Swords are set to undergo some major changes in Destiny 2 once Season 10 begins in early March. Many of the changes coming to swords were detailed by developer Bungie, but taking a closer look at the information about the way swords will be altered presents a picture of a strange new role for swords and a bit of an unknown as to where swords are meant to fit into the first-person shooter.
An adjustment to swords is certainly welcome considering that they have not been a viable option for quite some time. In fact, the last time swords really saw a surge of popularity was near the end of Destiny 1's lifespan during the Rise of Iron expansion. It was discovered that one of the best weapons to use against the final raid boss in the Wrath of the Machine raid was the exotic sword Dark-Drinker, which made it almost a requirement for players wanting to complete that raid.
Destiny 2 did some interesting things with swords when they were first introduced, creating some different sword archetypes and perks to try to differentiate the way each subclass of sword performed. For a time in Year 1, the Hunter-exclusive sword Quickfang saw some use, especially in the Crucible. But since then players have had very little use for swords, besides using Worldline Zero for speedrunning purposes.
It is great to see Bungie putting a new focus on swords for the upcoming Season of the Worthy; however, when these changes are put into context, it once again begs the question why players would use swords because while these changes may make using them more enjoyable, it does not appear that it will make them more powerful or have more utility. With that in mind, here are a couple of ways swords should change so they can make a comeback in Destiny 2.
A Major Damage & Guarding Buff in Destiny 2
The option that is less drastic than the other option discussed below is a major damage buff to swords, perhaps something similar to how grenade launchers were buffed in Season of the Drifter. The problem with swords is that they are a close-quarters weapon that usually puts the players at risk of dying to use it, and the payoff in damage dealt is often too low for taking that risk. Swords can take down a major enemy in one or two heavy attack swings, but that same damage could be dealt by a few shotgun blasts that take the same amount of time and allow the player to stay further away from that powerful enemy.
Swords are often useless against bosses because virtually every boss in the game has a stomp mechanic to send players who get too clase flying away from their vicinity. And when it comes to boss damage, weapons like the exotic sniper rifle Izanagi's Burden does a much better job, and that is a special ammo weapon. Likewise, there are plenty of great heavy weapons like grenade launchers that can cause massive damage to single targets. In this climate of Destiny 2, there is very little use for a sword.
A way to fix that would be to give swords a substantial damage buff that would make using them worth the risk. This would also help the apparent issue in the upcoming sword changes where a sword's heavy attack will deal less damage when the sword energy bar is below full, which is caused by light attacks and guarding. Once again, that appears to encourage players to only use swords for heavy attacks instead of wasting the energy for other uses.
If the damage of a sword could take out majors with one or two light attacks while a heavy attack could cause massive damage to a boss, that could make swords much more attractive to use. Undoubtedly, balancing swords is no easy task but making them deal massive amounts of damage would make them worth replacing go-to grenade launchers in the heavy slot and separate their role from special weapons, like shotguns and snipers, that can currently compete with them on a damage level.
Secondly, there needs to be a buff to guarding to make it more useful. Right now, guarding can block damage and that's about it. But Destiny 2 should bring back the ability given by the Memory of Radegast artifact in Destiny 1, which allowed players to reflect attacks back at enemies. Reflecting attacks should become an intrinsic ability of sword guarding, which suddenly gives players a reason to guard whereas right now, even Bungie admits, is a virtually unused function.
Bungie said in its sword changes preview that there would be different guarding perks or styles coming to swords in Season 10. Going with that idea, if those perks gave different abilities to reflect — some reflect energy attacks like the Memory of Radegast, while others reflect bullets — that would make guarding and the choice of the guarding perk real consequence.
Make Swords Special Weapons in Destiny 2
The second option that Destiny 2 could take with swords is to take them out of the heavy weapon slot and to make them special weapons. This seems like a major change and a significant sandbox overhaul, but even without a damage buff (or perhaps even with the addition of a damage nerf) this could really change up swords and make them more appealing to use for players.
As discussed above, swords have to compete against other heavy weapons, so why not just remove that competition and give them another weapon class to compete with? If shotguns can chew threw majors with the same effectiveness as (or more than) swords, then maybe swords should come down to a shotgun's level. If a primary weapon can take out enemies just as quickly and with less danger to the player as a sword's light attack, then perhaps swords need to be in a closer category with them.
This change would probably mean a significant damage buff to swords, but it could let them find a place in the Destiny 2 sandbox. If a light attack was meant for taking out low-tier enemies and the heavy attack was balanced to make quick work of majors while falling far short of being effective against bosses, that could potentially give players a fun and effective option for CQC combat besides shotguns. Once again, this all comes down to getting the balance just right, but doing so could make swords much more useful in more situations.
Right now, swords are reserved for limited use because of their reliance on heavy ammo, but if the special ammo economy for swords was tailored to allow them ample use on low- and mid-tier enemies, swords could become a very fun option for players.
While it is easy to armchair develop something like these changes to swords, the developers at Bungie have no doubt put in a ton of work to try to make swords better. And considering that the developer has just shown a preview of the sword changes coming next season, hopefully, there are many (even better) reasons to pick up and use a sword. Because longtime Destiny players know, swords definitely need some more love in Destiny 2. Season of the Worthy begins on March 10, 2020.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.