That didn’t take long. After fixing the so-called “loot cave” item farming in Destiny but saying little to address the issues that led to the popularity of the exploit, developer Bungie has detailed its upcoming patch v1.0.2. And sure enough, gear is the big focus.
The upcoming patch, expected to go live during the week ending October 3, 2014, makes big changes to the way Engrams — Destinyspeak for unidentified gear — are handled in the game. Post-patch, Legendary (purple) Engrams will always produce Legendary items or better. Likewise, Rare (blue) Engrams will always produce Rare or better, and the chances of them spitting out a Legendary are also to be increased.
In addition, an assortment of challenges — Daily Heroic, Weekly Heroic, and the Vanguard: Tiger playlist (level 24 recommended) — will also now provide Legendary gear rewards in addition to their existing rewards. Similarly, Ascendant crafting materials — which are used specifically for Legendary gear upgrades — will now be marked with that rarity, to better identify the purpose they serve.
Related: How to boost those Light levels after level 20 in Destiny
Take note, farmers: There’s no point in hoarding your Legendary Engrams in anticipation of the coming patch. Once the patch descends, all hoarded, unidentified purples will automagically convert to blues. So get thee to the Cryptarch.
Here’s Bungie in the patch notes, demonstrating that it has a sense of humor about the balance missteps with gear distribution:
Legendary Engram items that exist in your inventory will be demoted to Rare quality when the patch goes live, so decode them while you can. But let’s be honest–even if you don’t, we all know they were blues already…
You rascals!
Players! What do you think of the coming changes?