The beauty of Destiny 2 being such a vast game with so many expansions, seasons, and meaningful updates is that it’s packed with content. There’s so much to explore, from the rich lore of the story through to the best weapons and gear.
However, over time, the game has also become a little bloated. While this isn’t a bad thing, offering all players a variety of items to collect and a great-feeling gameplay loop, it’s hard to deny that Bungie has left some Exotics to die and released others that all fall into the trash tier.
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10 Trash Exotics That Need to be Reworked in Destiny 2
Below, we’ve listed ten Exotics in Destiny 2 that we and the game’s community all think are trash. They either need to be reworked or thrown onto a fire, then their ash must be thrown in the bin and put on a rocket heading directly for a star that’s about to implode and become a black hole. They’re just that bad.
These Exotics aren’t listed in any particular order. They’re all as bad as each other. We’ve attempted to explain our reasoning for why they all need a rework, but in some cases, it’s just a bad feeling or continued disappointment.
1) Apotheosis Veil
Apotheosis Veil looks incredible. It’s the kind of Helmet a true space warlord should ride a starship into battle with. The problem is, it’s Exotic Perk isn’t all that useful. It causes players to immediately regenerate health, grenade, melee, and rift energy upon using their Super. It also helps nearby allies recharge their class abilities faster.
In PvE, this can be used strategically to give every player in a fireteam a boost, getting their class abilities back up sooner. The player using their Super can benefit from having all of their abilities recharged, but the chances are they’re about to die to a massive wave of enemies. Ultimately, this Exotic just isn’t that special and deserves an Exotic Perk worthy of its appearance.
2) Blight Ranger
Blight Ranger is another amazing-looking Exotic with a lackluster Exotic Perk. Hunters wearing it gain the use of Voltaic Mirror, which causes all damage reflected with Arc Staff to deal increased damage and generate Orbs of Power. Guarding with the Arc Staff also won’t use up extra Super energy.
The Exotic is geared towards putting Hunters squarely in the support role, somewhere they don’t want to be. Hunters excel at getting into battle, dealing damage, and escaping before enemies even realize they’re there. This Helmet should provide invisibility for a short time or do something to make Hunters faster, more agile, and even more deadly where they belong. In an offensive sneak role.
3) Verity’s Brow
Verity’s Brow is an Exotic Helmet that fails on two fronts. First, it’s Exotic Perk, the Fourth Magic, is awful. It makes it so that kills with a weapon using the same element as the player’s Subclass grant Death Throes, which add damage to grenades and generate grenade energy. Throwing a grenade while Death Throes is active causes allies to generate grenade energy too.
This perk is little more than a mod that slightly buffs grenades, which most players don’t build their character around. The real issue players have with this Exotic, though, is the way it looks. It’s known as the Hive Toenail, and it’s not hard to see why. A visual rework and some sort of gross necrotic effect in the Exotic Perk would revamp this item.
4) Peacekeepers
Peacekeepers is an Exotic that’s been in Destiny 2 since the Red War. The Exotic Perk, Mecha Holster, reloads stowed submachine guns so they can be readied instantly when needed. It also improves handling and movement while using one of these weapons and offers a moderate buff to their airborne effectiveness stat.
This Exotic wants Titans to hover and float around the battlefield, which is a good way to get murdered. The only reason it’s become slightly useful is because Bungie added Manticore years later. This submachine gun thrives on being used while airborne, but it’s too specific and subjective. If Peacekeepers could turn all submachine guns into Manticore, then that would be a lovely addition to a Titan’s gear set.
5) Queenbreaker
Queenbreaker joined Destiny 2 with the Forsaken expansion and was an incredible Exotic then. However, since that point in the game’s history, more weapons have been added with dual uses for players to switch between, and it’s just not as good as any of them.
The main disadvantage to using Queenbreaker as either an Arc sniper rifle or Kinetic mid-range weapon is that it sits in the Power Weapon slot. This means it uses Power Ammo, and that’s just not common enough to justify running it. Any other Power Exotic would be better for almost every situation, so Queenbreaker just needs to be reworked as the ultimate sniper rifle in a new weapon slot.
6) One Thousand Voices
Back in the day, One Thousand Voices was a force to be reckoned with. Getting it out of the pit of difficulty players needed to wade through to even glimpse it in the Forsaken expansion made it seem like the best weapon in the game. After quite a few seasons, though, it’s fallen into the trash tier.
