Destiny 2‘s The Final Shape expansion is bringing more than just a new subclass. Guardians can find Exotic class items within the Pale Heart, which come with a multitude of perks from different classes.
Class items in Destiny 2 first appeared in a pre-Final Shape broadcast, marking a return from their (scaled-down) appearance in the franchise’s first title. Bungie then teased all the Exotic class item combinations in a blog post shared on May 9, but with a catch: they only work with the new Prismatic subclass.
Here’s a breakdown of Exotic class items in Destiny 2, what they can roll with, how to get them, and some of our favorite combinations.
What are Exotic class items in Destiny 2?
Exotic class items in Destiny 2 will drop from a post-campaign activity, and much like their name states, they’ll take up the class item slot. In return, they give Prismatic users bits and pieces of some abilities.
The new, coveted gear drop can mix and match powers from some Exotic armor pieces, but with changes from the original. Generally, each Spirit—as the effects are called—is watered down compared to its original counterpart, ditching parts of their base effect.
Each class has access to six traits from its own class and one from each different class. This works for both columns in an Exotic class item. The first perk can come from Assassin’s Cowl, Heart of Inmost Light, or Ophidian Aspect for every guardian, while Star-Eater Scales, Synthoceps, and Verity’s Brow appear in the second column regardless of class.
All Exotic class item combinations in Destiny 2
In addition to the shared pool of Exotic class item traits, each class has a few perks to choose from, creating potentially deadly combinations.
All Warlock Exotic class item perks and combinations in Destiny 2
Warlocks have access to a handful of interesting combinations, especially when borrowing from other classes. We’ve been enjoying Spirit of Inmost Light so far, even if our roll is not our first pick. It pairs particularly well with Feed the Void and Devour, which grant you tons of grenade energy to keep your other abilities topped up.
| First column | Second column |
| Spirit of the Assassin (Assassin’s Cowl, Hunter): Become invisible with powered melee kills or finishers. | Spirit of the Star-Eater (Star-Eater Scales, Hunter): Picking up Orbs of Power after your Super is full increases its damage. |
| Spirit of Inmost Light (Heart of Inmost Light, Titan): Use an ability to increase the regen for the other two. | Spirit of Synthoceps (Synthoceps, Titan): Improved melee damage when you’re surrounded. |
| Spirit of the Ophidian (Ophidian Aspect, Warlock): Improves ready speed on all weapons. | Spirit of Verity (Verity’s Brow, Warlock): Weapon final blows with a damage type matching your grenade grant a stacking grenade damage bonus. |
| Spirit of the Stag (The Stag): Rift grants damage reduction to allies standing on it. | Spirit of Vesper (Vesper of Radius): Rifts release Arc shockwaves. |
| Spirit of the Filaments (Secant Filaments): Casting an empowering rift will grant you Devour. | Spirit of Harmony (Mantle of Battle Harmony): Get Super energy with weapon final blows matching your Super element. |
| Spirit of the Necrotic (Necrotic Grips): Damaging combatants with melee poisons enemies. Poisoned foes spread poison when defeated. It’s unclear if it maintains the interaction with Weapons of Sorrow. | Spirit of Starfire (Starfire Protocol): Dealing empowered weapon damage (e.g. Empowering Rift) grants grenade energy. |
| Spirit of Osmiomancy (Osmiomancy Gloves): Recharges your grenade more quickly on hits and improves Coldsnap tracking. | Spirit of the Swarm (Swarmers): Destroying a Tangle spawns Threadlings. |
| Spirit of Apotheosis (Apotheosis Veil): Greatly increases grenade and melee energy after using your Super. | Spirit of the Claw (Claws of the Ahamkara): Gain an additional melee charge. Doesn’t have the built-in Heavy-Handed mod. |
Spirit of the Star-Eater and Spirit of Apotheosis pair well for builds focused on boss damage since Apotheosis Veil has featured in some damage rotations, and Prismatic also allows access to the Needlestorm burst Super. Strand-based Prismatic builds can also make use of both Spirit of the Necrotic and Spirit of the Swarm since Warlocks get Threadling Grenades, Arcane Needle, and Weaver’s Call.
