Destiny 2 Heirloom Review: A Disappointing Launch For An Iconic Weapon

The Wookie’s Crossbow is an iconic part of Star Wars lore. Destiny 2 brought that to life in the Renegades expansion with the Heirloom Exotic. However, after testing the Exotic in various activities, we are left wanting more. Conceptually, the Exotic makes sense. But in practice, Heirloom struggles to reach its potential. It feels sluggish and does not fit into any niche.

What is the Heirloom Exotic?

Heirloom is a Solar Exotic Combat Bow Heat Weapon that drops from the Equilibrium Dungeon. Players have three chances each week to drop the Exotic by completing the final encounter once on each character. The perk and trait reads as follows:

• Bolt Thrower
  • This weapon fires high-powered explosive bolts. Strong against Unstoppable Champions.
• Big Game Hunter
  • Aim down sights for a period of time to overcharge the next bolt fired. Increases damage and area of effect for each charge level.

Heirloom charges up three times. While charging, the weapon generates heat. The higher the charge, the more heat is expended. Heirloom is a Balanced Heat Weapon, allowing for a Perfect Vent at high heat.

Heirloom Catalyst

The catalyst for the weapon is obtainable through encounters in the Equilibrium Dungeon. If you have completed the Way Between questline, you can attune to the catalyst. Attuning will guarantee that the catalyst drops from your next encounter completion. Upon securing 500 kills with the weapon, you are granted the catalyst bonus: Direct hits with charged shots scorch the target. This weapon deals more damage against scorched targets.

Heirloom Struggles To Fit

After spending time testing the Combat Bow, it turned out disappointing. The Exotic fails to dominate in any metric. While it is okay to have something good at everything, Heirloom is not that. It deals well with red bar enemies, but lacks the ammo capacity to do that consistently. The charged shots against higher health targets feel lackluster. Even with the catalyst increasing the damage, it struggled to take down targets in a couple of hits.

The above applies to content where you are even or just under power. In the Lawless Frontier, the Exotic struggled. Even red-bar enemies needed a charged shot to kill them. In a space where it is competing with the likes of the Praxic Blade and Rocket Pulse Rifles, Heirloom needs more.

Improving its Capability in PvE

Heirloom needs an identity. Is it intended to destroy higher health combatants, or delete a horde of enemies? For the current iteration, it does neither of those well enough. In the future, Bungie needs to lean into one aspect more. If you want it to be ad-clear centric, increase the ammo capacity, to make it so you are not hunting bricks after one wave of enemies. If it is intended to eliminate higher health enemies, increase the damage from the catalyst. Even with a damage increase, it is unlikely to become part of the boss damage meta. However, an increase will make players consider it for dealing with enemies like Behemoths.

How Does it Fair in PvP?

The time investment to charge up the Bow for PvP is not worth it. Either the players will have killed you, or run away in time. You can charge up around a corner and then peak. However, it feels like a waste compared to using most other weapons in the Crucible. The recoil on a charged shot is nasty, so any follow-up shots will take time to land.

Is It a Wookie Crossbow?

In look and feel, yes. With some upgrades, Heirloom can become a fan favorite. It is unlikely that it will become a dominant force in the sandbox. However, the aforementioned changes would at least make it an interesting and fun experience for players.