‘Why no buff?’: Destiny 2 players agree one weapon category is underperforming

The latest weapons balancing blog post from Bungie revealed substantial PvE damage buffs across the Destiny 2 sandbox coming in The Final Shape. However, despite buffs, players believe one weapon category is still lagging.

The majority of the buffs listed in the Destiny 2 blog post on May 15 increase the weapons’ damage against PvE combatants in light of Spec mod removal. Damage is good, but players agree swords, in particular, need something more than damage—survivability. In a Reddit thread, Destiny 2 fans pointed out that in the endgame content swords are only viable for Titans who use the Stronghold Exotic armor.

“Warlocks and Hunter are almost not able to use swords on higher end contents like gm nightfalls unless you are a very very VERY Hardcore good player,” the poster wrote. If you try bringing a sword to a Grandmaster Nightfall as a Hunter, you’ll get shredded to pieces almost immediately, and a 7 percent damage buff won’t save you. The only viable sword that offers a good level of survivability is The Lament, with its high healing.

Unironically, The Lament is getting nerfed in The Final Shape. According to the same blog post, its damage is reduced by 20 percent and the damage of the high end of the chained heavy attack is also reduced by 20 percent. Pair that with the upcoming Well of Radiance nerfs and there’s not much you’ll be able to do with a sword.

Players agreed swords need to be better at blocking incoming damage and keeping guardians alive. “Swords should block WAY better because right now blocking dmg with a sword is way worse than a glaive…a special ammo weapon,” a player wrote. 

Using swords for difficult content in Destiny 2 is risky and unless Bungie gives them more love, players will keep using them mainly for Crota.