Destiny 2: Xur Exotic Armor, Weapon, and Recommendations for Aug 23

The annual European event Gamescom took place in Germany this week, giving Destiny 2 fans even more details and information on the upcoming expansion, Shadowkeep. Bungie released two new cinematic trailers, one showcasing the Moon with the other teasing the Season of the Undying by showing off the Vex being formed and re-entering the Black Garden.

The much anticipated Cross Save feature also officially went live this week, letting Guardians not only prepare their accounts for the October 1 update, but to also start using it if they own the game on multiple platforms. While licenses for various expansion content isn't eligible to transfer between platforms, using Cross Save will transfer characters, Eververse Silver, and gear to be available for use on any linked platform.

While fans continue to wait for more livestreams from Bungie, the weekend exotic merchant Xur has finally returned to the game world with a new stock of items for Destiny 2 players to pick through. Here's where players can find Xur, and check out what exotic gear is in his inventory, for the weekend of August 23, 2019.

Where is Xur?

This weekend, players should head to Nessus once more. Instead of his usual spot in the tree, Xur is back on the Cabal barge.

From the Director, head to Nessus and load into Watcher's Grave. Once loaded in, run forward until the zone opens up. The Golden Barge is floating nearby with Xur hanging out towards the back of the ship near the treasure chests.

Class Armor

There are finally some good armor options for all three classes this week, though a couple of them remain usable under very specific conditions. As always , players can purchase one Fated Engram each week which has a chance to unlock an exotic from the Forsaken expansion.

Here are Xur's three gear pieces for this weekend:

Crown of Tempests - Warlock helmet

This Warmind exotic hasn't been seen in quite a while, since the start of the year in fact. Not much has changed since then, unfortunately, as this is still an exotic item that is rewarded to Warlock players for finishing the Warmind campaign.

The other aspect to this gear are the rolls it has. Light Reactor and Fusion Rifle Reserves makes this particularly powerful when paired with a weapon like the Loaded Question, Jotunn or Erentil. This is a powerful exotic that all Stormcaller Warlocks should own.

Random Gear Rolls:

Mobility OR Restorative
Bow Targeting, Machine Gun Targeting, Light Reactor
Fusion Rifle Reserves OR Machine Gun Reserves

destiny-secret-super-exploit-fix-stormcaller

Shinobu's Vow - Hunter gauntlets

Certainly a step up from last week's disappointing option, the Shinobu's Vow gauntlets still won't move the needle all that much for Hunters. New Tricks is the Intrinsic Perk on this armor, essentially giving Arcstriders an extra skip grenade (as long as that is selected as the grenade type). In addition, any damage done to enemies will return a bit of grenade energy.

Having an extra grenade is always a good thing regardless of the activity, though this one has very specific requirements and likely won't impact all Hunters. For those Arcstriders who enjoy using Skip grenades, this can be a powerful tool. However, it will also force the player to miss out on using arguably better exotic gear like the Raiden Flux, which increases the damage and duration of the Arcstrider super. Whether that trade off is worth it is up to the player. There are certainly better options out there, but if used correctly, this item can ensure that skip grenade players always have something to throw.

Random Gear Rolls:

Mobility OR Resilience
Submachine Gun Loader, Momentum Transfer, Fastball
Grenade Launcher Scavenger OR Special Ammo Finder

Ashen Wake - Titan gauntlets

Arguably the worst exotic on sale this week, the Ashen Wake gauntlets are specifically for Sunbreaker Titans. Bring the Heat makes all thrown fusion grenades explode on impact and gives the Titan increased throw speed. Some players liken this exotic to basically being able to throw fireballs at enemies.

This is another situational exotic where each player's mileage will vary. It's a great exotic for taking down major enemies quickly and is capable of taking a players health down enough to be one shot in PvP. There are certainly better Titan exotics out there, but fusion grenade users will likely want to have this on hand.

Random Gear Rolls:

Restorative OR Resilience
Momentum Transfer, Submachine Gun Loader, Linear Fusion Rifle Loader
Heavy Ammo Finder OR Special Ammo Finder

Exotic Weapon

For the first time ever, Xur is selling the Arbalest, a kinetic linear fusion rifle that was introduced a few months ago during the Revelry event. Made to look like a crossbow, the Arbalest has an intrinsic perk that essentially makes it fire like one as well. Compounding Force makes the weapon fire slugs that cause massive damage to enemies that are protected by an elemental shield. Paired with that is the Legendary trait Disruption Break which temporarily makes enemies more vulnerable to kinetic damage when an elemental shield is broken.

destiny 2 how to get exotic arbalest revelry event

Because of those perks, the Arbalest shines under certain situations such as running the Outbreak Perfected mission or taking down Envoys or Blockers in Gambit. It's a great support weapon when going up against tougher activities and players have even reported success with it in the Crucible. Overall, the Arbalest is a solid all around weapon and is definitely worth the price this weekend.

Additional perks for this weapon are: