The Taken King - All New Exotic Armour

Posted in destiny

The Taken King expansion arrives just as Destiny turns a year old and with it Bungie have included a new collection of exclusive Exotic armour pieces for each of the three classes. Take note of the list below so you know which exotics are from The Taken King and which will provide the highest level of defence in Year 2.

There's a very good chance that Xur will be selling one of these pieces in the weekends to come, and not all of them are very good as you'll see below. Save yourself some time and learn which ones are worth buying and progressing and which should be left well alone...

Warlock

Alchemist's Raiment

Class: Warlock
Type: Chest
Unique perk: Picking up Primary Ammo gives you a chance to gain glimmer

Alchemist's Raiment is a Warlock chest piece and not only is this armour piece sexy but it comes with a unique perk that's really interesting. Although this perk won't give you a buff during a firefight it'll come in handy over the long run when you want to upgrade multiple weapons, armour pieces or especially in Iron Banner; each of which requires glimmer as a currency source.

It's other perk will recharge your melee and grenade abilities if you pick up orbs when your super meter is full. This might sound ominous but most selfrez Warlocks like to keep their Super fully charged so picking up orbs with this exotic makes alot of sense.

Ophidian Aspect

Class: Warlock (Voidwalker)
Type: Gauntlets
Unique perk: "Viper Totemic" - improves Siphon (Void melee attack e.g. Life Steal), weapon reload speed and weapon ready stats.

A Voidwalker exotic armour piece which provides an improved melee attack with the bonus of better weapon handling stats.

The Impossible Machines

Class: Warlock (Stormcaller)
Type: Gauntlets
Unique perk: "Lightning Rod" - unlocks the Stormcaller "Landfall" perk for free.

Similar to the Titan exotic (Immolation Fists) this exotic unlocks the subclass perk Landfall for free. This subclass skill lets players shoot a bolt of lightning into the ground, creating a damaging shockwave.

Astrocyte Verse

Class: Warlock
Type: Helmet
Unique perk: "Teleportation" - reduces the cooldown of Blink and also increases the travel distance.

Astrocyte Verse provides a faster Blink recharge rate, offering players a greater chance of dodging attacks (by teleporting) with the added advantage of a longer teleport distance. This proves useful in desperation and strategy; when you need to evade a tight situation to take cover from afar but also when sneaking through groups of enemies to reach a target destination without retaliation, much like the hunters invisibility attribute but not quite as effective.

The Stag

Class: Warlock (Sunsinger)
Type: Helmet
Unique perk: "Doe or Die" - Super charges faster when your teammates are dead (only one use per life though). Chance to respawn with an overshield.

A true team-mates exotic: The Stag provides its most useful perks in times of death and desperation; giving you the chance to recharge your super as you scramble to revive the rest of the team. Sunsinger Warlocks will welcome the chance of an overshield upon respawn but in PvP this will also play its part.

Transversive Steps

Class: Warlock
Type: Boots
Unique perk: "Strange Angles" - faster movement speed while crouching. Collecting ammo will reload the weapon matching that ammo's type.

Ever wanted a Warlock perk to move faster while couching? Me neither but that's exactly what Transversive Steps offers. Players will probably find the second bonus for more useful - it automatically reloads the corresponding weapon type following ammo pickups. Considering the slow reload time of some weapons, especially heavy types, Transversive Steps could prove really useful in the right situation.

Titan

Empyrean Bellicose

Class: Titan
Type: Helmet
Unique perk: float in the air while aiming your weapon

A bad draw for Titans, this exotic helmet copies the Sunsinger Warlock skill called "Angel of Light" which provides players with the ability to float in midair while aiming their weapon. Having two Warlocks in my inventory I can tell you now that this perk really sucks - I've rarely used Angel of Light and when I did I became a sitting (or rather floating) duck.

Suggest you put this exotic way down the preference list.

Twilight Garrison

Class: Titan
Type: Chest
Unique perk: "Tactical Air Support" - quickly evade attacks while airborne by pressing the appropriate controller button.

This Titan exotic can be found via RnG rewards and sometimes for sale from Xur.

Immolation Fists

Class: Titan
Type: Gauntlets
Unique perk: "Accelerant" - Unlocks the Sunbreaker subclass perk called Explosive Pyre for free. Killing enemies with your hammer will cause them to explode, chaining Solar damage to other nearby enemies.

