Destiny Atheon, Vex Mythoclast Fixes On The Way

Bungie still isn't quite happy with Destiny's raid Vault of Glass. They've got some some big changes in the works for the final boss and its loot.

One of the best rewards from Vault of Glass is the Vex Mythoclast, earned by defeating Atheon on Hard. This weapon has the power of the Fusion Rifle coupled with the precision of a Scout Rifle. Players armed with the Mythoclast tore up their competition in Crucible matches, prompting Bungie to significantly reduce its damage. However, they felt that this change hurt the gun's effectiveness in PvE activities too much.

"We are adjusting the base damage on Mythoclast. We are going to find a value that works for both PVP and PVE," said Bungie's Luke Smith in the company's Weekly Update. "In addition, we intend to raise Mythoclast's attack value above and beyond the other exotics. Attack value dictates how much damage players deal to combatants and Mythoclast attack value being raised will make it more effective in PVE."

Smith also outlined their main goals with exotic weapons earned through raids. They want players to feel rewarded for completing the game's hardest challenge by making these weapons outperform the rest of their PvE arsenal. They also want these weapons to be viable options for PvP, but they don't want one exotic weapon "to be the only answer." Smith said that the auto rifle Suros Regime is an example of an exotic that's far too effective in PvP.

While the Vex Mythoclast isn't as powerful as it once was, Smith reassured players that it will have long-term potential. It will be useful for Fireteams tackling Crota's End, the next raid that will be added to Destiny.

The timing of the Mythoclast changes is unclear. Smith merely says it's going in "soon."

"We have a more substantive update in certification right now, which slows down our ability to make changes to the Live game."

Players won't have to wait as long for changes to Atheon, the last boss in Vault of Glass. Next week's hotfix will prevent players from knocking Atheon off a cliff. Some players have been doing this for an easy kill. Bungie clearly doesn't this is a legitimate strategy.

Atheon's Timestream ability is being altered as well. Ordinarily he would target the three farthest players for this ability and teleport them. Once the hotfix goes live, he'll just pick three players at random.

"The encounter goal for Atheon is to act as a climax and the culmination of learning for a given Raid group. Part of that is making sure that each player in your group can perform every job as required."

This change will require some adjustments on the part of players. Fireteams are currently able to control which players get teleported. Usually they'll choose the best-equipped team members for this task to make the kill go much smoother. However, the newly randomized Timestream will ensure that every player will have to be prepared to fulfill this role. It'll certainly make things harder for teams with a newbie or two. High-level teams with plenty of gear should still be able to blow up Atheon in record time, though.