With Destiny 2’s divisive open beta still in our rearview mirrors, today Bungie revealed Coldheart, a new exotic weapon coming to the sequel. It’s nice to see new toys, but Coldheart will likely cause some division of its own: it’s a pre-order exclusive that won’t be available to all players until December 5, 2017.
Bungie senior gameplay designer Jon Weisnewski called Coldheart a “trace rifle” in an interview with IGN. Essentially, it fires a constant laser beam that deals damage over time. Weisnewski also confirmed that players will have to manage recoil while firing the beam, and that it can deal precision damage. Sadly, in spite of its namesake—the liquid coolant that also acts as its ammunition—it does not freeze enemies.
Fusion rifles, which take a moment to charge before firing a burst of fast-moving lasers, are the closest comparison, but Coldheart is definitely a new breed of weapon. As of now it’s the only one of its kind, but according to Weisnewski, trace rifles may become their own weapon archetype. Perhaps in one of Destiny 2’s two confirmed expansions? Additionally, it sounds like we should expect to see more unique exotics in Destiny 2.
“We’ve tried more interesting things, like we have with Coldheart, across the scope of the weapons in Destiny 2,” Weisnewski said. “We’re definitely trying to push the idea of player experience and what that can mean for an exotic weapon. I think Coldheart is a really good example … there’s going to be more experiences like that in Destiny 2.”
Coldheart sits alongside several other known exotics:
Sunshot, a solar energy hand cannon that fires explosive rounds which cause targets to burst into flames upon death.
Sweet Business, a kinetic, minigun-class auto rifle that grows more accurate the longer you fire it.
Riskrunner, an arc energy submachine gun that chains lightning between enemies.
Borealis, a PS4-exclusive sniper rifle which players can toggle between solar, void and arc rounds.
There are also a few wild cards floating around thanks to some ambiguous footage. The official gameplay trailer revealed in May featured what appears to be ‘Dubios Volley,’ an arc rocket launcher which fires orbs of energy instead of actual rockets. Dubios Volley first appeared in the code for Destiny 1, but it never actually appeared in-game. We’ve also gotten a glimpse at a grenade launcher counterpart to Destiny 1’s Gjallarhorn rocket launcher.
Coldheart sounds tailor-made for PC, so it’s especially disappointing to see it leashed to pre-orders. Pinpointing heads with its laser beam will undoubtedly be easier with a mouse, especially considering Bungie calibrated weapon recoil uniquely for the PC version.
We’ve reached out to Bungie for additional details on Coldheart’s exclusivity and will update this story if we receive a reply.
