Bungie has released the 1.1 patch for its online multiplayer first-person shooter Destiny, introducing a series of fixes and changes, including a pretty serious update to how Exotic armor and weapons are upgraded.

The developer has been issuing fixes as well as new content updates on a regular basis since the science fiction shooter’s release back at the beginning of September, including both player-versus-players content and player-versus-environment content.

The latest patch is lightweight in size, weighing in at only 75 MB, and Bungie has also been nice enough to outline all the changes on the game’s official blog for everyone to see.

In a nutshell, Exotic weapons have been buffed, and Ascendant Energy and Ascendant Shards are not required anymore for the upgrade of weapons and armor. The patch also paves the way for some of the things to be introduced in the upcoming The Dark Below expansion, expected to come out later this month.

Weapon changes

The update introduces a ton of buffs to many of the exotic weapons that can be acquired in Destiny, and if you’re interested to see the particulars, you can head on to the official blog to find out how each individual weapon has been changed.

The developer attempted to change the way exotic weapons work in order for them to be exciting but not game-breaking. They will start at a higher base attack value from now on and will have a smaller upgrade range.

Furthermore, in order to reach the final upgrade node for all exotic gear, an Exotic Shard will be required. Exotic shards can be obtained by either dismantling exotics you don’t want or by purchasing them from Xur for 7 Strange Coins.
Other changes

Bungie has fixed some issues introduced in previous patches, such as Atheon not sending players through time gates in the intended manner or the Templar glitch that would send him off its platform.

Daily Heroics and Daily Patrol Bounty will correctly offer Destination Materials, and the Relic Hunter Bounty has been removed.

The vendors have gotten their share of changes in the update, with developer Bungie aiming to further balance the way some in-game rewards are earned, including an upped chance to get Legendary Engrams.

The 1.1 patch also introduces some technical improvements, such as a tweak to netcode, meant to reduce the incidence of Bee errors, and a fix to the issue which slowed frame rate when using the party chat on the Xbox One home console.