Some of the most powerful Exotics in Destiny 2 are getting a massive nerf

There used to be a time when Destiny 2’s best guns felt like an arsenal of third-party arisoft guns that had LEDs drilled into them. Sure, some of them had ace sound design, but their actual effect in the grand scheme of things made them hardly worth the effort of pursuing and infusing with stronger weapons so that you could grow their power.

After the Go Faster update a few months later, things began to change. Exotic weapons began to feel exotic. Graviton Lance was a pulse rifle that could pop a Cabal head and cause it to explode in void energy. Sweet Business finally got enough ammo loaded into it, to make you feel like you could down a forest of Vex with it. The Colony became a nightmare in the Crucible, thanks to its ability to fire off explosive robot spiders that homed in on you.

That joy made the hunt for more elusive Exotics a core part of the Destiny experience. Hell, Alessandro and Glenn managed to rope me into the epic quest for Whisper of the Worm, and we spent several weekends screaming at one another as we constantly failed. Before it was reworked to not be the equivalent of Pinhead offering to show you true pleasure, the mission to earn Ace of Spades was a lesson in agony.

It was all worth it for those glorious guns though, as the power given to players was truly immense. A deal of equivalent exchange, you could say. That’s all about to change, as Bungie has slipped into some Darth Vader leather and announced that the deal is being altered. Pray that they do not alter it, further.

With Season of Opulence around the corner, Bungie is nerfing several weapons and armour pieces in the Exotic catergory, as they currently make upcoming endgame content a nightmare to develop. “For Season of Opulence, several notable weapons are being adjusted.  We want to ensure that encounters—raids and other endgame content, for example—remain a challenge,” Bungie explained in their weekly update.

Some of these weapons have been overwhelming that challenge. Our first choice is to buff underused weapons, but if we continue to push every weapon up higher and higher, it will be impossible to maintain challenging experiences. This is not a full list of changes, but some of the most impactful.

Here’s the list of guns and armour that’ll soon have their power dialled down:

Whisper of the Worm

• White Nail pulls ammo from reserves rather than creating it
• Reserve ammunition increased to 18 (without ammo reserve perks)

Sleeper Simulant

• Reduced ricochet/bounce damage on boss combatants
• Modified precision behavior—total damage is unchanged, but non-precision shots are significantly more forgiving

Lord of Wolves

• PvE damage reduced by 20%
• Release the Wolves perk has been reworked
• No longer triggers automatically on kill
• This effect is now triggered by holding reload, similar to “The Fundamentals” on Hard Light and Borealis
• PvE damage and range bonuses on this effect has been removed and replaced with a universal damage bonus instead

Ace of Spades

• Memento Mori now ends if the weapon is stowed
• The PvP damage bonus of Memento Mori was slightly reduced to prevent two-tapping Guardians while Vengeance (One-Eyed Mask) was active
• Specifically, you need four resilience to survive this
• Memento Mori is active for six shots again (up from five)

Exotic Armor

Along with the weapons above, we will also be making some changes to some Exotic armor pieces. Primarily, we’re paying attention to pieces of Exotic armor that grant back Super energy. We felt they are increasingly becoming “must-pick” gear choices. Orb generation from teammates is meant to be the best way to accelerate your Super generation. These Exotics are allowing players to bypass this teamwork mechanic by generating a large amount of Super energy without relying on other players’ orbs.

• Skull of Dire Ahamkara, Orpheus Rigs, and Phoenix Protocol now receive Super energy back with diminishing returns, making it rarer to get a full Super back
• Shards of Galanor and Ursa Furiosa had their Super gain caps reduced to be in parity with other Super Exotic changes
• Gwisin Vest had its energy reduced from 15% to 8% for killing one to two Guardians
• Still scales up similar to before when killing three or more Guardians
• PvE energy return remains similar to before

As you’d expect, the Destiny 2 subreddit is currently…well let’s just say that many Guardians are not too happy right now:

Last Updated: May 17, 2019