Is Destiny 2's game balance being held together by duct tape and good intentions? In the wake of Bungie's recent corporate shake-up, the game has been stumbling through a series of patches and events. The latest Solstice event for 2024 was meant to tide players over until Echoes' Act 3 launches, but the accompanying patch, Update 8.0.5, has thrown a wrench into the finely-tuned machinery of endgame weapon grinding. While the patch notes promised general fixes and adjustments to ammo reserves, they quietly unleashed a bug—or perhaps a stealth nerf—that has effectively dismantled one of the most beloved perks in high-level PvE: Envious Assassin.
The Godroll Grind: A Destiny Player's Eternal Pursuit
What's a godroll, you ask? For the uninitiated, it's that perfect combination of perks on a weapon that makes it feel like an extension of your Guardian's will. Think of it as the difference between a butter knife and Excalibur. While weapon crafting has made the hunt somewhat more predictable, there are still coveted weapons—like the Brave Arsenal set—that drop with random perks, keeping the grind alive. Envious Assassin has long reigned supreme in this arena, especially for heavy weapons used in boss damage phases. Its ability to overflow the magazine based on rapid kills was a cornerstone of many damage strategies. But now? Let's just say the crown is looking a bit wobbly.
The Patch Note That Changed Everything (Without Really Saying So)
Buried in the patch notes was this seemingly innocuous line: "Fixed an issue that allowed swapping between regular armor mods and Reserves mods to enable a higher ammo count than the current maximum." Sounds technical, right? Well, here’s the translation for everyday Guardians: If you're using a weapon with Envious Assassin and you swap anything in your loadout—weapon, armor mod, even a saved loadout—your beautifully overflowed magazine instantly deflates like a sad balloon.
Why is this a big deal? Let's break it down with a table comparing the perk's functionality:
| Scenario | Before Update 8.0.5 | After Update 8.0.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Overflow magazine with Envious Assassin | Stays overflowed even after swapping gear/mods | Resets to base capacity immediately |
| Loadout swapping during a raid encounter | A valid, high-skill strategy | Renders Envious Assassin useless |
| Weapon like Edge Transit (Brave version) | DPS king with its godroll (Spike Nades/Envious/Bait & Switch) | Significantly nerfed in practical use |
The Death of "Menu Gameplay"? Not Quite.
High-level Destiny 2 play has often been joked about as "menu simulator." Why? Because the most efficient players are constantly swapping gear mid-encounter to adapt. Need add-clear? Equip Graviton Lance. Time for boss damage? Quick swap to a heavy rocket launcher. This fluid, adaptive playstyle is what separates the veterans from the newcomers. This patch hasn't stopped loadout swapping—it's still very much a thing—but it has specifically targeted and crippled weapons that rely on Envious Assassin within that playstyle.
Imagine you're in the middle of the Warlord's Ruin dungeon. You've meticulously built up an overflowed magazine of 10 rockets on your Edge Transit, ready to melt the final boss. But oh, you need to swap a scavenger mod to get more heavy ammo bricks? POOF. There goes your carefully stockpiled arsenal. The perk's core utility in endgame content has been surgically removed.
Is This a Bug or a Feature? The Community's Dilemma
The real question is: did Bungie intentionally mean to nerf Envious Assassin this hard, or was this an unintended side effect of fixing an ammo reserve exploit? The patch note suggests they were targeting a specific mod-swapping exploit, but the fallout has engulfed a perfectly legitimate perk-strategy. It feels less like a balanced adjustment and more like using a cannon to swat a fly—a lot of collateral damage.
List of activities where this change hurts the most:
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Raids (Master Difficulty): Where optimal DPS and ammo economy are non-negotiable.
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Dungeons (Solo Flawless Attempts): Every rocket, every bullet counts double.
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Grandmaster Nightfalls: The pinnacle of PvE where loadout flexibility is key to survival.
Looking Ahead: What's a Guardian to Do in 2026?
So, where does this leave players? For now, if you want to use an Envious Assassin weapon, you must lock in a single loadout for an entire encounter. No swaps, no mod adjustments, no deviations. This is a stark limitation in a game built around adaptability. It pushes the meta away from these versatile, magazine-overflowing weapons and potentially toward simpler, swap-friendly perks.
Will Bungie address this? As of 2026, the future is unclear. The company is navigating its own restructuring, and game balance patches might not be the top priority. In the meantime, players are left to scour their vaults and rethink their Destiny 2 loadouts. Perhaps it's time for forgotten perks like Vorpal Weapon or Frenzy to make a comeback. One thing's for sure: the hunt for the next meta godroll is already on. After all, in the world of Destiny 2, the only constant is change—even when it comes from a patch note nobody fully understood. :sweat_smile: