One of the most interesting additions in Destiny 2's The Witch Queen expansion is weapon crafting, which is a very different undertake obtaining good gear for a looter-shooter. The concept of weapon crafting allows Destiny 2 players to fully customize every aspect of a given gun and finally get a god roll after obtaining a couple of levels on the weapon through kills or activity completions. This changes everything because it means as the game progresses, the grind for the best weapons won't necessarily revolve around random drops anymore.
Weapon crafting offers a way for hardcore players to have even better versions of the favorite guns with the addition of Enhanced Perks at the cost of rare crafting materials. However, Enhanced Perks aren't always that much better for which shiny things cost to craft, and perhaps Bungie has changed the weapons since their release, often leading to overall nerfs for the sake of Destiny 2's balance. A bigger problem with weapon crafting is it might have launched at the wrong time because of how meta-changing The Witch Queen was on its own, and the fact that Season from the Risen included as well the Void 3.0 update.
Why Destiny 2's Weapon Crafting isn't as Rewarding as It Seems
Destiny 2's expansions are often destabilizing for that meta because they change and add many features, coming packed with plenty of items to chase for various activities. As such, introducing weapon crafting also meant the amount of available weapon patterns to unlock had to be monitored to be able to better identify potential exploits. The reduced number of patterns is limiting in its own right, cheap the meta is rebalancing around new Void subclasses doesn't help its cause.
The fact that weapon crafting was released simultaneously as the to begin three Light subclasses being reworked is not great, because player's don't come with an eagle-eye view of what to expect out of this new system later on. Void 3.0 drastically changed what these Light subclasses can do, adopting the already tested Aspects and Fragments system from Beyond Light's Stasis. As such, Destiny 2 players understand what the very best rolls for craftable weapons are at the moment, but those same rolls will probably change a lot once the other reworks come in.
Arc 3.0 and Solar 3.0 could very well make specific guns better, or perhaps must-haves, and for those players who craft weapons now, adapting to a brand new meta can become difficult and unrewarding. The idea behind weapon crafting is that players are ultimately rewarded for placing a great deal of time into obtaining kills and progression on their guns when you are in a position to pick any perk within the weapon's pool, as long as they own the types of materials required. Because things are hard to find, for example Ascendant Alloys, yet others are simply random, for example Neutral Components from Deepsight Resonance guns, a major shift of the meta can kill someone's motivation to craft anything.
A great example comes from the recent nerf to Destiny 2's Firmly Planted perk on fusion rifles, that is understandable because of the game's current PvP meta, but doesn't reward those players who spent their some time and currency to have it crafted on their own weapon. Because Arc 3.0 and Solar 3.0 are likely to have the same impact as Void 3.0, it's safe to assume that no currently craftable gun will probably be as viable later on. Ultimately, weapon crafting is a superb system, however the fact that Destiny 2 is definitely an ever-changing game doesn't make it a rewarding feature in the current iteration.
Destiny 2 is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
