As predicted, Bungie is not adding large group matchmaking but has nerfed the difficulty of Destiny 2’s Escalation Protocol in order to bring it more in line with the design goals for the mode, primarily as being a three-player mode. As of Thursday afternoon, the enemies in Escalation Protocol’s upper waves have been brought down. Here’s a breakdown of what the Power level of each wave used to look like, paired with the newly nerfed waves:
Wave 1: 370 (no change) Wave 2: 370 (no change) Wave 3: 370 (no change) Wave 4: 380 (down from 385) Wave 5: 380 (down from 385) Wave 6: 385 (down from 400) Wave 7: 385 (down from 400)
Bungie says it was seeing data showing that players were not attempting the upper waves of Escalation Protocol due to the sharp difficulty spikes into Waves 6 and 7, with some players even avoiding the entire activity altogether. Bungie is not doing anything to hinder players into forming nine-player groups, but the developer says it hopes the new changes won’t make it as necessary anymore.
And for those worried that Escalation Protocol, one of the game’s hardest endgame activities, is being dumbed down, Bungie says these changes shouldn’t make too drastic of a change in that direction:
The changes have been met with mixed reactions by fans, with many saying they have finally been able to complete Escalation Protocol for the first time while some hardcore players are against dumbing down this activity in any way.
If you need help clearing this week’s Escalation Protocol (and get a chance to have any of the mode’s weapons drop), check out Game Rant’s weekly Escalation Protocol guide.
Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: Bungie