The Exotic Perk, Ahamkara’s Eye, is just Fusion Rifle functionality. It has a secondary perk that causes the overcharged beam to superheat enemies and explode them, but there are more Exotics out there now that do this better. Prometheus Lens is a lot more fun to use and has a history that’s so incredible that it deserves its Exotic status. One Thousand Voices needs Hive-specific Exotic Perk and a new Ornament if it’s going to compete.
7) D.A.R.C.I.
D.A.R.C.I. is one of the original Power Weapon Exotics we were all scrambling to get when Destiny 2 was first released. It looks amazing but quickly lets players down with its lackluster Exotic Perk. While providing information on an enemy’s health and other details is great, the only real advantage it adds is dealing more damage once a target is acquired and pushing them about a little.
A weapon that looks like this needs to have more going on. It should be pulling a bullet together from ten different places around its body through space and time because they’re too powerful to hold in a magazine. It should skip firing and just cause an Arc explosion on the target. We’d also love to see an Ornament that takes it to the next level.
8) Manticore
The Manticore Exotic submachine gun is the definition of a gimmick. It was great for the season it was released for and has now fallen out of favor. Players need to deal damage while on the ground to charge it, and can then leap into the air and fire to remain airborne while attacking enemies. Damage increases in the air the longer the player is firing, so it’s a nice cyclical perk.
The issue is that there’s no incentive to use Manticore over anything else. It’s fun, but it’s far from useful in a battle. The hardest missions in Destiny 2 require players to hide in a fight, not leap into the air and paint themselves as a target. As mentioned above, this perk would be better on Peacekeepers for all submachine guns, and Manticore just needs something fresh. We do like its Catalyst at least.
9) Hallowfire Heart
Hallowfire Heart is another Exotic that used to be prolific, seen in every Crucible match and mission. Now, though, we can’t say we’ve seen it for at least two seasons. Its Exotic Perk, Sunfire Furnace, creates Sunspots for every takedown from a player standing in a Sunspot. It also greatly improves Solar ability recharge rates while a Super is fully charged and buffs the airborne effectiveness of all weapons slightly.
Realistically, there are so many better Exotics out there that this one needs to do more than give what is a fairly minor buff to Solar ability recharge. Even the Sunspot advantage is only useful for specific builds. The worst part of this Exotic has to be that it effectively locks off players from using their Super, though. That’s the whole point of Destiny 2, and it’s just unavailable if players want the Exotic benefits.
If Bungie could rework the Exotic to do something amazing mid-combat, like double Class abilities and recharge rates, that would raise it far above the trash tier.
10) Sealed Ahamkara Grasps
The last item on our list is another ancient Exotic. Sealed Ahamkara Grasps reload the currently equipped weapon after dealing melee damage. Charged melee final blows will reload all weapons. There’s also a buff to basically all movement and airborne effectiveness after a successful charged melee final blows.
This Exotic looks great, and that’s the problem. It doesn’t do all that much. There are mods players can get to reload their weapons slowly over time, and other Exotics do this much better with other added benefits. Gauntlets like this should be using the power of the Ahamkara to channel the player’s Subclass type and boost melee damage in a meaningful way. We’d also love to see it add a monster hunter element to the Hunter Class, making use of Light-based daggers or something similar.
Should Bungie Rework Exotics in Destiny 2
We’ve talked a big game about why these Exotics are trash tier, but the heart of the matter is the question of whether Bungie should reach in and mess with Exotics at all. Many of these Exotics have had their perks set in stone since they were released, and they’re a part of Destiny 2 history.
While it would be great for Bungie to change how Exotics work to bring them back into use and alter the meta we all see in each game mode, it might be overstepping. We love getting new Exotics each season and expansion because they make the game feel fresh and new. However, we wouldn’t want to have fewer new Exotics and moe reworked ones each season.
Ultimately, we see this as a trade-off. If Bungie is going to rework Exotics, it’ll cost us new Exotics and Destiny 2 thrives on new stuff to find and collect. It’s so easy to complain about certain aspects of this game, but when we focus in on the core issue, we think Exotics are only worth reworking if Bungie can do it in addition to adding the same number of new Exotics each season and expansion.
