Destiny 2: How to use the Ruinous Effigy effectively

The new Ruinous Effigy exotic trace rifle is now available in Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals. At first, I wondered if it’s just got some silly gimmick. It turns out that it’s actually a powerful weapon in both PvE and PvP when it’s used effectively. Here’s our mini-guide to help you out.

Note: For more information about all the other activities and content for this season, check out our Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals guides and features hub.

Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals – Ruinous Effigy tips and tricks

Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals‘ Ruinous Effigy exotic can be obtained once you complete the Missive quest.  Don’t forget that one of the quest steps is to find all 25 Calcified Light fragments in various planets.

Once you find the weapon, you’ll probably start wondering what it’s good for. Well, it’s got two unique perks:

• Transmutation – Kills using the weapon will turn enemies into Void Transmutation spheres (orbs).
• Evolution – The orbs can be picked up by you or a teammate, and you can do different attacks with it.

Yes, those perks do sound gimmicky on paper. In practice, though, you’ll find that it’s a very enjoyable exotic to use.

Ruinous Effigy in PvE

You’ll want to practice a bit in PvE so you can get used to its attacks. The weapon’s beam damage is fairly decent, and you should be able to kill a regular mob with ease.

The idea, though, is to master the usage of the different attacks:

• The light attack (“left click”) isn’t really that helpful.
• The heavy attack (“right click”) is something we’ll discuss later.
• The guard/drain ability (default “C”) is what really makes the Ruinous Effigy shine in Destiny 2‘s PvE setting.

The guard move creates a “Void bubble” around you that slightly protects you from incoming damage (ie. Hydra blasts, Vandal sniper shots, and the like, but you’ll still feel a lot of pain if Cursed Thralls explode near you). The good news is that its drain attack will quickly drop the health of all the mobs in a large area, turning your character into a beefier killing machine. Also, be reminded that the word “drain” also means that it “absorbs” health, so you get healed for a little bit too. Here are some findings:

• Warlocks will find this useful when using Nezarec’s Sin (due to Void kills recharging your abilities).
• Titans will become even more unstoppable if they’re wearing Stronghold. The stronger guard (which should only work on swords) actually procs when guarding with Ruinous Effigy as well. Oh, and if you block with Ruinous Effigy just as you’re about to take damage, you’ll get extra healing too.
• Nightstalker Hunters affected by invisibility won’t have the invisibility break while guarding. You’re like a sneaky blob of death.

Here’s the thing, though, those Transmutation Spheres won’t last forever. Once picked up, the orb has 30 charges that’ll dwindle every second. Using the guard/drain move will consume charges a lot faster.

The idea is to wait until you only have 1-2 charges left and the orb’s about to disappear. Then, immediately use your heavy attack. This will slam the orb and do a lot of damage to the mobs around you (roughly 10,000 to 12,000).

Ruinous Effigy in PvP

If you thought the Ruinous Effigy’s already a decent weapon in PvE, then prepare to see some ridiculous action in Destiny 2‘s Crucible PvP. Just watch some highlights from Destiny 2 YouTuber Bakengangsta:

Notice how it’s as easy as defeating a player using the trace rifle and quickly following up with an orb dunk to kill more opponents? It’s a very strong weapon in PvP since the dunk is guaranteed to annihilate other Guardians as long as they’re relatively close by. There’s almost no counter to it unless someone’s further away (and you can just use the guard move), or they immediately shotgun you while you’re in the middle of a one-second dunking animation.

The Catalyst

Don’t forget that you can also start getting kills with the weapon or destroy all 50 Savathun’s Eyes (using its regular beam, not its orb attacks) in order to obtain the catalyst. This will increase the damage done to enemies that are affected by the Transmutation Sphere (ie. enemies caught within the orb’s bubble drain will take more damage).

Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals is available on Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.