Destiny 2 Hotfix 7.3.0.5 full patch notes: PvP playlists, seasonal bugs, Thorn catalyst nerf, and more

Destiny 2 Season of the Wish has finished its seasonal story with a weekly reset on January 9, 2024. The long-awaited 15th Wish has been made, and the next stop in the live service title is called Into the Light, an expansion scheduled for April. This article, however, focuses more on the present, the latest Hotfix patch notes, to be precise.

Readers can find the complete patch notes for update 7.3.0.5 below.

Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this article is based on information from Bungie's official website.

All patch notes for Destiny 2 update 7.3.0.5

1) ACTIVITIES

I) CRUCIBLE

Playlists

As of this week, Checkmate has been moved back to the Labs node for continued iteration with the updated tuning detailed below. Next week will feature 3v3 Clash, which has been modified to reflect a fan favorite from the original Destiny, Skirmish, so revives are enabled. We will run one more Checkmate Trials Lab later this season (on February 9) with the new tuning, but Checkmate is not currently planned to be in the Control node again.
Next Iron Banner, there will be an unmodified mode (e.g., Clash, Zone Control, or Supremacy as opposed to Scorched, Momentum, or Mayhem) in the 6v6 Quickplay node so that those who do not wish to participate in Iron Banner can still find the standard Destiny 6v6 PvP to play.

Miscellaneous

The double rewards icon is now correctly appearing on playlists in Crucible Labs.
Fixed an issue where players were able to summon Sparrows during Showdown matches in 3v3 Quickplay.

Countdown Rush

PvP Strike Team Note: At the end of January, we’ll have a larger update aimed at addressing the community feedback on Countdown Rush as a Competitive game mode, including reducing Heavy ammo frequency, updating Sudden Death rules, spawn tuning, and reducing the advantage the attacking team has in the mode.
Fixed an issue where a player could be forcibly respawned while a teammate was reviving them.
Fixed an issue where a player’s Ghost would spawn too close to the charge, preventing interaction.
Citadel and Multiplex maps should no longer be appearing in the Competitive playlist for the Countdown Rush game mode.

Sparrow Control

Brought back a special medal that can only be earned in this game mode.
Some larger maps have an increased frequency of appearing in the upcoming Sparrow Control playlist to provide more room for vroom.

Checkmate

PvP Strike Team Note: We have been listening to your feedback on Checkmate and have made a substantial overhaul to the mode to address these pain points.

Abilities
PvP Strike Team Note: Threaded Specter uptime and Threadling strength versus players will be tuned individually in a future global patch later this season.
Reduced melee, grenade, and class ability penalties from 30% to 15%, Super penalties remain at 20%.
Increased melee damage by 16%.
Special Ammo Acquisition
Set up modes like Control and Clash to start the game with 2 kills worth of Special ammo.
Respawning after death does not grant additional ammo, which must be earned.
For now, round-based modes will still start with no Special ammo.
All Ammo Transmats will now grant 2 kills worth of Special ammo.
Being revived no longer removes earned special ammo.
Base Checkmate ammo point reward changes:
Assist rewards increased from 7 to 10 points.
Death rewards increased from 5 to 10 points.
Zone capture rewards decreased from 20 to 14 points.
Heavy pull rewards decreased from 10 to 8 points.

Weapon Balance

PvP Strike Team Note: With these changes, all Primary weapons will join Hand Cannons in having the same optimal Time-to-Kill (TTK) as they do in the base sandbox. For background info, player health is increased by 30 HP in Checkmate, so players have 100 health and between 116 and 130 shield, depending on Resilience values.

Hand Cannons

Note: It is a known issue that Adaptive Hand Cannons with Explosive Payload are resiliency gated for killing in 3 Critical Hits. This is not an intended change and will be corrected in the future.
Body shot damage scalar increased from -10% to -5%.
Critical hit damage scalar will remain at +10%.

Submachine Guns

Body shot damage scalar decreased from 0% to -3%.
Critical hit damage scalar increased from 0% to 12.5%.

Sidearms

Body shot damage scalar increased from -5% to 0%.
Critical hit damage scalar increased from -5% to 14%.

Auto Rifles

Body shot damage scalar decreased from 2% to 0%.
Critical hit damage scalar increased from 2% to 14%.

Pulse Rifles

Body shot damage scalar decreased from 4% to 0%.
Critical hit damage scalar increased from 4% to 14%.

Scout Rifles

Body shot damage scalar increased from -9% to 0%.
Critical hit damage scalar increased from -9% to 14%.
Trace Rifles
Increased base damage by 20%.

Glaives

Increased projectile damage by 20%.
Increased melee damage by 16%.

Machine Guns

Increased base damage by 20%.

Game Mode Rules

Checkmate 3v3 Dominion

Ammo point reward changes:
Kill rewards decreased from 34 to 22 points.
Assist rewards increased from 10 to 16 points.
Death rewards increased from 10 to 16 points.

