‘Destiny’: Xur’s Exotic Goods For Dec. 18, Achlyophage Symbiote Returns

The Destiny Year One Exotics upgraded to Year Two parade continues with Xûr for the weekend of Friday, December 18. PlayStation and Xbox players get a fun Exotic Auto Rifle option while Hunters see the return of an old favorite helmet.

Xûr can be found in the very back of the bar located underneath the Future War Cult in the hangar this weekend. It’s a long jog, but easy to find. Just turn left when you enter the hanger, go down the stairs to the left, and then straight back. Here’s where you can find him on the Tower map just to be sure, though.

Xûr and his items will only be available in Destiny through the morning of Sunday, March 29. As soon as the clock strikes 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT, he will be gone.

Exotic Gear on Sale

Name	Type	Max Stat	Cost
An Insurmountable Skullfort	Titan Helmet	48 Intellect / 49 Strength	13 Strange Coins
Achlyophage Symbiote	Hunter Helmet	82 Intellect	13 Strange Coins
Heart of the Praxic Fire	Warlock Chest	63 Intellect / 62 Discipline	13 Strange Coins
Hard Light	Fusion Rifle		23 Strange Coins
Legacy Engram	Exotic Year One Special Weapon		31 Strange Coins

Curios

Plasma Drive	Legendary Vehicle Upgrade	23 Strange Coins
Void Drive	Legendary Vehicle Upgrade	23 Strange Coins
Heavy Ammo Synthesis	Ammo Synthesis 3-pack	1 Strange Coin
Three of Coins	Exotic Chance Boost 5-pack	7 Strange Coins
Glass Needles	Resets Exotic Stats 3-pack	3 Strange Coins, 3 Motes of Light, 1 Exotic Shard

For those wondering what to get, here are a few helpful hints.

Hard Light

While the Auto Rifle buff in the last Destiny update ended up being somewhat of a joke, the Hard Light is still a viable weapon thanks to it not having any damage falloff. That means range is not an issue with the weapon as long as players can hit the target. It’s also a fun weapon to use with the bonus perk of rounds being able to over-penetrate targets and ricochet off walls.

An Insurmountable Skullfort

Destiny players with Sunbreaker Titans may have just found their new best friend for PVE. The Year Two version of An Insurmountable Skullfort has a new, innate perk that grants an extra melee attack in addition to free melee energy on spawn. This synergizes excellently with the new “Melting Point” ability for Sunbreakers that provides a significant debuff to enemies and works well with Defender Titans’ “Overshield” perk.

Other perks on the helmet include the choice between “Hands-On” or “Heavy Lifting” to give extra Super Energy from melee or Heavy Weapon Kills. It also comes with the “Invigoration” perk that grants bonus melee energy when picking up Orbs of Light.

The split 49 Intellect and 49 Strength stat roll is decent and the combination of perk options should make it good enough to leave alone.

Achlyophage Symbiote

Hunters that still run Gunslinger in Year Two will want to pick up this Year Two upgrade from what was a beloved Year One piece. The “Last Man Standing” innate perk gives one extra shot to the Golden Gun. Unfortunately, the last Destiny update reduced the time of the Gunslinger Hunter so this is more difficult to use when not in crowds. Still, a Golden Gun round can now take out a Sunbreaker Titan in a single kill in PVP and an extra shot is always beneficial.

The optional perks are “Ashes to Assets” or “Second Thoughts,” along with “Innervation” as the lone perk in the final column.

The 82 Intellect role is great for Gunslingers who want to generate as many Supers as they can. However, Destiny players should consider using the Glass Needles to reroll to “Inverse Shadow” as one of the perks to ensure more Supers.

Heart of the Praxic Fire

Heart of the Praxic Fire is to Sunsinger Warlocks what Obsidian Mind is to Voidwalker Warlocks. Its “Praise the Sun” perk decreases all cooldowns while the Radiance Super is active. This turns “Sunbros” into grenade-chucking and orb generating machines. It also comes with perks to carry more Hand Cannon and Fusion Rifle ammo.

The 63 Intellect and 62 Discipline stat roll for this chest piece is near perfect. Getting a better perk role for Sniper Rifle ammo over Fusion Rifle ammo is the only reason to use the Glass Needle on this Destiny armor.

[Image via Bungie]