Highlights
- Exotic armor in Destiny 2 grants powerful, special effects to all three classes. Some of them are subclass-dependent, others more general.
- Warlocks are a class that has no shortage of great Exotic armor to wear, for both seasonal activities and difficult endgame content.
- Sunbracers, Starfire Protocol, Contraverse Holds, Osmiomancy Gloves, and Swarmers are some of the most powerful Warlock Exotics as of 2024’s Destiny 2 meta.
Exotic armor in Destiny 2 is one of the better ways to make a build really pop. Warlocks, the specialists of space magic and grenades, have a decent range of great Exotics to choose from and this is likely to expand in the future as Bungie keeps on releasing more with The Final Shape and upcoming episodes.
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However, for now, Warlock mains looking to become increasingly more powerful either in the Crucible or in PVE should focus on getting their hands on the following Exotic armor pieces. Here are some of the best Exotic armor pieces for Warlocks in Destiny 2.
Updated on February 2, 2024, by Anastasia Maillot: With Lightfall’s release and its subsequent seasons, Bungie has reworked a bunch of Exotics in Destiny 2. Moreover, with some subtle meta changes, new weapons, artifact perks, and overall sandbox balance shifts, the buildcrafting has changed ever so slightly for all three classes. Warlocks, while still having access to a few key Exotics that will likely always remain relevant in the game, have also gained a few new strong picks throughout 2023, and early 2024. Here’s what Exotics every Warlock should have in their Vault before the confrontation against the Witness in The Final Shape.
17 Verity’s Brow
Boost The Grenade Recharge Rate For Everyone On The Fireteam
- Kills with matching subclass type grants Death Throes buff—grenades do more damage and recharge faster
- Activating the grenade ability with Death Throes grants nearby allies increased recharge rate
Verity’s Brow has seen a decent rise in popularity due to some subtle changes to Solar and a few weapon updates. Verity’s Brow remains an incredible pick in boss DPS situations where multiple Warlocks might want to use it to buff each other’s grenade recharge rate and defeat a powerful enemy with the strength of fusion grenades alone. With this helmet, that’s perfectly possible.
It can also come in handy in any support-type builds. For example, equipping something like the Vex or Sunshot, and using a healing grenade guarantees that players are always ready to save teammates from death at a moment’s notice. Being able to not only slot itself into a support build but also a boss DPS build goes to show that this Exotic packs some serious punch due to its versatility.
16 Cenotaph Mask
Infinite Heavy Ammo Bricks For The Fireteam
- Trace rifles are passively reloaded
- Using trace rifle on a boss or champion or vehicle marks the target for everyone
- Marked targets defeated by allies drop Heavy ammo bricks for allies and Special ammo bricks for the player wearing the mask
If Heavy ammo is an issue, having a Warlock with this Exotic is usually the answer, provided there are plenty of champions and mini-bosses around to slay. Pair it up with a trace rifle like Divinity, and it’s the perfect support-type build for almost any endgame content.
Not only does the Cenotaph Mask create Heavy ammo with each kill on a marked target, but it also grants the one marking the enemies Special ammo bricks. It’s an infinite cycle that feeds itself continuously and is a fantastic replacement for the Aeon gauntlets.
15 Swarmers
More Threadlings For Strand Warlocks
- Threadlings spawn from destroyed Tangles
- Targets damaged by Threadlings will be Unraveled
Destiny 2’s Lightfall expansion brought players a new darkness subclass called Strand, and with it, a Strand Exotic for Warlocks: Swarmers. These boots are an excellent addition to any Warlock Strand Build, due to the increased potency they give to Threadlings, the little green creatures that can be summoned and deal damage after tracking to enemies.
With Swarmers equipped, each time a player shoots a Tangle, it will spawn a Threadling for them. Moreover, their Threadlings now have the ability to Unravel any enemies that they come in contact with, which deals an additional area of effect damage and is quite handy in ad-clear scenarios. For Warlocks set on building around Threadlings when using Strand, Swarmers are an absolute must-have.
14 Lunafaction Boots
Rifts Provide Reload Or Range Boost
- Healing Rifts and Well of Radiance grants increased reload speed
- Empowering Rift and Well of Radiance grants increased range
Among all the other flashy Exotics that Warlocks have, Lunafactions may feel incredibly underwhelming due to how little they provide to the players themselves. Lunafaction Boots provide increased weapon reload speed to the player and their allies while standing in the player’s rifts or Well of Radiance. This makes Lunafaction Boots great for boss DPS phases where reloading damage weapons quickly is key to success.
The downside is that this is all that Lunafaction Boots can provide. It’s definitely a trade-off Exotic, the kind that players will likely whip out from the dark corners of their Destiny 2 vault to help their team as a whole when running through a raid, thanks to how well it pairs with Well of Radiance.
