Denied their crafting fix, Destiny 2 players got so unlucky that they started conspiracy theories about the MMO's drop rates, and got so loud Bungie had to correct them

Destiny 2
(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2's new dungeon, Vesper's Host, doesn't drop weapon patterns to let players eventually craft perfect versions of its sought-after guns, which means those players must once again try their hand at some good old-fashioned RNG loot in this here looter-shooter. It's a recurring theme this Episode, with Bungie pushing the weapon chase a little harder overall. In a shockingly out-of-character move for Destiny 2 players, the need to play the video game more hasn't been well received by everyone. 

Seemingly reeling from weapon crafting withdrawal, some players quickly began to speculate – not for the first time in this MMO's life – that the odds of rolling top-tier perks are unfairly weighted against them, even inventing some napkin math and purported backend values to rationalize their bad luck. Across social media platforms like Reddit and Twitter, these RNG rumblings got loud enough that Bungie decided to step in and bring the hammer down. 

"We had a conversation with our Sandbox folks this morning about this," the Destiny 2 Team Twitter account writes. "There is no perk weighting active for any legendary weapon perks in Destiny 2. We have added perk attunement for Exotic Class Items in a recent update, but that's a different system." 

Community manager Dmg followed up on Reddit. "Folks on the team double checked before we issued comms," he said. "Same folks have checked in the past when similar threads spun up on weapons during previous release windows.

"We’ll probably keep spot-checking from time to time, too. Would suck if a bug indeed happened. From what we’re seeing though - no bug. No tipping scales. No weighting to prevent players from getting the perks they want. Seems to just be RNG. Appreciate players talking about how things feel. Super happy to pass that along. Sometimes we just need to course correct when statements of feel start turning into statements of 'fact.'

"Sucks that folks think we’re knowingly lying. That ain’t what we’re about. Dunno if we’ll re-earn their trust over time, but appreciate folks willing to hear us out without immediately assuming malicious intent." 

In fairness, this has come alongside a headache-inducing mess over an unannounced and buggy nerf to Solar Ignition boss damage which was recently uncovered by players and won't be fixed until mid-November. I don't have total confidence in Destiny 2's creaky engine either, but this loot conspiracy has been stamped out many times before, and the word remains that perks are indeed equal. I don't know how to tell folks this, but sometimes you just get unlucky. 

Bungie teases Diablo-style "treasure goblins" and "dynamic enemy spawning" for new Destiny 2 missions you can solo in 10 minutes if you don't want the MMO experience.

Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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