Masterwork weapons have been a huge part ofDestiny 2’s gameplay mechanics for a long time, and when they were introduced they also brought along Orbs of Power that players could generate by scoring multi-kills. Orbs of Power have in turn been a core feature of the game because they provide players with Super energy when they pick them up, which makes for faster Super uptime in-between weapon kills, further enhancing the whole idea ofDestiny 2being a space magic game. Later on, Bungie introducedCombat Style mods, and among them, there were Charged with Light mods that used Orbs of Power and other means to proc their effects and the associated buffs.
One of the most commonDestiny 2mods used alongside Orbs of Power is Protective Light, which provides substantial damage taken reduction for a few seconds after a Guardian’s shields are depleted, often associated with Taking Charge to become Charged with Light by picking Orbs up. However, things are going to change with The Witch Queen expansion, as Bungie announced thatMasterwork weapons will no longer generate Orbs of Poweron their own, but rather when players score kills with specific damage types while using the respective helmet mods. While this change has upset the community due to how inconsistent some builds will supposedly become without further adjustments, Orbs of Power being generated by Masterwork weapons also reduced the potential number of perks every gun could have.
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How Destiny 2 Weapons Could Change After Losing Orb-Generation Abilities
All this comes from a comment Chris Proctor from Bungie made last year, stating how the fact that weapons had four different columns of perks, a Masterwork perk, kill tracking, and the ability to generate Orbs of Power was all too much going on for a single gun. As such, with weapons losing their ability to generate Orbs of Power on their own, but rather having to use mods that match the damage type of that specific gun, it’s very likely that Bungie will be able to delve more into additional perks withThe Witch Queen’s weapon crafting system.
Weapon crafting also seems to be part of the reason why this change was made in the first place, seeing how Bungie stated thatDestiny 2playerswould need to dump a lot of resources into Masterworking weapons that they only used for a few hours before eventually stopping using them altogether. It seems that a requirement for crafting weapons in The Witch Queen could be either scoring kills with a bunch of different weapons, or generating Orbs of Power with them, hence why the decision to make mods that work with a whole category of weapons to do that, instead.
Still, if this change actually takes some weight off of weapons, Bungie could indeed let them have more perks in the future. Something that Bungie developers have been sharing online since the recent announcement is an old statement regarding how identical weapons could only differ in terms of the foundry producing them. The question was how one could tell those weapons apart if the only difference is their foundry, and this led many to believe that it was the developer’s intention to add foundry-based perks toDestiny 2weapons, much likeBorderlandsgames add new archetypes or abilities to guns made by different manufacturers.
Yet, not all weapons inDestiny 2have a foundry, and some are just made by a specific race or found on a specific planet (such as Fallen weapons, Awoken weapons, or those found on the Moon). Still, it remains a possibility that Bungie might makeDestiny 2weapons more diverse either by adding extra perks to compensate for the loss of Orb-generation or taking advantage of the change to finally explore another side of weapons that has remained a mere background trait all along. Overall, while the change to Orbs of Power being good or bad for the game remains to be seen, it might as well bring something new with it that players will enjoy.
Destiny 2is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
