Xûr is in town, unfortunately offering pre-HoW gear. What’s worth your hard-earned Strange Coins?
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Inventory
| Item | Class | Subclass | Type | Strange Coin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Last Word | Any | Any | Hand Cannon | 23 |
| No Backup Plans (106/111 STR) | Titan | Defender | Gauntlets | 13 |
| Radiant Dance Machines (136/144 STR) | Hunter | Any | Boots | 13 |
| Starfire Protocol (166/175 INT) | Warlock | Sunsinger | Chest | 13 |
Try your luck with the Exotic Engram – you’ll have a chance at new Exotics!
[divider]The Last Word
Check out how we place it in our PvP and PvE Exotic tier list, and also our full review.
Should I buy it?
If you enjoy the Crucible, and prefer hand cannons, it doesn’t get much better than this. For 1v1 encounters in close-medium range, it simply dominates!
This weapon’s rate of fire is insanely high for a hand canon; it’s tied with a few other hand cannons for the highest rate of fire, including Thorn.
The Fan Fire perk that comes standard, which essentially makes it fully automatic, will allow you to make short work of your opponents. Once fully upgraded, The Last Word also boasts a very high stability, which will further add to your quick target acquisition and dispatching.
The time-to-kill on this weapon is also incredibly low. With Fan Fire it can sometimes be difficult to aim your shots, so it’s definitely recommended to focus on upgrading the stability.
This weapon’s “Last Word” perk increases it’s damage, stability, and hip-fire precision damage; You can 2-shot players in the Crucible!
Having said all that, if you are looking for a well-rounded PvE primary, then this isn’t the weapon for you. The Last Word is simply outclassed by many other hand cannons for PvE.
Stats Compared to Other Hand Cannons
- Above Average: Rate of Fire, Reload Speed
- Below Average: Impact, Range, Stability
Notable Perks
- Hip Fire: This weapon has bonus accuracy while firing from the hip.
- Last Word: Bonus damage and stability. Extra precision damage when firing from the hip.
[divider]No Backup Plans
These gauntlets are designed around doing one thing and doing it well. With a pure Strength roll and a signature ability that increases Force Barrier duration, you’re only going to find these worthwhile if you’re adept at scoring melee kills. These ranked in tier 2 for our Titan Exotic PvP & PvE list.
It’s got a great 106/111 Strength roll, while the max is about 116.
Talents
- Special Weapon Loader – Increases the reload speed of all Special Weapons.
- Rain Blows – Increases melee attack speed.
- Improved Disintegrate – Increases the duration of Force Barrie
Should I buy it?
Everyone knows Titan’s like to punch things, and the quicker you can do that, the better. These perks are useful in PvE as well as PvP. If you’re a Defender, and don’t have any Defender-specific Exotics (such as Helm of Saint-14), then pick these up.
However, though arguably more universally helpful than the Crest of Alpha Lupi, these gauntlets are also far too restrictive. For low-stress content, they can reach their full potential, helping to grant near-constant uptime on the useful Force Barrier by landing easy melee kills on low level enemies.
[divider]Radiant Dance Machines
These boots are specific for a certain type of player. Some may find these helpful if they value quicker movement, but Exotic helms, gauntlets, or chests would be a better option most of the time.
They’ve got an average 136/144 Strength roll.
Talents
- Heavy Weapon Ammo – Increases the amount of Heavy Weapon ammunition you can carry.
- The Dance – You move more quickly while aiming your weapon.
Dancing speed increase by 200%!
Should I buy it?
Radiant Dance Machines are built around being more mobile while aiming. For a high mobility build, they can be a solid choice for a Hunter that’s trying to avoid crossfire.
“The Dance” perk won’t give you a huge increase in speed, but it is helpful enough to build around. Your ADS movement speed will be almost doubled from what’s normal.
Combine these boots with the MIDA Multi-Tool and high agility, and it’ll be like floating on air! If you want to further increase your speed, be sure to use the “Path Unknown” and “Way of the Drifter” talents.
These boots are for a very niche crowd, and will be most beneficial in the Crucible. If you are looking for a new toy to play with in PvP, they’re worth trying, but generally not useful enough to warrant consistent use.
We don’t recommend using these in PvE, since you won’t find much benefit from moving faster while aiming.
[divider]Starfire Protocol
For this chest, it comes down to how much you enjoy the Fusion grenades. If you prefer Solar or Firebolt, the Heart of the Praxic Fire or Sunbreakers might be a better Exotic option.
This chest has an excellent 166/175 Intellect roll – nearly the maximum.
Talents
- Fusion Rifle Ammo – Increases the amount of Fusion Rifle ammunition you can carry.
- Heavy Weapon Ammo – Increases the amount of Heavy Weapon ammunition you can carry.
- Starfire Protocol – Gain an additional Fusion Grenade.
Should I buy it?
Starfire Protocol’s main perk will give you an additional fusion grenade, but this does not stack with the Gift of the Sun talent, so you can only hold 2 grenades.
While this does pigeonhole you into taking Fusion grenades, it does free up the Angel of Light or Touch of Flame talent.
Touch of Flame allows your Fusion grenades to always ignite enemies, and in PvP this will help finish off anyone who you failed to stick the grenade to. Double this with Viking Funeral for extra ignite damage!
This chest piece will also increase your fusion rifle ammo and heavy ammo reserves, similar to the Heart of the Praxic Fire.
Forgetting about the increased ammo you can carry, this chest piece is worth buying for the additional Fusion grenade alone, assuming you enjoy using that grenade. The Fusion grenade deals 100 damage in a small blast radius and an additional 65 bonus damage when stuck to a target.
The Intellect on this armor increase the charge rate of Radiance, getting your double Fusion grenades back quicker than they would normally.