Destiny 2’s Attrition modifier weakens its core gameplay loop

destructoid.com:

Despite its remarkable lore and crisp gunplay, Destiny 2 plays host to no small number of imperfections. Some of these problems have been around for literal years, to the point where players actively avoid anything to do with them. One of the most (in)famous examples of this is Destiny 2‘s Attrition activity modifier. After hundreds upon hundreds of hours in the game, it’s looking like a bigger issue than most first anticipated. In fact, it’s holding back Destiny 2‘s core gameplay loop.

For those who might not be in the know, Attrition is a special gameplay mutator that comes into play in select activities. When it’s active, it massively slows down the Guardians’ passive health and shield regeneration as a baseline. To alleviate this, killing enemies will sometimes generate special Light wells that heal you and give you some Super energy. Does this sound good on paper? Yes. But in practice, Attrition is one of the most hated activity modifiers in Destiny 2.

Attrition is, in theory, an easy way for Bungie to totally revamp select seasonal activities and Nightfalls with minimum effort. Simply by toggling this modifier on, Destiny 2‘s emblematic spellcasting/gunplay combo grinds to a staggering halt, forcing players to stick to cover and engage even the weakest of foes at a long range. Preferably, of course, with a reliable scout rifle and the like.

The underlying concept here isn’t terrible, because Destiny can sometimes turn into a fairly competent tactical shooter. In mechanics-heavy content, such as raids and dungeons, players sometimes do need to duck to cover and engage enemies slowly, with intent. Attrition should, therefore, do something similar, right? Sadly, it does not, and it never has.

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