Unlike other subclasses that see spikes in usage depending on a given Season, Solar Titans have always been good, with hardly any changes to their gameplay style for years now. So today, we’re going over the top 10 Exotic Armor for Solar Titans in Destiny 2 as of Season of the Wish and the Lightfall DLC.
10. Khepri’s Horn
Kicking off the list is the Khepri’s Horn Exotic helmet. This Exotic is arguably the worst Titan Exotic armor piece in the game because its unique aspect is the ability to unleash a Solar wave when using your Barricade. Essentially, it’s like throwing a thermite Grenade, but it’s created from your Barricade rather than using your Grenade energy.
Could you make a cool setup around it? Sure. But compared to most of the other Exotic armor pieces on this list, the Khepri’s Horn shouldn’t even be considered an Exotic at that point. Out of every Exotic armor piece that Titans have access to, the Khepri’s Horn, far and away, deserves an entire rework to make it somewhat viable in today’s sandbox.
9. Wormgod Caress
The Wormgod Caress used to be one of the strongest Exotic armor pieces in the game back during the first couple of years of the game. However, with some game-breaking glitches, nerfs, and reworks, the Exotic now falls short of a stronger and more well-known Exotic armor piece that we will discuss later.
The intrinsic perk tied to this gear is the ability to increase your Melee damage by getting Melee kills. It’s very straightforward on paper, but this Exotic once allowed Titans to literally one-shot bosses with their Throwing Hammer because the outgoing Melee damage buff was so high.
Now, another Exotic does the same thing the Wormgod’s do, but better. They were re-worked this past Season, however, unfortunately, it doesn’t really synergize with Solar Titans as well as it does Strand Titans.
8. Phoenix Cradle
Introduced with the launch of the Shadowkeep DLC are the Phoenix Cradle Exotic leg pieces. The Phoenix Cradles join the previous bunch of “cool Exotics with niche abilities,” where your Sunspots now last from five seconds to ten seconds. On top of that, allies who pass through Sunspots also gain the effects of Sunspots, which grant healing and ability regeneration for a few seconds.
It sounds pretty solid on paper, but with most of Destiny 2’s playstyle being “run and gun,” standing in a Sunspot for ten seconds isn’t ideal, especially considering there are better Exotics that generate more Sunspots instead.
As stated before, they’re a cool Exotic, but now that we’re going into year seven of the game’s span, it’s time for this Exotic to get a rework to make it viable.
7. Path Of Burning Steps
The Path of Burning steps Exotic leg armor saw a massive buff entering Season of the Witch. Now, whenever you get Solar weapon kills, you receive increased weapon damage, stacking three times. A Grenade’s final blow automatically grants the highest bonus to you.
Essentially, the Exotic grants you Solar Surges without using the Solar Surge mod on your leg armor, allowing you to use any other mods you desire in those slots. They also have an excellent secondary ability that makes you harder to freeze against Stasis attacks.
Overall, they’re a pretty solid Exotic that doesn’t see a lot of play in PvE — and more so in PvP since Surges matter a lot more in those activities.
6. Ashen Wake
The Ashen Wake Gauntlets are one of the older Exotic Armor pieces for Solar Titans but remain adequately useful. These Gauntlets turn your Fusion Grenades into literal Grenades that you can chuck as the Exotic removes the initial cooldown timer of the Fusion Grenade and now immediately detonates on enemy contact.
At first, the large majority of the player base deemed this Exotic useless due to its seemingly niche ability. However, through Solar Light subclass changes last year during Season of the Haunted, as well as with some powerful new Armor mod reworks, this Exotic now allows the user to run around the battlefield throwing infinite Fusion Grenades that one-shot everything in their path, including Guardians.
While this Exotic struggles in upper-tier content like Grandmaster Nightfalls or Master Raids, this Exotic will shine in any activity where you are at the same power level as your enemies.
