Greetings, Guardians, and Happy New Year! We made it to 2021! Let’s see if Xur, everyone’s favorite Exotic merchant, brought the goods to help us celebrate! He’s hanging out near Watcher’s Grave on Nessus; read on to see what he’s brought.
This week, for 29 Legendary Shards, Xur carries:
Merciless
Merciless, an Exotic Fusion Rifle, has a bit of a history in this game. Once one of the best weapons you could be using for endgame PvE content, its star has fallen considerably, to the point where it’s now… still pretty good at clearing enemies, but outclassed. Conserve Momentum, Merciless’ Exotic Perk, shines against bosses and yellow mobs, lowering the charge time every time it doesn’t kill its target. Honestly, I still consider Merciless worth the pickup. It’s a fun gun to fire, and is still capable of massacring anything you point it at.
And for 23 Legendary Shards, Xur offers:
Astrocyte Verse
Are you a Voidwalker who loves to Blink everywhere, but hates the internal cool down and lack of Radar? The Astrocyte Verse is here for you. Its Exotic perk, Move to Survive, lets you recover from Blinks and draw your weapon faster after Blinking. You also gain Blink distance and keep your Radar up. It isn’t the flashiest, but if you really like Blinking everywhere, it’s worth looking at.
The Bombardiers
TThe Bombardiers are a strange Hunter leg piece that makes up for being bad by at least being funny. Their Exotic perk, Parting Gift, plants a bomb when you dodge roll. Outside of collecting or shouting “Surprise!” as you fail to explode somebody with them in PvP, I can’t recommend these.
One-Eyed Mask
Titans get a fancy hat this week; the terrifying One-Eyed Mask. The Mask gives you the gift of Vengeance, giving you an overshield and damage boost after you kill someone who dared to touch you in combat. The Mask is an excellent pickup, absolutely worth the grab.
Xur also carries an Exotic Engram, providing a random Exotic piece for 97 Legendary Shards, the Five of Swords for Nightfalls, and The Invitation of the Nine for 9 Legendary Shards, if you haven’t completed that quest yet.
Also, Xur now has a quest to get an Exotic Cipher! By doing Strikes or winning Crucible or Gambit games, you can unlock a Cipher to access vaulted Exotic gear!
I’m less than impressed with Xur’s wares today. The Mask is solid, but every other item is mediocre to bad. I’d gamble on the Engram or Cipher this week: you’ll probably find something better than most of this.
See you next week!