I was afraid of putting this up because of the backlash, but here goes- For me, I don't see shotguns, snipers, or any special as over powered, I see them as over used. A long while back we faced an issue, people were using their specials far more than their primaries. With a following patch they fixed it to ensure that primaries would be used more... or did they? [spoiler]Bungie Weekly Update - 04/09/2015 https://www.bungie.net/7_Bungie-Weekly-Update---04092015/en/News/News?aid=12753 This update mentioned some things about special ammo and their goals for it. [quote]Kevin: At the highest level, we had a few goals in mind: [b] Make Special ammo a more precious resource in Crucible[/b] Further solidify Heavy ammo's role in the Crucible [b]Further improve the balance of encounters by limiting high-damage weapons[/b][/quote] or [quote]Or, as Mr. Fruit put it earlier this week: [b]Shotgun violence runs rampant in the Crucible.[/b] Can you ease his mind with some details? Kevin: The recent update to sandbox balance was the first step. Creating a new system to manage ammo drops will enable us to adjust the Crucible experience without altering other activities in your Director. [b]We believe that making ammo more scarce and important will provide players with more choices and more memorable encounters in Crucible.[/b][/quote] and then there is: [quote] Kevin: Special Ammo will spawn less frequently, it will take longer to pick up, there will be less crates located on the map, and the bricks you find will provide you with less ammo. I’ll save the stats and gory details for the Patch Notes. [Editor’s Note: Coming very soon to a blog article near you!] [b] We wanted players to really think about how and when they should use their ammo.[/b] The hope is that you’ll ask yourself questions like: [b]"Is this snipe worth it right now?"[/b] [b] "Should I really shotgun rush these players?"[/b] "Should I conserve ammo until the next crate?”[/quote] [/spoiler] Yet with the idea of making special ammo more precious we still see people using only the special weapons still. [quote]"Is this snipe worth it right now?"[/quote] You don't ask yourself this because you're running around with at least 8 shots and the next ammo drop will be in 7 seconds to give you 4-5 more shots. [quote]"Should I really shotgun rush these players?"[/quote] Well, seeing as I can carry at least 16 shots with my shotgun, this is never a question. People can claim that others are just scrubs by shotgun rushing, or pussies by camping with a sniper. But what if that shotgunner had only 2 shot available to him? He would have had to wait for the right time to use it to get 2 kills. Or the sniper had only 1 shot left? He would have needed the right angle and right opportunity to make that shot worth it. Using a special weapon for a special situation. Yet we are given so much special ammo it is not that precious, even skilled people can stack up on ammo to a large capacity of shots. By using a certain weapon so much an impression is made, then claimed to be over powered when it is not, it is over used. This won't stop the shotgun nerf though, that boat has already sailed. But even with them being nerfed they will still be used to large extents because of the availability given to them through special ammo pickups. If a nerf would come to special ammo, I would advise not reducing the amount of ammo special weapons can carry, but how much they can pick up in crucible (excluding sidearms). Instead of giving 6 shotgun shots, or 5 sniper shots, give 2-3. It will not effect the performance of the weapon, but it will effect the availability and use of it. PvE players would be happy too with a nerf that doesn't effect them. That is my input, call me what you want, scrub, baby, idiot, I don't care. This has been the one and only main issue [b]I[/b] see in crucible, and you can disagree with me if you want. But if you agree, please [u]bump[/u] and [u]like[/u] so we can focus on the real issue. edit: A lot of good responses, let's keep it going. edit: Some believe that we already limited specials, but which feels more limited: 24 shots, or 6 shots? If you can still use specials more than primaries easily, then they were not limited enough. edit: Yes they nerfed special ammo recently but with several flaws, not enough. One being that trick of swapping specials to keep the ammo, I don't think Bungie intended that as a mechanic. Before, you would lose your ammo when you swapped weapons, now people are basically cheating that system, needs a fix. I know about Ice Breaker and Invective and those can be brought up for debate. But only those two exotics can regen ammo, not every gun in the game. "They'll just use Invective/Ice Breaker now." At least they can't use an exotic primary at the same time... edit: found all these videos about special ammo, combining them can give a pretty good idea of how to balance specials. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZfUo8OYkwo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xF5a6pFeT0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIrox38anCQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6DOrsfYW3Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHaVSvUTUuA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPEdzkH1Lw0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ9HDnOpPDg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMVjMIOy7RA edit: This post has gone quiet now, at this rate people will continue to ignore the real issue and get another weapon class nerfed. edit: Well, they proceeded to do another ammo nerf, but for some stupid reason they decided that it should effect PvE, as well as undo the previous nerf for the 3v3 activities yet fixing the exploit people were using to get ammo at the start. What is Bungie thinking, are they incompetent now? EDIT: Well, I won't be around to enjoy any of this happening. I've been convinced that leaving Destiny is best course of action.