Xenophage Is Being Made Stronger And More Viable

Yesterday we covered how One-Eyed Mask and The Recluse are getting nerfed in Destiny 2, because they’re awful items that make Guardians kill me more easily in PVP. Today I want to talk about a buff that’s on the way, something that’s sorely needed if you ask me, and something that’ll change our planned review for the subject of that buff, Xenophage.

When it launched, Xenophage was meant to be this amazing new Exotic weapon, and really it should have been since the only other Exotic Machine Gun, Thunderlord, is downright incredible. Unfortunately Xenophage is pretty dreadful, weak, and basically useless, so no one wants to have it in their inventory. At best, right now the weapon is a collectors item, something that’s great to have to show off to company when they come around to check out your vault, but other than that it’s got no use. If you’ve yet to add this weapon to your collection, check out our Xenophage guide.

What’s Changing About Xenophage?

First off, the PVE damage for Xenophage is being increased by 50 percent, adding half of the current damage it does on top to make it a bit more lethal, and useful, when you’re out in the system. This buff is pretty great because it should make the weapon way more viable in Strikes, Raids, and every other event where you need a Machine Gun.

The second buff for Xenophage concerns PVP. Any ammo you pull from crates in PVP matches has been increased from 3/4 to 4/6, almost doubling it if you get the top end of the ammo drops. This is great, because there’s no point in using a Machine Gun if you don’t get enough ammo for it, and the decreased damage compared to other Heavy Weapons means that Xenophage needs that extra ammo.

Bungie has explained that they didn’t get the balance right before they launched Xenophage, but now they’re trying to fix that. It sounds as if there could be more updates to Xenophage over the next few weeks as we get close to the end of Season of the Undying, but only time will tell exactly how much Bungie will buff Xenophage to bring it up to the correct standard.

Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp

I'm an avid Destiny 2 fan and player. I fell in love with Destiny 1 during the early alpha and have been hooked by the universe ever since. I really enjoy playing with other Guardians, speculating about the lore, and writing about as much of the Destiny universe as I can.