With all of the snow, cookies, and holiday cheer from The Dawning even now at an end, The Tower has once again been graced by Lord Saladin. For the next week, the Iron Banner rages on inside of the Crucible with new pinnacle gear to acquire and giving those who didn't finish the seasonal quest during the first arrival this season now have another chance to do so.

Outside of the Iron Banner, this week's reset also brought with it the final hunt of the season as the player and Crow finally track down the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath. However, while the mission itself was fairly straightforward, it also came with a few bugs which impacted the progression if players damaged the High Celebrant too fast. Word spread that the exotic Fourth Mark ship was also bugged, or at the very least, featured an extremely low drop change percentage.

RELATED: Destiny 2: Beyond Light Makes Hidden Change to Warlock Rift

While Bungie continues to work out the bugs from this final seasonal quest, the exotic merchant Xur is back inside of Destiny 2 with an updated inventory of exotic gear. Follow this guide for his location, news on his exotic cypher quest, as well as a review of what he's currently selling for the weekend of January 8, 2021.

Where is Xur?

This weekend, players can track Xur back inside of the European Dead Zone in his usual spot overlooking the Winding Cove.

Destiny 2 Xur location EDZ

Fast travel to the Winding Cove zone and immediately head towards the back where the Fallen typically patrol. Climb the cliffs back here to find Xur standing on a ledge not too far from a crashed ship.

Class Armor and Exotic Cypher

While Xur's role is essentially the same as it was prior to the Beyond Light expansion, the exotic merchant also has weekly quests that players can acquire to unlock an exotic cypher. Not only are these required to purchase a second fated engram, but they're necessary to acquire legacy exotic gear from the new kiosk. Players can earn a new cypher by completing strikes and winning crucible or gambit matches. Gain bonus points for playing with clanmates or finishing more challenging activities.

Other than that, here are Xur's three gear pieces this weekend:

Getaway Artist - Warlock gauntlets

Introduced during the Season of the Drifter, the Getaway Artist gauntlets are focused on Stormcaller Warlocks. Dynamic Duo converts the arc grenade into a supercharged Arc Soul. Better yet, the Arc Soul then functions as an autonomous turret.

While this isn't a top tier Warlock exotic that will likely replace anything in the current meta, the appealing aspect to these gloves are the stat rolls for this week. Although the mobility is extremely low, the stats are fairly balanced everywhere else, with an extremely high recovery.

Arc Enhanced. Stat Values:

  • Mobility +2
  • Resilience +12
  • Recovery +18
  • Discipline +7
  • Intellect +14
  • Strength +9

destiny 2 stormcaller buffs

Sealed Ahamkara Grasps - Hunter gauntlets

It's been a long time since Xur has had these in stock. While it still may not be the best Hunter exotic gear, the Sealed Ahamkara Grasps remain an underrated exotic especially when paired with a certain subclass like the Gunslinger Way of a Thousand Cuts. Nightmare Fuel reloads the player's currently equipped weapon after melee damage.

By using Way of a Thousand Cuts, Hunters can ensure that they always have ammo ready. Throwing the burning knives causes significant melee damage and each burn tick of damage will reload the equipped gun. Killing the burning enemy procs the Playing with Fire perk, which essentially recharges the melee attack giving the player a nearly unlimited supply of reloads as long as they hit and kill the target. The stat values aren't bad this week, though players who want high mobility for their build will likely be disappointed.

Arc Enhanced. Stat Values:

  • Mobility +3
  • Resilience +16
  • Recovery +14
  • Discipline +6
  • Intellect +12
  • Strength +15

Antaeus Wards - Titan leg armor

It's been a while since these have been on sale, but the Forsaken exotic Antaeus Wards boots are back in stock. These boots are all about mobility that pairs with an interesting, albeit somewhat tricky mechanic. The intrinsic perk Reflective Vents improves the player’s slide while also reflects incoming projectiles during the slide, though it was nerfed last year to remove the super energy gain on reflection.

The ability may require a slight adjustment period to get the timing down, but once the mechanic is figured out, these boots become extremely valuable. Not only can players reflect bullets, but they are also capable of reflecting supers like Blade Barrage and Nova Bomb. While these used to be a must have item prior to the nerf, they're no longer in that category. However, these boots can be worn with any Titan subclass which makes them extremely versatile as well. The stat roll for this week also boasts extremely high values for Mobility and Strength.

Void Enhanced. Stat Values:

  • Mobility +19
  • Resilience +7
  • Recovery +7
  • Discipline +6
  • Intellect +2
  • Strength +22

Exotic Weapon

Xur has brought another fusion rifle this week, the Telesto. This weapon has had a very interesting history with the game, responsible for breaking many parts of the game in the favor of players. This includes, but isn't limited to helping players cheese the Blind Well event, proc certain buffs and benefits for other players, giving free special ammo in large quantities, and much more. Because of these glitches, the gun has become very player friendly and likely a massive headache for Bungie..

telesto glitch pvp exploit

The weapon's intrinsic perk is called Unplanned Reprieve which causes fusion projectiles to attach and detonate with a delayed void blast. It's also paired with the Harbinger's Pulse perk which instantly reloads equipped primary and energy weapons after multi-kills with the Telesto. Naturally, it's a great PvE weapon as its sticky explosives cover a wide area and can clear adds very fast. It's a solid PvP weapon as well, though it really shines once the Masterwork catalyst has been applied to increase the ammo reserves.

Additional perks:

  • Projection Fuse
  • Polymer Grip

Here's the complete rundown of Xur's entire stock in Destiny 2 for January 8, 2021:

  • Getaway Artist (Warlock gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
  • Sealed Ahamkara Grasps (Hunter gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
  • Antaeus Wards (Titan leg armor) – 23 Legendary Shards
  • Telesto (Fusion Rifle) - 29 Legendary Shards
  • Exotic Engram - 97 Legendary Shards/1 Exotic Cypher
  • A Question - Exotic Cypher Quest

Destiny 2: Beyond Light is now available PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Destiny 2: How to Generate Dawning Spirit