Is That Worth Buying?

Analysis 83 comments
Published on: Feb 06, 2015 @ 3:36

Xûr is in town offering new gear. What’s worth your hard-earned Strange Coins?

Remember to finish the Urn of Sacrifice quest before he leaves!

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Inventory

Item Class Subclass Type Strange Coin
Plan C Any Any Fusion Rifle 17
The Glasshouse Titan Defender Helm 13
Don’t Touch Me Hunter Any Gauntlets 13
Sunbreakers Warlock Sunsinger Gauntlets 13

You can also test your luck with an Exotic gauntlet Engram! We have reviews for each of the Exotic gauntlets.

[divider]Plan C

Plan C is once again available for purchase.

With the patch coming in February, fusion rifles are going to experience a few changes:

  • Blast pattern on a Fusion Rifle burst cone is a little wider.
  • Initial starting ammo is reduced across all ammo stats. This is change primarily affects The Crucible.
  • Starting a Crucible match, you’ll have less Fusion Rifle ammo in reserve.

We have a full review for this weapon. This fusion rifle also made our Top 5 Fusion Rifles list and Tier 2 PvP list!

It makes a wonderful secondary for critical moments, especially if you love using fusion rifles.

Should I buy it?

The gun is balanced and has great stats overall when compared to other Fusion Rifles, and has the quickest reload speed.

This weapon’s defining perk allows for a very quick charge time, which will only activate when you switch to it, and has a cooldown. You can quickly whip it out and get off a devastating shot that can swing a firefight to your favor.

It works well even when using it as a primary since it holds five rounds in the magazine. There’s also a decent amount of options for upgrading its stability or range/accuracy so you can customize the weapon to your playstyle a little more. It’s definitely a balanced weapon overall.

Fusion Rifles are very powerful in the Crucible, and this is one no exception. It’s worth picking up, so if you enjoy using Fusion Rifles, buy this!

Alternatives

Stats Compared to Other Fusion Rifles

  • Above Average: Range, Stability, Reload Speed
  • Below Average: Charge Rate (except after switching to it)

Notable Talents

You’ll want to maximize your range, so go with Field Choke and Hammer Forged.

  • Hip Fire – This weapon has bonus accuracy while firing from the hip.
  • Plan C – Charge and equip times are very short immediately after weapon swa

[divider]The Glasshouse (Defender)the glasshouse exotic helm

The Glasshouse is designed for Defender Titans who are adamant about increasing the effectiveness of Blessing and Weapons of Light.

This helm has a hefty 118/127 Intellect, higher than the last time it was sold.

Talents

  • Rain Blows – Increases melee attack speed.
  • Quintessence Transfer – Replenish Super energy when you kill an enemy with a grenade.
  • Bathed in Light – Blessing of Light and Weapons of Light last longer.

Should I buy it?

Bathed in Light will extend the duration of either of those talents by 5 seconds, allowing it to stay active for a total of 15 seconds.

Blessing of Light grants you and any allies who pass through the shield a bonus shield that stacks on top of your existing health. This shield normally has 65 health (boosted to 95 with the Illumination talent). If the shield is damaged or destroyed, you can simply step back into your Ward to regenerate it. It’s helpful in situations where you need some extra muscle to break an enemy position.

Weapons of Light is a powerful damage bonus, granting you and any friendly Guardians who pass through it a 25% damage bonus (35% with the Illumination talent). Weapons of Light gives Ward of Dawn some offensive bite and can result in more sustained damage being dealt over the lifespan of Ward of Dawn.

Blessing/Weapons of Light are obviously best used when your teammates can take advantage of it too.

Similar to the Helm of Saint-14, this helm also has Rain Blows, an excellent perk for both PvP and PvE.

This helm will give you Intellect, which meshes well with Quintessence Transfer, increasing your Super recharge speed when you land grenade kills.

Both the Helm of Saint-14 and The Glasshouse are worthy Exotics, but The Glasshouse is better used in situations where your team will benefit from Bathed in Light, while if you’re going to be overwhelmed like in Crota’s End, the Helm of Saint-14 might be a better choice.

Alternatives

[divider]Don’t Touch Medon't touch me exotic gauntlets

The Don’t Touch Me gauntlets… yet again. If you’re planning on buying these, make sure to buy an Engram first, that way you might be able to save on Coins.

For anyone curious, Ikaheka’s Hooks are coming with the House of Wolves, and we gave our initial thoughts about them in this video.

These gauntlets only have 104/111 Discipline, but that’s a higher roll than the last time they were sold.

While these technically aren’t a Bladedancer-only item, Bladedancer’s will benefit more from Defensive Reflex using their Shadowjack talent.

Talents

  • Special Weapon Loader – Increases the reload speed of all Special Weapons.
  • Inverse Shadow – Increased Super energy gained from killing minions of the Darkness.
  • Defensive Reflex – Taking damage from a melee attack makes you briefly invisible.

Should I buy it?

These are definitely worth buying for PvE! The perks for these gauntlets are excellent, and you’re able to use them on both subclasses.

The Defensive Reflex perk allows you to quickly escape any enemy in PvE if they get too close for comfort. Using the Shadowjack talent will increase your invisibility after getting struck to 6 seconds (3 more seconds than normal)!

Don’t Touch Me will also increase your Super energy from kills in PvE, a great addition of course, but unfortunately not one you can use outside of PvE.

The perks on these gauntlets are very well rounded, and will be extremely helpful in situations where you’re getting swarmed, especially in Crota’s End.

While Defensive Reflex could be useful in PvP too, it’s unlikely that people will lose sight of you that easily for it to be effective. If you need some better PvE armor, pick these up.

Alternatives

[divider]Sunbreakers (Sunsinger)sunbreakers exotic review

A frequent product from Xûr! These gauntlets come with 98/105 Intellect, more than the last time they were sold.

Talents

  • Special Weapon Loader – Increases the reload speed of all Special Weapons.
  • Serpent’s Tail – Causing damage with a melee reduces your grenade cooldown.
  • Helium Cycle – Increases the duration of your Solar Grenade.

Should I buy it?

The infamous Sunbreakers… love or hate them, if you’re a Sunsinger you should probably have these.

The perks these provide are fantastic if you set your talents right. Helium Cycle doubles your Solar grenade’s duration. Unfortunately it doesn’t affect Dragon’s Breath solar flare.

An additional Solar grenade with Gift of the Sun is crucial if you want to take advantage of Sunbreakers‘ perks. Song of Flame and Radiant Will are also great as they will have Radiance last longer and have your grenades recharge faster.

In PvP and PvE alike, Sunbreakers give the same benefit. More control over areas and more damage output for your grenades. The Solar grenade can be useful in encounters when enemies come through predictable chokepoints, and for bosses that have multiple points that can be damaged simultaneously such as the Devil Walker.

Since there’s Exotic gauntlet Engrams for sale, buy at least one of those first before buying the Sunbreakers.

Aesthetically, they’re amazing. The bright orange fiery plates will never go unnoticed.

Alternatives