Raid exotics in Destiny and Destiny 2 are among the most sought-after items in the game both because of the challenge inherent to acquiring them and their low drop rates. But throughout the history of Bungie’s series, raid exotics have occupied a lot of different spaces and played a lot of different roles.

Some have been among the strongest guns in the game, while others have been complete disappointments. And now that there is a strong catalog of Destiny raid exotics to examine, it makes one wonder how Bungie really wants them to operate. In the beginning, the raid exotic was something special and now that same raid exotic is anything but.

Exotic Perk: This weapon has no charge time. It fires a single bolt with each trigger pull.

The first raid exotic and arguably the strongest of the entire bunch, Vex Mythoclast was a dominant force in Destiny 1...before Bungie nerfed it. OG Vex Mythoclast in PvP was practically unstoppable. Opponents could barely get a shot off before a Vex user had disintegrated them, and because the gun was so rare it wasn’t often that two Vex Mythoclast users were in the same Crucible lobby. Think back to any point in time when an exotic was dominating Crucible – Thorn, The Last Word, Prometheus Lens, Lord of Wolves. None of them compare to Vex at its prime.

Even after the nerf, Vex Mythoclast was good enough in PvE that many players used it. A fast-firing fusion rifle that functioned more like an auto rifle was very useful. Players continued to grind for Vex Mythoclast even after new raids released because the drop rate was so low and the weapon was still good.

Exotic Perk: Kills with this weapon trigger a Cursed Thrall explosion.

Bungie tried something different with its second raid exotic, Necrochasm. Rather than get the exotic as a drop from the raid, players needed to get an item from the final boss, Crota. But before that, players needed to complete a quest to transform the Husk of the Pit auto rifle into the Eidolon Ally. Then once they earned the Crux of Crota as a drop, the Eidolon could become the Necrochasm.

It was some extra work on the part of the Destiny player, and unfortunately, the Necrochasm was not as worth the effort as Vex Mythoclast. The exotic turned headshots into Thrall explosions, but its overall damage was too weak. Bungie did reprise the Necrochasm for Age of Triumph and it was better than in The Dark Below, but still not great. Necrochasm was the first on a two-part pattern: disappointing raid exotics and exotic quests that involved completing the raid to earn the weapon.

Exotic Perk: Final round of the magazine regenerates and deals bonus damage at the cost of the wielder's life force.

Touch of Malice builds on the quest concept of Necrochasm but eliminates the random drop rate. Anyone that completed the early steps of the Touch of Malice quest could unlock the weapon after beating King’s Fall for the first time. And then the weapon itself became very useful in following attempts.

Touch of Malice was the first raid exotic that was tailored to the endgame experience. Specific encounters were made easier with Touch of Malice because The Relic prevents the weapon’s perk from actually damaging players inside the bubble. On both the Daughters and Oryx encounters, Touch of Malice is great for dealing damage. Even a Blessing of Light bubble could work with Touch of Malice but Bungie eventually nerfed that trick.

Outside of the Destiny raid, though, Touch of Malice typically didn’t get a lot of use. The risk/reward associated with extra damage at the cost of health was usually too much, but within the raid, it was one of the top weapons.

Exotic Perk: Enemies that take repeated hits from this weapon spawn SIVA nanites that attack other enemies. Fallen take extra damage.

Outbreak Prime arguably had the most run-up to its release. Destiny players knew that there were some mysteries within the Wrath of the Machine raid, but it took a lot of decoding to finally unlock the secrets of the puzzle. Once completed, players were set on the path (a longer quest waited on the other side) to Outbreak Prime.

After Destiny players eventually completed the Outbreak Prime quest they found a really solid all-around pulse rifle. Harnessing the power of SIVA, Outbreak Prime worked very well for add clear and went untouched by Bungie during Year 3. It was a strong weapon with a cool quest that did not rely on low drop rates.

Exotic Perk: This weapon fires blasts of high-damage Arc energy that overpenetrates enemies.

The first raid exotic of Destiny 2 built on a few lessons learned during the first game’s 3-year history. Legend of Acrius was a quest-based raid exotic like Touch of Malice but it was fairly simple to acquire. The exotic shotgun's blast of arc energy offered up cool kill animations but it struggled when it came to matching other power weapons for DPS. Only in select instances, like the Deception encounter in Crown of Sorrow, did Legend of Acrius truly show its utility.

In PvP, however, Acrius was/is very fun to use. It practically guarantees a kill at absurd ranges and requires little to no skill to operate.

Exotic Perk: Charging this weapon unleashes a giant continuous beam of death.

After two raid lairs that did not offer raid exotics, Bungie came out with a bang for Destiny 2 Year 2. Last Wish was the biggest raid that the series had ever seen, with unique boss fights, puzzles, and more. It also returned to the tried and true random drop exotic, One Thousand Voices. At the end of each Last Wish completion, players could select from a number of chests with the hopes that one would contain One Thousand Voices. Some got it first try and others took months to finally get the fusion rifle – helped along by some boosts to RNG by Bungie.