Checkmate 3v3 Countdown Rush

Score to win decreased from 5 to 4.
Round time decreased from 90 seconds to 75 seconds.
Ammo point reward changes:
Kill rewards decreased from 20 to 14.
Assist rewards increased from 10 to 12.
Death rewards increased from 5 to 11.

Checkmate 3v3 Clash

Score to win: 40.
Time 8 minutes.
Ammo point rewards:
14 for kills.
12 for assists.
11 for deaths.

II) ROOT OF NIGHTMARES RAID

Adept weapons now drop using Knockout logic.
Once every drop is unlocked, the drop becomes random.

III) WARLORD’S RUIN DUNGEON

Warlord's Ruin in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Fixed an issue during the second encounter where the right-side Warlord would sometimes not summon a totem after doing the animation.
Fixed an issue where Destiny 2 players would spawn far behind their fireteam during the summit climb.
Fixed an issue during the final encounter where players could get out of the last stand arena.
Fixed an issue where the Withstand the Siege, O Vengeance Mine (Master difficulty completion), She Stood Alone, and O Vengeance Mine (solo completion) Triumphs gave the wrong rewards.
The correct rewards will be awarded retroactively to players who unlocked these Triumphs.

IV) GHOSTS OF THE DEEP DUNGEON

Fixed an issue where players were not awarded the weekly pinnacle reward upon Master difficulty dungeon completion.

V) SEASONAL ACTIVITIES

The Coil in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Togetherness will no longer appear as an activity modifier in The Coil.
Fixed an issue in The Coil where a very loud sound would play when exiting the Riven vendor menu.
Fixed an issue where the same dialog would play twice at the beginning of Riven's Lair.
Fixed an issue where some dialogs would not play until the end and overlap during Riven's Lair.
Fixed an issue where Destiny 2 players were being removed for inactivity while waiting for a revive for more than 3 minutes.
Fixed an issue where the Scorching Wish perk paired with Well of Radiance could result in a game crash.
Fixed an issue where the Seasonal Exotic catalyst quest was not progressing in Seasonal activities.
Fixed an issue where the Veiled Threats mission was missing its description.

VI) PSIOPS BATTLEGROUNDS

Battlegrounds in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Fixed an issue where no Glimmer or Loot rewards were given when completing the PsiOps Battlegrounds in the Vanguard Ops playlist.
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be blocked from completing PsiOps Battlegrounds: Cosmodrome after wiping in the first Darkness Zone.

2) UI/UX

Reverted a fix that prevented fireteam leaders from unintentionally accessing their Vault in activities.
Access to the Vault outside of orbit was unintended but will be made available for all who want to use it until a fully polished version is made available in the future.
Fixed an issue where the Ascendancy Rocket Launcher didn't appear in the preview screen of the Legacy Gear menu.

3) GAMEPLAY AND INVESTMENT

I) ARMOR

Peacekeepers

Reduced Handling, Mobility, and ADS Movement Speed buffs by 50%.
Fixed an issue where Hexer Robes were not properly animating on Destiny 2's female Warlock characters.

II) WEAPONS

Thorn

Thorn Catalyst
Changed stats from +20 Range and +10 Stability to +15 Range, +5 Stability, and +5 Airborne Effectiveness.

Stay Frosty

Stay Frosty's muzzle flash is no longer too large and is a more appropriate size.
Fixed an issue where Legendary Shotguns were retaining radar while aiming down sights.
Fixed an issue where Trace Rifles would have too large of a muzzle flash.

III) BOUNTIES AND PURSUITS

Dragon's Breath in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Fixed an issue where An Old Flame quest for Destiny 2's Dragon’s Breath Catalyst would not progress during the Seasonal activity.
Reduced the drop rate of Gunsmith engrams from Awoken faction chests on the Dreaming City.
Fixed an issue where the Season 20 Exotic Ship Brazen Spark could not be acquired, blocking the Seasonal quest line.
It can now be obtained by interacting with the Amanda Holliday statue.

IV) TRIUMPHS

Fixed an issue where the objectives for the Ahamkara Tales and Bonus Action Triumphs were missing in the Japanese game client.

V) LOCALIZATION

Fixed an issue where the title of the reward for the Warlord’s Ruin dungeon completion was too long and overlapped with another reward (an emblem) for one of the Triumphs.
Fixed an issue where some placeholder strings in Collections were replaced with proper names.

VI) FIRETEAM FINDER

Finder Finder in Destiny 2 (Image via Bungie)

Fixed an issue where the Nightfall activity selection was unavailable on weeks when Battlegrounds were the featured Nightfall.
Fixed an issue where checkpoints were not respected for activities once summoned via Fireteam Finder.

Destiny 2 Into The Light is expected in April 2024, followed by The Final Shape expansion on June 4, 2024.