5. Heart Of Inmost Light
Arguably, the most valuable “all-around” Exotic a Titan can use is the Heart of Inmost Light Exotic—or Hoil—chest piece. This Exotic increases all of your ability regeneration the more you use them. For example, When you use your Grenade, your Melee and Class abilities will begin regenerating faster, and vice versa if you were to use your abilities.
This Exotic has been equipped to almost every Titans chest for over a year due to its fantastic ability spamming capabilities, especially with the Light subclass changes last year via The Witch Queen DLC. That said, with the arrival of the Lightfall DLC earlier this year, this Exotic saw some substantial nerfs, and while it’s not entirely out of the picture, it isn’t as potent as it once was.
Either way, this Exotic is still very useful for every subclass you may equip, especially if you’re trying to spam your abilities non-stop.
4. Hallowfire Heart
The Hallowfire Heart has always lived in the shadow of the Heart of Inmost Light regarding ability regeneration. Still, with some nerfs to Hoil and buffs to Hallowfire Heart, the Exotic has now become a viable option for an ability-spamming build.
When standing in a Sunspot, Solar takedowns generate more Sunspots. Basically, if you’re running a complete Solar build quipped with Solar weapons, you’ll be creating Sunspots all over the battlefield, constantly healing you and increasing your ability regeneration. This Exotic is perfect for endgame activities, especially ones with high enemy numbers like Grandmaster Nightfalls or certain Raid encounters.
3. Loreley Splendor
Released with The Witch Queen DLC, the Loreley Splendor Exotic Helmet is one of the strongest Exotic armor pieces in the game in terms of survivability.
When you are severely wounded and have full class ability energy, the Loreley Splendor will deplete your class ability and generate a Sunspot at your feet, granting you restoration and ability energy. Simply put, this Exotic’s entire purpose is to prevent you from dying so long as you have class ability energy.
While it has been nerfed since its initial release, the Loreley Splendor remains one of the strongest Exotics to use to help players survive challenging situations on the fly. For proof, look no further than the fact that it can be used in an attempt to solo flawless a Dungeon.
2. Synthoceps
Claiming the number two spot is arguably the most well-known and powerful Exotic Armor piece in the game, Synthoceps. The Synthoceps increases the user’s outgoing melee damage by scaling estimates depending on what activity you are in when enemies surround you. For PvP, the increase goes up to 100 percent, while for PvE, the increase skyrockets to 200 percent. With this buff, the user can one-shot pretty much anything in their path simply by punching it, fully embracing the Titan persona of being a one-man army.
For many years now, Solar Titans have always had one build that has never been nerfed and has been a staple go-to loadout for endgame PvE. This is the “Bonk” build, which revolves around utilizing the Synthoceps and the Throwing Hammer. You can one-shot everything in your path while never dying in the process, as when you get a kill with the Throwing Hammer, you generate a Sunspot, giving you restoration and ability energy back.
Unfortunately, though, this build was nerfed at the start of Season of the Wish, and now a one second delay is applied every time you throw and proceed to pick up the hammer. It may not seem like a huge nerf, but it definitely hurts its overall output.
1. Pyrogale Gauntlets
Introduced at the start of Season of the Witch, the Pyrogale Gauntlets are the Exotic Armor piece that every Titan player has been waiting for.
Since the start of Destiny 2—and for the entire franchise for that matter—Titans have always gotten the short end of the stick when it came to “one-off” Supers in PvE, as all of their Supers are either roaming or long-term. Thundercrash technically can be considered a “one-off,” but players have to run back from where they launched the super, such as during damage phases during Raids.
But with the Pyrogale Gauntlets, the Exotic now turns their Burning Maul Super into a one-off, allowing them to fire off a burning tornado at an enemy that deals massive damage over time while not being forced to remain in the super indefinitely. Simply put, this game-changer makes Solar Titans all the more powerful and essential in endgame activities where they can swap to Pyrogale, fire off their Super, and then switch back to another Exotic, all in one quick motion.
It’s a must-have Exotic for all Solar Titans moving forward, especially in the reprised Crota’s End Raid and beyond in future PvE activities.
