In a recent This Week at Bungie article, Bungie stated that they’re going to be touching or reworking 26 Exotic weapons in Season 19 of Destiny 2. Seeing old Exotics get a facelift is always nice to see, especially when they’ve been out of the conversation for a while. Here are 10 Destiny 2 Exotic weapon buffs that need to happen in Season 19.
This list is in no particular order of least to most needed or anything like that. All of these weapons just need something that will push them over the edge.
Eriana’s Vow
When you want a perfect example of power creep, just look at the case for Eriana’s Vow. This scoped, special-ammo, Exotic Hand Cannon has intrinsic Anti-Barrier rounds, and deals bonus precision damage until you miss a precision shot or shield.
The Eriana’s Vow Hand Cannon takes Special ammo and pierces Champion shields. It retains a precision damage bonus until it misses. Its catalyst increases magazine size and reloads the weapon while it’s stowed.
Where’s the power creep? Meet Arbalest. This Kinetic Linear Fusion Rifle ignores the tough Match Game shields of high-difficulty content, weakens enemies to its own damage with Disruption Break, and was eventually given intrinsic Anti-Barrier rounds as well. Essentially, it does everything Eriana’s Vow does, does it better, and then does some more.
One thing to make it compete with Arbalest is to give it the perk Adaptive Munitions. Adaptive Munitions grants the weapon its on a massive damage bonus to shields as you deal damage to shields. With its larger ammo pool compared to Arbalest and other special weapons, Eriana’s Vow with Adaptive Munitions would turn it into a worthy contender against Arbalest.
Prospector
When Grenade Launchers had their damage buffed last season, I had high hopes for Prospector in particular. However, it seems Grenade Launchers as a whole still haven’t broken the mold yet. While I personally wouldn’t want to see their DPS dominance as intense as it was towards the end of Forsaken, I’d like to see some Exotic outliers in this archetype.
This is where Prospector could fill this niche. The problem with Prospector is not just its damage, but also how finnicky it is. The weapon forces you to hold down the trigger to use its Exotic perk, which makes grenades stick into the ground (or target) and detonate when the trigger is released. In many circumstances, this is just a waste of ammo, and more of a gimmick than anything else.
The fully automatic Prospector Heavy Grenade Launcher fires grenades that detonate all at once when the trigger is released, burning targets it hits. The catalyst grants increased blast radius and ammo reserves.
Based on the name and mechanics, Bungie wanted to take the concept of mining with dynamite and turn it into a gun. I think there’s a way to buff this weapon without losing this fantasy, and that’s through having two fire modes.
The first firing mode gives the weapon Proximity Grenades. The grenades only detonate after an enemy comes near them, or after some time. The second firing mode, switched to with a similar input as changing the firing mode on Lord of Wolves or Symmetry, will work similarly to how it does now, but with a key buff. The more grenades that detonate at once on a target, the more damage the burning damage over time does..
Salvation’s Grip
Has anyone even used this thing past getting the Stasis Aspects? With the existence of Glacier Grenades, perks like Headstone, and the entirety of the Stasis subclass, Salvation’s Grip just has no place in Destiny 2. This Exotic weapon only existed to progress a quest and then be cast to the cold winds of Europa. If Bungie removed this weapon from the game and said nothing, I doubt many people would notice.
Salvation’s Grip is a Heavy Grenade Launcher that charges up to fire Stasis crystals that freeze nearby targets. Charging it longer increases the radius of the freeze and the number of crystals created.
So, how can Bungie save this weapon? Well, if it’s a Grenade Launcher that shoots Stasis crystals, why not make it just shoot Glacier Grenades? Remove the charge time, and have it spawn multiple Stasis crystals on impact. Even if it’s not shooting full Glacier grenades with every shot, having two or three crystals per shot would still be massively beneficial, increasing the damage and utility potential of the weapon.
Cerberus+1
This Exotic Auto Rifle is the bane of Stasis crystals and Titan Barricades, but not much else in Destiny 2. I love this piece of junk, but I’m not afraid to call it such unironically. Other than those two specific use cases, it really doesn’t have much utility or even a niche that a Legendary Sidearm or Submachine Gun couldn’t fill better and more consistently. Also, the Catalyst perk is absolutely worthless. It’s also annoying that the secondary trait on the weapon essentially states that aiming down your sights… works.
