Because they're exotic... (Destiny)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Friday, February 20, 2015, 01:37 (3375 days ago) @ Korny
edited by Cody Miller, Friday, February 20, 2015, 01:43

Why would I use hawkmoon in the Crota raid? Or the nightfall? Or icebreaker for that matter? You'd use fatebringer. Or Vex. Or a scout rifle with firefly. Or Black Hammer / LDR. Which are legendary.

Why would you ever touch anything other than Gjallarhorn or Thunderlord?
And don't say "Well, Truth can be useful", because no. Even in Void Burns, Gjallarhorn is king.
Also, I clearly said that Raid weapons didn't count (reading comprehension).

I probably wouldn't use anything but Gjallarhorn in PvE no. But there are instances where I might choose another HMG over Thunderlord. (Also many on that list are NOT raid weapons.)

Also notice, that I said that Destiny 2 would have to be designed just like Bungie described exotics for it to work: not actually being any better than legendaries. Just different.

And that's how they work now, for the most part.

What legendary Rocket Launcher is anywhere NEAR as good as Gjallarhorn? Hunger of Crota apparently doesn't count for you since it's a raid weapon. It also does way less damage. So no. It's just better. Which is the problem, because that affects other exotics through the opportunity cost of equipping them.

As you say, it even does more damage to a Praetorian than truth, despite Truth being the correct element for the shield!

There aren't any meaningful trade offs now is what I'm saying. Look at all the exotics that get unused by the majority of players simply because the tradeoff of not having Gjallarhorn is so high compared to their actual utility. Crucible is much more interesting in terms of which exotics are viable precisely because none completely dominate the way a select few do in PvE.

You just said that there aren't trade-offs, but then just described a number of weapons that you'd use instead of exotics. Okay then...
Also, I see a large variety of Exotics in Crucible, and limiting it to just one adds to the variety of combat encounters.

No, that LIMITS the combinations you can use, lessening variety. A bunch of people use zero exotic weapons in crucible as is, because a good roll on a legendary can be better, particularly with secondary weapons and HMGs. You would get more variety if you could equip any exotic. Perhaps not on the armor side, since legendary armors rarely if ever have cool game changing perks for PvP.

But that's my point. You see a large variety of exotics in use in Crucible, precisely because the trade offs with one over the other is not as bad as in PvE! The tradeoff is not in effectiveness, but in playstyle. You don't suddenly become less effective because you choose Thorn over Last Word. But you have to play differently.

As is, PvE is much more problematic.