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

Summary

Xur has returned with new exotic and legendary gear for a limited time in Destiny 2, including the Trinity Ghoul combat bow and randomized rolls of Hawkmoon.
The highly requested trace rifle Hollow Denial is also available from Xur's legendary set of weapons.
Hunters can get Young Ahamkara's Spine, Warlocks with Ophidian Aspects, and Titans have the Crest of Alpha Lupi.

Xur has returned again to Destiny 2, complete with new exotic and legendary gear for players to check out for a limited time. While still months away, Bungie continues to tease out The Final Shape expansion, releasing a new trailer this week showcasing the new destination known as The Pale Heart. This latest Destiny 2: The Final Shape trailer was fairly short, though it revealed a number of interesting locations including a similar looking version of The Cradle from Season of Arrivals, a Saint-14 statue look alike, and a massive Ghost embeded inside a mountain side.

Alongside the trailer, Bungie announced a ton of changes coming to Destiny 2 over the next few months including outright removing Legendary Shards from the game. While that may have been a surprise for longtime players, the change is going to impact plenty of vendors and weapon focusing locations. Obviously, this change has a massive impact on the exotic merchant Xur, as the inventory requires using these shards as payment for most items. However, Bungie teased that with The Final Shape, Xur will be seeing an evolution of sorts, though what that is will be revealed at a later date.

For now, the current version of Xur is making another appearance inside 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 September 15, 2023.

Where is Xur?

Over the next few days, Destiny 2 players should head to the EDZ and the Winding Cove fast travel point.

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.

Exotic Armor

Ophidian Aspect - Warlock gauntlets

Exotic Perk:

Cobra Totemic - Weapons ready and reload very quickly. Provides a small benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons.

Thankfully, the exotic perk and the stats synergize really well, as the high strength spike and Cobra Totemic pair nicely. It's not a top tier exotic item for Warlocks, but it certainly has its usage in various builds.

Stat Values (66 Total):

Mobility +3
Resilience +18
Recovery +13
Discipline +10
Intellect +2
Strength +20

Young Ahamkara's Spine - Hunter gauntlets

Exotic Perk:

Wish-Dragon Teeth - Increases Tripmine Grenade duration and blast radius. Ability damage grants Tripmine Grenade energy.

It's more specific as it impacts tripmines which can be used in some interesting Gunslinger builds, but Bungie did warn of an upcoming nerf so that may be something to watch out for. Combine all of that with the fact that this week's roll is extremely low compared to what Xur typically brings, which means it can be safely skipped.

Stat Values (61 Total):

Mobility +10
Resilience +19
Recovery +3
Discipline +14
Intellect +9
Strength +6

Crest of Alpha Lupi - Titan chest armor

Exotic Perk:

Survival Well - Generates an additional Orb of Power from Supers and a healing pulse when Barricade is activated.

This one isn't a conventional roll. While it comes in at an extremely high 69, that's mostly thanks to strength which is at a ridiculous +30. Because of that, it may be worth picking up just for that alone, though the exotic itself is solid.

Stat Values (69 total):

Mobility +7
Resilience +17
Recovery +11
Discipline +2
Intellect +2
Strength +30

Exotic Weapon

This arc-powered bow fires an arrow that splits into three parts thanks to its perk, Split Electron. When the player aims down the sights and draws the bow all the way back, the arrow spread decreases. However, scoring a headshot will charge the next fired arrow to chain electricity between enemies close to each other. It's generally a fun bow to use in any mode, though it really shines in PvE modes where the chain attacks have more opportunity to happen.

destiny 2 forsaken trinity ghoul exotic bow — Destiny 2 forsaken trinity ghoul exotic bow

It's an add clearing machine and becomes even more powerful when the Trinity Ghoul catalyst is unlocked and applied to the weapon. Instead of needing precision kills, the catalyst makes any final blow trigger the Lightning Rod perk. Combined with all the arc 3.0 changes, this is a great pickup this week.

Weapon perks:

High Tension String
Compact Arrow Shaft

Hawkmoon Rolls

At this point, Xur is only selling Hawkmoon with randomized rolls, but its time is limited once Harbinger is ultimately added to the Exotic Mission Rotator and makes the hand cannon craftable. Either way, here is the roll Xur has this weekend:

Hawkmoon Rolls:

Fluted Barrel
Alloy Magazine
Snapshot Sights
Textured Grip

Here's the complete rundown of Xur's exotic stock in Destiny 2 for September 15, 2023:

Ophidian Aspect (Warlock gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
Young Ahamkara's Spine (Hunter gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
Crest of Alpha Lupi (Titan chest armor) – 23 Legendary Shards
Trinity Ghoul (Combat Bow) - 29 Legendary Shards
Hawkmoon (Hand Cannon) - 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