Destiny 2: Bungie Avoids Crunch By Holding Off Fixing Overpowered Weapon

The Lord of Wolves weapon in Destiny 2 is known to be over-powered during PvP. Bungie plans to fix it later in the summer, but are holding off at the moment to avoid crunch.

During a charity stream, Bungie reveals their reason for not fixing an unbalanced weapon in Destiny 2.

Lords of Wolves is a fire-based shotgun in Destiny 2. Initially, it was considered to be too over-powered against PvE enemies during the first season of the game. The weapon shoots out fire similar to a pulse rifle, meaning it shoots fire in bursts rather than a spread. The perk that the weapon has, which is called Release the Wolves, allows the weapon to double its shots after getting a kill.

Lord of Wolves made it too easy to kill foes in PvE, so Bungie attempted to fix it in the latest patch. They reduce the damage dealt by the weapon, though at the same time made Release the Wolves a toggle option. That means players have the opportunity to use Release the Wolves at any time. Having that perk available to players made the Lord of Wolves weapon potent during PvP.

During GuardianCon 2019 charity stream, Creative Director Luke Smith from Bungie reveals more about their plans for the Lord of Wolves. They don’t intend to fix the weapon again until the next patch, which according to Smith, won’t happen until later in the summer, possibly July.

The reasoning that Smith gives is simple; they wanted to have a healthy work-life balance. In other words, to avoid the crunch. In the last few months, multiple employees have discussed how lousy crunch has become in the industry. Developers are working long hours, having very little time for their personal lives.

Smith also claims that the developers are already worked long hours to work on the contest mode before the Crown of Sorrow raid is launch. Smith and Bungie leadership didn’t want to burden the team with more things to work on, so they decided to delay fixing the Lord of Wolves.

Smith would later publish a post on a blog, revealing that the team considered preventing players from equipping the Lord of Wolves. Ultimately, they decided against it and allowed the weapon to remain over-power for the time being.

Players of Destiny 2 receive a unique Triumph, Destiny’s in-game achievements, for participating in this week’s Iron Banner mode. According to Smith on his blog, the Triumph is meant to “capture the week when the Wolves ran wild.”

Source: Polygon and Luke Smith