Bungie has outlined changes coming to 14 of Destiny 2‘s Exotics and is focusing specifically on the underused pieces of gear that have been gathering cosmic dust over the last couple of months. These changes will be rolling out in Season 22 and will see numerous Exotics tweaked to be more functional as new perks are added and complete overhauls on some of these legacy pieces are done.
Similar to how several Exotics were fine-tuned in Season 21, these changes are positive upgrades to armor that have fallen out of favor in Destiny 2’s meta-game. Hunters get a Knucklehead Radar helmet that gains the perks of Foetracer, Renewal Grasps is going to make Duskfield grenade-lobbing Hunters a menace once again, and Lucky Raspberry is going to be an essential Exotic for dealing with pesky Overload Champions.
Titans get a new version of the ACD/0 Feedback Fence gauntlets that tie in nicely to the game’s Armor Charge system, Hallowfire Heart is shaping up to be the Heart of Inmost Light for Solar builds, and several other Exotic pieces are being redesigned to have expanded functionality. As for Warlocks, Bungie is aiming to give the space-wizards more options for Stasis, Solar, and Void builds around signature Exotics.
Bungie will monitor how these Exotics are used in Destiny 2 once they’re introduced in Season 22 and will make changes as necessary. Here’s a closer look at what’s changing next season.
Hunters
Knucklehead Radar
The functionality of the Foetracer Exotic helmet has been completely removed from that Exotic and added to Knucklehead Radar, stacking with its existing Upgraded Sensor Pack perk.
Foetracer
Bungie says that it took some cues from the Monochromatic Maestro artifact perk for this one so that when you deal damage with one of your abilities, you’ll gain a damage bonus with weapons that have damage types matching your subclass type. Additionally, by defeating an enemy damaged with one of your abilities or with a weapon with a damage type matching your subclass type, you’ll spawn one of the collectible objects associated with your subclass, such as Ionic Traces or Firesprites.
Lucky Raspberry
Expect this Exotic to be more reliable after the update, as Bungie streamlines its energy gains while leaving some of its benefits intact. You’ll still be able to expand the chaining capabilities of Arc Bolt grenades and each time you damage an enemy with the lightning strikes from the jolted condition or pick up ionic traces, you’ll gain additional grenade energy. This grenade also gains the intrinsic ability to stun Overload Champions.
Renewal Grasps
That previous nerf to the Duskfield grenade cooldown? It’s being reversed with this Exotic.
Titans
Icefall Mantle, Doom Fang Pauldrons, Path of the Burning Steps, and Eternal Warrior
Bungie didn’t have much to say about these Exotics, but it did mention that it’s going to make changes to the perks of these Exotics to make them reliable sources for gaining a Tier Four damage bonus, as well as expand their functionality.
ACD/0 Feedback Fence
A complete mechanical rework has been done to these punch-absorbing Exotic gauntlets, and Bungie says they now tie more deeply into the Armor Charge system, increasing its versatility and making it more useful in scenarios where you aren’t soaking up damage. ACD/0 Feedback Fence will replace its old perk with a new one that allows you to gain an Armor Charge when you take damage. You’ll still take reduced melee damage, and when your Titan unleashes an explosive Arc energy wave, this will jolt targets while consuming your Armor Charge. The more charge stacks you have, the more damage you’ll deal.
Hallowfire Heart
Forever in the shadow of Heart of Inmost Light, Hallowfire Heart is having its base energy to Solar abilities perk removed and replaced with a new one that will let you build more into Sunspots. The perk that greatly increases your ability regeneration rate when your Super is fully charged is being left intact, but this Exotic is about to become essential for Titans who like to leave Sunspots all over the battlefield.
Warlocks
Astrocyte Verse
This Exotic is going to be more functional, as when using the Blink ability, enemies near you when you reappear will be hit with a volatile debuff, and can then leap away to trigger a series of explosions when you fire upon them. When using the Nova Warp Super, the Dark Blink ability will no longer consume Super energy.
Geomag Stabilizers
No, these Exotic boots aren’t rolling back to their original design that allowed you to quickly charge Super energy by sprinting. Instead, picking up an ionic trace while wearing this Exotic will grant you additional Super energy, which makes for a nice compromise.
Wings of Sacred Dawn
This armor is being redesigned as an “orbital weapons platform,” and when you’re airborne, it will automatically reload all Solar weapons from reserves each time you get a kill while aiming down sights. Bungie recommends using Xenophage with this Exotic after it has been overhauled.
Winter’s Guile
A new perk is being added specifically for Warlocks rocking their Stasis subclass. Combatants encased by your Penumbral Blast melee will automatically shatter after a short delay, making this a better choice for anyone specializing in Stasis.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
