This week in Destiny 2, Lord Saladin brough back the Iron Banner for the second time during Season of the Lost. As players race to complete his bounties and earn pinnacle level gear, the typical weekend activity Trials of Osiris is taking a one week hiatus. The goal with this move is to prevent the player base from splitting, though it gives Bungie additional time to respond to player feedback from week 3, which by all accounts, went better overall.

Outside of the competitive activities, Bungie also hinted at some interesting story developments by reissuing the Legendary sidearm known as Spoiler Alert. When asked about why the sidearm was brought back along with its ominous favor text, Senior Narrative Lead Julia Nardin admitted that it was not coincidence, but wouldn't delve any further. The last time the sidearm made an appearance, it was prior to the death of Cayde-6 in the Forsaken expansion and considering Witch Queen is now a few months away, players fear someone else is now on the chopping block.

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For the time being, the weekend exotic gear merchant Xur has once again made his return to Destiny 2 with his newly expanded inventory. Follow this guide for his most current weekend location, news on his exotic cypher quest, as well as a review of all the exotic gear he's brought for the weekend of October 1, 2021.

Where is Xur?

For the next few days, Destiny 2 players can find Xur hanging out on his familiar Nessus tree in Watcher's Grave.

From the Director, head to Nessus and load into Watcher's Grave. Run towards the back of the zone where a massive tree is found. Jump up until players find the huge branch where the merchant is hanging out.

Class Armor and Exotic Cypher

In Season of the Lost, Xur's role has expanded as the exotic merchant has weekly quests, exotics, and legendary gear. Not only are these quests required to purchase a second fated engram, but they're necessary to acquire legacy exotic gear from the Tower kiosk. Players can earn a new cypher by completing strikes and winning crucible or gambit matches. Gain bonus points for playing with clanmates or finishing more challenging activities.

With Season 15, Xur is now selling even more gear outside of his usual content. In addition to his normal exotic gear, Xur now has Legendary Weapons and Armor for sale in exchange for Legendary Shards and Glimmer. Better yet, the stat rolls are pretty solid on the Black Armor gear for this week.

Exotic Armor

Sunbracers - Warlock gauntlets

Ultimately intended for Dawnblade Warlocks, the Sunbracers increase the duration of all solar grenades, while also granting unlimited solar grenade energy for a brief time after a solar melee kill is performed. The grenade cooldown time is cut way down following a solar melee kill, allowing the player to toss out nearly unlimited amounts of grenades until the effect wears off.

With the focus on grenades, this gear is great for clearing encounters with plenty of enemies and maybe not as effective in smaller modes like the Crucible. Overall, this item is fine but not going to be anything that is a must buy for Warlocks. It's also worth mentioning that the roll this week is extremely high at 65 so it may be worth picking up, if only for the fact of replacing an older roll.

Solar Enhanced. Stat Values:

• Mobility +13
• Resilience +16
• Recovery +3
• Discipline +12
• Intellect +14
• Strength +7

Shards of Galanor - Hunter gauntlets

It's been a very long time but the mid-tree Gunslinger exotic Shards of Galanor is available at Xur once more. Sharp Edges is the exotic perk on these and it returns super energy for hits and kills with Blade Barrage once the super ends. Well. to a point.

While not nearly as effective as they once were, the Shards are still a viable option for Hunters of like to run Blade Barrage and Way of a Thousand Cuts. It's not going to give back an entire super meter like it used to thanks to a recent Season 15 nerf by Bungie, but it will still help get players back there faster than normal. This gear also has two Enhanced perks on it this week making it even more desirable than normal.

Solar Enhanced. Stat Values:

• Mobility +13
• Resilience +9
• Recovery +9
• Discipline +2
• Intellect +17
• Strength +12

Crest of Alpha Lupi - Titan chest armor

It's been a few months, but the typically rare Crest of Alpha Lupi is finally in stock with Xur. This Titan armor comes with with the Survival Well perk. Essentially, when Barricade is active, the armor will generate 1 additional Orb of Light from supers as well as a healing pulse.

This is more of a defensive item so it has more value when tackling challenging content thanks to its healing pulse and orb generation abilities. When low on health, the Titan can put up a barricade for protection which then procs a healing burst to instantly gain health back. This gear is viable in all aspects of Destiny 2, though it really shines in activities like The Ordeal, Dungeons, and even Master and Grandmaster difficulty content.

Solar Enhanced. Stat Values:

• Mobility +10
• Resilience +14
• Recovery +8
• Discipline +8
• Intellect +9
• Strength +13

Exotic Weapon

Returning from earlier this month, the Hard Light auto rifle is back in stock. At one point in time, Hard Light was largely regarded as the strongest weapon in Destiny 2, including competitive events like the Crucible. It was favored by most players for its rapid fire, high damage, and near zero recoil. As these things tend to go, the nerf hammer finally fell on Hard Light, reducing it's effectiveness. These days, the weapon is largely outclassed by other auto rifles in the game, making it hard to recommend. The changing elemental damage is helpful at times, so the gun remains serviceable.

Hard Light basically shoots lasers thanks to its Intrinsic perk, Volatile Light. Rounds fired from the weapon have reduced damage falloff, over penetrate targets, and ricochet of hard surfaces. The more they ricochet, the more damage they inflict. It may not be the beast it once was, but it is still more than servicable and is a decent pick up this week.

Additional perks:

• Polygonal Rifling
• Alloy Magazines
• Composite Stock

Here's the complete rundown of Xur's exotic stock in Destiny 2 for October 1, 2021:

• Sunbracers (Warlock gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
• Shards of Galanor (Hunter gauntlets) – 23 Legendary Shards
• Crest of Alpha Lupi (Titan chest armor) – 23 Legendary Shards
• Hard Light (Auto Rifle) - 29 Legendary Shards
• Exotic Engram - 97 Legendary Shards/1 Exotic Cypher
• A Question - Exotic Cypher Quest

Legendary Gear

As previously mentioned, Xur now sells Legendary Armor and Weapons. All gear costs 50 Legendary Shards and 1000 Glimmer.

• Dire Promise (Primary Hand Cannon)
• Jian 7 Rifle (Energy Pulse Rifle)
• Last Perdition (Energy Pulse Rifle)
• Seventh Seraph CQC-12 (Energy Shotgun)
• Hollow Words (Energy Fusion Rifle)
• Berenger's Memory (Heavy Grenade Launcher)
• The Keening (Energy Sidearm)
• Ancient Apocalpyse Armor Set

Destiny 2: Beyond Light is now available PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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