One of the selective exotics in The Taken King that unlocks a class specific skill for free. Immolation Fists can be bought from Xur but also acquired as a random drop.

Thagomizers

Class: Titan
Type: Gauntlets
Unique perk: "One-Two Punch" - Fist of Havoc will recharge from melee kills and vice versa. You also gain an additional melee charge.

Thagomizers is an interesting exotic that suits an offensive Striker Titan. It's unique perk will help you maintain a healthier Super and Melee charge if you alternate your offence between the two attacks.

The Taikonaut

Class: Titan
Type: Helmet
Unique perk: "Air Traffic Control" - all your rocket launchers gain tracking (homing missile effect), radar remains visible while ADS with heavy weapons, and Heavy Ammo drops are more likely.

Possibly the best exotic armour piece for Titans; comparable and probably better than the old Ruin Wings gauntlets from Year 1. Thanks to the "Air Traffic Control" perk players gain a huge advantage when using Heavy weapons.

The exotic Helmet is also modelled on Golden Age astronauts and will certainly look distinctive.

Dunemarchers

Class: Titan
Type: Boots
Unique perk: "Speed Demon" - better spint speed, slide distance and overall movement speed while aiming your weapon.

A fully agility focused exotic, Dunemarchers will turn the traditionally sluggish Titan into a more nimble ally. Bungie confirmed that Xur will sometimes sell this exotic armour piece in return for strange coins.

Hunter

Sealed Ahamkara Grasps

Class: Hunter
Type: Arms
Unique perk: provides Hunters with an additional melee charge

A melee focused Hunter Exotic - The Sealed Ahamkara Grasps give players an additional melee charge in addition to a chance to reload the Primary weapon following melee damage.

That equates to possibly three Throwing Knives (but likely only two), two Blink strikes or two Smoke Bombs. If we take Blink as the preference, Hunters get an insane amount of invisibility and extra backstabbing from this exotic item when combined with crouch. Useful for PvP situations, difficult Raid sections and skipping Strike areas without conflict.

All in all, SAGrasps is easily the best Exotic on the Taken King list so far!

ATS/8 Tarantella

Class: Hunter (Bladedancer)
Type: Chest
Unique perk: "The Tarantella" - reduced Arc damage from minions of the Darkness; Arc Grenades and Arc Blade recharge faster

Resembling a spiders face, the ATS/8 Tarantella exotic provides generous perks for the Bladedancer class, in particular a faster grenade and Super recharge rate.

Shinobu's Vow

Class: Hunter (Bladedancer)
Type: Gauntlets
Unique perk: "New Tricks" - improves the Skip Grenade and you also gain an additional Skip Grenade charge.

Another Bladedancer exotic, Shinobu's Vow focuses heavily on improvements to the Hunters Skip grenades. The exotic perk improves the overall effectiveness of the grenade whilst offering you an additional charge. It's tier 1 perk includes "Fastball" which provides a longer grenade throw distance to back up the exotic benefits.

Graviton Forfeit

Class: Hunter (Nightstalker)
Type: Helmet
Unique perk: "Elusive Shadow" - unlocks the Nightstalker subclass skill Shadestep for free.

The Hunter's version of Immolation Fists and The Impossible Machines, this exotic Helmet unlocks one of the new subclass skills for Nightstalker called Shadestep.

Skyburners Annex

Class: Hunter
Type: Helmet
Unique perk: "Versatile Shooter" - heavy Weapon kills will sometimes create Orbs. Collecting Orbs when your Super is full can sometimes grant Special ammo.

Although Skyburners Annex is a cool looking Helmet it's perks are fairly mediocre. It's certainly more useful in team based events because of its reliance on Orbs for it's exotic perk.

Fr0st-EE5

Class: Hunter
Type: Boots
Unique perk: "Rapid Cooldown" - acute turn radius while sprinting. Increased grenade and melee regeneration while sprinting.

Another agility focused exotic, this time for Hunters rather than Titans. Fr0st-EE5 provides all of its exotic benefits from sprinting, offering those players who like to keep moving a reduced grenade and melee cooldown.

Please note: certain exotics are still hidden in the game. The list above will be updated as new exotics are revealed.