10 years later, Bungie is actually doing it: famously game-breaking Exotic sniper Ice Breaker is coming to Destiny 2 in the next dungeon
It's finally happening
Destiny 2 is bringing back one of the series' most overpowered weapons after a decade. The Ice Breaker Exotic sniper rifle, known for regenerating ammo that became a balancing nightmare for Bungie, is coming soon.
In a blog post celebrating 10 years of the Destiny franchise, Bungie teased that "as you may have already guessed thanks to our key art, a certain Exotic sniper rifle, one considered a myth by many at this point, is resurfacing in the upcoming dungeon." To hammer it home, Bungie adds, "we hope this helped... break the ice."
We don't have any details about how, if at all, Ice Breaker will be reworked to fit into Destiny 2. However, since Destiny's encounter design has significantly changed over the years with more complex mechanics, it may not be as powerful as we all remember.
Gjallarhorn, another famously powerful Destiny 1 Exotic, was reworked considerably for its Destiny 2 debut, but still carved out a spot near the top of the meta. But Whisper of the Worm, a heavy sniper which would previously generate infinite ammo as long as you nailed your headshots, had its generation nerfed into the pavement, so Ice Breaker is in a tricky spot.
In the original Destiny, Ice Breaker was notorious for helping countless teams clear their first Nightfalls, and even some raid encounters, by giving them an easy way to find an out-of-reach spot and take pot shots at a boss without any real risk or fear. It became the go-to gun for those with lower gear scores but high patience. Ice Breaker was the people's weapon. Many fans thought we'd never see the day it returned given its balance hurdles, but 10 years and change later, it's finally happening.
If you're hopping back in ahead of the new content drop, check out our Destiny 2 The Final Shape guide.
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Jesse is a freelance games journalist with almost a decade of experience. He was the Associate Editor at Prima Games for three years and then moved into the world of freelancing where you might have seen his work at the likes of Game Informer, Kotaku, Inverse, and a few others. You can find him playing the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV or whatever hot new multiplayer game his friends are playing.