Xur has returned again to Destiny 2, complete with new exotic and legendary gear for players to check out for a limited time. Unfortunately for many, Xur's appearance comes at a rough patch for Destiny 2 as the game is seeing a heightened amount of connection and server problems. The situation has gotten so bad that Bungie has been forced again to shut down the API until next week when it can work on a fix. This has impacted a number of third party apps like DIM as well as the Destiny 2 mobile app and LFG as well.
While fans are enjoying the highly customizable exotic known as Revision Zero, Bungie has seemingly placed most of the blame for a lot of these error messages on the weapon itself. In a Twitter thread by Community Manager Dylan Gafner, the error codes began surfacing after Revision Zero was added into the game largely due to a bug in the weapon's code. While Bungie has had to make a few hard choices in the meantime, it hasn't stopped the Destiny 2 community from labeling Revision Zero as the new Telesto.
In the meantime, the weekend merchant Xur has arrived in Destiny 2 one last time for 2022. Follow this guide for his most current weekend location, news on his exotic cipher quest, as well as a review of all the exotic and legendary gear he's brought for the weekend of December 30, 2022.
Where is Xur?
This weekend, players should visit the Hangar inside of the Tower to find Xur.
As usual, fast travel to the main Tower location and head left into the Hangar. Once there, take another left and move past the Dead Orbit section to find a metal staircase. Move up the stairs to find Xur on a platform overlooking the mountain range off in the distance.
Class Armor and Exotic Cipher
Xur's role continues to offer the usual weekly quests, exotics, and legendary gear. Not only are these quests required to purchase a second fated engram, but they're necessary to acquire legacy exotic gear from the Tower kiosk. Players can earn a new cipher by completing strikes and winning crucible or gambit matches. Gain bonus points for playing with clan mates or finishing more challenging activities.
Xur continues to sell even more gear outside his usual content. In addition to his normal exotic gear, Xur now has Legendary Weapons and Armor for sale in exchange for Legendary Shards and Glimmer.
Exotic Armor
Skull of Dire Ahamkara - Warlock helmet
After proving to be a top tier choice for quite a while, Bungie felt the Skull of Dire Ahamkara was too strong and delivered a nerf that has made this helm a shadow of what it once was. Its armor perk is Actual Grandeur which not only provides additional damage resistance when casting Nova Bomb, but kills grant super energy.
Naturally, this is a Voidwalker specific armor piece, but due to the nerfs it's hard to recommend over some other choices that Warlocks have access to these days. Arguably the best item this week in terms of stat rolls, the Dire Ahamkara comes in at 63 with solid all around values except Discipline.
Arc Enhanced. Stat Values:
- Mobility +7
- Resilience +11
- Recovery +15
- Discipline +2
- Intellect +12
- Strength +16
Shards of Galanor - Hunter gauntlets
For Hunters that like to run with Blade Barrage as their Solar Super, the Shards of Galanor is a great option. Sharp Edges is the exotic perk on these, and it returns super energy for hits and kills with Blade Barrage once the super ends up to a point. Obviously, it's pretty super specific and don't offer much value for Golden Gun users.
While not nearly as effective as they originally were, the Shards are still a viable option for Hunters of like to run Blade Barrage and Way of a Thousand Cuts. It's not going to give back an entire super meter like it used to thanks to a Season 15 nerf by Bungie, but it will still help get players back there faster than normal. The stat roll itself is the one thing really holding this exotic back however, only coming in at a 60 overall. It's not a must-buy by any means this week.
Solar Enhanced. Stat Values:
- Mobility +8
- Resilience +15
- Recovery +9
- Discipline +6
- Intellect +14
- Strength +8
Doom Fang Pauldrons - Titan gauntlets
It's been a long while but Doom Fang Pauldrons are back in stock this week. Its exotic perk, Horns of Doom, grant super energy on void melee kills. Not only that, melee kills recharge Shield Throw when Sentinel Shield is active, also extending the super on basic hits.
Needless to say, this is a great item for Sentinel Titans just for the added recharge effect alone. The melee benefits also apply to players using a void sword as well, not just for using the Titan melee attack. The stat roll is okay, though it features really poor Strength and Resilience values, which are commonly important for Titan players.
Void Enhanced. Stat Values:
- Mobility +12
- Resilience +3
- Recovery +18
- Discipline +6
- Intellect +21
- Strength +2
Exotic Weapon
The once overpowered Prometheus Lens is in stock with Xur this week. Prismatic Inferno is its intrinsic perk which makes the weapon fire a Solar beam and generate a damaging heat field that grows while the weapon continues to fire. Its other unique perk is Flame Refraction which returns a fraction of the ammo used to the magazine from reserves, extending the beam's duration.
Obviously, it's nowhere near as strong as it was when it first arrived to the game, but Prometheus Lens is a viable choice for most activities and is still fun to use in most PvE style game modes.
Additional perks:
- Chambered Compensator
- Projection Fuse
- Composite Stock
Hawkmoon and Dead Man's Tale Rolls
Since Season 16 removed the Presage and Harbinger exotic missions, Xur is also selling both Hawkmoon and Dead Man's Tale with randomized rolls. Players should visit him each weekend as he'll be carrying different rolls.
Hawkmoon Rolls:
- Chambered Compensator
- Alloy Magazine
- Rangefinder
- Polymer Grip
Dead Man's Tale
- Smallbore
- Armor Rounds
- Fourth Times The Charm
- Composite Stock
Here's the complete rundown of Xur's exotic stock in Destiny 2 for December 30, 2022:
- Skull of Dire Ahamkara (Warlock helmet) – 23 Legendary Shards
- Shards of Galanor (Hunter gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
- Doom Fang Pauldron (Titan gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
- Prometheus Lens (Trace Rifle) - 29 Legendary Shards
- Hawkmoon (Hand Cannon) - 125,000 Glimmer, 200 Legendary Shards, 1 Exotic Cipher, 1 Ascendant Shard
- Dead Man's Tale (Scout Rifle) - 125,000 Glimmer, 200 Legendary Shards, 1 Exotic Cipher, 1 Ascendant Shard
- Exotic Engram - 97 Legendary Shards/1 Exotic Cipher
- A Question - Exotic Cipher Quest
Legendary Gear
Xur's Set of Legendary Armor and Weapons. All gear costs 50 Legendary Shards and 1000 Glimmer.
- Escape Velocity (Kinetic Submachine Gun)
- Stars In Shadow (Kinetic Pulse Rifle)
- Whispering Slab (Kinetic Combat Bow)
- Dire Promise (Kinetic Hand Cannon)
- Fractethyst (Energy Shotgun)
- Timelines Vertex (Energy Fusion Rifle)
- Falling Guillotine (Heavy Sword)
- Simulator Armor Set
Destiny 2 is now available PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.