One Thousand Voices was devastating at launch thanks to a bug with higher frame rates on PC. It was capable of melting bosses in a matter of seconds as if it was truly firing the fire from a dragon. Unfortunately, Bungie quickly nerfed the bug and One Thousand Voices came back to Earth. It’s still a strong power weapon capable of decent DPS, but only in small bursts. Its creative design and low drop rate put it up there with other raid exotics, though.

Exotic Perk: Grenades stick to surfaces and chain Arc bolts to other mines.

Arguably the most useful raid exotic weapon introduced in Destiny 2, Anarchy is still an essential piece of any endgame arsenal. Sticking two lightning grenades to a boss/enemy deals passive damage that boosts single target DPS or helps take out a stronger enemy while working on lesser fodder. If the boss is close enough and not moving (which is a LOT of Destiny 2 raid bosses) then it’s hard to pass up Anarchy in the power weapon slot.

Like 1K, Anarchy was hard to get even as Bungie buffed drop rates, but thanks to the exotic kiosk anyone can buy the exotic grenade launcher for 240 Spoils of Conquest. Some think that Anarchy may eventually get nerfed, but for right now it stands heads and tails above other raid exotics in terms of usefulness.

Exotic Perk: This weapon stores power when dealing or receiving damage. [Alternate Weapon Action]: Unleashes the beast when full.

Given the nickname Tarra-bad, the exotic SMG Tarrabah missed the mark in a few places. Its exotic perk can be very deadly when active, but getting things set up takes time and requires using only Tarrabah. In PvP, when Ravenous Beast is active, the SMG can shred through Guardians but without the perk it is middling at best. In PvE, there are SMGs that can clear adds with a basic damage perk and don’t need to rely on any gimmicks.

If Tarrabah could keep Ravenous Beast while stowed (or maybe even build up the perk while stowed) then it might get more use. As it stands, the weapon struggles to find its place as an exotic.

Exotic Perk: Sustained damage with this weapon envelops the target in a field that weakens and stuns them. Strong against [Disruption] Overload Champions.

Bungie went back to the quest exotic concept with Divinity, but asked a lot of fireteams to acquire the exotic trace rifle. After completing a series of tether puzzles, fireteams could eventually unlock Divinity and give their overall fireteam damage a boost. When it first released, Divinity bypassed the buff/debuff rules of Destiny 2 that said only one of each could be applied at a time, which made the gun a huge boon for raids. Then Bungie nerfed that capability and Divinity lost some of its utility, but not much.

Because Divinity creates a more visible precision target and buffs damage, a lot of raid teams still rely on it. What they may lose in one player’s DPS can usually be made up by the other 6 players guaranteeing higher damage per shots. Divinity also helps with bosses where the Slug Shotgun strategy is most efficient.

Divinity isn’t the most powerful on its own and it’s not the coolest looking weapon, but it hits a note as a raid exotic that Destiny never really had before. It’s a support weapon that can help weaken tougher enemies throughout the Destiny 2 endgame, and that’s a very valuable tool.

Exotic Perk: This weapon is capable of tracking and firing at multiple targets simultaneously.

Deep Stone Crypt’s exotic rocket launcher, Eyes of Tomorrow, went back to the usual format of a random drop at the end of the raid. As a rocket launcher, the exotic is surprisingly good but it could be better. The weapon struggles to match boss DPS of other top tier weapons, even after Bungie buffed rocket launchers two seasons ago.

For many, Eyes of Tomorrow was where Bungie set the precedent for Destiny 2 raid exotics. If the devs weren’t going to buff its damage, then they were unlikely to touch anything else. And with such a low drop rate for Eyes, many gave up on even trying to get the weapon.

Exotic Perk: Defeating targets builds stacks of Overcharge. [Alternate Weapon Action]: Swap firing modes when fully Overcharged. In alternative firing mode, hold the trigger to charge up and fire more powerful linear fusion shots.

Things came full circle with the release of Vault of Glass in Destiny 2. Many of players' favorite weapons from D1 returned, including the original raid exotic, Vex Mythoclast. Unfortunately, Vex Mythoclast is a shell of its former self. The exotic fusion rifle still fires like an auto rifle, but its damage is middling at best. The ability to trigger a linear fusion rifle mode would be useful if LFRs were stronger, but they pale in comparison to a lot of DPS weapons. And like Tarrabah, Vex Mythoclast loses its stacks of Overcharge if stowed.

Destiny 2 players have been calling for Vex Mythoclast to get a buff since it first started dropping from Vault of Glass. Some want the buff because they are still grinding for it, others want the buff because they were lucky enough to get it but can’t properly flaunt it.

Looking at the history of raid exotics it will be interesting to see how Bungie moves forward. Many raid exotics have seen nerfs but few have seen targeted buffs. Tarrabah would have set the precedent for a Vex Mythoclast change, but years later the SMG is still the same despite the complaints.

Bungie is in a tough spot when it comes to handling raid exotics. If they make them too strong or buff them significantly, then those who can’t raid will be at a disadvantage. On the flip side, if a raid exotic is not strong enough, like is the case with many of them, then players will be less likely to grind the raid for the weapon. Hopefully, Vex Mythoclast breaks that pattern, though, because in its current state it pales in comparison to the Destiny 1 version.

Destiny 2 is available now.