After Destiny 2 players took advantage of an exploit allowing them to repeatedly farm the game’s new Prophecy Dungeon, Bungie disabled the problematic checkpoint to stem the tide of infinite loot. The announcement was relayed via Bungie’s support account on Twitter.
While some Destiny 2 players were sad to miss out on the endless lucre, reactions to the tweet have been overwhelmingly positive. Guardians praised Bungie’s quick response to the Prophecy Dungeon’s game-breaking loot loop, which essentially allowed players to repeatedly reload a checkpoint with an un-looted chest after switching characters. By leveraging this oversight, players were able to quickly and indefinitely farm valuable, high-level loot like Umbral Engrams.
There has been no word about corrective measures being taken against players who took advantage of the exploit. It is also currently unclear as to whether this is a permanent fix, or stopgap for another solution, but losing the check point’s utility — even permanently — is a healthy trade. While seasonal content results in an ever-shifting meta where new weapons can change everything overnight, obtaining high-level gear should always give players a sense of achievement, however fleeting it may be. The Prophecy Dungeon is only available until the end of the season, and being able to plumb all of its treasure with trivial effort will likely erode the value of those items.
The infinite loot exploit’s full impact on game balance and the community has yet to be seen. Fortunately, Destiny 2 does not have an in-game economy based on player-to-player item trades, which could be irreparably damaged by such a glitch, as Diablo 3’s gold duplication glitch demonstrated. Destiny 2’s player base has also proven themselves to be a resilient, dedicated audience.
Before the infinite loot exploit reared its head, Bungie had to squash another bug to prevent AFK Forge Farming and Umbral Engram power leveling. Enterprising players also recently discovered a sword glitch allowing guardians to kill enemies too quickly. Earlier this month, Bungie suspended the game’s Trials of Osiris events due to a bug that denied players access to The Lighthouse. On top of everything else, many players have been experiencing server errors, prompting Bungie to investigate the issue.
This relentless deluge of bugs bodes ill for Destiny 2’s upcoming Beyond Light expansion, which is set to launch this fall. Bungie has announced it will be removing a great deal of older content, including several entire planets and the game’s original Red War campaign in favor of new material. Given the sweeping changes, some growing pains are inevitable. But this reset point could also provide the developer with the opportunity to clean house, allowing them to polish persisting content and ensure the new material is solid.
Destiny 2 is free-to-play now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.