Destiny 2

Yesterday, the annoyance over the Antaeus Wards exotic in Destiny 2 reached a fever pitch. Clan Redeem, which is often one that finds exploits or glitches with exotics, leading to them being disabled, pretended to find a high-damage, immortality glitch with Antaeus Wards, complete with doctored test footage.

Other than setting off a five-alarm fire at Bungie on a Sunday for a few hours, no doubt, the questionable joke does raise the issue that yes, its probably time to address Antaeus Wards for real at this point.

Antaeus Wards were an exotic in the Forsaken era that flew under the radar until recently where something was altered about the way the Titan boots reflect damage. When they were first introduced, they seemed like a gimmick. A properly timed slide could reflect something like a super or a tank shell or a rocket.

But the recent change made Antaeus Wards better able to reflect normal gun damage, and now we have legions of perma-sliding Titans that reflect shotgun shots and fusion rifle blasts directly back at the user, along with following up with one of their own for instant, often unavoidable kills.

In practice, this is nothing short of a nightmare to play against in the Crucible, especially now that Trials of Osiris is here, and often on its small, tight maps, shotgun duels are the name of the game. Theres very little you can do against Antaeus Wards expect keep enemies as far away as possible, though with shotgun aping, thats often not in the cards.

Antaeus now often feels pretty much mandatory if youre running a Titan in high level PvP content, and the problem with a class-specific exotic being overpowered is that its not like a weapon, and the other classes are at a distinct disadvantage. When Hard Light was fully broken, it was terrible, but at least everyone could use it and counter Hard Lights with other Hard Lights. But with this, only Titans have access to Antaeus.

An additional problem is just how bad this feels generally. Yes, One-Eyed Mask was a big problem in Crucible for ages, with its regen and overshield and damage boost and wallhacks. But Antaeus feels different, because it essentially compounds the existing Bad Thing in Destiny where often it feels like your shots dont connect with a shotgun. Now, Antaeus replicates that effect on purpose, but also damages you and opens you up to be insta-killed by the wearer.

Destiny 2

Utilizing sliding has always been a PvP movement skill that separates a good player from a bad one, as it disorients opponents and messes with auto-aim. Shotgun sliding has been around long before Antaeus, but now with the damage-reflect/immunity, it has made it exponentially worse.

I just dont think Antaeus was ever supposed to work like this. I think it was supposed to be more of a gimmick exotic, reflecting things like supers or rockets on special occasions when you could time it just right. I dont think it was meant to make all shotgun/fusion fights against other classes completely one-sided, which is whats happening now.

We are in the unusual situation of the community banding together to agree on a nerf for once, for the most part, which almost never happens. I dont know if well see one before the end of this season, which is over in a month, but I would be amazed if nothing was altered about Antaeus for the next one, even if it cant one-shot Riven through Synthoceps switching.

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Yes, Destiny 2s Antaeus Wards Should Be Nerfed For The Sake Of Everyones Sanity - Forbes