A bug in Destiny 2 lets you get Forsaken items and revamped Exotics one week early

If you’re one of the many Destiny 2 players looking forward to Forsaken, then chances are you’ve already checked out some of the recent changes. Update 2.0, the pre-expansion patch, has certainly made some revamps to how you play the game. However, it also came with something surprising — a bug which allows players to obtain Forsaken items before it launches on September 4.

A little bug in Destiny 2 for some easy Forsaken loot

Destiny 2: Forsaken items will have random rolls and perks. This is a far cry from the static or fixed rolls in the game’s first year. For instance, armor pieces used to have fixed perks that defined Mobility, Resilience, and Recovery. In Forsaken, they’ll also have extra perk columns. One focuses on ammo pickups depending on the weapon or ammo type. The other would concern weapon ready speed, reload speed, target acquisition, and even flinch. These are also dependent on specific types of weapons.

If that’s a bit confusing at first, allow me to share a few more images:

You can see above that the shader simply says “TEMP” which is more or less a placeholder. What’s also noticeable is that if an item does have a shader and it gets dismantled, there’s a chance to return that shader back to the inventory.

What’s more important however is seeing how the Masterwork system would be like when Forsaken comes around. Previously, when you Masterwork an armor, you gain bonus to damage resistance when your super is active. This time around, at least based on the armor I have, it seems dependent on the element. For the Scatterhorn Grasps, it would give me Solar Damage Resistance. It’s currently at Tier 3, and using up more of my materials will that up to the maximum of Tier 10.

Min-maxing and getting perfect rolls

Obviously, we don’t want to run with a full Solar Resistance set unless all the enemies are expected to do Solar damage. We’ll have to mix and match depending on the situation.

Likewise, since you do get various perks related to the weapons you are using, you definitely want a great combination of selectable rolls. It would be extremely annoying to get a decent armor piece only to have perks that don’t synergize well.

The legendary armor pieces I’ve obtained mostly confer bonuses to hand-cannons, fusion rifles, and scout rifles. These are weapons I barely use. That means I’ll definitely have to look out for ones that suit my playstyle — auto rifles and snipers.

Destiny 2: Forsaken – Revamped Exotics

It’s not just legendaries will new perks that are obtainable. You can also find revamped exotics in the wild such as that one above. These are Year 1 exotics that now have new perks/rolls as part of their stats.

The above image shows Gemini Jester exotic boots for Hunters. It has some nifty perks especially if I want to run-and-gun in PvP. That’s because it has improved ready speed and extra pickups for submachine guns. Unfortunately, it’s also the Gemini Jester, an exotic I will never ever use.

Below, you can see the Ophidia Spathe with new perks. Apart from the default one which gives me two Throwing Knives, I can also choose what I want from the new perk columns. This one has decreased flinch whenever I’m using a sniper rifle as one of the options. Oh, joy!

Where to find these items?

Of course, it would be remiss not to mention where to find them. There are a few methods at the moment:

• Flashpoint: Mars – Do public events on Mars to complete the Flashpoint and speak to Ana Bray. You’ll obtain the Legendary Forsaken armors. There’s also a chance that you could get Forsaken weapons as well.
• Any method that can provide an exotic drop – For the exotic armors with new perks, it’s as simple as obtaining an exotic engram and decrypting it. Powerful engrams from milestones or the campaign can even reward exotics with new perk trees. Also, raid chests can give you an exotic directly. In my case, I obtained the Gemini Jester from the Leviathan Drain chest and the Ophidia Spathe from the final chest after beating Calus on Prestige. It’s also possible to obtain them from chests in Eater of Worlds and Spire of Stars. And yes, you will want to run Prestige Mode for double the chances loot drops.
• Exotic armors will have revamped perks/rolls. Unfortunately, it seems exotic weapons will still remain as is.
• Please note that you won’t be able to equip these items if they’re above 400 power already like in my case.

Finally, you might ask what’s the point of all this since Destiny 2: Forsaken is about to release anyway. It’s to prepare for the expansion given the myriad of random rolls and perk combinations you can find. If ever you do end up with one such item, check if it’s worth keeping. If you manage to get a god roll this early, make sure to never let go of it.

Ultimately, it’s up to you if you’d like to scour the game for them or not.  If you do, better make it fast because Bungie are aware of the bug and they might end up fixing it soon.

We are aware of an issue where players are receiving Forsaken items earlier than intended.

For a full list of known issues being investigated since the release of Update 2.0.0, please visit this thread on the Help forum:https://t.co/mNTnMyfiLQ

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) August 29, 2018