Destiny 2’s new Exotic Shotgun shreds – but it has a painful drawback

The final installment of Destiny 2’s Episode Revenant went live on January 7, introducing new Exotic Slayer’s Fang, which has several interesting properties, including one that’s guaranteed to get you killed.

The main gimmick here is the unique projectiles fired by Slayer’s Fang. Similar to Hard Light, pellets fired by the former rebound off solid surfaces until they find an opponent to bury themselves in.

Where the two differ, however, is that Slayer’s Fang’s shells can shatter into smaller munitions and, if you’re unlucky, rebound directly back towards the weapon’s user.

This likely isn’t news to anyone familiar with how ricochet damage works in Destiny 2 and, in a vacuum, it’s not a problem. But, each submunition fired by the Shotgun has the added ability to inflict the Weaken debuff on impact after scoring a final blow and proccing Nightsworn Sight.

Double-edged sword

You know where this is going. If just one submunition from Slayer’s Fang happens to lodge itself in your Guardian with Nightsworn Sight active, it’s going to self-inflict Weaken, and the debuff doesn’t discriminate between friend and foe.

The same 15% damage buff Weaken provides against foes will apply to you, increasing the hurt you receive from any damage source until the effect wears off.

Self-damaging weapons aren’t a new concept in Destiny 2. In addition to ricochet damage, other Exotics, such as Telesto and Touch of Malice – the latter is built around the risk vs. reward gimmick – pose risk to the user.

The difference here, however, is that Slayer’s Fang is intended to be a close-quarters weapon. Avoiding its downside is less a question of skill and more of luck.

It’s possible that, in this instance, the behaviour is unintended, but Bungie hasn’t responded to Reddit threads pointing out the drawback’s counterintuitive nature, so the reality remains to be seen.

For more on Revenant Act 3, check out our complete guide of the Episode’s Artifact perks, as well as our breakdowns of how new seasonal weapons Red Tape and Heretic’s Fervor fit into the current meta.