All Destiny 2 Witch Queen Exotics (2023)

After six long, tiring, arduous months, the Witch Queen has finally arrived, and what an arrival. The Witch Queen has been received with overwhelming positivity by the community. Literally every DLC was a hit, including all the exotic stuff.

We have two new pieces of armor for each of the three classes, one new Kinetic Exotic, three new Energy Exotics, and two new Heavy Exotics. One of these is, of course, the Exotic Raid, which means it's currently hidden until Vow of the Disciple drops. So I briefly reviewed each of the newDestiny 2 Witch Queen Exoticsthat we currently have access to. While I haven't had a chance to play with most of them, I've tried to provide some kind of experienced feedback on whether or not they'll be useful.

Destiny 2 Witch Queen Exotic Items List

hunter armor

Plague Rangers

As a headhunter for over seven years, I can say that the Blight Ranger exotic helmet is pretty much useless. It feels like a poor man's Graviton Forfeit, and I can't say much better about its exotic perk.

In PvE, the mid-tree bow staff is arguably one of the worst subclasses in the entire game. It has absolutely no place in any kind of endgame content, with the rare exception of the occasional GM nightfall, though Shield Titan gets the job done.QUITEto improve.

It's a bit more used in PvP, but it's far from being a META option. Therefore, increased damage and orb generation have little to no use cases. It might be worth trying the boss DPS in PvE, but that's all I can say.

renovation handles

I feel like hunters have fallen short with these new Exotics Destiny 2 Witch Queen, though I don't mind since the new Void Hunter subclass is literally broken at good levels (100% invisibility base uptime).

However, unlike Blight Ranger, Renewal Grasps is definitely worth playing with. It's possible that some decent builds can be made, though it depends on how big the twilight field is and what percentage damage is reduced.

There were some crazy Infinite Stasis Grenade Fighter builds last season, so there's a very real chance these gauntlets will go META once the numbers are cracked by the community.

Being able to completely spam a certain area with AoEs that, for example, halve enemy damage will be invaluable. Even for endgame content, as you can throw one at your squad's feet.

So watch out for when people start making versions later in The Witch Queen and Season 16.

titanic armor

Loreley's Helm of Glory

Titan is my least played subclass by far. However, when I do, I tend to play Solar most of the time.

So, with that limited experience, I'm going to come out and say that this helmet ranks pretty high, even if it's against the current BONK construction exotics.

Loreley Splendor Helm will likely have a place in both PvE and PvP content. In PvP, being able to instantly heal into a Super when critical is powerful. Granted, you want to avoid getting knocked that low in the first place.

It will be slightly less useful in PvE, although increased survivability is always welcome in Titan builds.

You won't see anyone doing this on GMs, but I think it will have its place. Also, it looks absolutely amazing. So serious.

Frost-Z

I'll confess that I've never played Behemoth Titan. As a PvE player, there was never an appeal beyond Beyond Light's initial curiosity. It's by far the worst PvE subclass in the game, so I don't have a lot of experience to talk about Hoarfrost-Z.

However, I have a high level of experience and general knowledge of the game. If you use this I would suggest staying away from this exotic if you can. The Behemoth Titans really needed something powerful to make them viable, and it's far from it.

Having more Stasis Crystals on demand is nice, but not at the expense of its exotic armor slot. That's all it really does, as the buffs are meaningless even with the increased reload speed typically sought in end-game content. It is nearly outclassed by all other META Titan Exotics, as well as being in the worst possible subclass.

sorcerer's armor

osmiomantic gloves

I play with my Warlock a lot, especially when I max out my Hunter and run out of wins/equipment to collect.

Having the advantage of playing Hunter and Warlock, I can confidently say that Bungie is absolutelyORSorcerer. That sentiment of mine is only reinforced by the Witch Queen exotics they are trying to get their hands on.

Not only are the two new Warlock Exotics worth checking out, but both are easy META options for Season 16.

Considering how powerful Stasis Towers are, any Exotics that improve Warlock Stasis Grenades will be welcome, even if it means losing the Coldsnap bonus most of the time. However, depending on how fast the reload is, we may see flexed builds with turrets and coldsnaps side by side.

I'll still be using the Eye of Another World for my Stasis Lock build, but the Gloves of Osmiomancy will be worth a try.

drying filaments

The new Void Hunter quickly became my favorite for difficult solo content, but before that was Devour Warlock.

Anyone who has played the subclass knows why. Healing on every kill with a buff upgrade can single-handedly take you through some of the most challenging solo experiences Destiny has to offer. It actually helped me get through them, including my solo Prophecy runs.

While I haven't had a lot of time to try out the new Void Warlock, I'm going to take a guess and say it hasn't changed.

Having Devour on your buff glitches essentially renders healing glitches useless, not to mention the interrupt effect. That said, it doesn't look like you need to use Void to get the perk.

