Destiny 2 fall damage will receive a major game-changing nerf in the Destiny 2 season 20 midseason update, according to a recent developer post on the Bungie blog. Starting with the Destiny 2 Lightfall release date, Bungie will make changes focused on reducing the negative impact of collision damage in Destiny 2, including damage from Cabal drop pods and random interactions that cause players to take damage for unclear reasons. However, the Bungie team also expects to implement changes that render fall damage no longer lethal in the FPS game by its scheduled midseason update, which will likely occur in April.
“Starting in Lightfall, physics collision damage will no longer be lethal to Guardians,” the post says. “Fall damage will still be lethal when Lightfall launches, but we plan to also make that nonlethal in a mid-Season update. You’ll still take damage from physics collisions, but it will generally leave you at 1HP instead of outright splattering you.”
Such damage contributes to the in-game deaths of Guardians of all skill levels. Therefore, these welcome changes will likely reduce fall damage impacts that take players out of the gameplay. For example, players who die from fall damage or collision mechanics typically have to wait for their teammates to revive them or wait for a set amount of time to pass before they can respawn, effectively thwarting their gameplay. These deaths can ruin what would otherwise be successful solo flawless runs of dungeons and other in-game activities.
This represents a change to an underlying mechanic present since the original Destiny launched in 2014. Anyone familiar with the game is also familiar with the text “Killed by the Architects,” which typically appears on the screen after a death related to fall damage or collision damage.
While Bungie hasn’t expressly shared why it opted to make this change beyond the fact that the developers think it will make for more fun gameplay, it’s possibly also due to the grapple mechanics coming with the launch of the Lightfall and the Destiny 2 Strand subclass. These mechanics could potentially be a new source of physics collision issues within the game engine, as the grapple gameplay is novel to the Destiny series.
Further, Bungie developers say the city of Neomuna, which the game will officially introduce in Lightfall, will be more vertical than many of the areas we’ve seen in the space game. Its verticality may also contribute to the developers’ decision to nerf such mechanics come Lightfall.
However, Bungie is not completely shielding players from interactions with the Architects. With what will effectively leave players with only 1 HP in the most drastic circumstances, players still need to avoid damage from enemies as they recover. Still, the change is likely to make the game more enjoyable overall, as things like misgauged landings will no longer temporarily take players out of the game as they await a revival.
While Lightfall and season 20 are on the horizon, there’s still plenty to explore in Destiny 2 season 19, such as the Destiny 2 Spire of the Watcher dungeon and the Revision Zero exotic quest. Be sure to catch up on everything ahead of the forthcoming DLC release, which is poised to be a hit for one of the best multiplayer games on PC out there.