All Titan Exotic class item perks and combinations in Destiny 2
In addition to the basic ones, Titans get access to a few Spirits from Exotics that don’t often get much usage outside of niche builds. Spirit of Scars brings another way to inject Precious Scars’ sustain, and if you’re ever torn between Armamentarium and Heart of Inmost Light, you can now use both with the right roll.
| First Column | Second Column |
| Spirit of the Assassin: Become invisible with powered melee kills or finishers. | Spirit of the Star-Eater: Picking up Orbs of Power after your Super is full increases its damage. |
| Spirit of Inmost Light: Use an ability to increase the regen for the other two. | Spirit of Synthoceps: Improved melee damage when you’re surrounded. |
| Spirit of the Ophidian: Improves ready speed on all weapons. | Spirit of Verity: Weapon final blows with a damage type matching your grenade grant a stacking grenade damage bonus. |
| Spirit of Severance (Severance Enclosure): Powered melee or finisher final blows create a damaging explosion. | Spirit of Contact (Point-Contact Cannon Brace): Hitting a target with a powered melee creates a bolt of lightning in the area and jolts enemies. |
| Spirit of Hoarfrost (Hoarfrost-Z): Your Barricade becomes a wall of Stasis crystals that slows nearby targets when created. | Spirit of Scars (Precious Scars): Final blows with weapons that match your Super’s element create a burst of healing around you. |
| Spirit of the Eternal Warrior (Eternal Warrior): When your Super ends, get bonus damage for weapons matching its element. | Spirit of the Horn (Khepri’s Horn): Your class ability creates a shockwave that scorches targets. |
| Spirit of the Abeyant (Abeyant Leap): Drengr’s Lash projectiles have better tracking and more range. | Spirit of Alpha Lupi (Crest of Alpha Lupi): Generates a healing pulse when activating your class ability. |
| Spirit of the Bear (Ursa Furiosa): Converts damage blocked with Unbreakable to Super energy and you move faster while using this aspect. | Spirit of the Armamentarium (Armamentarium): Gain an additional grenade charge. Firepower mod not included. |
Spirit of the Abeyant can work as an extra boost to Drengr’s Lash, one of the Aspects available for Prismatic Titans—and you can even pair it with bits of Khepri’s Horn or Crest of Alpha Lupi for fun if maybe circumstantial, combos. Time to get that Utility Kickstart mod going.
All Hunter Exotic class item perks and combinations in Destiny 2
Hunters have the most appealing Exotic combinations, with minor changes to some keywords and effects. Builds that need regen can use Spirit of Inmost Light, but Spirit of the Cyrtarachne gets a good change after working on any Prismatic grenade. And that’s before landing on two favorite Hunter Exotics, borrowing from Assassin’s Cowl and Star-Eater Scales.
| First column | Second column |
| Spirit of the Assassin Become invisible with powered melee kills or finishers. | Spirit of the Star-Eater Picking up Orbs of Power after your Super is full increases its damage. |
| Spirit of Inmost Light Use an ability to increase the regen for the other two. | Spirit of Synthoceps Improved melee damage when you’re surrounded. |
| Spirit of the Ophidian Improves ready speed on all weapons. | Spirit of Verity Weapon final blows with a damage type matching your grenade grant a stacking grenade damage bonus. |
| Spirit of the Dragon (Dragon’s Shadow) Dodging reloads all weapons and increases weapon handling speed. | Spirit of the Cyrtarachne (Cyrtarachne’s Façade) Gain Woven Mail when you use your grenade. |
| Spirit of Galanor (Shards of Galanor) Hits and final blows with your Super will return Super energy after it ends. | Spirit of the Gyrfalcon (Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk) Grants Volatile Rounds to your Void weapons after coming out of invisibility. |
| Spirit of the Foetracer (Foetracer) Damaging a powerful combatant or Guardian with an ability grants you a temporary damage bonus for weapons matching that ability’s element. | Spirit of the Liar (Liar’s Handshake): Dealing damage with a powered melee or receiving a melee attack allow for a counterattack. |
| Spirit of Caliban (Caliban’s Hand) Powered melee final blows trigger an ignition. | Spirit of the Wormhusk (Wormhusk Crown): Dodging heals you slightly. |
| Spirit of Renewal (Renewal Grasps) Allies inside the Duskfield take reduced damage, and targets inside the area deal reduced damage. | Spirit of the Coyote (Sixth Coyote) Gain an additional class ability charge. Doesn’t add the intrinsic Reaper mod. |
If you’re looking to borrow from Titans and Warlocks, Spirit of Inmost Light and Spirit of Verity have great synergy, too, and even Inmost Light with Cyrtarachne can offer enough utility to consider equipping them in your Destiny 2 builds.
How to get Exotic class items in Destiny 2
Chasing Exotic class items is quite a trek in Destiny 2. First, you need to unlock the Dual Destiny mission, which requires a two-person squad to complete. This involves taking down Overthrow bosses and killing a secret enemy that appears after the activity is completed. The next step, and arguably the most convoluted, is actually finishing the Dual Destiny mission, which brings a hefty deal of mechanics and the need for some time. You need a second player to do so, and we only got the mission to start after we had exactly two people on our squad.
Published: Jun 12, 2024 12:12 pm