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Destiny 2 has a lot of weapons, which means that not all of them can be equally good at the same time. In fact, the grand majority of weapons are entirely useless or just average in the game, with a minority dominating the top meta in PVP and PVE. The same thing also goes for Exotic weapons, many of which are even worse due to niche perks and uses.
Since Exotics often have ridiculous perks and can easily become overpowered, it's understandable that Bungie has tried to bring many of them in line. However, due to power creep and meta, and ease of use, many of the game's Exotics have simply become forgotten. Here's which Exotic weapons in Destiny 2 need a buff to become relevant.
9 All Trace Rifles
Trace rifles have just been in a weird and somewhat bad spot for a while. It's not that they are bad weapons, as proven by how powerful Divinity and Ager's Scepter can be, but for many of the other ones like Merciless and Prometheus Lens, there's just no incentive to use them.
The best way to bring them back into the meta would be powerful artifact mods that would promise excellent damage and more synergy with 3.0 subclasses. The only weapon in this category that's seen any change is Divinity, which is on the brink of receiving a nerf after being a prominent pick in PVE for years.
8 All Glaives
Exotic glaives feel more like an afterthought than an actual weapon of choice in Destiny 2, and that's why they need the most help right now. The three Exotic glaives for every class are absolutely useless and weak, save maybe for the Hunter's glaive.
Even artifact mods haven't been good enough to bring these weapons back from underneath the dust they're collecting in players' vaults, so something needs to fundamentally change for them to become relevant in any shape or form.
7 Grand Overture
Grand Overture is actually not in a terrible spot, but it could use a bit of work like most other machine guns (save maybe for Thunderlord, which is in a good spot right now). Although machine guns have received significant buffs this year, they remain a niche pick for many as equipping one sacrifices a lot of damage in the heavy slot.
Grand Overture in particular as a new entry should get some special attention. It has great potential due to its special, rocket-spewing perk, and already has decent synergy with Arc 3.0, so why not give it just a bit more love to make it a valid pick?
6 Ticuu's Divination
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Bows did receive some love from Bungie, with Wish-Ender and Le Monarque receiving intrinsic anti-champion perks. That's a great start, but what about Ticuu's Divination? Many expected this Solar bow to have synergy with Solar 3.0 builds and apply scorch on targets, but this didn't end up happening.
Ticuu's has the potential to become a powerful primary weapon choice for Solar builds in particular if Bungie were to change the way it applies fire damage. It could work similarly to Incandescent, but as an Exotic, it could be more powerful.
5 Cerberus+1
Auto rifles are in a weird spot. Bungie recently stated in a TWAB that auto rifles risk quickly becoming an oppressive PVP meta, which could explain their caution when it comes to this weapon archetype. However, no one can deny that Cerberus+1 needs some serious help.
This Exotic hasn't seen use in ages and is considered more of a meme pick if anything due to its weird, niche intrinsic perk. This is one of those weapons that desperately needs some type of rework to become desirable.
4 Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo isn't a terrible auto rifle, as it charges the player's charged melee, which can be very helpful in some builds and activities. That said, it could use a bit of a push to become truly good and a decent primary pick, especially since there are only a few good Exotic kinetic weapons that are actually decent in PVE.
Perhaps a second perk or a minor buff to its stats could make Monte Carlo a powerhouse. However, the real way to make auto rifles valid again is to simply give them a powerful artifact in PVE, which will force the hands of players to pick them over other archetypes.
3 Two-Tailed Fox
The Two-Tailed Fox is another missed opportunity by Bungie when it comes to the 3.0 subclasses. This adorable rocket launcher fires two shots: a suppressing Void one and a burning Solar one. However, this isn't enough for it to have full synergy with the 3.0 subclasses.
Perhaps if the Void rocket applied weakening and the Solar would have a more powerful scorch, Two-Tailed Fox could become an absolutely devastating weapon. Of course, the effects of these two should be balanced out, to make it more of an effect-applying weapon like Gjallarhorn rather than a raw damage weapon.
2 D.A.R.C.I.
Another archetype that has been dormant for far too long in PVE is the sniper rifle. Most Exotic sniper rifles are only ever used in PVP, and even then, Legendary snipers contend with them quite easily. D.A.R.C.I. is just one of the few weapons affected by this trend.
D.A.R.C.I.'s personal assistant displays information about enemy targets and also deals more damage to them when the personal assistant is active. This alone isn't enough, however. Either it needs additional functionality, or a major damage buff to be an attractive DPS choice.
1 Whisper Of The Worm
Once upon a time, Whisper of the Worm was the king of DPS, which goes to show that even the strongest can fall to the bottom of the barrel. Since its reign as the DPS king, Whisper hasn't returned and remains a meme-tier pick at most.
Bungie has introduced some minor buffs here and there, but nothing conclusive and significant to make it meta again, despite the community begging for this fan-favorite weapon to be powerful again. Perhaps the future holds some good news for Whisper.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.