Well, I think we all expected some changes to come down the developer pipeline after the Season of Defiance. A few Exotics simply claimed the top spot during this season in the wake of the Lightfall game adjustments and never left. But will these tweaks change the way players play? Here are all the Exotic changes coming to Destiny 2’s Season of the Deep.
All Exotic Changes Coming in Destiny 2’s Season of the Deep
In a blog post by Bungie, which you’ll see below in a few seconds, it was announced that24 Exoticswould get adjustments going into the Season of the Deep. But I’ll be upfront and say that none of these changes seem Exotic breaking. Most of them have just been slightly tweaked, and we’ll just have to see how, and if, that changes loadouts.
So, let’s dive right into it.
SEALED AHAMKARA GRASPS
This Exotic will now reload the magazine of all of your weapons when you defeat a target with your powered melee, and for 5 seconds after dealing melee damage you gain increased movement speed and jump height.
ATHRYS’S EMBRACE
Gain additional strength while the Exotic’s Weighted Knife damage bonus is active.
OATHKEEPER
When fully drawn, Bows gain a bonus to damage against combatants that increases as you hold the draw but deactivates after a few seconds.
RAIJU’S HARNESS
When deactivating your Arc Staff Super, you create a blinding explosion that temporarily increases your Arc weapon damage. However, blocking with Whirlwind Guard will no longer consume energy more slowly.
RADIANT DANCE MACHINES
Kills while your free dodge is active extend the duration of free dodging. No longer deactivates when you get too far away from enemies. Deactivates after using Suspending Slam.
Removed airborne effectiveness penalties. You only gain increased speed, slide distance, and improved jumping while your dodge energy is full.
MASK OF BAKRIS
Changed to use a tier-4 non-stacking weapon damage bonus (which behaves the same as the non-stacking damage bonuses provided by Surge mods). Damage bonus increased in PvE from 10% to 25%, and now grants a 6% bonus to weapon damage in PvP. No longer stacks with Surge leg armor mods, but provides a larger bonus than can be achieved with 3 such mods equipped.
POINT-CONTACT CANNON BRACE
Lightning strikes now jolt targets. Increased PvE damage per lightning bolt from 50 to 200. Being amplified now increases the damage of the lightning strikes by 50% instead of extending their range.
NO BACKUP PLANS
This is a complete rework, replacing the old functionality entirely. Now provides a moderate benefit to the airborne effectiveness and reload speed of Shotguns. While you have a Void overshield, Shotguns deal additional damage and Shotgun final blows refresh your overshield. While using a Void subclass, rapid Shotgun final blows or defeating a powerful enemy with a Shotgun grants you a Void overshield and kicks off your health regeneration.
SECOND CHANCE
Shield throw melee now weakens enemies. Stunning a Barrier Champion with your shield throw melee grants a single full melee charge.
STRONGHOLD
Replaced the healing from blocking shots precisely with significant damage reduction (50% in PvE, 10% in PvP) while blocking with a Sword. When you stop blocking, gain restoration x2, with a duration that increases based on the number of shots you blocked.
ETERNAL WARRIOR
Rapid takedowns with an Arc weapon grant an escalating bonus to Arc weapon damage, using the same non-stacking damage bonuses used by Surge mods. This can go all the way up to the tier-4 damage bonus, granting a damage bonus of 25% in PvE and 6% in PvP, providing a larger bonus than can be achieved with three Surge mods equipped. While at the tier-4 damage bonus, Arc kills refresh the bonus’s duration. After your Fist of Havoc Super ends, you gain the tier-4 damage bonus.
KHEPRI’S HORN
The Solar damage wave now scorches targets.
PATH OF THE BURNING STEPS
Changed to use the non-stacking weapon damage bonuses used by Surge mods. This can go all the way up to the tier-4 damage bonus, granting a damage bonus of 25% in PvE and 6% in PvP, providing a larger bonus than can be achieved with three Surge mods equipped. While at the tier-4 damage bonus, Solar kills refresh the bonus’s duration. Becoming encased immediately grants you the tier-4 damage bonus.
DUNEMARCHERS
Reduced the range of the chain damage from 20m to 12m and PvP damage from 85 to 50.
RELATED:How to Get the Swarmers Exotic in Destiny 2
VESPER OF RADIUS
Your rifts emit an Arc shockwave every 5 seconds that deals damage (200 in PvE and 70 in PvP). Enemies defeated by these shockwaves explode for an additional 100 damage and, if you have an Arc subclass equipped, also blind nearby enemies.
CHROMATIC FIRE
Increased the radius and damage of the explosion created by precision Kinetic takedowns. The explosion also applies a status effect to targets damaged by it, depending on which subclass you have equipped: blind (Arc), scorch (Solar), slow (Stasis), sever (Strand), weaken (Void).
DAWN CHORUS
Daybreak projectile’s damage bonus has been increased and no longer is reliant on the enemy being scorched.
SANGUINE ALCHEMY
Standing in a rift grants a non-stacking bonus to weapon damage matching your subclass damage type. This damage bonus is the equivalent of 2 Surge leg mods (17% PvE and 4.5% PvP).
CLAWS OF AHAMKARA
Powered melee kills create an Orb of Power. When Heavy Handed mods are equipped, increases the potency of the orb spawned (no more than 1 orb can be spawned per enemy takedown).
MANTLE OF BATTLE HARMONY
Weapon bonus damage changed to tier-4 when Super is fully charged, increasing damage bonus in PvE from 20% to 25% and reducing the damage bonus from 15% to 6% in PvP. No longer stacks with Surge leg armor mods, but provides a larger bonus than can be achieved with three such mods equipped. Damage bonus only applies to weapons that match your subclass damage type, and now stacks with Empowering Rift and other similar damage bonuses. Extended base duration of this bonus from 6 seconds to 10 seconds (PvE) and 3 seconds to 5 seconds (PvP).
OPHIDIAN ASPECT
Removed the extended melee range.
PROMETHIUM SPUR
Grants Rift energy for any Solar weapon takedown, with more energy granted for Solar weapon takedowns while standing in a rift. Also, you now have to be standing in a rift when you get a final blow for the Exotic to consume your class ability energy and create a rift at the target’s location.
STARFIRE PROTOCOL
Reduced the amount of energy gained per instance of damage from 20% to 2.5%. Empowered weapon kills now grant 20% grenade energy.
Well, what do you think? None of these adjustments seem that major, and most players will likely find that the Exotics they love are still useable. But if you’re thinking about trying out something new, why not hang up the ol’ Starfire Protocol and try out its cousin, Phoenix Protocol. Here’s our build for it:Best Builds for Phoenix Protocol in Destiny 2.
Daphne Fama
A Staff Writer at Prima Games since 2022, Daphne Fama spends an inordinate amount playing games of all stripes but has a soft spot for horror, FPS, and RPGs. When she’s not gaming, she’s an author and member of the Horror Writers Association with a debut novel coming out in 2025. In a previous life, she was an attorney but found she preferred fiction to contracts and forms
