In the lead-up to the Warmind expansion, Bungie repeatedly showcased some improved exotic weapons in action. With DLC II and the simultaneously released update 1.2.0, these improvements will arrive on May 8 in Destiny 2. Here is an overview of all the specimens shown so far – there are 14 weapons.
What is it about? So far, only a few exotic weapons in Destiny 2 have truly lived up to their name. Many exotic guns even perform worse than their legendary counterparts in some aspects. As a result, some of them are hardly used by players. However, this should change soon.
Simultaneously with the release of the Warmind DLC, the update milestone 1.2.0. This update includes massive changes for exotic weapons among other things. The revised specimens presented so far all look very promising.
Here is an overview of all the changes presented so far for exotic weapons:
Sturm und Drang
Not only has the exotic hand cannon Sturm been revised. Its smaller brother – the pistol Drang – has also been improved. Because in duet, the two weapons remain the most effective even with update 1.2.0.
The base stats of both guns have been increased. The pistol Drang receives the perk Toben. Thus, kills with this weapon will temporarily cause increased damage. This effect can stack up to 3 times. Additionally, Drang receives the maximum magazine capacity for pistols.
Overloading the Sturm magazine is particularly worthwhile: The overloaded rounds from Sturm will have a damage bonus of 1.8x from May. This leads to significantly higher damage output in PvE and enables crisp 2-shot precision kills in PvP – provided you also land two critical hits.
Graviton Lance
The Graviton Lance now fires two-shot salvos after the changes. Critical hits deal 333 damage.
Kills from critical hits now trigger a large Void explosion that can deal up to 602 damage and can wipe out entire groups of surrounding Red Bars – i.e. regular enemies.
The explosion also generates several Void projectiles that track remaining nearby enemies and deal damage to them. Apparently, the number of projectiles depends on the number of enemies killed.
Skyburner’s Oath
Bungie has equipped the projectiles of Skyburner’s Oath with explosive rounds when fired from the hip. With aiming, the weapon will behave as before. Fully automatic, slow fire rate, high penetration power.
When fired from the hip with Skyburner’s Oath, the exotic scout now emits slower projectiles with faster fire rate that track targets and then explode.
The tracking tends to pull the projectiles towards the opponent’s body rather than precision areas like the head, which is why Bungie has slightly reduced the scaling of precision damage and increased damage to the body. However, precision hits still provide bonus damage and damage over time is increased.
Rat King
As part of the changes, the developers have turned the Rat King into a fully automatic weapon so that the increase in fire rate always offers an advantage and is always noticeable when in a pack.
Furthermore, the Rat Pack perk now activates even if other fireteam members have the Rat King in the kinetic slot, holstered, or in hand.
Additionally, the benefits of Rat Pack now increase more dramatically when the weapon is carried by one or two other fireteam members. Moreover, the invisibility timer for the perk Pest Control has been increased to seven seconds.
Tractor Cannon
The Tractor Cannon still has its physical impulse. However, each target hit by this weapon now receives an additional debuff.
This effect makes enemies 10 seconds more vulnerable to incoming Void damage. Furthermore, this weapon allows for consecutive critical hits for the 10-second duration of the effect.
Moreover, the revised Tractor Cannon has the ability to suppress enemies. This means that enemies hit by it cannot use supers or abilities for 10 seconds. If they are hit by the Tractor Cannon while already active in a super, the super is canceled.
Hard Light
Hard Light will be able to “switch” elemental damage as of the release of DLC 2, just like the sniper rifle Borealis.
If you hold down the reload button, the exotic auto rifle will change its damage type. You no longer need to access the weapon menu.
Furthermore, projectiles bouncing off surfaces will now deal double damage. This allows you to effectively suppress and potentially eliminate enemies “around the corner”.
Borealis
After Borealis has destroyed an enemy shield with the matching elemental damage type, the sniper will deal double damage until the next reload or the next damage type change. In PvE activities, this weapon will finally become usable.
But even in PvP, Borealis will soon be appealing. If you destroy an opponent’s shield in the Crucible with a matching elemental shot while their super is active, you’ll also deal double damage in PvP – until your death or until you change the magazine of the weapon. This will allow for one-hit kills with body shots even when the opponent is at full health with the revised Borealis.
This is certainly situational and will not work all the time, but the sniper rifle will reward capable Guardians accordingly for their sniper skills.
Riskrunner
With the Riskrunner, resistance to Arc damage is increased, so you only take 50% damage from Arc sources as long as Arc conductor is active.
This works even in PvP, where this property was previously disabled. However, the Riskrunner must also be actively equipped during Crucible matches.
The perk Super Conductor will be activated even when the Riskrunner is equipped but currently stowed.
Workhorse
The changes to the auto rifle Workhorse are manageable, but they have a huge impact.
The developers have increased the ammunition capacity for this exotic weapon to 999. While this ammo supply does not last forever, you should be able to fire for a while.
Especially with the Titan using the exotic chest piece Actium War Rig, a strong synergy arises. The armor continuously refills the magazine of the equipped auto rifle from reserves. This completely eliminates the need for reloading. Thus, the damage output over time is enormously increased. This combination is expected to prove valuable and effective, especially in boss battles.
D.A.R.C.I.
This exotic sniper rifle will deal 4 times the damage once it has detected a target (once the target is outlined in red). The exact scaling depends on the respective activity, difficulty, and light level.
In PvE, this sniper will thus become an adequate alternative for the power slot.
However, even in the Crucible, the D.A.R.C.I. will become quite usable after the revision. It has a 7-shot magazine. The zoom has been reduced. Additionally, the aim assist has been re-tuned. This improves the handling of the weapon when you don’t yet have a target acquired while already being zoomed.
Sunshot
Bungie has not yet provided official video material for the revised Sunshot. However, Senior Gameplay Designer Jon Weisnewski has announced the upcoming changes to Sunshot on Twitter.
Thus, Sunshot will continue to do what it did before – just much better. The explosion after a kill will have increased detonation damage and a larger radius. Every opponent killed by the explosion will also explode. This leads to large explosion chains depending on the concentration of enemies.
Some fans have reportedly already seen this exotic hand cannon in action after its overhaul.
Crimson
There is still no official video material for Crimson. During the reveal stream for the Warmind expansion, the developers from Bungie extensively discussed the changes to this exotic hand cannon.
Players will be able to carry more ammunition for Crimson. Additionally, the overall and precision damage of the weapon will increase. The time between individual shots will be reduced.
In PvP, Crimson will need three bursts to take down an opponent. In this case, the first shot of the third burst becomes the kill shot if the two shots prior have hit.
Lion’s Roar
No official video material is yet available for this exotic grenade launcher either. During the reveal stream for the Warmind DLC, however, the developers elaborated on the upcoming changes to Lion’s Roar.
The impact damage of the grenades has been increased. In return, damage on direct hit has been reduced. This means you no longer need a direct hit for the grenades to have their full effect. Additionally, the ammunition capacity has increased. Furthermore, a kill with the weapon guarantees a drop of special ammo.
What do you think of the changes known so far to the exotic weapons? Does it make you eager for more?
