Destiny 2: 4 Overlooked Stasis Exotics Set to Dominate in Episode Revenant

With the imminent release of Destiny 2’s Episode Revenant, players can anticipate significant shifts in the game’s meta. As is typical with major updates to this popular looter shooter, Guardians will experience a wave of changes driven by balance modifications and the debut of a new seasonal artifact.

The seasonal artifact serves as Bungie’s key tool for implementing substantial meta transformations which can often feel overpowering due to their limited availability. This season, the spotlight focuses on elevating the effectiveness of Arc and Stasis subclasses.

Since the launch of The Final Shape in June, players have predominantly leaned on Solar, Strand, Void, and Prismatic subclasses; however, the introduction of Revenant is set to disrupt this established hierarchy.

Wicked Implement

Source: Monument to Lost Lights
Intrinsic: Creeping Attrition – Rapid precision hits cause targets to be slowed.
Trait: Tithing Harvest – While Creeping Attrition is in effect, destroying Stasis crystals or scoring precision final blows will generate Stasis shards. Collecting these shards replenishes the magazine.
Catalyst: This adds the Headstone and Hadopelagic Tribute perks.

The effectiveness of Wicked Implement was enhanced in The Final Shape, yet with the focus on Stasis in Revenant, this Exotic Scout Rifle is about to see an even greater boost. The upcoming seasonal perks Crystalline Converter and Served Cold—fostering increased Stasis crystal generation and enhanced class ability energy upon Stasis shard collection, respectively—will be pivotal in this escalation.

Additionally, the Anti-Barrier Scout Rifle is back in Revenant. Given that Wicked Implement can inflict both Slow and Freeze effects, it will now be capable of countering all three Champion types effectively.

Moreover, being a precision weapon, its Wind Chill perk will stack Frost Armor on precision shots, adding a welcome layer of survivability.

Salvation’s Grip

Source: The Stasis Prototype Exotic quest
Intrinsic: Cryocannon – Charged shots create a pattern of Stasis crystals on impact and freeze nearby enemies.
Trait: Uncharged projectiles deal bonus damage to Stasis crystals and frozen targets. Quickly destroying several Stasis crystals refills this weapon’s magazine from reserves.
Catalyst: N/A

Salvation’s Grip received a complete overhaul in Season of the Deep. Bungie introduced two firing modes to this heavy Grenade Launcher— one for mass Freeze effect and the other for concentrated damage against single targets.

In the upcoming season, this often-neglected launcher will benefit from seasonal perks, maximizing the advantages of Crystalline Converter and Served Cold, while also taking advantage of Grenade Launcher-specific perks like Rapid and Kinetic Impacts.

Rapid impacts increase reload speed temporarily, while Kinetic Impacts emit damaging shockwaves when sustained damage is applied.

Ager’s Scepter

Source: Monument to Lost Lights
Intrinsic: Ager’s Call – Final blows with this weapon generate a slowing effect around the defeated target.
Trait: Rega’s Refrain – Final blows with Stasis transfer ammo to the magazine from reserves.
Catalyst: Consumes Super energy to overflow the magazine and enhance the weapon’s beam with bonus damage. It also slows and freezes enemies but can only be activated when Super energy is fully charged.

While Trace Rifles have struggled due to their high ammo consumption, Ager’s Scepter is poised to gain significantly from the seasonal perks introduced in Revenant. The Brain Freeze perk allows Frozen enemies to create an AoE Slow effect on nearby foes, solidifying Ager’s position as a premier crowd-control weapon.

Furthermore, Hail the Storm complements Brain Freeze by causing damage and slowing any enemies caught in the area of effect of a shattered Stasis crystal. Much like Wicked Implement, Wind Chill can benefit here too, although the nature of Trace Rifles makes consistent precision hits more challenging.

Verglas Curve

Source: Monument to Lost Lights
Intrinsic: Hail Barrage – Final blows with this weapon generate Stasis arrows. Your next hip-fire shot will release all of them in a single volley.
Trait: Hail Storm – Direct hits with Stasis arrows freeze opponents and slow rival Guardians. Stasis arrows hitting the environment create Stasis crystals.
Catalyst: Freezing or slowing a target grants an increased draw speed for this weapon for a short time.

Verglas Curve stands out as the ultimate weapon for generating Stasis crystals aside from Power weapons and class abilities. Therefore, the Hail the Storm effect will render this Stasis bow extraordinarily effective in PvE, enabling mass freezing and area damage on every Shatter.

With maximum Hail Barrage stacks, one hip-fired volley can unleash five Stasis crystals, easily capable of clearing a room filled with enemies upon Shatter. Additionally, the effects can be further amplified through Revenant’s Tonics.

Episode Revenant will launch on October 8.

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