The Pale Heart is the newest location to be added toDestiny 2’sgrowing in-game world, following the release of The Final Shape expansion.The Pale Heart, like most other DLC locations, comes with its own, unique set of destination weapons that players can unlock patterns for and eventually craft.
Usually, these destination weapons tend to be a bit lacklustre. But this time around, there are at least three weapons that stand out as being surprisingly powerful, especially once they are crafted with enhanced traits in the Enclave. The Origin Trait for these weapons is Dealer’s Choice, which grants a bit of extra Super energy with every final blow. Multiple Pale Heart weapons equipped at the same time boost this Origin Trait. Here’s an early ranking of the weapons players can earn in the Pale Heart.
8False Idols
Solar Vortex Frame Sword
Despite swords getting a bit more love this season inDestiny 2, False Idols gets the spot at the bottom of the ranking due to its archetype. It’s still early to judge, but by all accounts, swords will probably need a bit more help than what the artifact perks have provided to become relevant.
The first perk spot definitely goes to Relentless Strikes, as it refunds ammo on hits. Incandescent is an interesting option, but doesn’t work well in a sword in general. The second perk option comes with some heavy-hitters like Surrounded, Bait and Switch, and Vorpal. Out of these, Surrounded will give a bigger boost so long as enemies are in close range.
7Bold Endings
Stasis Heavy Burst Hand Cannon
Another archetype that needs a bit more help, the heavy burst hand cannon is unlikely to see much use in PVE due to how niche it is. Bold Endings can be a fun, gimmicky pick for those who want to add somethingunique to their Prismatic build, for example, but outside of that, it shouldn’t be a priority to craft.
The perks for Bold Endings are lukewarm at best. Strategist, which allows players to charge their class ability a little faster, is an interesting choice, but Headstone is also there for those pairing this gun with a Stasis build. Demolitionist as the second perk is a solid option, but if players intend on creating elemental pickups, Collective Action might be a good pick, too.
6Axial Lacuna
Solar Fusion Rifle
Fusion rifles are in a decent spotfor certain damage rotations, and while Axial Lacuna isn’t the star of the show, it does have interesting perks. It’s a Solar fusion rifle that can be pretty easily slotted into boss DPS rotations with rockets, for example.
Reconstruction is a must-have for the first perk in PVE, to remove the need to reload entirely. The second perk is a bit more situational. Surrounded gives the best boost to damage, but it hinges on at least three enemies being in close proximity. Frenzy is fantastic as it activates whenever in combat for a solid damage boost. Controlled Burst wins over Frenzy with a better damage boost at 20%, but players will need to be precise to hit every pellet.
5Someday
Kinetic Shotgun
Shotguns are in a good place, though few can compete with the likes of Heritage,or the Exotic option Conditional Finality. Someday might not be the best answer to the Kinetic slot problem, but it has a couple of nice PVE perks to choose from.
The first perk is between Dual Loader for two shots in the mag, Threat Detector for better stats when in close range to multiple enemies, and Lead from Gold for better ammo economy. It’s truly a preference question, as well as where and how players plan to use Someday. The second perk strongly leans towards Recombination, due to how a maximum stack of this perk grants a 100% damage boost to the next shot.
4Embraced Identity
Void Sniper Rifle
Snipers are likely going to continue seeing more usage, with more precision-based enemies introduced to the game, like Tormentors (and the newest raid boss). Embraced Identity is a nice Void sniper rifle option, which might see some use for damage rotations now that endgame activities will have surges introduced into them.
The first perk goes without a doubt to Reconstruction, to help minimize the need for unnecessary reloading. The second perk, if paired specifically with Reconstruction, would be Precision Instrument, which boosts damage to up to 25% if players are consistently hitting precision shots on a target.
3Pro Memoria
Strand Machine Gun
Machine guns are excellent in the game right now, and so, having another Strand option is fantastic. Pro Memoria is great because of its extremely nice perk pool, which seems to have just the right tools to make it an ad-clearing powerhouse.
Reconstruction is an absolute must-pick here, as machine guns tend to be slow to reload. When mowing down enemies, that’s the last thing players will want to be stuck on. Paired with that is Frenzy, which will boost handling, damage, and reload while in combat for a certain period of time. Although the reload stat boost here is useless, Frenzy is still a good pick due to the 15% damage boost it grants.
2No Hesitation
Solar Support Frame Auto Rifle
Here’s something completely new: a support frame auto rifle. Players must deal damage to charge up the meter in the center, and when shooting at their allies, they will apply Restoration on them, as well as increase their weapon damage. If this sounds incredibly powerful, it’s because it is.
Physic is the first perk to pick here, and is newly added to the game. When quickly healing allies, players also get Restoration. When this perk is enhanced, however, the effect is upgraded to Restoration x 2, which is one of the most powerful damage resistance buffs in the game, especially now thatWell of Radiancehas been nerfed. Pair this up with Incandescent, and it’s the perfect weapon for a support player in endgame content.
1The Call
Strand Rocket Sidearm
Rocket sidearms are incredibly powerful in the sandbox right now,with Indebted Kindness being one of the favoritesin the day 1 race for Salvation’s Edge. As such The Call was highly anticipated by players, and it certainly does not disappoint, packing a similar punch, though without the added benefit of Voltshot.
The first perk has a few different options. Slice can Sever targets, which is incredibly handy when ad-clearing. On the other hand, Strategist will help charge the player’s class ability. Lead from Gold is a safe, tried-and-tested perk to ensure that ammo is readily available, especially if players choose to run The Call in a double-special weapon setup. The second perk is One For All, as it is easy to proc due to rocket sidearm damage splashing on multiple enemies when shot on the ground, and as such, an easy source for damage boost for an already powerful weapon.
