Destiny 2: Xur Exotic Armor, Weapon, and Recommendations for January 21

Another week, and more information arrives regarding the rapidly approaching Witch Queen expansion for Destiny 2. This week's update dealt with the influx of blue engrams and how the studio plans to deal with them to help keep space clear in player inventories as well as the Postmaster. In addition, Bungie is revamping additional Tower vendors and removing some resources/currencies from the game to help reduce the glut already present inside of the game.

Even though popular missions like Presage and Harbinger are being placed inside of the Destiny Content Vault alongside the Witch Queen update, Bungie has confirmed that players will have other ways to acquire new rolls for both Hawkmoon and Dead Man's Tale. When Xur visits each Friday, he'll bring new versions of both guns with him, giving more incentive for players to find the mysterious vendor.

Thankfully, this guide will continue to be available, so Destiny 2 players can not only locate the exotic merchant, but firgure out just what Xur has with him each weekend. As always, follow this guide for his most current weekend location, news on his exotic cipher quest, as well as a review of all the exotic gear he's brought for the weekend of January 21, 2022.

Where is Xur?

This weekend, players can find Xur on Nessus, hanging out on his usual massive tree branch.

From the Director, head to Nessus and load into Watcher's Grave. Run towards the back of the zone where a massive tree is found. Jump up until players find the huge branch where the merchant is hanging out.

Class Armor and Exotic Cipher

In Season of the Lost, Xur's role has expanded as the exotic merchant has weekly quests, exotics, and legendary gear. Not only are these quests required to purchase a second fated engram, but they're necessary to acquire legacy exotic gear from the Tower kiosk. Players can earn a new cipher by completing strikes and winning crucible or gambit matches. Gain bonus points for playing with clanmates or finishing more challenging activities.

With Season 15, Xur is now selling even more gear outside his usual content. In addition to his normal exotic gear, Xur now has Legendary Weapons and Armor for sale in exchange for Legendary Shards and Glimmer. Better yet, the stat rolls are pretty solid on the Black Armor gear for this week.

Exotic Armor

Phoenix Protocol - Warlock chest armor

The Phoenix Protocol is back on sale this weekend for Warlocks. Battle-Hearth gives Dawnblade Warlocks a return on super energy for any kills or assists they make while standing inside of the Well of Radiance.

This weekend, this exotic gear features an absurdly high stat roll at a total of 67 and being pretty well-balanced outside of Discipline. For that reason alone, this gear is likely worth picking up, even if the item isn't quite top tier like it used to be.

Solar Enhanced. Stat Values:

Mobility +14
Resilience +9
Recovery +12
Discipline +2
Intellect +15
Strength +15

St0mp-EE5 - Hunter leg armor

Just on sale a few weeks ago, it's entirely possible that players already picked these up. Also known as the Stompies, these are purely movement based exotics for Hunters. Its intrinsic perk, Hydraulic Boosters, increase player sprint speed and slide distance. In addition, this exotic further improves High Jump, Strafe Jump, and Triple Jump.

For platform heavy activities like Raids or exotic quests like Harbinger or Presage, these boots can be a lifesaver. While there are much better options for more combat specific modes such as Crucible, the St0mp-EE5 should absolutely be a part of any Hunter's armor rotation. Unlike last time, the roll on these is quite high at a 66 total. While Recovery and Discipline are on the poor side, they're certainly worth taking a look at this week.

Arc Enhanced. Stat Values:

Mobility +14
Resilience +16
Recovery +2
Discipline +2
Intellect +12
Strength +20

Wormgod Caress - Titan gauntlets

This week, Titans can pick up the Wormgod Caress gauntlets. A couple years ago, these were infamously known to be much stronger than intended thanks to a damage output bug. The bug impacted the exotic perk on this gear known as Burning Fists which increases melee damage after each melee kill. The effect was always intended to be on a timer, allowing players to stack damage for a set time, but the bug actually let players retain the buff permanently.

Even with the glitch having been eradicated, Wormgod Caress may not be the best exotic gear out there for Titans. Still, under the right circumstances, it can be beneficial and is worth a look for those interested. Unfortunately, the roll isn't great this week, as the lowest out of the three coming in at only 61.

Solar Enhanced. Stat Values:

Mobility +14
Resilience +10
Recovery +9
Discipline +6
Intellect +13
Strength +9

Exotic Weapon

Although it hasn't been in a news lately, Telesto 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.

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 definitely worth a buy, especially with all of the great Fusion Rifle seasonal mods available.

Additional perks: