How To Upgrade Exotics in Destiny

Ever since the launch of Destiny fans have been split between Exotics, but as time went on and more and more of the community got their hands on them. It became clear that there wasn’t really much ‘special’ to these so-called ‘exotics’ compared to other legendary weapons. In recent weeks, Bungie has decided to change this by increasing the attack and damage stats on exotics via an upgrade and even completely removing the requirement of Ascendant materials for upgrades and replacing them with Exotic shards. So we decided to create a guide to help you through upgrading your exotics properly.

Breaking Down Exotics

I am sure many of you by now have a nice stash of Exotics (weapons and armor) that you just don’t use, be it for a class you don’t play or one that you don’t use that often. This part is for you.

If you are in dire need of that Exotic shard and have a few exotics busting a hole in your bank, than you can break it down and use the resulting shard to upgrade your currently equipped exotic armor or weapon to where you want it to be. This usually results in a higher attack and defense stat and I feel is the most efficient way to upgrade Exotics.

All About The Coin

This one is a bit more difficult as it requires you to do enough activities in the world of Destiny as a Guardian to earn at least 7 Strange Coins. Then you will have to wait until Xur shows his ugly mug and upgrade your arsenal of equipped exotics. This may not be the quickest way, but it is going to be the way if you do not have a stash of Exotics you don’t need.

Preparing For The Dark Below

If you have purchased or plan on purchasing the Dark Below, you will want to go in prepared. Beginning on December 9th, players will be able to trade in their existing exotics for the same exact exotic (if Xur is holding it that week) under his ‘Upgrade Equipped Exotics’ section. This is a double edged sword as it garners better attack and defense stats, but it requires players to start from scratch with the weapon all over again, essentially nullifying any exotic shards you have put in. The upside is that upgrading this newly acquired ‘beefed up’ version of your exotic to maximum potential would put you at in a good place to take on the trials of The Dark Below content immensely. It also increases the maximum light level allowed for that weapon/armor. So trading is in my opinion your best bet, unless you want to do it the hard way.