13 Necrotic Grip
Clear Rank-And-File Enemies With Poison
- Poisons enemies damaged by player
- Enemies infected that are defeated further spread the poison
- Sorrow weapons’ airborne effectiveness is increased
For neutral game, Necrotic Grip is an excellent Exotic piece of armor that pairs well with melee-centric builds, as well as the incredibly powerful Osteo Striga Exotic SMG. When players deal damage to their enemies, they apply a poison effect which deals more damage over time. Any enemies that are killed by the poison will further infect other nearby enemies.
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Necrotic Grip works great with a variety of different builds, but since Lightfall’s release, it’s splendid when paired with Strand in particular and can hold its own even in high-tier PVE content. The poison AoE effect is incredibly potent, even against beefier single-target enemies like bosses for a bit of extra damage.
12 Crown Of Tempests
Gain Ability Energy Faster And A Longer Stormtrance Duration
- Jolted kills and Arc final blows speed up ability recharge rate
- Stormtrance’s duration is increased
Crown of Tempests is currently on roughly equal footing with the Fallen Sunstar helmet. One deals with Ionic Traces, while the other focuses more on jolted targets and Arc final blows. The downside with the Crown is that it favors Stormtrance, but even with Chaos Reach selected, its passive effects are well worth it.
It’s one of the more generalist, bread-and-butter Exotics that grant ability recharge speed and ensure that a Warlock’s neutral gameplay is as smooth as possible. For any generalist, ad-clearing Arc build, it’s a solid choice if Fallen Sunstar isn’t in the player’s Vault just yet.
11 Dawn Chorus
Boosts Daybreak, While Significantly Improving Scorch
- Daybreak’s Scorch is improved and projectiles track targets better
- Scorch efficiency is increased, and Scorching targets grants melee energy
With Daybreak buffed as of 2023, Dawn Chorus is properly back on the menu for Warlocks who wish to break out of the Well of Radiance jail. On top of the buffs the Super already received, Dawn Chorus makes it even deadlier with its heightened projectile tracking and far better Scorch damage.
Outside of Super gameplay, Dawn Chorus still shines just as brightly due to how much it buffs the effectiveness of Scorch. Pair this up with the Ember of Ashes, as well as weapons with the Enhanced Incandescent trait, and players will be clearing out rooms with the power of Scorch alone.
10 Rain Of Fire
Boosts Fusion Rifles And Linears, While Granting Infinite Radiant
- Icarus Dash in the air reloads weapons and boosts linear fusion and fusion rifle airborne effectiveness stats
- Fusion rifle and linear fusion rifle final blows grant Radiant
Rain of Fire is a solid Exotic pick for Warlocks in PVP, especially right now when linear fusion rifles and fusion rifles continue to be quite powerful in the Crucible. These boots have multiple effects. First of all, dodging with Icarus Dash reloads all of the player’s weapons and buffs the in-air accuracy of linear fusion rifles and fusion rifles. Scoring final blows with either of these weapon archetypes will instantly make the player Radiant, which is a massive advantage.
After the airborne effectiveness of multiple weapons was nerfed, Rain of Fire has been a blessing for many fusion rifle mains in PVP. It pairs particularly well with something like Vex Mythoclast, which has infinite ammo and devastating damage potential in the right hands. It can do decent work in PVE as well, for those who like to have access to Radiant at all times and favor fusion rifles.
9 Karnstein Armlets
- Final blows with melees and finisher provide Restoration and Cure
Karnstein was one of the Exotics to have received a rework in 2023, and it’s quite promising. The Vampiric buff is now replaced with subclass-specific terms like Cure and Restoration. Melee and finishers allow players to have infinite access to these two effects, making Karnstein an incredible tool for survival in a pinch.
Rather than using Karnstein with the Solar subclass, its best use will likely be in subclasses that lack survivability, such as Stasis or Strand Warlock. Consider how powerful it is to have Cure and Restoration available, while having the damage and crowd control potential of something like Strand Warlock for example, and the power of Karnstein Armlets is obvious.
8 Sunbracers
Endless Supply Of Solar Grenades
- Solar grenades last longer
- Scoring Solar melee kills grants a short buff during which players can chuck an infinite amount of Solar grenades
Solar is one of the bread-and-butter classes for Warlocks, and to spice things up for Solar 3.0, Sunbracers are the natural choice for PVE. These bad boys will grant the player infinite grenade energy charge for a short period of time after a Solar melee kill.
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Pair this up with the new Solar grenades that spew out blobs of lava and fragments that create Firesprites, and Warlocks won’t ever have to worry about not having their grenade charged up. Thanks to the significant buff of 25% in damage to Solar grenades and Starfire Protocol’s fall from grace with its 2023 nerfs, Sunbracers are now by far the best Solar Exotic for Warlocks.
7 Osmiomancy Gloves
Keep Enemies Frozen Near-Indefinitely
- Gain a second Coldsnap grenade that refreshes on direct hit
- Seekers spawned from Coldsnap grenade travel further
Shadebinders are easily the strongest of Stasis subclasses, and that’s solely thanks to the Osmiomancy Gloves. These gloves pair with the Coldsnap grenade, which on its own isn’t very powerful, but becomes a real menace with this Exotic.
