Is That Worth Buying?

Analysis 63 comments
 Published on: Jan 16, 2015 @ 4:55

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
Ice Breaker Any Any Sniper Rifle 17
The Glasshouse Titan Defender Helmet 13
Achlyophage Symbiote Hunter Gunslinger Helmet 13
Obsidian Mind Warlock Voidwalker Helmet 13

[divider]Ice Breakerice breaker xur

For anyone who believed the false rumor about weapons being removed from Xur’s loot table, it’s back in all its glory, so please avoid spreading false information.

Not only does the ammo regenerate at a pretty quick rate, but with the Mulligan perk, you’ll also have a chance at returned ammo when you miss! Ice Breaker is one of the best, if not the best sniper rifle for PvE.

Should I Buy It?

We have a complete review for this weapon that we published a few months ago, and it made our Tier 1 PvE list!

If you can afford it, absolutely pick up this weapon. If you can’t afford it, then make sure you do the Weekly Heroic Strike on each of your characters – and then put those coins in your Vault so that you’ll have enough!

The range and reload speed is excellent. It makes a perfect secondary to almost any loadout since you never have to worry about ammo. Ice Breaker will almost always be ready to pop off a shot or two.

It is incredible for Nightfall Missions, as it allows you to be patient with infinite ammo.  Solar Burn makes it even more deadly than it already is.

There’s really no true alternative for this weapon, so you definitely should buy it; it’s practical, versatile & powerful. Patience and Time is the other Exotic Sniper, which some prefer in PvP for its stability, recoil and rate of fire.

Ice Breaker‘s major fault is its high recoil, but for PvE it’s basically a non-issue.

Alternatives

Stats Compared to Other

  • Above Average: Range, Impact
  • Below Average: Stability, Rate of Fire

Notable Perks

  • No Backpack – Cannot be reloaded. Regenerates ammo over time.
  • Mulligan – Missing a shot has a chance to return ammo directly to the magazine.
  • Ice Breaker – Ice Breaker’s victims spontaneously combust, dealing damage to others nearby.

[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.

Perks

  • 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.

This helm will give you 113/122 Intellect, which meshes well with Quintessence Transfer, increasing your Super recharge speed when you land grenade kills.

The Glasshouse is better used in situations where your team will benefit from Bathed in Light, so keep that in mind. We do recommend picking it up though, it’s an awesome alternative to Helm of Saint-14.

Alternatives

[divider]Achlyophage Symbiote (Gunslinger)ACHLYOPHAGE SYMBIOTE

Similar to the ATS/8 ARACHNID, the Achlyophage Symbiote is a helm meant for the Gunslinger. Its unique ability will add an extra shot to your Golden Gun, arguably the best perk for a Gunslinger.

If you’d like to compare this to the other Exotic Hunter helmets, check out our full review of them here.

Perks

  • Fastball – Increases grenade throw distance.
  • Ashes to Asset – Replenish Super energy when you kill an enemy with a grenade.
  • Last Man Standing – Golden Gun gains one additional shot per use.

Should I buy it?

The helm has 104/112 Discipline, decreasing grenade cooldown time, which meshes well with the two other perks. This will help you get grenade kills further away, and if you’re able to kill enemies with your grenades, you can use your Super a little quicker.

Increasing you grenade throw distance is a great help, as it will better your chances of getting grenade kills, which will boost you Super energy charge rate, which then brings you back for more Golden Gun action.

This is easily one of the best Exotic helmets for a Gunslinger in both PvP and PvE. If you’re a Gunslinger without Exotic armor, definitely grab the Achlyophage Symbiote.

Alternatives

[divider]Obsidian Mind (Voidwalker)obsidian mind exotic helm

Another helmet Xur hasn’t sold separately before, Obsidian Mind will be most beneficial in PvE.

Do you love using Nova Bomb? Insatiable will decrease the cooldown on your Nova Bomb every time you kill something with it, which sometimes can allow your Super to recharge instantly. Coupling this with Inverse Shadow, this helm is going to allow you to wreck havoc.

Perks

  • Energy Projection – Increases grenade throw distance.
  • Inverse Shadow – Increased Super energy gained from killing minions of the Darkness.
  • Insatiable – Nova Bomb kills reduce the cooldown of your next Nova Bomb.

Should I buy it?

It’s recommended that you use Bad JuJu with Obsidian Mind, as kills with that weapon will further increase your Super recharge speed!

Voidwalker’s Soul Rip, Annihilate, and Bloom talents will allow you to maximize your damage with the Nova Bomb. Soul Rip allows Energy Drain to reduce the cooldown of your Nova Bomb and Annihilate/Bloom will make your Nova Bomb deadlier.

Obsidian Mind will give you 49/53 Intellect and 50/54 Strength. The real benefit comes from the Intellect, since it will help with your Super recharge.

Finally, the increased grenade throw distance… this perk feels out of place on this helm, but is a nice quality of life addition if your gloves don’t happen to have it.

This is definitely one of the best Exotic pieces for the Voidwalker, it’s absolutely worth using. Buy it immediately.

If you’re wondering how the other Warlock Exotic helmets stack up, check out our review for each of them.

Alternatives