my teams were only using hand cannons… No Auto Rifles anywhere to be seen! I have Thorn, and I use it 80% in the Crucible because it is really effective. But I won’t be angry at all when it is nerfed for good. Hopefully they don’t make this stupid mistake again with a new legendary gun?! Also can’t wait to start the update file download tomorrow, really want to try the new modes in the Crucible.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      September 7, 2015 at 09:00

      Thorn is for newbs. Everyone knows the shotgun is where it’s at.

      Reply

      • Kromas untamed

        September 7, 2015 at 09:03

        Call me old fashioned but the only thing that ever gets the job done is a good old chainsaw.

        Reply

      • Jonah Cash

        September 7, 2015 at 09:05

        Thorn is my primary, Matador 64 shotgun is my secondary and then I have a machine gun… WINNER!!! Hahaha

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          September 7, 2015 at 09:19

          The worst it dying and losing heavy ammo. They should change that. At least then you have a chance on revenge.

          Reply

          • Dawid Eduard Roestorf

            September 7, 2015 at 09:36

            The best moment in Crucible. Run in with my void walker warlock to where the enemy is getting their heavy ammo. Throw my nova bomb. Watch them all explode 😀 Such fun. I have become a master off running, doing a 180 and throwing my super.

          • Hammersteyn

            September 7, 2015 at 09:40

            Nice!

          • Jonah Cash

            September 7, 2015 at 11:46

            The Titan is also very useful for that trick… The Hunter is really not useful for that trick at all!! Keep on being killed before I get to where they gather…

  3. Hammersteyn

    September 7, 2015 at 08:59

    “Thorn is an absolute nightmare to obtain as it requires a bit of scavenging and actually being decent in the Crucible” I was less than half decent and still managed to get it 😛

    Reply

    • Jonah Cash

      September 7, 2015 at 09:05

      You are not as bad at the PvP as you like people to think….

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        September 7, 2015 at 09:18

        Meh, It all depends on the opposition. That time we did Iron Banner it felt like we were playing people who were rather newish to PVP most of the time.

        Reply

    • Dawid Eduard Roestorf

      September 7, 2015 at 09:43

      Ironically, Invective for me was a million time harder to get.

      Given, when I had the thorn bounty, I ran with atheon’s epilogue (before the big nerfs) together with Corrective measure and a void walker warlock. took me about an hour and a half of crucible.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        September 7, 2015 at 09:47

        I like using invective in POE just to mix it up a bit.

        Reply

  4. Kromas untamed

    September 7, 2015 at 08:59

    STOP NERFING DROODS!

    Oops. Wrong MMO. 😛

    Reply

  5. VampyreSquirrel

    September 7, 2015 at 09:19

    Hahaha Darryn’s picture on articles is now a jump scare.

    Reply

  6. Allykhat

    September 7, 2015 at 09:25

    Thorn was my second exotic after Ice Breaker. As a rule of Thumb I don’t use it in Crucible purely because everyone else does. Plus getting used to it now is pointless because of the Nerf. A fix though could be the poison deals non lethal damage? Ir gets the target down to a sliver of health that a single shot can finish? Most thorn kills come after you die and the poison finishes off the enemy, that’s where the imbalance comes in.

    Reply

  7. Dawid Eduard Roestorf

    September 7, 2015 at 09:35

    @Darryn_Bonthuys:disqus You should write an article about Trials of Osiris stopping today. The next ones will be later this year, at an undisclosed date. But as of tonight, when ToO finishes, there will not be another trials for quite some time.

    Reply

    • The D

      September 7, 2015 at 09:36

      I will be mentioning that in an upcoming post amigo. Should be for tomorrow, to prep people for the big patch.

      Reply

      • Dawid Eduard Roestorf

        September 7, 2015 at 09:40

        LOL, cool. Just don’t think a lot of people know tonight is their last chance to try an reach the lighthouse for a while

        Reply

        • Gavin Mannion

          September 7, 2015 at 10:04

          noooo I didn’t know this. I’ve never done the Trials 🙁

          Reply

          • Dawid Eduard Roestorf

            September 7, 2015 at 10:06

            better jump on tonight then. Will say good luck, to me trials sucks, but I also hate crucible, lol

          • Hammersteyn

            September 7, 2015 at 10:11

            You’re not missing out, unless you’re a PVP specialist and have two friends that are as well.

    • Hammersteyn

      September 7, 2015 at 10:11

      Good!

      Reply

  8. Hammersteyn

    September 7, 2015 at 09:48

    WTF Darryn! That profile pic!

    Reply

    • Sageville

      September 7, 2015 at 09:51

      Is Darryn doing “Blackface” there?

      I’m sure no-one will have any issues with that…..

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        September 7, 2015 at 10:08

        lol oh snap!

        Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Sony Aims to Launch 10 Live-Service Games by 2026

During a recent investor call, Sony revealed that they plan to release 10 new live service…