I understand this is not a popular topic with Bungie, but I still putting it out there. [u]Weapon Customization[/u] Bungie has already shown that they are able to manipulate the weapon upgrade nodes to gain a desired effect. The first example of that was the exotic shard, followed by the Murmur and Husk of the Pit and to a lesser extent the re-forging of Iron Banner weapons. Before I present my ideas I want to leverage two quotes from the [u]Bungie Weekly Update 10/17/2014[/u] discussing why they nerfed several weapons, including the Vex Mythoclast. [b]“There should be no single answer for how to win in Destiny.”[/b] [b]“Balance is not about everyone being equal, but rather that not everybody is doing the exact same thing. If everyone is doing the same exact thing, something is not balanced. Everybody is trying to pursue the same unbalanced thing.”[/b] Yet nothing has changed… many players still lean on a select few weapons. The most recent example of this was Crota’s End, where Ice Breaker and Gjallarhorn are weapons of choice. [i]I read on the forum that some raid teams shunned players because they did not have a Gjallarhorn (I believe this crisis stemmed from a misinterpretation of why Invigorate chose it, see Bungie Weekly Update 12/11/14 for details)[/i] [u]So, how can a degree of balance be attained? The answer is weapons customization.[/u] Imagine for a moment being able to add an element to your favorite primary and change one (1) of the main attributes of your primary, special or heavy weapon. Let’s use the MIDA Multi-Tool as an example (it’s a multi-tool after all). What if you could replace the hair trigger with full auto and add solar damage? Suddenly you have a custom Vision of Confluence with third-eye. How about this scenario? Let’s say you had a nice new 331 Lord High Fixer drop from the Nightfall with Rangefinder and Mulligan. What if you could replace Mulligan with Firefly or Outlaw then add Arc. Boom! Custom Fatebringer… Finally, what if an original Vision of Confluence or Fatebringer was required for our examples? [b]Implementation[/b] What if breaking down a raid specific weapon and some exotics yielded more than just generic weapon parts, energies or exotic shard. What if dismantling a Fatebringer yielded Ascendant energies plus Firefly or Outlaw weapon part. Then, as with the example above, you take your Lord High Fixer and your Firefly weapon part to Banshee-44 (You know him right? the Gunsmith in the tower. Yes, that is his name.). He resets the attribute you specify then attach the Firefly part and the consumable element part that you just purchased from Xur, for 7 Strange Coins, all for a total of 150 Vanguard marks (tax included). Has your mind been blown? [b]Key Benefits[/b] 1. Add interesting dynamic that would create a degree of balance between exotic and legendary weapons. 2. Versatile arsenal. Imagine having a Black Hammer and a LDR 5001 with similar perks. 3. Custom upgraded weapons to replace your old raid favorites by using their parts. 4. Space saver. You wouldn’t have to keep multiple copies of the same elemental primary. a. You could have a set number of primaries on which you change the element. 5. Helps keep routine activities and Raids relevant. a. More uses for Vanguard marks and strange coins. b. Incentive to run VoG and CE to obtain weapons for parts and materials. c. Energies would be more useful to veteran players as they would be more inclined to customize and upgrade their less impress weapon drops. [b]Restrictions[/b] As this proposal is to promote versatility in your arsenal without becoming game breaking, some key restrictions come to mind. 1. Certain unique exotics should be static, such as Icebreaker, Vex Mythoclast, etc. a. It would diminish the value of this proposal if players could have an Icebreaker that did all three elemental damage. 2. Exotic weapons can only accept parts from other Exotics and of the same “class.” a. Ex. If you wanted to add tracking to Dragon’s Breath that part would have to come from Truth or Gjallarhorn. b. Full auto could be taken from Bad Juju and added MIDA but not Plan C, etc. 3. Dismantling a custom weapon does not yield any parts or materials and only the elemental damage part can be changed. 4. Elemental parts are consumable, as in the sense that they cannot be obtained from dismantling a weapon to continue the demand for strange coins, thus keeping the Weekly Hero relevant. I’ve pretty much covered the basics… Please leave your feedback and [b]bump/like[/b] if you appreciate the idea(s). Look forward to my next entry… Until then thanks for reading.