Episode: Revenant has begun within Destiny 2, and numerous changes to Exotics come with it. The alterations aren’t just hitting a couple of weapons or armor but sweeping across many Exotics from both categories and for all Classes. And these Exotics updates are just the tip of the iceberg for what’s changing in Destiny 2 for Episode: Revenant.
Bungie shared some of what players could expect ahead of Episode: Revenant through its This Week in Destiny communications and a Twitch preview stream. These offered insights into some significant changes coming in the Episode, from Titans gaining a taunt to be more like MMO tanks to the resurgence of the Inverted Spire Strike and big updates to Onslaught. These Exotic changes come alongside additional Class and ability tuning that shifts the gameplay sandbox from its The Final Shape-launch state.
Exotic weapon changes
Bungie noted that it wanted to focus its Episode: Revenant Exotic weapon sweep on options that have been previously underserved or synergized with the new Artifact Mods. Exotic SMGs start the Episode out strong, with Huckleberry gaining a reload effect on kills and the Kinetic Tremors Perk on its Catalyst. Tarrabah is also getting some love, mirroring a similar effect to the Riskrunner. It now offers 50% Solar damage resistance in PvE and 15% in PvP while the Ravenous Beast Perk is active.
Exotic grenade launchers are also getting some buffs for both the Special and Heavy ammo variety. Ex Diris is getting a sizable 33% damage increase to direct hits, which should be easier to land with some additional velocity and recoil changes. It also sports more ammo reserves and generates Hive moths more easily via two direct hits instead of only kills. The cooldown between moth generation has also been reduced from four seconds to three seconds. The Fighting Lion is getting a bit of a Void synergistic boost, creating a Volatile explosion on direct hits. Finally, the Prospector is getting a bit of a rework. It’s now limited to six shots in a mag, and its remote detonation effects are now gone, but each shot now creates three high-damage cluster bombs.
Bungie also gave a couple of Exotic shotguns a day in the sun, Chaperone and Duality. Chaperone got a few changes to provide it with some PvE potential, allowing its The Roadborn Perk to trigger after two precision hits. The Roadborn increases handling, range, rate of fire, and precision damage. Bungie’s tweaks also add 20 stability and a 25% increase in reload speed. Precision hits will extend The Roadborn, and base ammo reserves have increased. Duality has similarly received buffs to make it more usable in PvE, decreasing the number of On Black Wings stacks required to achieve full effects. The stacks will also last longer, shifting from seven to 10 seconds.
Alongside these broader categories, Bungie had a few outlier Exotic weapons that received some changes. The first one is Symmetry, which should be a bit easier to use, with kills also providing a stack of Dynamic Charge to keep its effects rolling. Bad Juju also had some quality-of-life changes to make it easier to use the weapon. The String of Curses buff now lasts longer, from three and a half seconds to five and a half, and the Catalyst now provides a seven-and-a-half-second timer. The magazine size has also increased, going from 27 to 36. Bungie notes that the Bad Juju has “become more haunted than it used to be…” Finally, Lumina got a small change, making its hip-fired projectiles behave more like healing shots from Support-frame auto rifles.
Alongside these buffs, one weapon got a bit of a nerf: Choir of One. Bungie noted the new Exotic performed a bit too well in PvE while not providing enough oomph in PvP. As such, Bungie reduced base ammo reserves to 200 from 250 and reduced the total max reserves possible from 384 to 300. The impact damage from Point-Blank projectiles has been reduced by 50%, but it deals 10% more hip-fire damage against players. Choir of One will start with seven shots in Crucible, and ammo pickups reward seven more.
Exotic armor changes
For all of the Exotic weapons that got changed, even more Exotic armor pieces received a tweak. Most of these alterations amount to a buff, especially when considered alongside the slew of Super and ability buffs in Episode: Revenant. However, some previously-dominant options have been pared down so that other Exotics can shine.
Warlock
Leaning into the idea of a Stasis-focused Episode, Ballidorse Wrathweavers have seen some tweaks to make it more effective in higher-tier PvE content. Targets frozen by the Shadebinder Super’s projectile will now suffer 100% additional Shatter damage regardless of which player causes the Shatter. On top of this, Warlocks can gain a variable amount of Super energy for granting Frost Armor using Frostpulse or Winter’s Wrath, depending on how many allies are affected.
Skull of the Dire Ahamkara is getting a small but valuable update, providing Super energy whenever players defeat enemies while Devour is active. Sanguine Alchemy got a rework and now acts as the default target-marking Exotic for Warlocks. Players can mark an enemy by damaging them from within a Rift, gaining 10% increased damage against marks. The Exotic also grants a Surge x4 to any weapons matching the damage type of your equipped Super.
