Destiny 2: Xur Exotic Armor, Weapon, and Recommendations…

Xur has returned again to Destiny 2, complete with new exotic and legendary gear for players to check out for a limited time. As well as the visit from the exotic merchant, Guardian Games enters its final week in Destiny 2, prompting players to wrap up any outstanding things left to do from the challenge card, hunting for specific loot, or earning those medals. Alongside the end of Guardian Games, Season of Defiance is also on its last legs and Bungie appears to have some big plans for what's next.

Over the past few weeks, Bungie continues to drop teases regarding Season of the Deep including the return of Deputy Commander Sloane as well as Saturn's moon Titan. However, there appears to be some major gameplay tweaks on the horizon as well including economy changes, weapon and ability tuning, changed to some of the lesser used subclasses, and plenty of other quality of life updates.

For now, the weekend merchant Xur has made a return to the world of Destiny 2. 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 May 19, 2023.

Where is Xur?

This weekend, players should head to will need to head to the Winding Cove in the European Dead Zone.

Destiny 2 Xur location EDZ — Destiny 2 Xur EDZ location

Fast travel to the Winding Cove zone and immediately head towards the back where the Fallen typically patrol. Climb the cliffs back here to find Xur standing on a ledge not too far from a crashed ship.

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.

Xur holding an exotic engram in Destiny 2 with a pile of exotic engrams behind him. — Xur holding an exotic engram in *Destiny 2* with a pile of exotic engrams behind him.

Exotic Armor

Felwinter's Helm - Warlock helmet

Exotic Perk:

Warlord's End - Powered melee final blows create a burst of energy that weakens nearby targets. Finishers and final blows against more powerful targets increase the radius of the burst and the length of the weakening effect.

Unfortunately, this exotic comes in as the lowest of the three this week at a paltry 62. Combined with the fact that the exotic overall just isn't really in the meta at the moment, players can safely skip this one.

Stat Values (62 Total):

Mobility +9
Resilience +11
Recovery +10
Discipline +2
Intellect +10
Strength +20

The Dragon's Shadow - Hunter chest armor

Exotic Perk:

Wraithmetal Mail - Dodging reloads all weapons and increases both movement and weapon handling speeds for a brief time.

The stat roll this week is the highest of the bunch at 65 overall with a ridiculously high Discipline. Unfortunately, the stat spikes for Discipline and Mobility have come at the cost of Intelligence and Strength, though it is still worth a pickup for those who don't have a decent roll overall.

Stat Values (65 Total):

Mobility +16
Resilience +11
Recovery +7
Discipline +27
Intellect +2
Strength +2

Mk. 44 Stand Asides - Titan leg armor

Exotic Perk:

Seriously, Watch Out - Grants an overshield when players are sprinting at full health with Seismic Strike, Hammer Strike, or Shield Bash equipped and charged. Hits with these abilities recharge a portion of their melee energy.

In what has been a reoccurring problem many times in 2023, these Titan exotics come with a spike in mobility, something that is generally not a valuable stat for this class. Combined with the lower roll overall, these are a solid pass this week.

Stat Values (63 total):

Mobility +16
Resilience +13
Recovery +2
Discipline +10
Intellect +13
Strength +9

Exotic Weapon

At one point a few years ago, the Prometheus Lens was wildly overpowered and caused all sorts of chaos in the Crucible. While the gun hasn't been nearly as viable since then, it can still be fun to use in certain situations. 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. It's not a required buy this week, but could be fun in many PvE style activities.

Weapon 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:

Corkscrew Rifling
Alloy Magazine
Killing Wind
Textured Grip

The Dead Man's Tale exotic scout rifle from Destiny 2.

Dead Man's Tale Rolls:

Fluted Barrel
Armor-Piercing Rounds
Moving Target
Short-Action Stock

Here's the complete rundown of Xur's exotic stock in Destiny 2 for May 19, 2023:

Felwinter's Helm (Warlock helmet) – 23 Legendary Shards
The Dragon's Shadow (Hunter chest armor) – 23 Legendary Shards
Mk. 44 Stand Asides (Titan leg armor) – 23 Legendary Shards
Prometheus Lens (Energy 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