It’s that time of the week. Break out your Strange Coins and scrounge up all the Motes of Light you can, because Xur is back—in the Tower this time. Unfortunately for him, his latest selection doesn’t hold a candle to the long-awaited return of the Gjallarhorn, but it’s not without its hidden gems.
Eternal Warrior: The Titan’s Eternal Warrior helmet hasn’t changed since we last saw it in Xur’s stock. It’s still perfectly good for playing God in the Crucible, made possible by the greatly enhanced Fist of Havoc armor its Unstoppable perk provides. Few things can kill an Unstoppable Titan, including a shot of Golden Gun, so if that’s up your alley, spring for the 13 coins.
Mask of the Third Man: It’s not easy being a Bladedancer. Okay, it is, but you still have to put up with all the name-calling in Crucible. You hear “auto-pilot super” enough times, you start believing it, you know? Here to worsen that exact stigma is the Mask of the Third Man, easily the best Exotic choice for the class. After all, if each swing of your hideously over-tracked lightning blade uses less super energy, you get more bang for your buck. Its role of pure Intellect compliments this, so if you can stand the crowd’s jeers, be sure to pick up a Third Man.
Starfire Protocol: Oh, fusion rifles. We hardly knew ye. That’s the gist of Starfire Protocol’s awkwardness: its mandatory fusion rifle ammo buff is often worthless given the rarity of the weapon class. Worse still, its added heavy weapon ammo buff scales poorly with the one you probably already have on your boots. That just leaves its namesake perk, which grants a secondary fusion grenade. Now, fusion grenades are an acceptable choice in PvE activities. Slapping a sticky grenade on the face of a grunt enemy hasn’t gotten any less entertaining since Bungie’s Halo days. And in the Crucible, the things exhibit stronger aim-assist than all the Metroid Prime games combined. Even so, I’d still recommend fire bolts over fusions, and the Sunslinger Warlock’s Gift of the Sun perk over dedicating an Exotic slot to a second grenade. I’d pass on this one. If anything, it's a stat-stick for Intellect.
Thunderlord: If you can spare the Exotic slot for the Crucible, the Thunderlord is your gun. The thing has a time-to-kill on par with The Last Word before it even spools up via its unique Lightning Rounds skill. Once it gets going, it will chew through absolutely anything, even beating out the Iron Banner machine gun Jolder's Hammer. That includes most AI enemies, especially in Arc Burn Nightfall Strikes. It’s definitely worth buying, though if you’re a Hunter strapped for coins, I would prioritize the Mask of the Third Man over it.
If you're hungry for more info on Destiny's Exotics, head to our wrap up of the recent reveal of The Taken King expansion, which includes an explanation of the upgraded versions some Exotics will receive in the game's second year.
