The Gjallarhorn – from “must-have” to “nice to have”
What the Gjallarhorn could do at launch: The legend must not be missing from our list. The exotic rocket launcher was known as THE boss killer. Because in addition to the normal rocket explosion, so-called homing cluster bombs caused massive extra damage.
Boss fights were significantly trivialized by the Gjallarhorn. However, the much bigger problem of the weapon was the division of the player base:
- Those who had the noble rocket launcher could join any content and were welcomed with open arms in raid groups.
- Those who did not have it were rigorously excluded.
This is how the Gjallarhorn was nerfed: Bungie first held the rocket launcher back by ensuring it could not reach the then-valid light level. It therefore completely disappeared from the loot pool.
The developer was aware of the significance of the rocket launcher for players and brought back the Gjallarhorn along with a new variant.
However, the return led to disappointment. Bungie significantly reduced the damage of the cluster bombs, which severely limited the effectiveness of the rocket launcher. The Gjallarhorn was now just a good rocket launcher – no more and no less.
The nerf of this weapon was absolutely necessary and appropriate, but it demystified the legend that had formed around the Gjallarhorn.
