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

It's Friday which means that the exotic salesman Xur is back in world of Destiny 2 once again. As players continue to wait for the inclusion of Year 2 exotics in his loot pool, Xur keeps up his weekly tradition of bringing year 1 exotics, slightly remixed with randomized rolls.

Based on the Black Armor DLC roadmap that Bungie detailed late in 2018, it doesn't appear that Xur will be receiving any significant changes until next season at the earliest. Not only is there mysterious content related to Xur and new bounties listed under the Season of the Drifter, but many players believe this is the point when Bungie will begin to integrate Forsaken exotics into his offerings.

Even though it's the new year, Xur is still up to his usual tricks. Here's where players can find the shifty merchant and what he's selling in Destiny 2 for the weekend of January 4, 2019:

Where is Xur?

This weekend, Xur has returned to the European Dead Zone inside of the Winding Cove.

Thankfully, this zone has a fast travel spot at the southern part of the map. Head there and immediately start running to the northern section where the Fallen patrol. Xur is hanging out on a ledge nearby a crashed ship that overlooks the rest of the area.

Class Armor

For class armor this week, Xur has brought a couple of vanilla Destiny 2 exotics as well as one from the Warmind expansion.

Sanguine Alchemy - Warlock chest armor

For Warlocks, Xur has brought the Sanguine Alchemy, chest armor that focuses on using rifts. Its intrinsic perk, Heightened Senses, gives the player and teammates standing inside the rift the ability to continue using the radar even when aiming down the sights. In addition, nearby powerful enemies are visually marked and are easier to track even without line of sight.

Being able to continue using the radar even when aiming down the sights of a weapon is always a good thing, though unlike the Mida Multi-Tool or the Hunter's Knucklehead Radar, this ability can only be used in an active rift so it's not always available. There are much better exotics for Warlocks, though this one certainly isn't the worst to have in certain game modes like the Crucible or when running strikes.

Gear Rolls:

Mobility OR Recovery
Unflinching Fusion Rifle Aim, Unflinching Bow Aim, Unflinching Kinectic Aim
Scout Rifle Reserves OR Special Ammo Finder

Celestial Nighthawk - Hunter helmet

This week, Hunters have access to the Celestial Nighthawk helmet, an item that is intended for players running the Gunslinger's Golden Gun subclass. Its intrinsic perk is Hawkeye Hack which modifies the Golden Gun to fire a single, high damage shot. Enemies killed by the shot explode and the player gets a moderate portion of super energy returned.

For Gunslingers running Golden Gun, the Celestial Nighthawk is a must have, especially for players that enjoy running PvE content like Strikes, Raids, or Nightfalls. The damage output makes it a huge help when fighting tough bosses. Its effectiveness is reduced somewhat in Crucible considering that Golden Gun is typically a 1 hit kill on enemy targets regardless, though the potential of an explosive kill still makes it a viable option. The rolls on this gear are also pretty favorable, easily outclassing the old Year 1 model.

Gear Rolls:

Resilience OR Recovery
Fusion Rifle Targeting, Hand Cannon Targeting, Hands-On
Sniper Rifle Reserves OR Machine Gun Reserves

Dunemarchers - Titan boots

Following two down weeks for Titans, Xur has at least brought something a little more useful. The Dunemarchers boots are a subclass neutral exotic that focuses on sprinting. Through Linear Actuators, players have increased sprint speed and build up a static charge while running. Once the player uses their melee ability, the charge is used up and chains damage between nearby enemies.

Dunemarchers are a decent choice, though there are much better Titan exotics available that should be used over these like the One-Eyed Mask or other subclass specific items.

Fixed Gear Rolls:

Mobility OR Recovery
Fusion Rifle Dexterity, Hand Cannon Dexterity, Outreach
Scout Rifle Scavenger OR Special Ammo Finder

Exotic Weapon

The exotic weapon for this week is the Graviton Lance, an energy pulse rifle that at one point in Year 1, dominated players in the Crucible. While the weapon's usage has certainly come down a bit following the release of the Forsaken expansion, it's still a very good weapon to have on hand. For players that don't have it, it's worth a pick up this week.

destiny 2 graviton lance — Destiny 2 graviton lance

The reason for its dominance is due in large part to the gun's exotic perks. Black Hole is the Graviton Lance's Intrinsic perk, which gives the second shot of the burst high damage and recoil with no falloff. This becomes lethal when paired with its trait known as Cosmology. Getting a kill with the Graviton Lance causes the target to detonate and spawn void projectiles that track nearby targets.

Here's the complete rundown of Xur's entire stock for Jan 4: