Big nerf to shotguns coming with Destiny’s update next week

Bungie made some big changes to shotguns with Destiny's year two weapon tuning, but it looks like there's still an overwhelming feeling that shotguns are still just a tad bit overpowered in the Crucible — specifically their range.

While Bungie acknowledges that a new weapon meta is still settling, the developer claims, "One piece of community feedback that has been unanimous is that the changes to Shotgun perks were not enough to curb their lethality at extreme ranges in the Crucible. The prevalence of Shot Package on almost every long-range Shotgun has effectively redefined the close-quarters combat experience. Going forward, we’ll continue to dial in Shotgun range."

So what's Bungie doing about it?

As detailed in the weekly update, Destiny's next Update 2.0.1 — arriving next week alongside the Eververse Trading Company — will wholesale remove the Shot Package perk from all Shotguns. Any shotgun with Shot Package (depending on the exact weapon) will now have Close and/or Personal, Crowd Control, or Knee Pads. Bungie assured that this change has not negatively impacted PvE in playtests.

"Even though Shot Package is going away right now, expect to continue seeing Shotguns used to great effect by Crucible warriors," Senior Designer Jon Weisnewski said. "Each Class allows for movement optimizations that let players quickly close gaps. Most PVP maps have great flank routes and tight spaces. Game modes like Control, Salvage, and Rift ask players to converge upon and fight over small spaces to win."

"With or without Shot Package, even our shortest range Shotguns will continue to be effective death dealers in the hands of a skilled Guardian. With Shot Package on a time-out, we can recalibrate the effective range and research a way to hopefully reintroduce the perk after some time at the work bench."

Do you feel shotguns are overpowered in PvP?