The Cerberus+1 Auto Rifle fires four projectiles at once. The catalyst grants an alternate firing mode that massively reduces the rate of fire and range, but increases damage.
There’s a way to make Cerberus viable in both PvE and PvP. For the Crucible side of things, Bungie could simply bump up the base stats of this weapon. Some extra range and stability would be priority, as landing shots with this weapon is more of a chore than anything. Increasing handling and reload speed would be great quality-of-life buffs for this weapon too.
As for the PvE side of things, it’s actually not terrible as a close-range Major-melter. However, this is where we give an actual use case for the catalyst — What if it got the perk Trench Barrel? Despite Trench Barrel’s Shotgun exclusivity, Cerberus acts as a pseudo-shotgun that takes Primary ammo. It’d be a fun, interesting way to introduce a perk to a new weapon archetype, and it would serve a great role of being a Champion-killer when Auto Rifle Champion mods are in the Artifact Mod rotation.
D.A.R.C.I.
There is honestly no reason for D.A.R.C.I. to still be a Heavy weapon. Whisper of the Worm, its direct slot-competitor as the other heavy Sniper Rifle, completely outclasses D.A.R.C.I.’s DPS. This isn’t even to mention other archetypes like Rocket Launchers and Linear Fusions. Even Cloudstrike, a direct archetypal rival in the Energy slot, rivals its damage output. The only reason it’s still in the heavy slot is because it can still down a Guardian in the Crucible in two body shots, whereas Special ammo rapid fire Snipers take three.
The D.A.R.C.I. Sniper Rifle gives insight into the enemy’s distance from you, and increases damage and target acquisition while aiming at a target. Its catalyst increases stability.
D.A.R.C.I.’s PvE damage needs to be increased to warrant its Heavy slot, or it should take Special ammo. If the latter case occurs, D.A.R.C.I. would be fun in PvP as an anti-Super Sniper with its increased damage and aim assistance while Personal Assistant is active.
Merciless
This golden oldie of a Fusion Rifle was the go-to DPS Exotic in vanilla Destiny 2. Nowadays, it remains a relic of a simpler time to which not many people want to return. Merciless is still an interesting and fun weapon — and it was even powerful recently, during the Fusion Rifle meta of Season of the Lost. I’d love to see it compete for an Exotic slot in PvE, and it could through some changes.
The Merciless Fusion Rifle decreases its charge rate every time it damages a target. Reloading after a kill with this weapon increases damage for a short time. The catalyst increases range and stability.
First, intrinsic anti-Champion rounds would help out tremendously. Unstoppable would be great, but I feel like Overload would be more thematic with its barraging nature. Secondly, Impetus needs a rework. While it’s literally just Kill Clip, one of the most tried and true traits in the game, it doesn’t really synergize with the weapon all that well. This weapon needs a trait that coincides with its Conserve Momentum trait.
In that case, why not make it synergize with Solar even more? At a certain point in its rate-of-fire-boost, it could start applying Scorch stacks to the target, eventually leading to an Ignition. Not only would this reward sustained damage with an extra burst of damage, but it would trigger a bunch of benefits of the Solar subclasses. The mechanics would even be thematically accurate too, as the weapon does start to glow brighter with heat as it ramps up its fire rate.
Worldline Zero
The first Exotic Sword in Destiny 2 is also now the least Exotic Sword in Destiny 2. Being able to perform a short-ranged teleport for a heavy attack is fun, but there’s not much of a reason to do so. The Void synergy of Heartshadow, Lament’s damage output, and Black Talon mapping enemies with its projectiles, as well as the Eager Edge trait simply existing, all overshadow this Sword.
The Worldline Zero Sword has a special, teleporting heavy attack after sprinting for a short while. The amount of time needed to sprint before the attack can be executed is reduced by the catalyst.
Bungie should remove the sprint requirement to perform the unique heavy attack. It’s a redundant feature, now that full-power heavy attacks are on a cooldown. As for its relatively low damage output, a fully charged heavy attack can Jolt the targets it hits. This will give it a nice tie in to the aggressive, close-range playstyle of the Arc subclasses.
