taken king strike specific loot

Review: Taken King Strike-Specific Loot

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Published on: Sep 27, 2015 @ 14:29

The Taken King has a few items that can only be obtained by completing a certain Strike. This article will outline each item and where you can get it from.

Playing consecutive Strikes will grant a ‘streak bonus’ that gives extra rep and better chances for loot drops until you return to Orbit. Plus, encounters with enemies now allow for up to three different dialogue sets.

The guns are dropped with random perks, and reforging isn’t an option, but this guide will offer some perks to look out for. Click a weapon to see all of its potential perks.

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The Sunless Cell

Darkblade Helm | Titan Helmet

Darkblade’s Spite | Fusion Rifle

Alak-Hul’s fusion rifle comes in with near-max Impact, equivalent to the Praetorian Foil. Overall, high Impact fusion rifles are great for staggering enemies, and if you can increase their stability and manage their long charge times, they can dominate the Crucible. The gun will drop with a random roll, and to increase the value of the gun in PvE and PvP, you’ll want to look for ways to increase stability.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Hip Fire
  2. Braced Frame/Accelerated Coils
  3. Hot Swap/Rangefinder

With stability and accuracy perks, high impact fusion rifles become lazers in Crucible. Accelerated Coils can make up for the abysmal charge time of 12 at the cost of some impact, but you will retain the ability for a 1 shot kill in PvP. In PvE, the Darkblade’s Spite has use in its impact alone, able to stagger high-stake targets and deal massive burst damage.

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Fallen S.A.B.E.R

Devouring Maw | Warlock Helmet

Baron’s Ambition | Machine Gun

This machine gun is reminiscent of a Zombie Apocalypse. Because of its magazine size (note: not actually 87), it’s not a bad option if you like to fire fast and without prejudice, but we would recommend shelving it in PvP due to high-impact MGs ruling the land in raw DPS. The best use for this gun will be firing at high-priority targets, so you’ll be looking for perks that aid stability to keep your aim steady as well as reload perks in order to decrease time wasted on reload animations.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Counterbalance/Spray and Play
  2. Perfect Balance
  3. Grenadier/Hidden Hand/Feeding Frenzy

Smart Drift Control and Counterbalance will do wonders in keeping the recoil of this Machine Gun more predictable, but if you want more impact, Aggressive Ballistics will do the job. In the middle, Perfect Balance offers the explicit benefit of increased stability with no tradeoffs. If your Baron’s Ambition drops with either Spray and Play or Feeding Frenzy, you’ll have a way to rectify the abysmal base reload speed of 33. Hidden Hand and Rangefinder will offer more accuracy, a welcome bonus to any machine gun.

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Shield Brothers

Mau’ual’s Maulers | Titan Gauntlets

Treads Upon Stars | Scout Rifle

The rate of fire and impact class is similar to the Vision of Confluence, but with a terrible stability rating of 38, it needs some help to stay on target. With this lack of stability, we will hope for PvE friendly perk that rewards precision in order to give it some viability, because in PvP, the gun’s above-average range fails to provide enough of an advantage to overcome its lack of stability.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Zen Moment
  2. Perfect Balance/Injection Mold/Hand-Laid Stock
  3. Outlaw/Firefly/Hidden Hand

Red Dot-ORS fits perfectly with the precision element of Scout Rifles, offering a small stability increase. Zen Moment is a clear choice to shore up stability concerns, and Injection Mold/Hand-Laid Stock may not be bad options to forfeit some range for better stability. Firefly and Outlaw are awesome in PvE, where precision kills are abundant, and if you want to try the Tread Upon Stars in PvP, look for Hidden Hand.

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Echo Chamber

Theosyion Vibrissae | Warlock Gauntlets

Imago Loop | Hand Cannon

This hand cannon offers you the same base impact and rate of fire as the Fatebringer, Hawkmoon and Jewel of Osiris. It’s stability and reload speed are below average, but with a clip size of 12, there are a ton of good rolls, including perks that sacrifice clip size for other bonuses.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Outlaw
  2. Hammer Forged/Smallbore/Braced Frame
  3. Firefly/Hidden Hand

If you like using legendary handcannons in PvP, Smallbore or Braced Frame may help you get the precision kills needed to activate Outlaw’s insane reload speeds while only sacrificing a few rounds of the already large clip size. In PvE, a roll of Outlaw and Firefly will make this gun your new Fatebringer. Hammer Forged offers a bonus to range with no strings attached, which preserves your magazine size for extended firing times.

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The Shadow Thief

Cloak of Taniks | Hunter Cloak

Does Not Bow | Auto Rifle

This may be one of the best Auto Rifles, with the right perks. It boasts the high-impact and slow rate of fire similar to Year One’s Shadow Price and The Summoner, but it offers a magazine size of 30 that eclipses anything before it of this archetype.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Rangefinder/Crowd Control
  2. Perfect Balance
  3. Hidden Hand/Counterbalance

If you haven’t noticed a trend yet, it’s that stability is king in Destiny. Rangefinder will immediately shore up the gun’s range concerns, and Crowd Control can help you chain kills in Crucible if you’re fast enough. Counterbalance will make recoil more predictable, and Perfect Balance is a clear winner in the middle tree for offering no tradeoff for stability. With a low range and not enough reload and clip size to compensate, perks like Smallbore and Hand-Laid Stock just aren’t as viable as they are on other weapons.

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Will of Crota

Omnigul Bond | Warlock Bond

Grasp of Malok | Pulse Rifle

The Grasp of Malok should remind you of a Pulse Rifle that came in handy in the Omnigul fight in Year One: The Oversoul Edict. The Grasp of Malok has a high rate of fire, but finally, we see a strike-specific weapon with decent stability.

Recommended Perks:

  1. Rangefinder/Outlaw
  2. Smallbore/Hand Loaded/Perfect Balance
  3. Feeding Frenzy/Third Eye

If you want to use this Pulse Rifle at closer ranges, go with the Red-Dot-OES. The Focus Lens FLS2 can help shore up range and give you a better view of longer-distance targets in PvP. Outlaw or Feeding Fenzy will offer you reload speed, while Rangefinder, Smallbore and Handloaded can increase range. Perfect Balance still has a place here, as the no-risk benefit of stability can make this pulse rifle a headshot machine in PvP.

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Cerberus Vae III

The Dust Palace

The Undying Mind

Summoning Pits?

Unsure if this is actually dropping yet; it may or may not drop from The Summoning Pits.

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Shaders & Emblems

These can drop from any Strike.