I’m a big fan of Destiny 2’s Crucible. The netcode is solid, everyone gets a moment of glory and the customisation options from slaughtering your way across the solar system and picking at the remains results in Guardians hitting that PVP arena with gear that suits them just fine. Heck, pack a Scathelocke, a Graviton Pulse and some armour that’s specced for recovery, and you’re gonna have a good time.
Not everyone likes the Crucible though, especially people whose names rhyme with Smellassandro and who have punch-magnets for faces. Some people reckon that Destiny 2’s Time To Kill factor is perhaps too generous, that it needs to be shortened and reduced drastically. Well congrats folks, because that’s happening and I’m sitting here with my arms crossed in a huff about this.
“If you’re a sharp-eyed PvP enthusiast, you may have noticed from some Forsaken coverage that the weapons are doing a bit more damage than they do in the current version of Destiny 2,” senior sandbox designer Jon Weisnewski said in the latest Bungie Blog update.
If you’re a seasoned Destiny 2 player, you may then extrapolate the possibility of a global lethality pass on weapons and abilities that may or may not be in the pipe to go live when Forsaken is released. I’m here to quickly confirm that, along with weapon slots and ammo availability, we have globally adjusted the “time to kill” in the Crucible.
That coverage may be a reference to streamer tripleWRECK’s work lately, as the fella noticed the quicker TTK in footage for the future release of the PVP 4V4 Breakthrough mode that kills were happening at a frightful clip. “600rpm auto rifles are doing 21 damage per crit instead of 17 as they do now, an increase of 24% (rounded),” tripleWRECK wrote in a Reddit post.
Body shot damage is the same at 13, which suggests a crit multiplier increase from 1.3 to 1.6 (rounded). If Bungie can nail a quicker TTK, implement a healthy ammo economy that keeps players on an even playing field, and lower ability cooldowns then I believe Destiny 2 Crucible has a very bright future.
Pretty much Call of Duty with a Bungie flavour then. The developer has been after a larger slice of the online PVP pie since Destiny 2 launched last year, with the base game initially focusing on 4v4 engagements across its modes. Destiny 2’s Crucible didn’t exactly set the world on fire, although maybe a reduced TTK could draw some multiplayer fans back to the fold.
I’m still in two minds about this. Part of the reason why I avoid other multiplayer shooters is that I just don’t get the time to actually enjoy the action as every single time I spawn into a map I get murdered six ways from Sunday. Destiny 2’s generous TTK emphasised teamwork and gave players a chance to survive an encounter and earn some revenge on the rebound.
On the other side of the coin, maybe with an online setup that actually gives me an almost lag-free fighting chance as opposed to other games in the genre, a refocused PVP could be worth visiting for more than just Iron Banner rewards and grinding for powerful gear. Maybe I need to readjust my own tactics in that space.
Should be interesting to see how these changes affect the PVP meta when Forsakan rolls around in September.
Last Updated: July 30, 2018
Gabriel Fortuna
July 30, 2018 at 14:02
Does anyone on the Critical Hit clan still raid on PS4?
Will Moss
May 7, 2019 at 08:29
Well.. Turns out the Time to Kill is pretty much call of duty now and the crucible is worse that it has ever been. Spawn. Run to find action. See someone. Aim weapon. Get hit with random grenade and one shot from anyone on their team and I’m dead. Repeat loop until turning off ps4 in utter disgust. I am baffled as to how they could take a very fun Destiny 1 PvP experience and reduce it to a frustration fest. Their decision making is the worst I’ve ever seen on any game.