Not only will players now have two Coldsnap grenade charges, but direct hits on targets also immediately refund one grenade charge fully. Moreover, Coldsnap grenade Seekers will travel a longer distance and freeze other nearby targets further away. It’s the ultimate addition to any Stasis build and works wonderfully even in difficult PVE content, despite how neglected the Stasis subclasses currently are in the game.
6 Nezarec’s Sin
A Huge Buff To Ability Charge Rates
- Void weapon kills boost ability recharge rate
If there’s one Exotic that Voidlocks should include in their arsenal, it’s Nezarec’s Sin. This helmet allows players to significantly boost their ability recharge rate, so long as they are scoring Void-damage kills, either with abilities or with weapons.
This means that Nezarec’s Sin is the perfect Voidlock Exotic that’s far more general than Contraverse Holds. Pair it up with a solid Void build and a Void weapon, and players will be constantly refreshing their Void abilities and gaining Volatile Rounds on command. It also works well with Strand or Stasis where the ability charge rate is slower, so long as players stick to a Void weapon for their build—which works for now, given the lack of abundance when it comes to Strand primaries.
5 Phoenix Protocol
Gain 50% Of Super Energy Back With Kills In Well
- Scoring kills and assists while in Well grants up to 50% of Super energy back
The Phoenix Protocol Exotic chest piece is an essential pick for any Warlocks specialized in supporting their team. Its position on this list could easily be tied with Lunafaction Boots, as both are key enhancements to the Well of Radiance, which remains one of the most essential Supers in endgame PVE content.
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Its purpose is simple: while standing in their Well, players can simultaneously charge their next Well by scoring kills and assists. It’s the perfect tool for farming Well of Radiance, though it’s important to note that the charge only goes up to 50% following a nerf to Phoenix Protocol.
4 Contraverse Hold
A Powerful Buff To Void Grenades
- Hold to charge Void grenades, resisting incoming damage
- Direct hits with grenade grant grenade energy
Back to the Voidlock lifestyle, Contraverse Hold Exotic gauntlets are another mind-blowingly good choice, especially now that Vortex grenades are back on the menu, as they benefit the most from this Exotic. With these gauntlets on, players can charge their grenades, which gives them damage resistance. Charged grenades return grenade charge when hitting enemies, so it’s almost like a Void version of Sunbracers that provides near-infinite grenade charge.
Pair this up with the Feed the Void and Chaos Accelerant Void aspects, and players will be guaranteed their grenade cooldown. It’s a fantastic alternative for players who want to focus on ad-clearing but prefer the Voidlock life over Solar Warlock.
3 Transversive Steps
Move Faster And Passively Reload Weapons In PVP
- Increased running speed
- Weapons are passively reloaded while sprinting
For PVP Warlock players, Transversive Steps are a common sight. Speed is everything in the Crucible, which is why something that increases sprint speed can be very powerful for a class that isn’t exactly famous for its high mobility.
Transversive Steps allow Warlocks to spring faster, but they also reload equipped weapons after sprinting for a while. This is incredibly powerful in PVP, where being ready for an engagement on the spot and quickly is important. For shotgun users, in particular, this Exotic is perfect.
2 Starfire Protocol
Gain Two Fusion Grenade Charges & Cycle Cooldowns Seamlessly
- Gain a second fusion grenade charge
- Deal empowered damage with weapons to charge grenades faster
- Grenade kills grant Rift energy
Starfire Protocol may have fallen hard from its top position, but make no mistake—it still holds a powerful spot for Warlocks who know how to take advantage of it. Although the grenade recharge rate isn’t as impressive as before, few can deny that fusion grenades continue to be extremely powerful when taking down champions, hordes of enemies, and even bosses. It still does a commendable job at cycling a Warlock’s two most important cooldowns: Rift and grenade.
The builds floating around nowadays featuring Starfire Protocol tend to take advantage of the Ember of Benevolence as a way to quickly charge abilities, instead of the Exotic’s intrinsic powers. This does force players to use Starfire Protocol more in a team environment, but given how overpowered it was before, it feels like a necessary evil.
1 Ophidian Aspect
Reload And Ready Weapons Faster In PVP
- Faster reload speed and weapon ready speed
- Increased airborne effectiveness
Ophidian Aspect was hit by a serious nerf in 2023, and its additional melee capabilities were completely removed. This means that there’s no added lunge distance for PVP players to exploit anymore, but that doesn’t mean these gloves aren’t a favorite among Crucible enthusiasts even going into 2024.
The quick reload speed and weapon ready speed alone are what make this Exotic one of those generally good picks for PVP. One simply can’t go wrong with these, as in the Crucible, shooting first is almost a guaranteed victory against the enemy.