Significant improvements set for Destiny 2's infusion system, exotic drop rates, Iron Banner

Bungie has announced plans to make significant changes to a few Destiny 2 mechanics in response to player feedback.

In its weekly update blog post, Bungie addressed Destiny 2's infusion system, the drop rate of exotic items and Iron Banner mode - three of the most-divisive features in the game.

First up, infusion. In Destiny 2, you're able to infuse a weapon with another weapon in order to raise its power level. With the release of expansion Forsaken, Bungie added Masterwork Cores to infusion costs. The only problem is, Masterwork Cores are super hard to come by.

Bungie outlined problems associated with the current Masterwork Core economy, admitting the virtual item had a misleading name.

"When they were created, the definition of a pinnacle item put the emphasis almost entirely on Masterworking," Bungie said. "We expanded that definition in Forsaken, but didn't update the currency."

In short, there are not enough reliable sources to earn Masterwork Cores, Bungie said, "which can make deciding what to spend them on too difficult."

In response, Bungie said it plans to create "more reliable and plentiful" Core sources, and it's going to rename Masterwork Cores "so their purpose is more obvious". This is all very much good news.

On exotic drop rates, the issue here is there appears to be too high a chance of getting an exotic you already have. Post-Forsaken, exotics are a rarer drop (certainly that's been my experience, anyway), so it can feel particularly disappointing to get one you've already got.

Bungie acknowledged this complaint, and said it plans to increase the chance for exotics to drop something you don't already have.

"Right now we are falling short of the 'impactful' part of our goal," Bungie said. "There's nothing exciting or powerful about getting your fourth Fighting Lion when all you really want is a Two-Tailed Fox."

And finally, Bungie announced changes for the next Iron Banner, Destiny 2's power matters competitive multiplayer mode. Event bounties completion values are changing to make them easier to complete, and all bounties will now provide powerful gear. This change is to help Iron Banner become an opportunity for lower-power players to catch up in the power race, which was an original design goal that wasn't working out.

All in all, these changes are welcome and should go some way to ironing out the wrinkles in what has been a superb expansion for Destiny 2 so far.