The Graviton Lance in Destiny 2 is about to become a PvE powerhouse

Wait, does that say 67% more damage in PvE?

On July 18, Destiny 2 will receive its next Season of the Deep update that’s bringing some exciting new changes ahead of next season’s big balance rework. One of the many changes includes an overhaul to the Graviton Lance weapon.

This pulse rifle is currently popular in PvP due to its ability to easily do AOE damage via its exotic perks. With the new changes, it appears Bungie is trying to make the weapon less popular in PvP while making it a much more viable PvE weapon.

Graviton Lance balance changes

First, let’s talk about the PvP nerfs being put in place to help dissuade everyone from running around using the Graviton Lance. Most importantly, there will be no more aim assist when using the catalyst. Before the nerf, the catalyst added the Hidden Hand perk, which increased aim assist and targeting acquisition stats. In doing so, the Graviton Lance was essentially a laser beam allowing you to easily snap from player to player.

The other change comes to the pulse rifle’s Cosmology exotic perk, which will now deal 40% less damage to players. Cosmology causes targets killed by Graviton Lance to detonate spawning void projectiles that track their targets. This only affects the Cosmology explosion damage dealt to players, which is why it’s effectively a PvP-only nerf.

Now let’s talk about the buff the Graviton Lance is receiving for PvE. Yep, you read that right: just one buff, but it’s a pretty big one. The Graviton Lance will deal 67% more damage in PvE. This is huge seeing as the pulse rifle is already pretty decent due to its intrinsic trait Black Hole which deals high damage and recoil without any falloff. I’m not sure if the damage buff applies to just the core weapon damage or its perks as well. According to Bungie, the Cosmology explosion damage shouldn’t change for PvE. But this still feels like a big upgrade for Guardians’ PvE arsenal.