Destiny: Patch Before Dark Below DLC Released, Changes in Exotic Weapons, Full Notes; Xbox Issues Probed

Bungie released new patch that improves Destiny's Exotic weapons.

Bungie has released a new patch 1.1, that brings improvements to Destiny's Exotic weapons before The Dark Below DLC releases.

The new patch brings in a host of bug fixes and as previously promised, improvement to the Exotic weapon. Fans had complained that though these weapons were rare, it was not functioning as per the expectations and the developers had promised fix the issue. Some of the Exotic weapons have specific changes while overall, these patches have brought in major changes.

Patch 1.1. will introduce Exotic Shard as a mandatory final upgrade step and players will no longer be required to use Ascendant Energy and Ascendant Shards.

There are two ways of earning Exotic Shards - one by dismantling Exotic Weapons or players can purchase them from Xur for Seven Strange Coins.

Apart from the above-mentioned changes, the patch brings changes to all the popular guns, Raid and Bounties will also get fixes.

It must also be noted that the patch is already live and it weighs around 75MB. The company has advised players to shut down the system and restart it again for the changes to apply.

The Dark Below, the first DLC for Destiny, will be releasing on 9 December 2014. It will add one Raid, three Story Missions and one Strike apart from new guns, armour, three Crucible maps and a new level cap of 32.

Due to the Lizard Squad's DDoS attack on Xbox Live, many players on Xbox are having issues, and Bungie is aware of them and tweeted saying, "We are also investigating issues where users are unable to view their Friends roster in-game on Xbox One." It also tweeted, "We are investigating issues impacting some players on Xbox 360 and Xbox One from signing into Destiny. Stand by for updates."

Below are the full patch notes of patch 1.1 for Destiny (Bungie):

Weapons

Exotics

Exotic Weapons are designed to look, feel and sound overpowered. At the same time, they are not supposed to break the balance of the game. We hope these weapons challenge the way players think about their load-outs. Exotics will be a constant work in-progress!

General

In preparation for the Dark Below, Exotic Armor and Weapons no longer require Ascendant Materials to upgrade
The final upgrade node of all Exotic Gear will require an Exotic Shard
Exotic Shards can be obtained by one of the following means:

Dismantling unwanted Exotics
Purchased from Xur for 7 Strange Coins

Exotics now start at a higher base Attack value and have a narrowed upgrade range to compensate

Thorn

Projectiles now briefly highlight targets on impact
Mark of the Devourer DoT (damage-over-time) upgrade increased against PvE enemy targets
Reload Speed increased
Magazine Size increased
Ammo inventory size increased
Stability and Weapon Handling increased

Bad Juju

Magazine Size increased to 8 bursts (was 5)
Ammo inventory size increased
String of Curses now also decreases the cooldown of your Super on kill
Adjusted effects to not block first person reticle

Hard Light

Stability increased
Perfect Balance upgrade replaced by Fitted Stock (increases maximum possible weapon Stability)

Suros Regime

Lowered total damage at the end of the mag on SUROS Regime upgrade to be more in line with the Glass Half Full perk on Legendary Auto Rifles

Monte Carlo

Stability increased
Range slightly decreased
Monte Carlo Method upgrade now also has a chance to fully charge melee ability on kill

MIDA Multi-Tool

MIDA rounds now have increased knockback against targets in both PvE and PvP

Hawkmoon

Send It upgrade (which was redundant) replaced by Speed Reload

Red Death

Rate of Fire increased slightly, but Burst Damage reduced to compensate

Plan C

Weapon Handling speed increased
Player Speed increased while Plan C is in hand

Pocket Infinity

Speed Reload upgrade replaced by Extended Clip which allows the option to increase magazine size (5 bursts)

Vex Mythoclast

Attack Power increased to 323 (from 300)
Base Damage increased, fixing bug we introduced in previous patch
Enhanced Battery upgrade by Extended Mag (this change still allows for a significant upgrade to Magazine Size, but less than before)

Invective

Reload Speed increased significantly, auto fires slightly slower

Ice Breaker

Send It upgrade replaced by Lightweight (which was redundant as Icebreaker already had maximum range)
New effects for enemies killed by Ice Breaker upgrade

Patience and Time

Snapshot upgrade replaced by Custom Optics (provides a lower zoom option)

Super Good Advice

Stability increased

Truth

Magazine Size increased to 3 (was 1)

Activities

Raid

Fixed an issue we introduced in a previous patch, in which Atheon did not correctly send three players through the time gates
Fixed an exploit where the Templar could be forced off its platform

Daily Heroic Story

Destination Materials now drop from completing the Daily Heroic

Bounties

Removed the 'Relic Hunter' Bounty
Destination Materials now drop from completing the Daily Patrol Bounty

Vendors

Reduced Cryptarch reputation gain from Engrams, but reputation reward packages now have an increased chance for Legendary Engrams
Players will now be able to use Vanguard Marks and Crucible Marks to purchase Spinmetal, Relic Iron, Spirit Bloom, and Helium Filaments from the Vanguard and Crucible Quartermasters in the Tower
Xur now sells a new material, Exotic Shards, to upgrade the final node of Exotics for seven Strange Coins
Faction Class Items (ex: FWC Cloak, Dead Orbit Mark, etc.) are now replaced by Faction Emblems in the rank-up reward packages from Faction Vendors

Technical