Although opinions differ on which Destiny 2 weapons are overpowered (OP) in Crucible, there are a few exotic armor pieces that are widely regarded as a little too strong. Chief among them is the Antaeus Wards, a pair of Titan exotic boots that are easily among one of the best PvP exotics in the game right now.
The Antaeus Wards might not seem like much at first glance, and the boots weren’t overwhelmingly popular when they first released. Next to other Titan exotics like One Eyed Mask, the Antaeus Wards couldn’t compete. Then, Bungie buffed the Destiny 2 exotic as part of its Season of the Worthy update.
Yet again, the buff didn’t seem significant, but what Bungie did was remove the Antaeus Wards chip damage potential. So, any player shooting at a Titan wearing the boots and sliding would deal zero damage to their opponent. Not to mention, the exotic retained its ability to generate Super Energy anytime someone shot the sliding shield.
With so much of this season focused on Crucible and the Trials of Osiris mode, the Antaeus Wards have emerged as a problematic exotic in Destiny 2. If Trials wasn’t around there might not be as much focus placed on what makes the exotic so strong, but right now it’s all any Crucible player can talk about. Especially after Bungie nerfed the Hard Light exotic auto rifle last week.
The big problem with the Antaeus Wards is that they discourage the most essential piece of Destiny 2: first-person shooting. Rather than engaging with an opponent, it’s better not to shoot and try to run when a Titan is advancing forward. Obviously, that’s easier said than done, but it also feels counterintuitive.
And with Destiny 2’s reliance on shotgun play and low ammo count for sniper rifles, the Antaeus Wards can help Titans tank a sniper shot and decrease their opponent’s ammo or get in close with no risk. The game already has some struggles when it comes to hit registration, but now there is a shield that blocks all damage for as long as the player is sliding.
If there was a counter that didn’t involve not attacking, then the Antaeus Wards might not be as big of a problem as they seem to be in Destiny 2. But as it stands, they are very high on the list of exotics that players would like to see retooled. It’s bad enough that Trials of Osiris has a cheating problem.
In fact, some Destiny 2 players even tried to get the Antaeus Wards banned using some mischievous means. The members of clan Redeem posted a video claiming that the Antaeus Wards allowed players to kill raid bosses almost instantly. In the past, Bungie has disabled any exotic that allows for “boss melting” and so many figured that this would be it for Antaeus Wards. Unfortunately, the whole thing was a stunt. The video was edited and there was no clear bug with Antaeus Wards.
Nevertheless, this may have been enough to convince Bungie that the Antaeus Wards are worth looking at. If players were willing to create an elaborate charade just to have an exotic disabled, then maybe it truly is imbalanced. For now
Destiny 2 is available for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.