Bungie unveiled their new exotics recently, and we’ve got some explosive new weapons and exotic chest armor revealed for all classes. Today I’m going to check out the exotic weapons including a new heavy trace rifle, returning auto rifle, plus a new Sniper, and I’ll cover all the new exotic chest armor coming, in Destiny 2 The Final Shape.

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The Final Shape is only a matter of weeks away now, and as well as the new exotic weapons and armor, we also have exotic class items coming into the game for the very first time to compliment Prismatic.

First of all, lets have a look at the new Exotics.

Khvostov (Exotic Auto Rifle)

This is the original Auto Rifle Destiny 1 players started with all the way back in 2014, so it makes sense for Bungie to bring this one back. This is the first time we’re seeing this weapon in Destiny 2, and we have a few details about the weapon. The exotic perk allows for the 7th bullet to riccochet and shred through enemies. Given it’s an auto rifle then it’s going to fire these 7th bullets pretty often, but we’re going to have to get into some testing to understand the damage output here. It’s a good looking auto rifle, plus it’s coming into a meta favourable to auto rifles, so I expect this weapon to be a popular one when it returns in the The Final Shape.

Microcosm (Exotic Trace Rifle)

This is the so-called Traveler’s Beam weapon, which had been teased some time ago. This is the first variant of a heavy Trace Rifle, and it looks like it does massive damage to sheilds according to the exotic perk. Exactly how much damage is unclear, but we do have some clues in the trailer with enemies exploding in different colours. It appears as if some enemies burst into void, and some into strand, so theres potential here for different elements. Once again, it all comes down to the sheer damage numbers. I would say this thing has to produce MASSIVE damage. It’s a great looking weapon, and if the damage stacks up against expectations, this is going to be a good exotic weapon to get your hands on.

Still Hunt (Exotic Sniper Rifle)

This is the craziest exotic weapon we’ve seen in some time. Much more powerful and interesting compared to what we have seen with Microcosm and Kovostov. For those weapons you have increased damage and richochet bullets, for this it litterally turns into a golden gun, and you don’t have to be a Hunter. The exotic perk here allows the weapon to be powered up by some means, I would imagine filling a bar on the left hand side, then unleashing Golden Gun Sniper shots from the Sniper Rifle. This is going to cause massive damage, plus you’re weilding a golden gun sniper, which is mad. This is the one I am looking foerward to the most, plus I hope we get some exotic interactions with armor, for example Celestial Nighthawk would be very interesting.

Tessellation (Exotic Fusion Rifle)

This Exotic Fusion Rifle has been in the game since the original preorders of The Final Shape went live, but it’s going to be available in-game for everyone else. The main perk Undecidable allows you to adapt your damage type to match your equipped subclass and final blows grant grenade energy. Then Irreducible allows you to consume your grenade to load in an explosive charge to the fusion. It’s good fun, although I want to see this work with the Prismatic subclass.

Those are the weapons, next we should have a look at the armor.

Mataiodoxia (Exotic Warlock chest armor)

Arcane Needles cause a suspending detonation with this Exotic piece, allowing you to quickly halt the momentum of any enemies rushing at you. This looks good for Strand Warlocks, however, we do already have this ability through aspects and fragments, so it’s going to have to be above and beyond to be a viable choice. Warlocks let me know what you think.

Gifted Conviction (Exotic Hunter armor)

Arc Aspects create bouncing explosives when Gifted Conviction is equipped. This one looks underwhelming to me, but I would have to defer to Hunter mains.

Hazardous Propulsion (Exotic Titan armor)

This allows Titans to throw up a barrier will also unleash a barrage of rockets at your enemies. While Khepri’s Horn could also turn a barricade into a weapon, Hazardous Propulsion looks more deadly when it comes to the attack. This is the one I am most excited about for all 3 classes.

Exotic Class items

As you can see, you will not only have the new Aspects and Fragments coming with Prismatic, but also will get to further expand your options with the new Exotic class items. These are very special additions to Destiny 2 as each Exotic class item will have two random Exotic perks from a selection of existing Exotic armor perks, including some that belong to classes other than yours!

The Exotic Class items will be part of a new activity that unlocks after the Raid World First, at the beginning of Week 2. We don’t want to spoil what the activity is all about or how to unlock it, but we can say it’s farmable, and you will get a guaranteed random roll each time you complete it.

Similar to how Prismatic has a selection of abilities among all Light and Darkness classes, the Exotic class items in The Final Shape will have a mix of Exotic armor perks available for each class. We included some fan favorites as well as some perks that aligned with the Prismatic abilities and Aspects. We also chose to put perks in each column that would compound with each other, allowing for combinations that felt powerful and complementary, such as a Warlock bond with Spirit of Apotheosis and Spirit of the Star-Eater.

Prismatic is all about combining effects that used to belong to specific subclasses, and we wanted to bring that to the design of the Exotic class items, too. So, in many cases, we have adjusted the perks to work with a broader array of abilities. For example, Spirit of Caliban on the Hunter cloak works with all powered melees, not just Proximity Knife.

To keep things balanced, we have narrowed some of the perk effects to what we believe the spirit of (get it?) the original Exotic was. This allows the combination of two of them to not be overwhelming, and it maintains a reason to run the original Exotic armor. When a perk on the class item has the same effect as its original version you should expect some tuning changes. For example, in The Final Shape the original Armamentarium and Sixth Coyote will gain the ability to create Orbs of Light from your grenade and dodge respectively.

Existentialism — Exotic Hunter cloak
Stoicism –Exotic Titan mark
Solipsism — Exotic Warlock bond

Master Rahool Changes

Starting in The Final Shape, Rahool is going to be the source for any new Exotic armor that we release. When you first talk to Rahool after The Final Shape launch, he will introduce you to a new rewards program tied to his brand-new Reputation Track. The idea is simple: the more you decode engrams with him, the more you increase your reputation with him. Once you completely fill the reputation track once and reset your rank, Rahool will allow you into an elite club, giving you access to a new tier of focusing.

Once you become one of Rahool’s “Engram Ensiders” (he was very proud of the name, so be nice to him), you’ll be able to purchase any piece of Exotic armor for any character on your account for one Exotic engram and one Exotic cipher, in addition to the previous focusing options. Because this is tied to Rahool’s new reputation track, there is no weekly limit to using this tier of focusing; as long as you still have Exotic ciphers and engrams, you can keep rolling armor.

With this change, we are also altering the way that old sources of Exotic armor work. First, Lost Sectors will keep the same drop rates for Exotics but will instead drop engrams whenever they would have previously dropped gear. Neomuna will also still drop new Exotic armor when you complete a Vex Strike Force encounter, but we won’t be adding any more new armor to the drop list after Season of the Wish.

With these changes, we know you’re wondering, “How long will it take to get this newfangled tier of focusing? I’ve got the World’s First Race to prepare for, wot wot!” Without going into the exact numbers, the actions that will give the most reputation will be precision decryption (aka Tier 2 focusing), followed by advanced decryption, then opening an Exotic engram , and last but also least, opening a prime engram. So, if you want to be ready for the Witness’s forces as soon as possible, make sure to stock up on Exotic engrams and Ascendant Shards before June 4, as with a little more than a full stock of Exotic engrams you’ll be able to start focusing new armor.

Let me know what you think in the comments.