Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion is now exactly two weeks away, and I probably won’t stop talking about from now until then (and quite a bit after, you know me). I’ve been thinking about “preparing” for the expansion, and especially for those players who are just now coming back to the game.
The new armor and weapon systems with random rolls and extra perks are going to make a lot of (read: most of) your current gear, whatever level you are, irrelevant. But there are a few exceptions to that rule, and I wanted to go over what those were ahead of release.
While nothing is a guarantee and literally everything on this list might end up being outclassed by stuff that arrives with Forsaken, being new exotics or perfect rolls, this is a good list of the armor you probably want to roll out with until we know the new lay of the land. These weapons are so strong right now it’s hard to see them becoming totally irrelevant in the future, so do your best to secure and upgrade them now (and land catalysts if you can for the exotics).
1. Whisper of the Worm
We’ll start with the most obvious of these, perhaps. Whisper of the Worm is going to be a boss-slaying machine for a long, long time to come, even if Box Breathing ends up getting nerfed. It’s literally a better version of the pre-nerf Black Hammer, one of the best snipers in Destiny history, and unless a huge nerf is coming, it’s going to be a must-have for many fights going forward. Here’s a reminder of how to get it for yourself.
2. Graviton Lance
As part of Bungie’s new philosophy on buffing exotics to be more…exotic, Graviton Lance arrived almost broken and simply stayed that way. It’s an absolute monster at clearing mobs thanks to its chain explosions, and even if it won’t be “the” Crucible gun any more with TTK changes coming, I’m guessing it will still be a solid option there as well.
3. IKELOS Shotgun
Back to boss melting, there really isn’t anything else in the game quite like the IKELOS Shotgun, which is actually getting an upgrade to become a secondary weapon instead of a power weapon, making it even more insane. This is one of the hardest to get on the list as it requires playing a lot of Escalation Protocol and a lot of luck, but it may be something you want to grind out before everyone moves on to other activities.
4. Crimson
I’ve been using Crimson less lately, but the auto-reloading, super-healing hand cannon remains one of the best in the game, as it’s one of the best defensive weapons out there. Being exotic, we don’t have to worry about extra perks and random rolls, and Crimson will be just as good as ever going forward. It also has one of the easiest catalysts in the game to get and unlock, which turns it from good to stellar.
5. Polaris Lance
With a straightforward quest from Ana Bray, Polaris Lance and its catalyst are relatively easy to get, and the thing has been an absolute DPS MVP for me, especially through recent hard content like Redux missions and the Whisper quest. It never runs out of ammo, is constantly burning down targets and the catalyst even gives it dragonfly. This is a must own, and there’s a clear path to get it, which isn’t true for many of these others.
6. SUROS Regime
Wait what? SUROS kind of arrived with a thud in Destiny 2, even if it was a favorite weapon in D1, but I’m putting it on this list because leaked information has mined the Armsday-awarded catalyst for it, which will end up giving it health recovery on kill. So essentially, an auto-rifle version of Crimson, which is something I am more than happy to recommend going forward, even if it’s technically not good yet.
7. Redrix’s Claymore
I’m not sure how much else I can talk about Redrix’s Claymore at this point. It’s still going to be good even after Forsaken, and it will get you access to Redrix’s Broadsword which has the potential to be even better with random rolls. There is no downside to getting the gun ahead of time and skipping the pending enormous Crucible quest, except of course, dealing with the competitive grind itself.
8. Tractor Cannon
I have a hard time believing that a gun that grants 50% increased void damage is ever going to not be useful for boss burning in various circumstances, so I’m leaving it on this list even if it tends to be a situational pick. Nothing beats the Tractor-Nova-Bomb-grenade combo on my Voidwalker Warlock.
These are the eight I’m picking, but you may have a few of your own favorites. Let me know what they are.
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