The Eight ‘Destiny 2’ Exotics To Watch With Beyond Light’s Sandbox Changes

Destiny 2

Destiny 2 is making a number of sandbox changes for the arrival of Beyond Light, many of them focused on totally reshuffling the hand cannon spectrum, but a few that touch on other weapons as well.

I thought I would sift through the current exotic selection, all weapons that are not being sunset, and advise you to give a certain list a second look, given the changes these weapons are about to undergo. Some may be more transformed than others, but I am expecting big things from a few of these.

Here’s the list which yes, is over half hand cannons, given the changes at hand:

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Sturm – As a 110 hand cannon, Sturm is getting buffed to become a 120 instead. It’s always been low-key solid for those who bother trying to use it, and has seen an increase in popularity once Drang took off as a secondary. Drang is not being sunset, and Sturm just got better with this buff so yeah, keep an eye on this one.

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Thorn – I know that some people are sad that Thorn won’t “feel” the same when it changes from 150 RPM to 140. But guess what that does? Apparently that change will allow it to two-tap at any resilience when it has its buff, so it’s about to be a whole lot stronger than it is now. Like potentially Destiny 1 Thorn level, depending on how it goes. This may be the most significant PvP change in the game, fundamentally, if it pans out as expected.

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Ace of Spades – Ace has already been a 140 this whole time, so bringing others down to its RPM level may mean it performs better by comparison, plus it’s getting a range buff. Always a strong pick, and I expect you’ll see a lot of it.

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Malfeasance – Fan favorite Malfeasance is not getting an RPM change, but it is getting a hilariously large magazine size buff, and it should now have 19-20 rounds in the chamber with the size change for 180 RPMs. Maybe I’ll go back to using this in PvE more.

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Sunshot – Sunshot is the only hand cannon being left at 150 RPM, so it gets to retain that fire rate while others lose it. I don’t know if this will be enough of a boost for it to become meta across any mode, as I have a hunch it was left this way because it might have been too underpowered had it gone to 140. But it’s certainly something to experiment with come Beyond Light. Gotta melt those frozen Stasis enemies, after all.

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Jade Rabbit – So, scout rifles aren’t getting a damage buff, but they are getting an Aim Assist buff and Jade got some bug with its perk fixed. The maps aren’t great for scouts, but Jade has been low key strong for a while, so I am curious to see how it feels now.

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MIDA Multi-Tool – Many may not put MIDA on this list, but I mean, given all the other utility it has between its Mini-Tool synergy (which like Drang, is not getting sunset), its radar capabilities, its insane reload and now an Aim Assist buff? I mean, I definitely think it could be strong.

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Arbalest – I don’t really understand the changes to Arbalest so I can’t tell if this is a nerf or a buff yet. Arbalest will no longer strike shields twice, but it will do more damage to shields in general. This does not effect its crazy Aim Assist for PvP, but I am curious what this does to body damage, and for general use in PvE if perhaps it’s now even better against shields there.

Those are my picks to watch. Any that I missed there? Let me know on Twitter. Watch my thoughts on the sandbox changes below:

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