In the MMO shooter Destiny , the exotic rocket launcher Dragon’s Breath was significantly altered in Year 2. How does napalm smell in the morning and how is Dragon’s Breath in Year 2?
Some negative surprises came with the patch last Tuesday, we had to deal with it all week. Positive surprises also came: The rocket launcher Dragon’s Breath from Year 1 has been significantly changed in its functionality. One could almost speak of a new weapon.
In Year 1, Dragon’s Breath left a fire circle where it hit. With the new variant, players can deliberately make it rain napalm.
This is what makes the new variant of Dragon’s Breath special
Dragon’s Breath now essentially works with a remote trigger that can be directly controlled by the player. When the player fires Dragon’s Breath, they hold down the right button on the controller. The moment they release the button, a napalm canister explodes in the rocket and a fiery damage field forms on the ground. Enemies standing in it take continuous damage. The field is significantly larger than that from Year 1.
Tricks are also possible with the new weapon: Players have discovered, as seen in this gif, that the rocket shatters when it hits “hard ground,” allowing them to ignite individual canisters at a different angle.
This is the first time such a mechanism comes to Destiny that players can trigger themselves.
However, this comes at a price: The previous attribute “Tripod” has been removed. The rocket launcher now only has one shot and needs to be constantly reloaded. In return, there are the attributes “The Next One Please” and “Surplus” – players find more heavy ammunition, and when Dragon’s Breath kills an enemy, it reloads faster. Bungie has also increased the ammunition in the inventory.
To make the new idea of remotely triggered rockets more controllable, Bungie has also reduced the speed of the rockets. Additionally, they have decreased the actual impact radius of the rocket. The damage has also been reduced, which should primarily come from the field, not from the direct impact.
The weapon is now “unique” in the sense that it does not function like classic rocket launchers, but more like a grenade launcher to deliberately place a “damage field.”
Is the new Dragon’s Breath strong?
For PvP, you would have to come up with special tricks and use Dragon’s Breath specifically, trying to block zones, block paths, do something surprising. Normally, in the Crucible, it is such that you also want direct kills with heavy ammunition. Other rocket launchers achieve that more readily, especially The Truth with its tracking.
For PvP, the weapon is therefore not recommended for now.
In PvE, players are still experimenting with the weapon. At the beginning, there was quite a hype, but now it seems that disillusionment is spreading: a solid fun weapon, with which new things are possible. When it comes to many small enemies, Dragon’s Breath with its wide area of effect certainly has a point and covers a completely different function than The Truth. YouTubers like Datto believe that Dragon’s Breath would be ideal for the tricky initial spot in the Saber Strike.
In the coming weeks, it will show whether the new Dragon’s Breath will find a spot here or, like in Year 1, will mainly collect dust in the vault. At the moment, it looks like Dragon’s Breath fulfills a valuable tactical function in PvE and is an excellent choice in certain situations.
