In Destiny 2 , the Graviton Lance is an exotic pulse rifle. How good is it in PvE and PvP, and is it worth buying?
Imagine space-time as a web tapestry on a web device. This weapon is the needle.
This is how the Graviton Lance is described. It is an exotic pulse rifle introduced with the launch of Destiny 2. According to the in-game lore, it is said to fire black holes as large as a ball – at least that’s what an unknown Guardian says while discussing this weapon with another Guardian.
Sounds promising. Let’s take a closer look at the Graviton Lance.
How to Obtain Graviton Lance – How to Get the Exotic
There are several sources from which you can acquire the Graviton Lance:
- Story: After about two-thirds of the campaign, you can choose between Risky Business, Sunshot, and the Graviton Lance as a reward.
- Exotic Engrams: Random drop from all sources that can drop exotic engrams.
- Xur: Sometimes Xur brings this weapon, like this weekend.
Xur sells the Graviton Lance for 29 Legendary Shards. You can buy it up to a maximum Power Level of 270.
What Makes the Graviton Lance Special in Destiny 2? – Perks
The Graviton Lance fired three shots per burst as a pulse rifle until 2018. This was then reduced to 2 shots per burst with Shadowkeep. You fire a burst with each keypress. The weapon is carried in the energy slot and deals Void Damage. The fire rate is 360 and the magazine size is 39. Stability and range are excellent, the exotic has solid stats all around.
Here are the special perks:
- Black Hole: The third shot of a burst tears a hole in the space-time continuum. This means it deals increased damage, has no damage falloff, but increases recoil.
- Cosmology: Kills with this weapon cause enemy targets to explode.
- What Does the Catalyst Do? The weapon has been equipped with a catalyst. Since 2022, this allows the Graviton Lance to have the perks of Vorpal Weapon and Outlaw instead of the previous higher aim assist value.
How Does Graviton Lance Perform in PvE and PvP?
Cosmology is a strange perk that throws enemies back after their death, where they explode shortly thereafter. So you cannot rely on it to deal damage to nearby enemies.
Especially interesting is the “Black Hole” perk: Although the Graviton Lance is very stable, the weapon tends to kick up with the last shot. This can be compensated more easily on PC than on consoles.
This shot deals increased damage – at all distances. This makes the Graviton Lance a nice Void weapon that can eliminate enemies in PvE even from greater distances.
However: To deal high damage per burst, the last shot – which always kicks up – needs to hit. While the damage of other pulse rifles is evenly distributed across each shot per burst, with the Graviton Lance, the last shot is the main source of damage. If the enemies move a lot, as in PvP, that is a disadvantage.
In PvP, normal shots deal 8 crit damage and the “Black Hole” crit hit deals 51 damage. This results in an optimal TTK of 1.13 seconds – assuming you achieve 9 critical hits with three bursts. This makes the Graviton Lance as good as other pulse rifles like the Coronation Speach or the Cadence-43. Only with the difference that you take a higher risk. Because if the last shot misses, a large part of the damage is lost.
Conclusion: The Graviton Lance looks cool and has a special sound when the second shot is fired. Those alone are reasons to try out the pulse rifle. However, in terms of performance, the weapon cannot convince. In PvE it is decent, in PvP you will find better alternatives that are not exotic.
What do you think of the Graviton Lance? Would you recommend it?
Interesting: Destiny 2: Risky Business – How good is the only exotic SMG?