Graviton Lance, Riskrunner, and Sunshot
Yes, this is three weapons in one entry, but they can all be buffed in a similar way: tying them to their respective subclass elements.
None of these Exotic weapons are particularly weak in Destiny 2 — in fact, they’re some of the strongest primaries for Add-clearing. The buffs suggested here are more out of principle than necessity, as these weapons are more closely tied to their respective elements in both lore and mechanics than any other weapon.
The Graviton Lance, Riskrunner, and Sunshot all use Void, Arc, and Solar damage respectively to spread out their damage. Their catalysts grant bonuses to various stats, with Graviton Lance getting more traits.
Graviton Lance’s projectiles created by Cosmology could cause enemies they hit to become Volatile. Sunshot’s Sun Blast trait could either Scorch enemies or simply change into an Ignition. Riskrunner’s Superconductor could Jolt the first enemy you hit when the trait is activated, with a short cooldown before you can Jolt with it again while the trait is active.
While adding subclass verbs to any weapon can make it powerful, it shouldn’t be the the go-to rework method. However, these weapons should’ve been the first to receive the Subclass synergy treatment, as their elements are their trademarks.
Sweet Business
How is it that a literal minigun is so weak? There are many things working against this Exotic Auto Rifle in Destiny 2: The weak damage, no utility outside of Champion mods, and no way to build into it hold this weapon back dramatically. The fantasy they’re going for with this weapon just doesn’t pan out in PvE. This weapon encourages being on the front line, mowing down enemies coming your way. But Adds in high- and even mid-level content do too much damage to live out this fantasy.
The Sweet Business Auto Rifle ramps up its range and fire rate as it is fired, and is automatically reloaded upon picking up an ammo brick. The catalyst reduces incoming flinch while firing.
The best way to buff the weapon is to play into that fantasy. This weapon should have a trait that combines the effects of Rampage and the origin trait from Season of the Risen weapons, Land Tank. Kills with Sweet Business would increase both damage output and resistance for a short time. To balance this in PvP, the damage resistance should only be against PvE combatants.
Even if it gains none of these buffs, its meme status in PvP will always make it a sleeper-pick, as shown in this video by YouTuber OzziCop.
Sturm and MIDA Multi-Tool
Alright, just one more multi-weapon entry.
This final entry in this list is an interesting one, as neither of these Exotic weapons in the Destiny 2 sandbox are terrible. Sturm can have some hilarious damage output in PvE, and MIDA is always a reliable choice for Scout Rifle enthusiasts in PvP. The problem with these weapons is the playstyles they force you to adopt in order to maximize their effects.
Sturm gains overflowed, high-damage rounds when kills are made with the Sidearm, Drang. MIDA Multi-Tool grants a boost to movement speed that is increased by wielding it with the SMG, MIDA Mini-Tool.
Double-Primary isn’t a bad choice, especially when Drang and MIDA Mini-Tool you’re using are some of the best weapons in their archetypes. However, the threat and lethality of running Primary and Special weapons more often than not makes them more useful in both PvE and PvP than two Primaries.
The buff suggested here is not for the weapons themselves, but their pairings. In the future, I’d like to see Bungie introduce new, Special-ammo weapons that pair well with these Exotic weapons. These weapons should be close-range, as we’re replacing a Sidearm and an SMG. A Lightweight-frame Shotgun makes sense for MIDA, given its mobility theme. For Sturm, the door is wide open for creative pairings due to how adaptable Hand Cannons are. I’d love to see a Precision Slug Shotgun, or perhaps a Fusion Rifle of any archetype to pair with it. Even if we ditch the close-range pairing, a Sniper Rifle would be a great partner as well.
Conclusion
You may notice a pattern; most of these weapons are fairly old — as old as being introduced in Year 1. Power creep has caused most of these weapons to fall by the wayside in their respective roles, as more and more Exotic weapons come in to shine. However, all it takes is a little bit of spit-shining, and these weapons could become relevant once more in Destiny 2‘s rapidly-evolving sandbox.
