Bungie has temporarily removed the exotic hand cannon, Hawkmoon, from all Destiny 2 PvP activities due to a game-breaking exploit. This isn't the first time Destiny 2, a live-service game, has faced such issues in its six-year lifespan; past incidents, like the overpowered Prometheus Lens incident, highlight the ongoing challenge of maintaining balance.
Despite positive reception for the recent "The Final Shape" expansion, new bugs have emerged, including one affecting the No Hesitation auto rifle's interaction with barrier champions. However, the Hawkmoon exploit took center stage. Its return in Season of the Hunt made it a popular choice, especially with its randomized availability from Xur. However, its combination with the Kinetic Holster leg mod allowed players to bypass its Paracausal Shot perk limitations, resulting in overpowered, near-infinite high-damage shots. This led to complaints of one-shot kills in the Crucible.
Bungie's action, announced via the Bungie Help social channel, swiftly disabled Hawkmoon in Crucible activities while a fix is developed. The ambiguity of the initial announcement sparked speculation amongst players. The exploit's impact came just a day after another Crucible issue was addressed – a method for easily farming rewards in private matches by remaining AFK. While this exploit primarily yielded resources like glimmer and enhancement cores, there were rare instances of Deepsight-enabled weapons dropping. Bungie quickly disabled rewards in private matches, contrasting with the immediate response to the Hawkmoon exploit.
