Bungie is claiming that a bug with one of Destiny 2's exotic weapons is actually a feature, and I'm going to go into excruciating detail about why I think that's wrong

GamesFPSDestiny 2Bungie is claiming that a bug with one of Destiny 2’s exotic weapons is actually a feature, and I’m going to go into excruciating detail about why I think that’s wrongWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Bungie)

Wicked Implement

Last week, Bungie claimed that something the community assumed was a bug with one of Destiny 2’s exotic weapons is actually an intended effect. I disagree.

And look, I am going to go into a lot of detail about why I disagree, but it is very important that you understand what’s happening here. This is not some juicy drama that has an entire community raging, or even an example of a particularly weird bug that is fascinating to learn about regardless of if you play the game it occurred in. This is small fry stuff. A petty grievance. Even in the unlikely instance that Bungie a) sees this, and b) decides I’m right, the only effect is that I will have slightly more fun with one gun for a few months until Destiny 2’s current episode ends. The stakes couldn’t be lower.

If you’re still here, I will now explain what’s going on. In the most recentThis Week in Destinyupdate, Bungie made a statement about the exotic scout rifle Wicked Implement:

This is wrong, for many reasons—for one Conditional Finality doesn’t apply the Slow perk or interact with Overload champions at all. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Buckle up, because this is going to require some unpacking.

Champions are special enemies that appear in endgame activities. There are three flavours—Barrier, Overload and Unstoppable—and each requires a different tool to ‘stun’, making it easier to kill. Barrier champions, for instance, can create a shield around them that needs breaking with an anti-barrier weapon, lest it quickly regain all its health.

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There are three sources of champion counter in the game:

Because every season the artifact gives anti-champion behaviours to whole classes of weapon, sometimes there’s an overlap—and that leads to edge cases and exceptions. For the current episode, Revenant, the artifact contains Unstoppable Pulse Rifle, meaning, when selected, all pulse rifles will counter Unstoppable champions. Except Revision Zero, an exotic pulse rifle, intrinsically counters Barrier champions. In these instances, the intrinsic always wins out. The Unstoppable Pulse Rifle perk simply doesn’t apply to Revision Zero. It will always counter Barriers, and only Barriers.

(Image credit: Bungie)

Aiming down Wicked Implement’s sights at a frozen enemy.

This is what Bungie is claiming for Wicked Implement and Conditional Finality. Wicked Implement is an exotic scout rifle that fires bullets that apply a slow effect. Bungie is claiming that this makes it an intrinsic Overload counter, and so the artifact perk Anti-Barrier Scout doesn’t, andshouldn’t, apply. Conditional Finality is an exotic shotgun that fires bullets that counter Unstoppable champions through the Shatter and Ignite keywords. Again, Bungie is claiming this makes it an intrinsic counter, and so the Anti-Barrier Shotgun artifact perk doesn’t, andshouldn’t, apply.

Here’s the thing, though: These aren’t intrinsic effects. They’re keyword counters. It’s an entirely different thing.

Overload champions are weak to Slow, so Wicked Implement’s bullets naturally—but notintrinsically—can stun them. If the effect was intrinsic, the gun wouldn’t be able to stun any other type of champion. But Wicked Implement can also stun Unstoppable champions, because stacks of Slow eventually build into Freeze. And if you shoot a frozen enemy, you’ll inflict Shatter, which is a keyword that counters Unstoppable champs. If Wicked Implement’s anti-Overload properties were intrinsic, that wouldn’t happen. It’d deal with Overloads and Overloads alone.

OK, look, here is what it looks like when you’ve equipped an intrinsic anti-champion weapon—Devil’s Ruin—with no artifact perks selected. That little square icon? It’s there all the time, letting you know that the gun intrinsically stuns Unstoppable champs.

(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2 UI

Here’s what it looks like when I proc Radiant, a keyword that gives you a weapon damage buff and also makes your weapon anti-Barrier.

(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2 UI

The weapon doesn’t care. You can see my other two weapons now have the triangular Barrier champion symbol to denote their newly gained ability to stun Barrier champs.Thisgun, though, is intrinsic. It stuns Unstoppable champs and nothing else.

Conversely, here is what it looks like when Wicked Implement is selected. Notice the complete lack of any champion symbols.

(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2 UI

And here’s what it looks like when I proc Radiant with Wicked Implement.

(Image credit: Bungie)

Destiny 2 UI

Hey, look at that. It’s anti-Barrier now! That wouldn’t happen if the gun had intrinsic Overload properties. Because itdoesn’thave intrinsic Overload properties. It just fires slowing bulletsthat happen—for different systemic reasons—to also stun Overload champions.

I could go on. I could talk about Polaris Lance—a scout rifle that can be anti-Unstoppable thanks to its ability to apply the Ignite effect—and how itdoesbenefit from the Anti-Barrier Scout artifact perk. I could talk about the time Bungie fixed weapons with the Chill Clip perk—another type of bullet that slows enemies, thus stunning Overload champions—so that it worked more consistently on top of the Radiant buff. I could note that, last episode, thanks to the Anti Barrier Sniper artifact perk, Chill Clip sniper rifles like Critical Anomaly could counter all three champion types—the exact situation Bungie is seemingly trying to avoid here. But really this is obvious stuff. Intrinsic champion counters are listed in the description of the weapon itself. Wicked Implement’s description doesn’t mention champions at all. My case, it rests.

Why does any of this matter? I have three things to say to that question:

Mostly, though, it’s a Stasis-based episode. Just make the gun fun Bungie. And fix Tractor Cannon while you’re at it. Just because you let it shoot the kind of bullets that stun Overload champions, doesn’t make it an intrinsic Overload weapon. It—alongside Conditional Finality—should absolutely be allowed to use Anti-Barrier Shotgun as well.

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