Destiny 2 has recently received a buff for the exotic shotgun, Legend of Acrius. How does the weapon perform after the adjustment?
After the change to the weapon system just before the release of Forsaken, the once powerful and popular exotic shotgun, Legend of Acrius, faded into obscurity. However, with the latest Update 2.1.4, Bungie has now remembered the weapon and given it a significant buff.
What was the problem with the weapon? After the transition to the current weapon system, the competition was simply too strong.
The Legend of Acrius was not really better than most of the legendary shotguns. However, these were distributed across the primary and special slots, with the exception of the exotic Tractor Cannon. This allowed the valuable exotic slot to be allocated to other weapons that completely outperformed the Acrius.
Why would someone use an exotic shotgun in the power slot when the alternatives in the other slots are just as good or even better?
This has changed with the Legend of Acrius: The update adjusted the damage and range of the Acrius. Specifically, this means:
- Range has been increased by 0.5 meters
- PvE damage has been increased by 50%
The Redditor StormTester took these changes as an opportunity to compare the Legend of Acrius with one of the currently best shotguns in the game – the Threat Level from the new Raid, The Reckoning.
The Threat Level is currently the first choice for shotguns, alongside the IKELOS shotgun from the escalation protocol. Already without mods and only with the perk “Slug Barrel”, it deals almost 5% more damage than the IKELOS shotgun, which is why he used the Threat Level for the direct comparison. Here are his results:
- Damage per shot with Threat Level (without Slug Barrel): 2,649
- Damage per shot with Threat Level (with Slug Barrel): 3,972
- Damage per shot with Legend of Acrius: 11,506
Additionally, StormTester measured the maximum ammo reserves of both weapons and then looked at how quickly the shotguns could fire in a Rift with Warlock Lunafaction Boots.
- Threat Level needs 6.406 seconds for its maximum 21 shots. During this time, the weapon deals 55,629 damage without Slug Barrel and 59,598 damage with Slug Barrel.
- Acrius needs 12.779 seconds for its 11 shots and deals 126,566 damage in that time.
- For comparison: The Legend of Acrius fires 6 shots in 6.406 seconds and deals 69,036 damage.
Thus, the Acrius deals more damage during the time Threat Level expends its entire ammunition including reserves, and still has five additional shots that can deal damage afterward.
StormTester even claims that the Legend of Acrius is now the new king of shotgun DPS.
This is what the fans are saying: StormTester’s field trial receives much support from fans, with the Reddit post receiving over 4,000 upvotes within just 19 hours and being intensely discussed.
Many fans now see the Legend of Acrius as a worthy exotic shotgun that could find use in certain situations – despite strong exotic competition in the weapon slot. When it comes to shotgun damage, the weapon is now a quite worthwhile choice.
Especially bosses and enemies that can be effectively fought with shotguns may now see the Acrius used either standalone or in combination with the IKELOS or Threat Level shotguns. Many say they will dust off this weapon exotic after a long time and take it out for a spin.
Critics, on the other hand, emphasize that the Acrius may now be considered the new DPS king of shotguns on paper, but that does not necessarily make it more useful in practice. After all, it is still an exotic power weapon that will likely fall short against competition such as Thunderlord, Whisper of the Worm, or the Sleeper.
What do you think of this test and the buff? Will you try the Legend of Acrius now or use it more often? Or does the weapon still fall short for you behind the competition despite the buff?
