Destiny 2 - New and Best Weapons in Episode: Heresy

Bungie / Brett Moss

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Human Made

I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love racing games, MMOs, and shooters, but I'll play just about anything.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Episode: Heresy is here, which means so are a ton of new weapons. From a really cool new Exotic to the return of weapons from one of the best raids ever, we have no shortage of fun new weapons to try out. In this article I’ll take a look at the new Exotic, episodic/seasonal weapons, and Vault of Glass reprised weapons. I’ll also give potential God Rolls for each in PVE, and some for PVP!

Lodestar (Season Pass Exotic)

Lodestar Exotic Trace Rifle — *Bungie / Brett Moss*

Exotic Perk: Arc Alignment (“Dealing Arc damage from any source aligns the battery’s coils. When alignment is complete, [super key/button] press to disengage the safety and enable hip-fired Starlight Beam to apply Jolt to any targets damaged for a short time. Aim down sights to slow the rate at which the battery drains.”)
Intrinsic Trait: Starlight Beam (“This weapon fires a low-intensity Arc beam with enhanced stability and accuracy.”)

Lodestar is a really fascinating new primary ammo Arc Trace Rifle. When ADS, it fires with a Pulse Rifle pattern of short bursts, but when hip-fired shoots a constant Trace Rifle beam. In PVE, the Arc Alignment perk is really easy to activate since it works with any Arc source, and then the massive amounts of Jolt you can apply can be really good for clearing out huge waves or individual elite enemies. I think it’s solid in PVE, but I also really like it in PVP, too. I don’t know if I’d call it a top meta pick, but it’s a lot of fun and not bad at all.

Seasonal/Episodic Weapons

Watchful Eye Machine Gun — *Bungie / Brett Moss*

Where to Get: The Nether seasonal activity

Origin Trait: Willing Vessel (“Dealing damage or defeating targets with this weapon gradually grants increased stability, handling, reload speed, and charge rate. This effect gradually decreases over time but is gained more quickly while near allies.”)

Secret Origin Trait: Runneth Over (“Reloading near allies overflows the magazine. Bows receive faster draw time and Swords receive faster charge rate.”)

The new weapons for this episode are quite a bit better than last episode’s in my opinion. While there’s a lot to be said about the Nether activity (both good and bad), the most interesting thing about its loot is the variety in “kinds.” You can obviously get the normal version of these weapons in the Nether, but there are also “shiny” pre-masterworked ones as rare drops and also Adept versions in the Expert-difficulty version of the activity.

Here’s a quick overview of each of them and a potential PVE God Roll for each (no PVP God Rolls since none of these are good in PVP).

Adamantite (Strand Auto Rifle)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Circle of Life
Perk 1: Reciprocity
Mag: Tactical Mag, Appended Mag, or Accurized Rounds
Barrel: Corkscrew Rifling, Arrowhead Brake, or Chambered Compensator

Psychopomp (Arc Grenade Launcher)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Rolling Storm
Perk 1: Ambitious Assassin or Envious Arsenal
Mag: High-Velocity Rounds
Barrel: Volatile Launch or Confined Launch

Eyes Unveiled (Void Linear Fusion Rifle)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Withering Gaze or Controlled Burst
Perk 1: Overflow or Triple Tap
Mag: Accelerated Coils or Enhanced Battery
Barrel: Corkscrew Rifling, Arrowhead Brake, or Chambered Compensator

Watchful Eye (Arc Machine Gun)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Jolting Feedback
Perk 1: Overflow
Mag: Extended Mag, Appended Mag, or Ricochet Rounds
Barrel: Corkscrew Rifling or Arrowhead Brake

Abyssal Edge (Strand Sword)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Sword Logic or Hatchling
Perk 1: Slice
Mag: Balanced Guard
Barrel: Hungry Edge

Vault of Glass Weapons

The refresh for VOG weapons is pretty much the same as previous raid weapon updates we’ve seen. Each gun is still the same at its core, but with some new perks to make them able to keep up with everything we’ve gotten since they were released. Here’s a rundown of each.

Fatebringer (Kinetic Hand Cannon)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Firefly
Perk 1: Explosive Payload
Mag: Accurized Rounds or Tactical Mag
Barrel: Corkscrew Rifling

PVP God Roll:

Perk 2: Eye of the Storm
Perk 1: Keep Away
Mag: Accurized Rounds
Barrel: Hammer-Forged Rounds

Vision of Confluence (Solar Scout Rifle)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Explosive Payload or Firefly
Perk 1: Incandescent or Heal Clip
Mag: Tactical Mag, Appended Mag, or Accurized Rounds
Barrel: Corkscrew Rifling, Arrowhead Brake, or Chambered Compensator

Corrective Measure (Void Machine Gun)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Demoralize, Killing Tally, or Withering Gaze
Perk 1: Destabilizing Rounds
Mag: Steady Rounds or Appended Mag
Barrel: Arrowhead Brake or Corkscrew Rifling

Hezen Vengeance

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Bait and Switch
Perk 1: Envious Arsenal
Mag: Impact Casing or Alloy Casing
Barrel: Quick Launch

Found Verdict (Arc Shotgun)

PVE God Roll:

Perk 2: Trench Barrel or Rolling Storm
Perk 1: Rewind Rounds
Mag: Assault Mag
Barrel: Rifled Barrel or Smooth Bore

PVP God Roll:

Perk 2: Opening Shot
Perk 1: Slideshot
Mag: Accurized Rounds
Barrel: Rifled Barrel

Best Overall Weapons in Episode: Heresy

Episode: Heresy Artifact — *Bungie / Brett Moss*

This season has a much more exciting meta than last season did, honestly. Since the Artifact heavily favors Void, Arc, and Strand weapons, those are obviously favored. Volatile Rounds is everywhere this season, so Void Machine Guns might just be the best-in-slot right now for most content. There are also a lot of Exotic Arc weapons like Delicate Tomb and Thunderlord which are seeing tons of use.

Then, of course, we have Fusion Rifles. With the Particle Reconstruction perk in the Artifact (very similar to Particle Deconstruction a while back) and an anti-Champ mod as well, Fusions will be everywhere in Nightfall Strikes and other difficult content. Fusion + Linear Fusion (probably both Arc) is the best loadout you can have right now in Nightfalls, with maybe a bit of Void added in depending on the activity. Queenbreaker Bow is having the resurgence of a lifetime right now after years of irrelevance, so make sure you have it in your inventory (and find/complete its new Catalyst as well).

Destiny 2 – New and Best Weapons in Episode: Heresy

Let's take a look at the newest weapons in Destiny 2 and then I'll share my take on the best ones to get.

Lodestar (Season Pass Exotic)