.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
Power creep has been one of the toughest parts for Bungie to deal with in its sci-fi MMORPG and shooter, Destiny 2. The year 2022 has seen the introduction of 3.0 subclass reworks, which has brought Void, Solar, and Arc in line with Stasis with the addition of fragments and aspects. While this has overall been a good upgrade for the game's outdated subclass system, it has created a host of problems, power creep being one of them.
Exotic armor has been the first feature in the game to be affected by this increase in power. Some Exotic pieces have simply become completely niche or downright useless over the years, and with the reworks for subclasses now complete, they're definitely due for a buff. Here's which Exotic armor pieces in Destiny 2 desperately need some love.
10 Citan's Ramparts
Starting off are the Citan's Ramparts gauntlets for Titans, which have seen declining usage over the years. These niche gauntlets allow players and their allies to shoot through the Titan's Towering Barricade, which is a nice quality of life change, but that's about the extent of it.
While not technically a bad perk, these Exotic gauntlets fall short of providing more than just niche utility and they easily lose the fight against other, better Exotics. Using a whole Exotic armor slot just to be able to shoot through a shield is a big waste.
9 Blight Ranger
This Hunter helmet became quickly the subject of controversy upon its release for The Witch Queen expansion. Blight Ranger is easily one of the most underwhelming Hunter Exotics, mainly because it tweaks one of the weakest Supers in the game: Arc Staff.
Arc Staff doesn't really see use in PVE, and even in PVP, Blight Ranger isn't the first Exotic to come to mind for many when it comes to buffing Arc Staff. This helmet lets Hunters deal increased damage whenever reflecting damage with their Arc Staff Super, which also generates Orbs. With Whirlwind Guard, guarding consumes no Super energy. Pair this up with the nerf to most Charged with Light mods, and it's easy to see why Hunter players are frustrated about this Exotic.
8 Icefall Mantle
Exotics that provide debuffs to the wearer are always a bit of a niche pick, and that's precisely why Icefall Mantle gauntlets for Titans are completely out. These Stasis-centric gauntlets give the player a Shielded buff whenever they cast Glacial Guard, but there's a quirk to this.
While Shielded provides a huge 60% damage resistance, applies the slowing freeze effect to nearby enemies, and an overshield for a whopping 20 seconds, it also slows down the caster considerably. Players won't be able to run, double jump, or slide while this buff is active, which is a huge tradeoff.
7 Sanguine Alchemy
The Warlock chest piece Sanguine Alchemy sounds interesting on paper but falls short of being good in most content that requires the player to move around. When Warlocks use their Rift and score kills while standing in it, the duration of the Rift is extended.
This obviously means that players need to be stationary, and to sacrifice an entire Exotic slot just to have endless Rifts seems a bit useless, given that there are so many better builds and Exotics that let Warlocks regenerate their class ability fast enough to simulate a continuous Rift.
6 Precious Scars
Ever since Solar 3.0, most healing Exotics have become relatively useless thanks to Restoration. Precious Scars, a Titan Exotic helmet, lets players create a healing burst by scoring kills with damage matching their subclass. When revived or reviving, players and their allies in the vicinity will also get an overshield.
Titans have far better options to support their team. In fact, the whole Void subclass that allows them to provide Void overshields for their allies is already much better than Precious Scars and its niche utility. With healing grenades available to every class now, there's no need to use funky Exotics like this one, either.
5 Sixth Coyote
In a time where most classes can regenerate their abilities extremely fast, Exotics that provide a double charge of a single ability can feel like an utter waste of Exotic armor slot, and that's why the Sixth Coyote is on this list.
There will rarely be a time where Hunters will need this Exotic if they apply the right mods, aspects, and fragments that will naturally regenerate their class ability for them. What the Sixth Coyote needs is some sort of secondary perk to make it interesting again.
4 Chromatic Fire
The issue with this Warlock chest piece is that it basically turns a weapon perk into the sole perk of an Exotic armor piece. In an era of 3.0 subclasses, that's simply not enough bang for one's buck, and it's much better to just get a weapon with Incandescent, Voltshot, or Explosive Payload than to sacrifice a whole Exotic armor slot for Chromatic Fire.
Chromatic Fire allows players to create an explosion of their subclass element whenever they score final blows. This basically works like the weapon perks mentioned above, but for every single subclass. Right now, this chest piece needs an additional perk or a complete rework to become relevant, as it could have potential in the current Elemental Well mod meta.
3 The Bombardiers
The Bombardiers are not terrible, but like with most armor pieces on this list, they are incredibly niche and a waste of an Exotic slot. When dodging and while wearing these Exotic boots, Hunters will drop behind a small bomb that detonates and damages enemies. Depending on the player's subclass, the bomb will have varying effects.
Stasis will slow enemies, Solar will scorch them, Void will suppress them and Arc blinds them. This Exotic does get a small bonus point for at least including some of the subclass 3.0 keywords like scorch, suppress, and blind, but it could definitely use a bit more love from Bungie.
2 Graviton Forfeit
Some might be surprised to see Graviton Forfeit here, given that its description isn't totally bad. This Exotic Hunter helmet buffs Invisibility. Not only does this effect last longer, but players gain a Recovery stat buff, their melee ability gains an increased charge rate and they also have a faster reload speed.
That said, Graviton Forfeit suffers slightly when compared to other Void subclass Exotics for Hunters. A buff that could allow players to also give these increased stats to teammates could make Graviton Forfeit more desirable, though potentially also quite overpowered.
1 Vesper Of Radius
One Exotic chest piece that many Warlock mains expected to see tweaked in season 18 during Arc 3.0 reign was Vesper of Radius. This Exotic has been gathering dust for a long time now, mainly because Arc in PVE hasn't been the greatest option for Warlocks.
Vesper of Radius modifies the Warlock Rift to release Arc energy when cast. While players are surrounded by enemies, their class ability charge rate is also increased. On paper, this sounds nice, but the Arc energy should have been tweaked to have more synergy with the Arc 3.0 aspects and fragments to make this chest piece truly more viable.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PlayStation 5.