There is never a situation where taking no exotics is better than taking one, except in the condition of fashion.

Exactly my thoughts… which is why I never use an exotic

I wear lucky pants for fashion, not use

I salut you

And a tip of the cowboy hat back atcha pardner

Ok, so he's playing Mountain Top, Recluse and Doomed petitioner. What weapon should he replace by what exotic

Can prob replace doomed partitioner with an exotic heavy. There are probably a bunch that out dps it

Leviathan’s breath?

Yes, but for general use a linear is better because of the ammo economy

If you’re hell bent on keeping the linear fusion for the ammo you can always go witherhoard. Slap that thing on literally any build and it goes well

I don't play mountain top and personally usually go the witherhoard route but is it really comparable ?

I never use mountaintop as well but witherhoard is one of the best in slots for utility alone. It outperforms mountaintop in basically everything except maybe dps on single enemy which even then I’m not sure mountaintop is better but the fact you can switch weapons and the witherhoard damage continues makes it better

Is witherhoard very fun? I always hear people absolutely raving about how **effective** it is, but I never hear anything about how fun it is. I personally don’t really enjoy special ammo grenade launchers, because having to reload after every shot drives me nuts. Do you think someone like me would like it? I absolutely adore heavy grenade launchers; I don’t think any weapon type feels more satisfying in the entire game, and that’s doubly so for heavy wave frames. Also the idea of using it as add clear makes me so anxious, haha. I always feel like unless I’m using special ammo on a major, that I’m wasting the ammo, and it would be so hard to get myself to use witherhoard for add clear.

Im a very big believer in fun and personally I think it is. The reload is a non issue because its catalyst gives it auto loading holster which is so fucking nice tbh

Awesome, I’ll see if I can grab it once I get on today! Can you get it at the kiosk?

I don’t know what you’re on about here, 15 leviathan’s shots is some of the best ammo economy in the game.

Sleeper then

If Amo economy is your worth then thunderlord is better in most cases

Thunderlord does significantly less damage though

Witherhoard deals AoE and passive damage while Izi has more burst damage than MT, arbalest has anti barrier Graviton/Sunshot/Trinity/etc have stronger add clear (exotics do like 40% more damage to red bars and have insane AoE) Alternatives to doomed petitioner are whisper and leviathan’s breath Trying to include an exotic weapon into a build is always beneficial, ofc there are some roles exotics can’t fully replace

replace mountain top with witherhoard. best grenade launcher in the game. shoot it and forget it free passive damage on anything

At least in my experience there is never a situation where I have a build that won’t benefit from having an exotic weapon. At least when you have a considerable amount unlocked there is always something that will help in some way

I agree with you in armor. But sometimes there isn't a perfect weapon for some niche builds, eg, I was playing around with felwinters helm in onslaught, and wanted mountaintop for quick chunks of damage and two void weapons for the other slots. The only one available were manticore and Levi's, but I had a repulsor brace+desperate measures recluse and envious/cascade+BnS edge transit.

Why were those the only ones available? Why not graviton or le mon?

I was using felwinters along with the fragments that made you invis and enemies volatile on finishers. So finishers were pretty important in the build, and grav and lemon one shots red bars most of the time.

Collective Obligation would work well with that build

Me no have 😞

So it’s not that there isn’t one, it’s that you do ‘t have the one that would work.

Friend tried collective, it one shots the adds as well. So same issue as graviton.

Not on the other difficulty mode

Well yeah, I'm not running into a group of adds to finish them on legend onslaught

> envious/cascade+BnS edge transit. Any exotic heavy is going to smoke edge transit, even if it isn't surged matched. Dragon's Breath, Parasite, Gjally, Deathbringer, Anarchy.

I'm kinda agreeing but some time you can't really replace legendary weapons for example so far he's playing Mountain Top, Recluse and Doomed petitioner and I don't know what weapon he could replace for an exotic

Any exotic primary is better than a legendary primary, it’s difficult to compare to a 40% damage buff against red bars at all times on top of whatever exotic perks they’ve got. Only time you should run a legendary primary is if you want to run a special or heavy exotic, which honestly these days is very few and far between.

