The Hand Cannon type is one of the primary weapons players go for in Destiny 2 Crucible. While they are easy to land precision shots on opposing Guardians, the TTK (time to kill) is also lower than most archetypes. However, Bungie announced recent changes focus more on PvE than PvP.
In the most recent TWID (This Week in Destiny), the company has provided its plans for weapon tuning in upcoming seasons. Hand Cannons, being the center of attraction, will be getting a brand-new archetype alongside buffs against trash mobs.
These damage buffs will be applicable across all archetypes and stackable upon the recent 20% buff in the mid-season patch in Season of Defiance.
Hand Cannons will be getting a substantial damage buff for Destiny 2 PvE
The newly-announced buff on Hand Cannons will be implemented for the upcoming seasons. Additionally, another new weapon archetype, Heavy Burst Hand Cannon, will be added to the arsenal of hundreds in Destiny 2.
The Warden's Law Hand Cannon from Y2 will be the first weapon to have the new archetype, alongside improvements to fire rate.
Players should note that Warden's Law had some issues with its launch in the Forsaken expansion. Despite its two-burst fire rate, the second shot had immense inconsistency. However, this can be expected to be fixed with the new update next season.
Regarding the Hand Cannon weapon types, Bungie states the following:
Hand Cannons got an extra 20% damage in the Season 20 mid-season update. This didn’t move the needle as much as we’d like, hand cannons still struggle to find a niche in PvE. Their damage output is comparable to other weapon types, but reload speed and a small-ish magazine make it painful to run out of ammo.
The following Hand Cannon changes are to be expected in the upcoming Destiny 2 seasons:
- Increased reload speed at 0 by 15%, with unchanged buff at 100.
- Increased damage against red bar enemies by 20%.
- Increased damage against orange bar enemies by 75%.
Several other changes are announced in the TWID, all of which can be found within this link. Another buff on Kinetic weapons can be issued in the year of The Final Shape.