Destiny 2: Beyond Light is finally here and there are a bunch of terrific new exotics for players to chase. Ranging from weapons that can summon lightning bolts to gauntlets that induce poisonous effects, it will be intriguing to see how these exotics impact both the PVE and PVP meta. So far a total of eleven exotics have been revealed and details for Beyond Light. However, in the collections menu for the raid there’s one item hidden, which is more than likely the raid exotic. Keep in mind, Beyond Light has just released so we will be constantly updating this guide with relevant information. There are always a lot of moving pieces with a new launch, so we will try to update this article as much as possible.
Exotic Weapons
The Lament – Sword
Source: Locate Dead Exos Quest
It’s time to bring a chainsword to a gunfight. The Lamet is an exotic sword that is designed for taking down enemy shields and Barrier Champions. When you block with this sword it will begin to rev up, which seems to increase the weapon’s damage. It’s explained that one the weapon is at its “peak,” kills with The Lament will heal the user. Once fully charged, The Lament will apply a shield piercing effect to its attack, bypassing them and allowing you to cleave enemies into tiny pieces. You will gain stacks for dealing damage with this weapon, which then increases the swords damage and damage resistance on Heavy attacks.
No Time to Explain – Pulse Rifle
Source: Digital Deluxe or Season Pass Edition of Beyond Light
A returning favorite, No Time to Explain is all about landing precision hits or hits against enemies afflicted by the new element, Stasis. Every time you do this, the ammo that you fire will return to the magazine, allowing you to keep shooting at targets. Landing precision hits or hits on Stasis afflicted foes will build Rewind stacks, allowing you to summon a portal which fires bullets from another timeline. Dealing precision damage while the portal is active will extend its duration, allowing you to keep it around for quite a long time. This makes it terrific for both general mob clearing and bosses since you can deal additional damage via the temporal portal. Currently, you can only unlock this gun from either purchasing the Digital Deluxe or Beyond Light+Season Pass versions of the game. Bungie has confirmed it will be entering the loot pool sometime after Season 12.
Cloudstrike – Sniper Rifle
Source: Unknown
A potential new boss DPS weapon, Cloudstrike is a sniper rifle that summons a lightning bolt when you land a precision final blow. In the trailer we see this massive lightning bolt killing two additional Guardians who are about 1-2 feet away from the enemy slain by Cloudstrike. However, rapid precision hits (not kills) will summon a storm instead which presumably releases a lot more lightning bolts. Depending on the damage of the storm and if it’s impacted by debuff abilities like Tractor Cannon, we could be looking at another solid endgame PVE weapon. Unfortunately, we won’t know for sure until we get our hands on this sniper.
Salvation’s Grip – Grenade Launcher
Source: Gathering Intel Exotic Quest
Salvation’s Grip is a grenade launcher that’s all about Stasis. Taking the design of Stasis and weaponizing it, Salvations Grip allows players to fire projectiles that form crystals and freeze nearby enemies. Alternatively, you can charge this weapon to release more crystals, along with a larger freezing radius. Given how synergistic Stasis appears to be, it will be interesting to see how this weapon combos with those abilities.
Duality – Shotgun
Source: Season Pass
Duality is the new Season Pass shotgun that you will unlock at level one in the Season Pass Package. Once opened, you’ll be instantly rewarded the Duality, which is a shotgun that, unsurprisingly, has two firing modes. The first is a pellet spread whenever you fire the weapon from the hip. Aiming down the sights causes this firearm to shoot a high damage slug round. Its second perk gives you stacks for killing enemies with the pellet spread, which boosts your precision damage and reload speed. Landing precision hits while aiming down the sights will extend the duration of this buff. This gives the Duality some nice flexibility, as it can safely take care of both low and high tier enemies with relative ease. While it may not be endgame worthy, Duality will definitely be a popular choice due to its sheer versatility.
Eyes of Tomorrow – Rocket Launcher
Source: Believed to be the raid exotic
Almost nothing is known about this weapon, but we do know that it exists thanks to the Weapon Ornament Collections tab. It’s believed to be the raid exotic at the time of writing this since it’s the only one that isn’t listed.
Warlock Exotics
Dawn Chorus – Helmet
Source: Master Lost Sectors (Solo Only)
The first Warlock exotic armor piece revealed the Dawn Chorus is all about setting the world on fire. This exotic boosts the damage of our Dawnblade projectiles along with burning any enemy that makes contact with them. In the trailer, we see this used to take down a Hive Champion in a single hit. What the level is of that enemy or if it was previously damaged is unknown, but the footage suggests this will be able to swiftly take down powerful adversaries. Additionally, any burn damage we cause will charge our melee ability. I’m curious if this will work with weapons like Sunshot or if it’s solely tied to our Warlock’s own abilities.
Necrotic Grip – Gauntlet
Source: Master Lost Sectors (Solo Only)
Do you like Thorn? Do you wish you could just spread disease to enemies of the Darkness? If you answered “Yes” then the Necrotic Grip is for you. Upon striking an enemy with a melee attack, you will spread corruption among surrounding enemies. If that poison then kills any of the inflicted enemies it will release another burst, spreading it further until either everything is dead or your foes don’t die from the poison. This is incredibly powerful, especially since you restore melee energy for every kill with this ability.
Hunter Exotics
Arthrys’s Embrace – Gauntlet
Source: Master Lost Sectors (Solo Only)
This exotic was perhaps the most poorly explained in the new trailer. Thankfully, Bungie released additional information about what Arthrys’s Embrace actually does. Its first benefit is the Hunter’s throwing knife gains an additional bounce when it hits a surface. This is neat, but let’s be real you have to be very lucky to land a double ricochet knife kill. Its second perk is rapid precision hits increase your damage and staggers enemies. It should be noted that the description doesn’t specify what gets the damage boost, so it may just be an overall buff. If it’s significant, this boost could be quite good in combination with auto rifles or rapid-fire scout rifles.
Mask of Bakris
Source: Master Lost Sectors (Solo Only)
Certainly destined to be a fan favorite, the Mask of Bakris replaces the Hunter’s Stasis dodge with an ability called Shift. When triggered, the player will be temporarily cloaked and move much faster while Shift is active. Once you emerge from Shift, all of your Arc weapons will deal increased damage for short period. This will make it quite potent in Crucible for anyone using an Arc weapon, as it allows you to temporarily vanish from sight before engaging with a damage boost. If the damage increase is significant enough, we might even see this paired with weapons like Anarchy for killing bosses.
Icefall Mantle
Source: Master Lost Sectors (Solo Only)
This exotic is pretty simple but could be utterly game-changing. When worn, Titan’s replace their barricade class ability with an overshield they can call on demand. The strength of the overshield is unknown, but this skill alone could finally help Titan’s embrace the tank role many have wanted. If the One-Eyed Mask is anything to go on, this will certainly make waves in Destiny 2’s PVP scene. Prepare yourself for the next wave of shotgun-wielding Titans in the Crucible.
Precarious Scars
Source: Master Lost Sectors (Solo Only)
A support exotic, Precarious Scars gives Titan’s an Overshield Aura when they revive a teammate. We get a glimpse of this in the trailer, as the team is weathered to the Titan by a glowing energy. Our guess is that when you revive someone, that overshield spreads to those connected to the Titan, giving them more damage resistance. I see this being useful in Survival modes, where you’ll have more safety upon picking someone up. However, in higher-end PVE activities, it’s usually better to just wait for that person to respawn than risk your own life to revive them. The viability of this exotic is going to live or die by how strong those overshields are and the length of the tether between Guardians.