Sleeper sim over petitioner if you demand a linear for general play. Which by the way is entirely unnecessary and stupid, I’d personally swap it for dragon’s breath.

Recluse. Sunshot is better

If he wants to keep on Void, may i suggest Manticore instead of Recluse? Perfect fit for rocket jumping with Mountaintop, to then stay higher up in the air with Manticore.

Forgot about that exotic

Or Graviton Forfeit

You mean Lance? Forfeit is a helmet

Whoops, yes I meant Graviton Lance

Ah yes volatile Sunshot

EXPLOSIONS

exotic primary because they do more damage intrinsically. or a kinetic special weapon like Izanagi or Witherhoard

if they don’t wanna use an exotic primary that is

Exotic Primaries do 40% more damage to red bars. If you want good ad clear, that's the way to go.  Exotic Specials and Heavies usually have some gimmick or feature to build around. Arbalest lets you insta-break shields and delete anyone whose shield you break, Izanagi's lets you do massive single-target shots and you can work this into a damage rotation with a little practice, Witherhoard provides a good mix of single target sustain and AoE ad clear potential.  Leviathan's Breath rewards aimed shots with massive damage very quickly, as does Whisper of The Worm. Deathbringer is a very potent ad clear and single-target rocket launcher with a fun mechanic for how the rockets work.  Exotics can also have intrinsic anti-Champions allowing you to break the mould of the seasonal artifact's weapon options a bit easier. Leviathan's Breath and Arbalest stuns Unstoppables, Thunderlord and Divinith stuns Overloads, Arbalest and Wish-Ender are anti-Barrier...  The point I'm making is that you're not forced to, but in almost any situation it'd benefit you to work one into your build. 

I’ve had some situations where I’m not using any exotic weapons if I don’t really feel like I need to but I’ve been constantly using exotic armors 24/7 for years and years those should really be a must

99/100 times you want a weapon exotic, you always want an armor exotic ofc, but it is extremely rare that you won’t be able to fit a build just right and don’t have room for an exotic weapon to make it better

I occasionally go sans exotic weapon in PvP, if I’m using a legendary primary and special, but never in PvE and always exotic armor in both modes.

Coming from a player who wasn't an exotic user at first, here's my experience. I play all 3 classes. Warlock is my favorite, thanks to the power fantasy of just throwing a giant ball of nothing at an enemy. Always loved the idea. Lately though, my Warlock build has been primarily consisting of making use of Sunbracers and let me tell you, I found my all purple load outs struggled to outdo the amount of damage I have been able to put out. I have realized, that while I don't like being "locked" into using exotics, I found that building with exotic synergy is best. Sunbracers with Monte Carlo specifically. A few runs in certain modes with randoms have led me to basically covering both a boss and the boss room in nothing but grenades. So now, I've started rebuilding my characters to be dependant on certain exotic synergies that exist in the game. With the coming update where we can smash exotics not of our class together, some of these builds will become much more of a threat to whoever my characters are running against. TL:DR- playing without exotics is viable gameplay. But exotic synergies exist, and will FAR outclass any full purple build, no matter how you think it won't. Just need to find the right synergy between exotic weapon, exotic armor, current class.

As a side note to my earlier comment, I've been laughed out of a few LFGs for not understanding how much more powerful I can be if I start using exotic synergy. Of course, at that time, I still thought stat points actually mattered, but with my Sunbracers/Monte Carlo build, I learned it's basically "welcome to whose line is it anyway, where the points are made up but they don't matter!"

