Destiny is releasing update 2.4.0 today, and since the servers are down for eight hours, Bungie has decided to offer some insight on the weapons changes that the patch brings in preparation for the Rise of Iron expansion.

In a rather large update on the official site, the team discusses how the weapon changes will fit within "the weapon ecosystem of Rise of Iron."

"With an expansion, we can change the balance landscape not only by modifying old guns, but also by creating new ones to fill missing roles and satisfy player desires," the dev team said.

Among the comments on the various changes:

Exotics: Fabian Strategy, Thorn, Universal Remote, Dreg's Promis, Touch of Malice, Boolean Gemini, and No Time to Explain all received modifications, with some explanations to go with the actual updates to how the weapons operate.

Sniper Rifles: The 1000-Yard Stare and Y-09 Longbow Synthesis class of weapons got a look and some modifcations, as well as giving players going against snipers a better chance at survivability.

Auto Rifles: "With new Auto Rifles being introduced in Rise of Iron, playtests revealed a decrease in the importance of reloading – high rate of fire Auto users had enough bullets for multiple encounters. We do not want players feeling starved for ammo, but creating an opening for opponents to attack is an important part of the 'combat dance' for Destiny."

Shotguns: "While strong against combatants, fast firing Shotguns have generally experienced low up time in PvP. The following changes are meant to sweeten the value proposition, starting with everyone’s favorite Titan class weapon (Immobius)."

Pulse Rifles: "With high rate of fire Pulse Rifles being strong contenders in the crucible, we put our lens on the mid and low rate of fire models, nudging them slightly forward while still maintaining Pulses around the three burst kill."

Sidearms: "When evaluating player loadout data across the game, we can see that Sidearms are being underutilized. With 2.4.0 we aim to change that, pushing Sidearms to shoot further, faster, and more predictability."

Rocket Launchers: "By making Cluster Bomb more reliable and Grenades and Horseshoes less effective, we hope to mix up the Rocket Launcher perk selection and inject a bit more technique into the archetype."

Machine Guns: "The high rate of fire family of Machine Gun really hits the fantasy when it comes to face melting crowd control weapons. Increasing their DPS will also help them shine in other scenarios as well (i.e. boss battles)."

Hand Cannons: Only bug fixes for the most part, but a note for Rise of Iron: "Newly minted low rate of fire hand cannons have a higher maximum possible range stat, giving players a distinct reason to choose that type of weapon."

Fusion Rifles: Only small bug fixes.

Perks: "After months of collecting player feedback and analyzing usage data, we decided upon a list of perks that could benefit from a refresh. We also decided to reduce the effectiveness of Unflinching, which otherwise would have negated the aforementioned sniper flinch changes without tradeoff."

You can check out the full post for the intricate details on exactly how the weapons have changed.