The Verity’s Brow and Spirit of Verity effect on Exotic Class items is getting a small change to front-load the brunt of the effect. The first stack of the Death Throes buff now provides 40% increased PvE grenade damage and adds 15% with each additional stack. Cenotaph Mask is also getting a minor update, bringing back the visual marker on targets under its effect. Speaker’s Sight now has the ability to generate Orbs of Power back in PvP, creating one Orb per six instances of healing in the Crucible.
On the nerf side of things, Osmiomancy Gloves got a bit of a debuff. The armor already provided a strong buff to Coldsnap grenades, so Bungie reduced bonus seeker distance and speed by 50%. It still allows the Exotic to generate grenade energy quickly, but Coldsnaps should be less of a nuisance in PvP.
Hunter
Starting Hunters off, Lucky Pants is getting a few changes, with some targeted to bring the Exotic into line with other options. An equipped hand cannon now provides a movement and slide distance bonus, and the bonus to airborne effectiveness now persists whenever a hand cannon is being used. Additionally, the Out of Luck cooldown will only apply when players swap the weapon or time expires after reaching seven stacks in PvE. The maximum hand cannon damage bonus has been reduced from 650% to 400%, but players no longer need to use a hand cannon with a damage type matching their Super.
After removing the previous effect on Young Ahamkara’s Spine that refunded grenade energy on grenade hits, the Exotic now has a similar version of its original Perk. Hunters gain Tripmine grenade energy from ability hits, granting 33% energy in PvE and 8% in PvP. For the Exotic Class item, specifically for the Spirit of Synthoceps Perk, the melee damage bonus has been reduced by 50% when Stylish Executioner and Biotic Enhancements are both active.
Before Episode: Revenant, the Blight Ranger Exotic only had niche functionality to create Orbs of Power in a pinch, but it has been reworked a bit. Players can cancel the Super to Blind and damage nearby enemies, gaining an Arc weapon damage boost. The Super will no longer generate Orbs of Power from reflecting attacks, directly generating Super energy instead.
Raiju’s Harness lost a lot of its functionality to Blight Ranger, so Bungie rebuilt the Exotic to better represent its lore tab. The Exotic now buffs the Gathering Storm Super, summoning a lightning strike on all nearby enemies that Jolts and Amplifies teammates. Hunters can also generate Super energy by defeating Arc-debuffed foes.
Titans
Titans are taking full advantage of their Class changes and the focus on Stasis with Icefall Mantle. The Exotic has been reworked, rewarding a stack of Frost Armor for rapid Stasis kills. Stacks of Frost Armor from any source now heal and the unique Class ability, Icefall Mantle, now grants full Frost Armor stacks, too. The Class ability no longer impedes jumping or sprinting, and it also works when Thruster is equipped. The trade-off is that Icefall Mantle no longer offers a Stasis weapon damage bonus and now requires a Stasis Super equipped.
The Cadmus Ridge Lancecap Exotic is also bringing some Stasis-themed love, boosting the effectiveness of a Diamond Lance build. The Exotic no longer requires a Stasis weapon to create Diamond Lances. Titans will make one with any weapon kill whenever they’re behind a barricade with a Stasis Super equipped. Additionally, any powerful combatants damaged by a Diamond Lance will create three Stasis Crystals.
Ursa Furiosa and the Spirit of the Bear Perk on Exotic Class items are also getting a tweak to support the reworked Unbreakable Aspect. The total amount of Super gained from using Unbreakable in PvE has been increased from 15% to 20%. However, that total is capped at 10% in PvP. On top of this, Spirit of the Horn, Spirit of Alpha Lupi, and Spirit of Hoarfrost now work with the Thruster Class ability on Exotic Class items.
The Thundercrash Super has always benefited from Cuirass of the Falling Star, but Bungie wanted to rework it a bit to provide more benefits beyond increasing Super damage. The Exotic now rewards Super energy whenever Titans get melee kills while Amplified and damage resistance is applied after the impact instead of an overshield. The damage resistance is 50% in PvE and 10% in PvP. To compensate for these other changes, the damage multiplier for the Exotic has reduced from 2x to 1.55x. However, total damage should still be similar to before Episode: Revenant after the Thundercrash buffs.
Bungie wanted to create an Exotic effect for Titans that worked similarly to how Lucky Pants performed for Hunters. As such, the Peacekeepers Exotic has had a bit of a rework, now providing a damage buff when continuously damaging enemies with SMGs. Players can amass up to 20 stacks, which becomes 100% increased SMG damage.
Finally, Mast of the Quiet One got a minor tweak. In addition to its previous effects, the Exotic now offers the Devour buff. Players will need a Void-based Super to use this new effect, but it will grant the life-stealing buff whenever Titans get kills while at critical health.
Published: Oct 10, 2024 11:56 am