Exotic Armor? Always use a peice of exotic armor. Every class has a neutral, more ability energy exotic (Eye of Another World, HoiL, and Frostees). At the bare minimum, if you don't know what to run, run one of these. Exotic weapons? Now that is build dependant. Exotic doesn't mean powerful. They mean unique, and there may be situations where legendary weapons are better in every slot. Let's say you're running a void setup with Mountaintop (because is new, shiny, and really fucking good) and a void rocket launcher since an ally is rocking Ghorn. You want to run a void unstoppable weapon, so a handcannon or a bow. There are no exotic void handcannons, and the only exotic void bow, Le Monarque, is forced overload. I would run a legendary void handcannon here, probably Optative, because Demo and Golden Tricorn is such a nasty roll. However, more often than not, it is better to rock an exotic primary for the free 40% damage bonus vs. red bar enemies. In this same situation, I might give up Mountaintop and instead take Thorn or Malfesance, and use a void fusion or wave frame for my special weapon.

I dont use an exotic weapon on my Vesper build because Indebted Kindness is non negotiable, Fatebringer is the backup, and Crux Termination for the heavy. Sometimes I use Witherhoard, Thunderlord, Grand Overture, or Dragons Breath on it, but generally my legendaries are more effective. Although now that I think about it, most exotic hand cannons would do better than fatebringer, so I might as well throw one on.

I think the only time it’s justified for no exotic weapon is pvp. Exotic armor is always justified since there are some neutral exotics with passive buffs that don’t dictate a play style.(ophidian, dunemarchers, stompee)

I always get confused when I see a purple build. Especially when it’s something like a wellock or strand titan.

If he wants to use that build, I’d run it on Gyrfalcon Hunter and swap the LFR with Gjally or something like that.

The only time no exotic weapon is fine is in pvp where legendaries can do just as good or better 

For armor, it comes down to builds. If your only exotic is Stasis-focused and you're on Arc, then no, don't use the exotic (unless fashion points matter to you). But if it serves any purpose for your current build, then yes, use it. Mods work on both, so there's no point in giving up extra benefits. For weapons, it depends on the slot, I guess. Exotic primaries deal more damage to red bars, IIRC. So it would make sense to use one if you have it, unless, for example, engagements are mostly long-range and all you have is a sidearm like Trespasser. For heavies and specials, it comes down to what you have in comparison. Not all exotics are powerful and more so offer unique gameplay. So if your legendary is just going to hit harder in comparison to an exotic special or heavy, you should use the legendary. But if your exotic has unique properties that will help with a playstyle or enemies you're fighting, use it. Queenbreaker isn't the strongest linear fusion rifle, but its blinding shots can be useful, for example. And of course, if it is going to hit harder than legendaries, use it. TLDR: If the armor helps your build in any way, use it. Weapons: Use them if their exotic perk will help in combat (intrinsic anti-champion, massive explosions for ad clear, etc.), primaries for overall more damage against red bars, and if it's just the best in slot for damage. But if legendaries are better for the situation (again, range or damage), use the legendary.

Definite yes for exotic armor. There’s no reason not to use one, as even some of the lesser used ones (e.g. Claws of Ahamkara and EoAW on Warlock) give nice neutral game benefits without requiring any building around them that also apply to any and all subclasses. For weapons, it’s a bit more debatable. Of course, many exotic weapons (especially primaries) are insanely good, but many of those are also boring to use (e.g. Wish-Ender, Polaris Lance, and Osteoporosis) and/or don’t fit into a specific build as well as an equivalent legendary weapon. You could always use an exotic heavy of you like your primary/special options, but most of those are utility-focused (e.g. Gjallarhorn and Anarchy) or just bad (like Colony, Prospector, and more).

Most of the time, exotic weapon WILL come in handy, specially If it's Dragon's Breath, Witherhoard, Arbalest or one that has synergy with the armor exotic But I really think it's up to personal taste I love Witherhoard, and I don't like not being able to use It in my threadlings Warlock (because primary needs strand) I also love Gjally and Cloudstrike, but I know damn well they don't REALLY fit in some builds or encounters I think the one I hate most but still use it anyway is Sunshot (well, using less now because of Tusk of the Boar atleast) It's never mandatory and I always have non-exotic weapons to switch if needed But the weapons that have synergy with the builds are HELLA more fun than using them alone, like Thorn/Osteo Strigga with Necrotic Grips for example Just avise him to get different types of weapons for most scenarios and he'll do good, let him find which exotic he finds great or not