Destiny 2: Forsaken Drop Rates for Masterwork Cores and Exotics Will Be Improved

In its latest weekly update, Bungie finally addressed feedback from players on two core issues plaguing Destiny 2: Forsaken, namely Masterwork Cores and drop rates for Exotics. Masterwork Cores have long been used to, well, “masterwork weapons” but with Forsaken’s arrival, they’ve also been required for Infusion.

Thanks to drop rates for Masterwork Cores being reduced – and Year 2 items no longer coming with Masterwork Cores – it became very difficult to use one’s gear of choice. Bungie has acknowledged the same, offering its intended goals, current problems and how it would be addressing the same:

Goals for adding Masterwork Cores to Infusion costs:

• Make Infusing and Masterworking a meaningful choice.
• Infusion and Masterwork should not be mutually exclusive.

Problems with the current Masterwork Core Economy:

• Masterwork Cores have a misleading name. When they were created, the definition of a pinnacle item put the emphasis almost entirely on Masterworking. We expanded that definition in Forsaken, but didn’t update the currency.
• There are not enough reliable sources to earn Masterwork Cores, which can make deciding what to spend them on too difficult.

Plans for addressing those problems:

• We have been monitoring Core supplies and the numbers aren’t as high as we’d like. We are planning to create more reliable and plentiful Core sources.
• We are going to rename Masterwork Cores so their purpose is more obvious.

As for Exotic drop rates, though they’ve become tougher to get and thus feel more special, some feel that Bungie went a little too far in making them rare. On top of this, due to the lack of Exotic duplicate protection, many reported Exotic Engrams to be dropping Year 1 items or Exotics that were already owned. Once again, Bungie revealed its goals for drop rates, the current problems and how it will go about addressing the same.

Goals for Exotic drop rates
Exotics are intended to be meaningful long-term chases. Finding an Exotic should be rare but impactful.

Problems with the current Exotic drop rates
Right now we are falling short of the “impactful” part of our goal. There’s nothing exciting or powerful about getting your fourth Fighting Lion when all you really want is a Two-Tailed Fox.

Plans for addressing those problems
We plan to increase the chance for Exotics to drop something you don’t already have.

When will these changes go live? That remains to be seen, so stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, get back to grinding – The Shattered Throne is still available and grants a new Exotic bow called Wish-Ender.