Destiny 2 Xur update: should you buy Hard Light?

By Sherif Saed

Destiny 1 players will be all too familiar with the auto rifle Hard Light.

The weapon returns in Destiny 2, and it’s on sale this week at Xur’s. Hard Light is an Energy weapon this time around, but the great thing is that you can switch between all three elements on the fly.

Hard Light is not among the highest impact auto rifles, but it makes up for it a bit with its intrinsic perk, Volatile Light. The perk allows rounds fired to penetrate targets, have no damage falloff, and ricochet off hard surfaces.

This can make things pretty fun, especially in PvP when you’ve cornered a couple of enemies in a narrow corridor. The ability to switch elements through the inventory screen comes in handy during Nightfalls when Prism is active, since it constantly rotates the active element.

Beyond that, though, it’s not a fantastic performer. The overpenetration works great in PvE, but it may not be worth giving away your Exotic slot for.

Pick it up for a bit of fun, and some utility, but don’t think of it as a top-tier Exotic.