Of all the new exotics, this is the one I'm most excited about. Make sure you get it as soon as possible, especially if you're a master sorcerer.

kinetic weapon

osteo scream

I hate to say it, but Enigmatic Exotics haven't been very useful in the past, and many of the Witch Queen's new Exotic weapons are very Enigmatic.

Also, weapons that track do less damage than those that fire regular old-fashioned bullets.

In other words, Osteo Striga is not that good. However, it's a lot of fun.

In PvE it should be pretty obvious why this isn't playing late game. I mean, it's a submachine gun that poisons and tracks. That is all. Not only do you not want CQC weapons for raids or GMs, but why would you give up your exotic slot for something that disappoints so much compared to something like a Gjallarhorn?

In PvP, Osteo Striga's usability is a bit more specific. Traditionally, Poison has been incredibly popular in player versus player game modes. While SMGs aren't META's best, they can certainly be used. So this must be a match made in heaven, right?

Well, this particular SMG suffers from a pretty nasty drop in damage. If your placement isn't perfect, you'll have a hard time getting good numbers.

Osteo Striga is not Dead Man's Tale, to put it like that. However, it is worth a try, even for its innovative look.

energy weapons

Intent/Action/Concurrency Threshold

Bungie has been betting big on its new Glaives. However, whether or not they can be used in end-game content remains to be seen. You wouldn't think a melee weapon would be used late game, but I tried out a Glaive invisibility hunter build and it was actually ridiculously effective. So effective that the Legendary of The Witch Queen campaign makes it ridiculously easy.

Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that Glaives will be incredibly good for certain boss encounters, depending on whether or not you get to a stage where you can go crazy hitting that boss.

So I think three-class unique glaives will find a place in the current META one way or another, particularly for hunters, but I see every class using them.

When it comes to the unique effects of all three Exotic Glaives, Edge of Intent will be by far the best of the bunch. Having a heal-on-demand turret will be incredibly valuable if your playstyle is to stay in front of enemies.

dead messenger

I will remove the PvP aspect of Dead Messenger immediately. Not so good. It's certainly better than regular GLs, but it's not a weapon archetype built for the fast-paced vertical play of Destiny's PvP scene. That doesn't mean he can't do well because he can, but he won't reach the META.

Grenade launchers have always been used in endgame PvE content. Specifically, launchers with the Flashbang perk. Dead Messenger has no blindness and nothing to fill that void.

Its Exotic Trinary Vision buff isn't good enough to make up for this loss, leaving Dead Messenger far behind compared to other Legendary Grenade Launchers.

However, as with all new exotic weapons, it's worth playing with just for fun. You might find a way to make it viable, who knows?

heavy weapons

Parasite

The parasite is... interesting. It's incredibly fun to use, and not just because you're shooting Hive worms at your enemies. It requires you to change your playstyle in a way that no other exotic does.

Your perk, Worm Hunger, gives you bonus damage in a stack. This stack maxes out at 20. To get a stack, you must kill an enemy with a non-parasitic weapon. With that in mind, it was clearly designed to hit a single target, and it does that job well.

At max stacks, you'll kill pretty much everything in the game instantly except bosses. This includes the Hive Lightbringers. However, the work required to reach that level of build isn't worth it when you can hit everything you're fighting with a rocket and call it a day.

Personally, I think Parasite will have niche use in PvE. There will be very specific encounters for which it will be META. However, I can't imagine it becoming a staple.

For PvP, it's just a grenade launcher. His buff and his other exotic buff that gives him a damage buff if you get hurt with him doesn't matter since he's strong. It can also be a regular purple launcher for all intents and purposes.

grand opening

Grand Overture is my Darkhorse choice for a META contender for Destiny 2 Witch Queen's new exotic weapons (although I die in Glaives Are Good Hill).

It won't be included in raids any time soon, as it's not designed for high DPS. Instead, I see this minigun as the world champion in many ad-heavy endgame encounters.

Essentially, Grand Overture is two weapons in one. For one, it's a powerful, slow-firing machine gun that can take down majors with ease. On the other hand, it's a rocket launcher that will decimate any group of unfortunate souls you hit.

If used correctly, you'll take down large groups of enemies with little to no effort.

Stacking rockets is easy thanks to the damage each shot of the gun deals, and each rocket kills everything it hits within reason.

Personally, I'll be trying out this minigun in content like solo dungeons and nightfall. Its ability to remove normal red bars is to be studied in the coming weeks and months.

This is my take on Grand Overture in PvE. Not sure about PvP. Machine guns have always been a good choice for heavy weapons in Crucible, but the cooldown and low rate of fire make me question their usefulness. Also, you can never carry more than one or two missiles. In the hands of a skilled player, however, it can be a powerful clutch machine.

This is our look at Destiny 2's new Witch Queen Exotics. Visit our website for more content and related guidesdestination section 2.