While players continue racking up medals, a new bit of controversy ignited among the community following Bungie’s weekly blog update. The news this week centered on the return of Ada-1 to the Tower and the highly requested transmog system. The main issue most players have is that the system requires players to grind for new synthweave resources and each season has a hard cap with how many armor pieces can be made into universal ornaments. For those who want to unlock more than 10 armor pieces in a season, they’ll need to head to the Eververse microtransaction store to spend real money.

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For now, those who want to take a break from competing, the exotic merchant Xur has reentered the Destiny 2 game world and brings with him a new selection of exotic armor and weapons. Follow this guide for his most current weekend location, news on his exotic cypher quest, as well as a review of what he’s currently selling for the weekend of April 23, 2021 inside of Destiny 2.

Where is Xur?

For the next few days, players can find the exotic merchant hanging out in his usual spot at The Tower.

As usual, fast travel to the main Tower location and head left into the Hangar. Once there, take another left and move past the Dead Orbit section to find a metal staircase. Move up the stairs to find Xur on a platform overlooking the mountain range off in the distance.

Class Armor and Exotic Cypher

While Xur’s role is essentially the same as it was prior to the Beyond Light expansion, the exotic merchant also has weekly quests that players can acquire to unlock an exotic cypher. Not only are these required to purchase a second fated engram, but they’re necessary to acquire legacy exotic gear from the new 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.

Other than that, here are Xur’s three gear pieces this weekend:

The Stag - Warlock helmet

It’s been quite a long time but The skeletal looking helm called The Stag is back in stock this week, which remains a solid, if unexciting support tool for Warlocks. Dearly Departed is the intrinsic perk that grants Rift energy when the wearer is critically wounded. In addition it drops a healing rift for the rest of the team when the wearer dies.

Ultimately, this exotic isn’t immensely useful for solo players as the main trait basically triggers after death. Therefore, this is a situational exotic that is strong in team based modes. Still, there are much better exotic Warlock items that should be prioritized over this one. In fact, fans have already been calling for a rework to The Stag, following in the footsteps of the Aeon Cult set which has drastically improved them.

Void Enhanced. Stat Values:

Mobility +6 Resilience +9 Recovery +18 Discipline +14 Intellect +14 Strength +2

Orpheus Rigs - Hunter leg armor

At one point, these Nightstalker-focused footwear was incredibly strong, forcing Bungie to nerf the items with the Season of the Worthy update. Considering how strong they were, Bungie limited the item’s potential for super gain, placing a limit on the amount of super that can be gained after using Shadowshot to a maximum of 50%.

While they’re no longer anywhere near the levels they were at before, the Orpheus Rig boots are still a great choice for tether Hunters. Uncanny Arrows enhances the Shadowshot super ability by giving players ability energy for each enemy tethered by Deadfall anchors. For those using Moebius Quiver, they can take more shots than usual. Overall, it’s still a decent pick for Hunters, even if the item doesn’t quite pack the same punch it once did.

Arc Enhanced. Stat Values:

Mobility +15 Resilience +15 Recovery +2 Discipline +7 Intellect +14 Strength +9

Citan’s Ramparts - Titan leg armor

Not to be confused with the Lion Rampant boots, Citan’s Ramparts offers Titan players something a bit different from those other similar sounding boots. Originally introduced during Season of the Worthy, this gear features the perk called Assault Barricade. Ultimately, it allows allies to shoot through the Titan’s Towering Barricade. The downside is that the barricade’s health and duration is lower than normal.

Naturally, this item likely won’t be for everyone as it only impacts a very small portion of the Titan player. Not everyone uses the Towering Barricade, which makes this item useless for those players. Still, it does have its uses under the right circumstances. This definitely isn’t a must buy but players may find a use for them even with a decent stats roll this week.

Void Enhanced. Stat Values:

Mobility +16 Resilience +14 Recovery +2 Discipline +15 Intellect +9 Strength +7

Exotic Weapon

The once fabled Prometheus Lens is back with Xur this week. Prismatic Inferno is its intrinsic perk which makes the weapon fire a Solar beam and generate a damaging heat field that grows while the weapon continues to fire. Its other unique perk is Flame Refraction which returns a fraction of the ammo used to the magazine from reserves, extending the beam’s duration.

While it’s no where near as strong as it was when it first arrived to the game, Prometheus Lens isn’t picked all that much as the go to exotic for PvP matches, but it remains a viable choice and is still fun to use in most PvE style game modes.

Additional perks:

Chambered Compensator Projection Fuse Composite Stock

Here’s the complete rundown of Xur’s entire stock in Destiny 2 for April 23, 2021:

The Stag (Warlock helmet) – 23 Legendary Shards Orpheus Rigs (Hunter leg armor) – 23 Legendary Shards Citan’s Ramparts (Titan leg armor) – 23 Legendary Shards Prometheus Lens (Trace Rifle) - 29 Legendary Shards Exotic Engram - 97 Legendary Shards/1 Exotic Cypher A Question - Exotic Cypher Quest

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

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