The suspense has ended for Destiny 2 fans who were worried about their beloved Mint Retrogrades. Rocket Pulses are getting a nerf in Renegades, Bungie confirmed today, but the archetype will maintain its devastating damage potential with a reduction to their ammo efficiency.
Bungie will "let it [Mint Retrograde] keep its power on the battlefield," but adjust the archetype's ammo uptime by "reducing reserves and the amount of ammo acquired per enhanced brick slightly," the studio said in today's Dev Insights post.
The archetype's total reserves dropped to 14 (down from 18), and ammo bricks will award fewer bullets (up to five with an enhanced brick). This will also apply to a new rocket pulse coming in Renegades, Bungie confirmed, but it's unclear if New Malpais will suffer from the change as well.
This nerf doesn't dilute the firepower of Mint Retrograde, but it can affect another of their big strengths: ammo economy. Slashing max reserves means players have fewer shots per damage phase, and even using this archetype in general play can require more parsimony with your ammo.
As part of another change in Renegades, Bungie is bringing back the Ammo Scout mods and including more actions that raise your ammo meter, such as getting assists with abilities. Players can offset the nerfs to ammo economy, developers said, though it may require some changes to buildcrafting, such as Scout or Scavenger mods.
If you've played Edge of Fate, Mint Retrograde's supremacy isn't exactly shocking. This Legendary rocket pulse is present "around 45 percent of the time," the dev blog said, so you're far from being the only one with it glued to your Kinetic slot. While the nerf to this weapon was among the concerns for Renegades, it seems rocket pulses are coming into the next expansion in decent shape—though developers will monitor how the community receives the change.
It's hard to find a weapon to compete with Mint Retrograde in the current sandbox, especially with pulse rifles getting Anti-Barrier this season. Renegades' artifact might also work in tandem with the ammo nerf to help push Mint Retrograde out of its near-ubiquitous status.
While details about Mint Retrograde's fate were arguably the most anticipated news from Renegades, players will also see tuning to a myriad of Exotics and weapon families. Osteo Striga and Witherhoard in particular will see reversions to nerfs that tanked their effectiveness, and other forlorn iconic weapons such as Ace of Spades, Hawkmoon, and Touch of Malice will also get some much-needed buffs when the next expansion lands on Dec. 2.
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