This Destiny 2 Exploit Is Not Worth The Risk

There's a new exploit in Destiny 2 that's been making rounds through the community, but players that attempt it risk the wrath of Bungie's ban hammer. A disgruntled player revealed this "min/max glitch" supposedly after they were banned due to repeatedly using the very same exploit — but that's not the way they tell it. Now this player has released a how-to, opening the gates for other players to get brought down with them. 

The min/max exploit breaks the game in favor of the offending player, but Bungie community manager dmg04 has warned that anyone caught using it will have to pay a hefty price. Bungie is cracking down on players using the exploit until the company can issue a fix sometime in December, starting with disconnecting player accounts.

Glitches are a common occurrence for long-time "Destiny 2" players, with weapons like the Telesto fusion rifle seemingly breaking the game every couple of weeks, but few exploits hold the same power that the new min/max glitch does. It can turn the tide within the Crucible in mere seconds or significantly extend a boss' fleeting damage window in PvE content.

Only offending players will need to worry about a response from Bungie — and the exploit requires very specific actions to pull off. Even so, Guardians should endeavor to avoid a couple things, just to avoid any accidental bans or unsportsmanlike behavior.

In practice, the min/max exploit is exceedingly simple for PC players to do, making its effects devastating in the wrong hands. As JB3 outlined in his video, all that's required is to hold the minimize button for a few seconds while playing the game in windowed mode. The effect messes with the framerate in-game, duplicating or extending any activating effects. This means that deploying the glitch at the right time could yield more Orbs or greater damage to enemies. Right now, attempting the exploit will result in an error code, disconnecting players and successively painting a target on repeat offenders' backs.

Over the weekend, JB3's YouTube tutorial appeared offering instructions to perform the exploit in-game. Though the glitch was supposedly discovered by a group of players earlier this year, JB3 publicized it, saying in the video description, "I contacted Bungie about this glitch in July...It's been nearly 4 months, and the glitch still exists. DMG won't respond to my DM's so I figured I'd make this tutorial." JB3 also warns at the beginning of the video's description that the exploit can get players banned.

However, JB3's former groupmate, ghoustmiller, paints a different story. They contend that JB3 went over the group's head and posted the exploit as a form of retaliation after Bungie banned JB3 for using the very same glitch during a competitive match. Regardless of the reasons behind JB3's tutorial, fans may want to avoid trying this glitch for themselves. The punishment definitely outweighs the reward.