All Destiny 2 Season 19 Exotic reworks: Witherhoard, Arbalest, Gjallarhorn, and more

While Bungie has been secretive about Destiny 2 Season 19 missions and themes, they have announced a lot of upcoming changes that will be taking place in the final season. Their latest TWAB proves to be very informative regarding the next entry in The Witch Queen chapter, where the company announced countless changes to the sandbox.

Among the many new notes from Bungie, several Exotic reworks stood out the most. As some might have already guessed, these are Exotics that have been dominating both the PvP and PvE fields, and the company thinks that it's time to adjust them accordingly.

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The following article will summarize the changes in all the Destiny 2 Exotic weapons next season.

Disclaimer: The changes mentioned in this article are based on Bungie's official website.

Witherhoard, Gjallarhorn, and multiple Exotics undergo reworks in Destiny 2 Season 19

1) General changes

Exotic weapons such as Hard Light, Dead Messenger, and Borealis share an Exotic perk called The Fundamentals. This allows players to hold down the reload button and switch between three elements to counter enemy shields.

However, Bungie will be adding some minor stats to each element, so these Exotics feel more useful.

Hard Light Auto Rifle (Image via Bungie)

Each element will grant the following stats to weapons:

Arc: +25 Handling and +5 Range.
Solar: +35 Reload Speed and +20 Airborne Effectiveness.
Void: +20 Stability and +10 aim-assist.

Looking a bit deeper into these stats, it appears that Bungie's primary intention with these additions was to distribute buffs across all three weapons.

Dead Messenger with Arc will receive increased Handling for PvE, while Borealis will receive extra Reload Speed and AE in PvE, alongside Void Hard Light with Stability and aim-assist in PvP.

Jade Rabbit, on the other hand, will also receive a rework. The Exotic perk will return one ammo after a player quickly lands three crits.

2) Nerfs

While the entire community is aware of the Divinity nerfs, Bungie added a lot more on top of it for Season 19. To summarize, the following list will give players an idea of what to expect:

Witherhoard: Direct hit damage ticks will be reduced from 7.5 to 4.5 seconds.
Divinity: Weaken will be reduced from 30% to 15%.
Arbalest: Reduced body-shot damage to match Lorentz Driver. Applicable for both PvP and PvE.
Gjallarhorn: Initial projectile's damage will be reduced by 25%.
Forerunner: Base damage will be reduced from 40 to 37, and crit damage from 72 to 67.

Players should note that Divinity can still weaken the target by 30% with its bubble, given that it's paired with Tether or Tractor Cannon. Bungie feels that Witherhoard is too strong in Destiny 2 PvE.

Hence, despite leaving the ammo and damage alone, the company has reduced the number of times it can tick damage through a single blight.

3) Buffs

The following list contains all the weapons and the respective buffs that they will be getting once Destiny 2 Season 19 launches:

No Time to Explain: Will have Feeding Frenzy instead of Full auto.
Travelers Chosen: Will have Surplus instead of Full Auto.
Vigilance Wing: Will have Ensemble instead of Full Auto.
Dead Man's Tale: Will prioritize crit over body shots if the target is within the hip-fire cone. Body shot damage will increase from 46 to 54, alongside crit damage will be reduced from 81 to 80.
DARCI: Will apply jolt with its Exotic perk. Its airborne effectiveness will be increased by 80.
Wish Ender: Will deal 25% bonus damage against targets affected by Witherhoard.
Whisper of the Worm: Will have its AE increased by 80.
The Prospector: Will have Chain Reaction.
The Fourth Horseman: Will have 50% less recoil.
Forerunner in PvE: Increased crit by 30% and Grenade's damage by 60%.
Rat King: The radius to activate will be increased from 15 to 20 meters.
Legend of Acrius: Will have any movement penalty reduced.
Bastion: Will have its spread angle increased by 6%.
Quicksilver Storm: Will have increased Grenade damage from 80 to 120 in PvP.
Grand Overture: Missile damage will be increased by 50%.
Xenophage: Overall damage will be increased by 5%.

In terms of Destiny 2 Exotic armor pieces, Wormgod Caress and Winter's Guild damage stacks will be reduced from 7.5x to 3.5x. Gyrfalcon's Hauberk will be receiving an intrinsic, where players can activate Volatile Rounds upon exiting invisibility.

Additionally, performing a finisher with this Exotic will grant bonus weapon damage to the user and overshield to allies.