Monday, 24 May 2021 20:06

Destiny 2: How To Get The Celestial Nighthawk Hunter Exotic (& Tips For Using It)

Written by Payton Lott
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The Celestial Nighthawk can be a powerful weapon in the right circumstances in Destiny 2. Here's how to find it and bring out its potential.

There are dozens of year one Destiny 2 exotics that have been forgotten over the years. Guardians that joined the community after one of the major expansions may have never even seen any of the first year legendary and exotic items. In year 2, Bungie decided to balance a few of the popular exotics from the first year. One of these newly-balanced exotic armor pieces was the Celestial Nighthawk.

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The Hunter armor proved to be one of the most powerful exotics in the game. However, this immense power also comes with a high risk. This guide will cover where to get the revamped Celestial Nighthawk, and explain the proper way to use the exotic.

Like many of the old exotics, there are only two ways to get the item. The first is though Xur, who provides weekly exotic items for purchase, as well as exotic engrams. The second is by completing the weekly Cipher quest.

Those that get lucky will be able to purchase the item directly from Xur's inventory, which updates every week. Gamers will have a better chance attempting to get the exotic by opening exotic engrams, as there is a small chance that the Celestial Nighthawk will drop from any exotic engram. Every week, guardians can use their shards to get one exotic engram from Xur. Each one will set players back 97 legendary shards.

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Anyone that completes the weekly Cipher quest can turn in the reward for an extra exotic engram. Thus, Xur is a reliable option for two exotic engrams every week. Guardians can find him at the Tower, although he does move from week to week. Look for our Xur updates every Friday to figure out where he is at all times.

Once players have this exotic in their inventory, they need to learn the ins and outs of its features to make the most of it in battle.

The Celestial Nighthawk's intrinsic trait improves the Golden Gun super of the Hunter Gunslinger tree. Instead of firing multiple shots, Hawkeye Hack makes the gun fire a single high damage shot that eliminates almost any enemy. Landing the shot grants super energy in return. The super buff will recharge about 25 percent of the total bar. However, a miss wastes the super ability, and grants no energy back. No other super has a higher DPS, but the tradeoff is that players have no second chance after a missed shot.

Guardians will want to use bottom tree Gunslinger to maximize damage output. Specifically, players will want to unlock Knock 'Em Down, which does more damage while the super is active. Knock 'Em Down's effects continue for 20 seconds after the super is activated. This means that hunters will have a weapon stability and handling buff for a few seconds after the super is used.

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If gamers use Line 'Em Up, the Golden Gun will have a precision hit, increasing damage output even more. Each precision hit will generate orbs of light as well. With Celestial Nighthawk and Line 'Em Up, the Gunslinger super can recharge almost instantly with the additional orbs of light.

In PVP, the exotic will decimate enemies with one blow and ensure a one hit kill. However, players must take easy shots to make sure they do not use their super without getting a kill. People should not expect to rack up multiple kills because of the exotic, but it can ensure one free kill in PVP.

The exotic is certainly fun to use, but its effectiveness is limited against other guardians. In all honesty, there are a number of better options for PVP, as the base Gunslinger super will eliminate enemies with one blow anyway.

The Celestial Nighthawk shines in PVE against enemies with a lot of health. No other hunter exotic provides a comparable DPS, and the intrinsic trait will deal massive damage to bosses while speeding up the super recharge rate tenfold if players hit their shots.

Those that aim carefully will inflict damage in the thousands. It is okay to take extra time and line up shots to capitalize on the potential of Hawkeye Hack against bosses.

As a PVP option, the exotic ranks somewhere in the C or D tier. The potential of the intrinsic trait is not realized when using Gunslinger against other players in PVP. DPS is irrelevant if an enemy goes down, and the basic Gunslinger super can kill far more enemies while active.

In PVE, though, Celestial Nighthawk ranks unquestionably in A tier. In a pinch, the Golden Gun will decimate most high level AI. Bottom tree Gunslinger will give hunters multiple buffs that reduce the time needed for super regen and increase damage output exponentially. Despite being a relic of the past, Celestial Nighthawk is still an incredible option for raids and Nightfall.

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