Bungie Reverts Initial Nerfs Before They Enter Destiny 2

At the outset, Bungie wanted to reduce the power of overperforming Aspects for the Prismatic Subclass. Consecration, Feed the Void, Stylish Executioner, and Knockout had their Fragment slots reduced to 1, severely limiting the build crafting opportunity for the Aspects. Saltagreppo took to Twitter to discuss his discomfort with the Nerfs, stating that they are ‘cosmetic‘ and ‘If an Aspect is completely broken, just nerf it.” Most of the community agreed with the sentiment, seeing nerfs directly to the abilities as better for the sandbox.

Bungie Pulls Back on Nerfs

After community feedback, Bungie took it into account and slightly reverted the proposed nerfs. Instead of the Aspects having one fragment slot, they will have two. The nerfed Aspects are as follows:

Titan  

• Consecration 3 -> 2 (reverted from 1)
• Knockout remains at 2 (reverted from 1)

Hunter  

• Stylish Executioner remains at 2 (reverted from 1)
• Ascension 3 -> 2
• Winter’s Shroud 3 -> 2

Warlock  

• Feed the Void remains at 2 (reverted from 1)
• Hellion 3-> 2
• Bleak Watcher 3 -> 2  

Bungie still plans to make changes to the Prismatic subclass with the Edge of Fate release patch, but those will remain hidden for the time being.

Closing Thoughts

Prismatic has dominated the Destiny 2 sandbox since its release with the Final Shape. While we have had other subclasses try to compete, like Arc Titan in this Episode, it often becomes a when in doubt, choose Prismatic. The subclass needs nerfs, but reducing the Fragment slots is not how you approach it. These nerfs predominantly limit players’ build crafting instead of nerfing the builds themselves.

If you want to take a pass at the overperforming Abilities and Aspects, nerfing their damage or cooldowns directly will make the builds far weaker. At least they have already said they are making further changes to the subclass, but we will need to wait and see what they do before we know if it will shift the meta. The Armor and Stat changes will also change the effectiveness of some builds, so the nerfs might not be enough in the long run.