Welcome back Guardians, this week we will take a look inside Xûr’s goodie bag to see what we should grab, or if we should save our strange coins for after the April 12th content patch. That being said, there are a couple weapons and armor exotics being release with this patch which are classics but have been rejuvenated for this year 2 content. Who knows these exotics might even be purchasable next Friday and Saturday, so use your coins wisely Guardians.
Alright let’s get to it. Xûr is located over in Tower North which is also where The Speaker lives. Xûr himself is located along the far railing which overlooks the last city and is awaiting to make trades with you there. With the update happening next week, I will be going over these exotic pieces in the mindset of using these post April 12th patch. This is to see how the gameplay changes have affected the overall benefit and value of these exotics for gameplay use.
Starting from Xûr’s left side of his inventory, we have the Crest of Alpha Lupi for the Titans. This armor is basically a carbon copy of the Hunter armor just built for the Titan. This year one remake’s primary ability called “Keeper of the Pack” reduces the amount of time it takes to revive fallen teammates and generates an extra orb on super use which makes this armor extremely helpful in any situation where revives are capable. Bonus perks are ammo perks for Pulse Rifles or Shotguns along with an elemental defense perk. This week’s roll has to deal with the void elemental class. You can select to either decrease incoming Arc damage or increase your armor when using an Arc based subclass. If Arc is not the element you are looking for, then re-roll it with some glass needles until you get what you want.
Overall Opinion: This armor is a must have for Guardians who want that ability to revive teammates easier and was one of my favorites that allowed for sprint reviving. After the patch, sprint reviving will no longer be possible since they have now increased how long it takes to revive a teammate. However, I wouldn’t count this armor out completely when it comes to the revive games. It may take an extra second when you have to stop running, but it will still help reviving teammates faster than it would without. This armor is decent in PvE raising your armor defense or making sure a particular element doesn’t do too much damage to you. It raises your survivability slightly making it easier to get through those tough situations.
Xûr has brought some gauntlets for the Hunter class which he hasn’t sold since the end of November last year. The gauntlets in which I am referring to are the “Don’t Touch Me” gauntlets. Ever wish your hunter could have invisibility to get you out of tight situations without having to play a Bladedancer? These gauntlets’ exotic ability, Defensive Reflex, grants your Hunter the ability to make them invisible after taking melee damage. Bonus perks you get with this armor are decreasing the melee attack cooldown time, or bonus grenade energy on melee hits. On top of that, this set has Hand Cannon loader or Sniper Rifle loader to choose from.
Overall Opinion: I personally don’t see a good use of these gloves in PvP since by the time you get melee’d its likely to kill you anyways. I have used these plenty of times in PvE to give me a little bit extra survivability (especially while running the lamps in Crota’s End raid). There are times though when enemies will still swing at your last known position while invisible and have a chance to kill you even after you are invisible. Although these gauntlets have a few PvP benefits, they don’t provide great additions like some other gauntlets out there.
Last but certainly not the least is every Stormcaller Warlock’s favorite exotic, “The Impossible Machines”. If you love the new Stormcaller subclass these gauntlets are a must have in your inventory. The biggest reason being its perk “Lightning Rod” which makes the Landfall perk activate for free. This creates a bolt of lightning to strike the ground beneath you sending out a massive damage pulse to all enemies within that area. By having these equipped, it allows you to select the other two talents within the subclass. One is “Superconductor” which doubles your Stormtrance electrical chaining capabilities. The other being “Ionic Blink” which allows you to teleport (blink) around the map making it harder for you to be killed while in your Stormtrance. In addition, some of its other perks are choices between increased melee attack speed or bonus grenade energy on melee hits. It also comes equipped with a selection between Hand Cannon and Shotgun loader perks.
Overall Opinion: These gauntlets are very powerful when used properly. That being said, there have been some changes made to the Landfall perk making it a little less powerful. This means your Landfall can no longer counter Titan bubbles and what not. In addition to reducing the Landfall damage output they also reduced the amount of time you have during your Stormtrance. With all that being said, I still think these gloves can be used effectively to help get some solid damage out during your super, so don’t give up completely if that is your favorite subclass.
On the side Xûr has brought two exotic engrams to sell, one being an exotic chest engram while the other is a legacy gauntlet engram. Make sure you take your time and choose the one you really want before handing those strange coins over to that shady X150r character. As for myself, I picked up a few (3-4) exotic chest engrams to hold onto until after the patch drops Tuesday. What I am doing is holding all my exotic engrams in hopes that, when they unlock all the new exotics Tuesday, I might be able to grab a couple new armor’s and weapons (hopefully).
The new exotics were announced on Destinythegame’s Instagram account which complied a great list of year one exotics which are being remade. For the Titans, they are updating The Glasshouse helm, ACD/0 Feedback Fence gauntlets, and the Eternal Warrior helm. For the Hunter, the pieces are ATS/8 Arachnid helm, Khepri’s Sting gauntlets, and Lucky Raspberry chest armor. Warlocks they haven’t forgotten about you either! They are bringing back the Purifier Robes and Sunbreakers. As far as weapons go, they are bringing back all of the Prison of Elders exotics, Dreg’s Promise, Lord of Wolves, and Queenbreaker’s Bow. That’s not all though. They are also bringing back the Universal Remote shotgun as well as the Patience and Time sniper rifle. Those last two weapons have yet to be updated in the Bungie armory, so we will have to wait and see if there are any additional changes to those exotics.
Thanks for sticking with us exploring this week’s exotic rolls from Xûr. Stay tuned for part two where we will have all the in depth details on Bungie’s last stream about crucible and sandbox updates (weapons updates/changes)
-ShadowAssault86