The new strongest rocket launcher from Destiny 2 is actually the Exotic that nobody wanted to play with

In Destiny 2, you should definitely utilize the Exotic Deathbringer. Thanks to the new catalyst from Season 14, the rocket launcher is one of the strongest options in PvE. How does this unusual weapon compare to the well-known meta weapons?

This is what the Exotic is about: The Exotic Deathbringer has been in the game since Shadowkeep (2019). The special thing about the rocket launcher is that it is actually more like a mortar. You fire high above your enemies, and the projectile splits into several homing rounds that slowly rain down from the sky and deal more damage depending on the distance traveled.

This is new now: Many players were not satisfied with the unusual gameplay of the Exotic. However, the new Exotic masterwork catalyst from Season 14 now makes it much easier to utilize, allowing the weapon to reach its full damage potential faster.

Best rocket launcher on paper and in practice

On paper, Deathbringer was already the strongest Exotic rocket launcher last season. We also discussed this in our comparison of rocket launchers on MeinMMO.

However, since you need quite a bit of space above your enemy and often cannot even see the enemy when you fire, need to hold the trigger down for a long time, and the mini Nova bombs sometimes seek other targets instead of the boss, we could only recommend it for enthusiasts.

This is why it’s so strong now: The new masterwork catalyst changes only one thing, but it leads to a whole chain of positive developments:

• In-game description of the catalyst: ‘Accelerates the reaching of the full potential of Dark Descent.’
• The Void spheres now need to cover less distance to deal high damage.
• The reduced distance is massive: you now only need to fire a few meters above the enemy. Keep in mind, previously you couldn’t even see the enemy at the bottom of the screen if you wanted to deal the juicy extra damage (the numbers are yellow instead of white).
• This also means that the 7 projectiles land more accurately on the enemy where they should. Previously, the distance could be slightly misjudged, and the targeting sometimes didn’t seem to work because the distance was a bit too great.

Find and level the catalyst for Deathbringer in the Season of the Splicer

How to get the catalyst: Finding the catalyst is the easy part. The upgrade item drops randomly after completing activities. Many Guardians report that they received it after the first strike or crucible match in Season 14. So check the description of Deathbringer to see if you already have the catalyst.

Remember: you can only obtain exotic catalysts for Exotics that you already own.

Quickly turn into a masterwork: To unlock the bonus from the catalyst and turn Deathbringer into a masterwork, you only need to defeat enemies with the rocket launcher. You should defeat a proud 400 enemies with the Exotic; only then will the catalyst be fully leveled (via light.gg).

You can do this in PvE alongside other activities; it will take a considerable amount of time. Or you can farm specifically:

• Grinding goes particularly quickly in the raid ‘Last Wish’ from Forsaken.
• Teleport yourself through the Wish Room to Shuro Chi (Wish 4).
• Here, hordes of weak enemies await you; if you run out of ammo, you can quickly respawn and refill your power ammo and super at the raid banner before the door.
• Hunters can accelerate the leveling process with the Arrow super and the exotic boots Orpheus Rigs.

Why rocket launchers are particularly worthwhile in Season 14

Thanks to the catalyst, Deathbringer is now the strongest exotic rocket launcher in terms of a single shot – and finally also easily usable for every Guardian. But the entire genre benefits tremendously from the mods from the seasonal artifact in the Season of the Splicer.

• ‘Explosion Radius’ charges you with Light on rocket launcher kills and costs only 1 energy.
• ‘Silver Bullet’ increases the damage of rocket launchers by 20% and allows faster reloads – the otherwise expensive mod costs only 1 energy in the artifact, and you can equip it multiple times in your armor to increase the effect (up to 3x).
• ‘Rocket Launcher Loader’ significantly reduces the reload time and costs only 1 energy.
• ‘War Spirit’s Grace’ causes War Spirit Cells to appear during Void explosions – including with Deathbringer – costing 3 energy.
• ‘Energy Accelerator’ increases the damage of legendary rocket launchers with the perk Chain Reaction and costs 2 energy.

How other top PvE weapons compare

You have now learned why Deathbringer is said to be so great thanks to the catalyst and how you can use mods to get even more from the weapon. But how does this Exotic compare to other heavyweights in PvE? This is exactly what the well-known Destiny expert Ehroar tested (via YouTube):

Here are the numbers:

• Deathbringer deals 154,950 damage when all 7 Void spheres hit with full damage. If you receive no extra damage, all charges together deal 86,450 damage.
• The second 7 spheres from Deathbringer still deal 112,500 damage after loading, and after 4 rockets (so 28 Void spheres) the damage is a strong 89,500 DPS.
• The Complaint is an exotic sword and the most popular Exotic from Season 13. For good reason, the burst damage is very high and you have plenty of ammo. The full Complaints combo deals 189,750 damage, which corresponds to 81,750 DPS. Keep in mind that the Complaint was slightly nerfed in damage with Season 14.
• Xenophage is probably the feel-good Exotic and is actually usable in every situation. However, the DPS value of the LMG is only 48,150.
• Other legendary rocket launchers with good rolls deal about 80,000 to nearly 90,000 burst damage. The DPS value is around 60,000.
• The Fourth Horseman achieves even higher DPS values than Deathbringer. However, the shotgun is mostly hardly practically useful since you have to be really close to the enemy, and the ammo runs out almost immediately.
• However, grenade launchers can really compete with the strong rocket launchers in Season 14: Strong for endgame – New artifact mod makes you boss killers
• The Raid Exotic Eyes of Tomorrow is finally strong as well, which suffered from a damage bug for a long time.

You can watch the detailed tests here with Ehroar:

Did you ever think that Deathbringer would be promoted by experts like this? Do you already have the catalyst in your inventory and are you now leveling it quickly to get a look at the new best Exotic rocket launcher?

Let us know your opinion and which weapons you always carry with you in PvE in the comments.