There are less than two weeks before Bungie's highly anticipated Destiny 2 showcase on August 23, which will likely reveal more about Season 18, the reprised Raid, and the Lightfall expansion. Season of the Haunted came with many sandbox changes to PvP especially, starting with flinch resistance and in-air accuracy becoming valuable stats to invest into, but it also came with several tweaks to weapons based on their performance. The same philosophy is what stands behind every sandbox update in Destiny 2, and today Bungie announced some changes planned for Season 18.
A lot is changing in Destiny 2's sandbox with Season 18, and Bungie is being faithful to its promise of making more Exotics have intrinsic anti-Champion abilities over time - something that made Arbalest one of the best guns in the game after it received Anti-Barrier rounds. Much like Arbalest, Wishender is getting Anti-Barrier arrows in Season 18, alongside a slew of other PvE buffs that will make it a more competitive option. Malfeasance's explosions will also stun Unstoppable Champions, Thunderlord's bullets will stun Overload Champions, and so will Le Monarque's arrows, making the latter a potentially top-tier PvE weapon.
Why Destiny 2's Le Monarque Could Become One of Its Best Exotics
Le Monarque is an Exotic bow that shoots poisonous arrows when players time a drawn shot perfectly, which is not a hard task with Destiny 2's bows - especially so with this weapon, considering it has an indicator on its handle for when arrows are ready. When players hit a headshot with the poisonous arrows from Le Monarque, the Exotic's unique perk activates, creating a poisonous explosion around the target that applies a damage-over-time effect on every enemy in the area. This makes Le Monarque an exceptional weapon in PvE because it can deal with all sorts of targets across difficulties, even chipping away at the health of powerful bosses.
Because Season 18 will grant Le Monarque intrinsic anti-Overload rounds when players shoot poisonous arrows, this Exotic will likely become a top-five pick in PvE activities outside some Raids and Dungeons. Overload Champions are among the most annoying Destiny 2 enemies to deal with in most circumstances, as they continuously regenerate their health and can often glitch in ways that cause them to shoot even while stunned. It doesn't help that most of Destiny 2's weapons are not great at dealing with Overload Champions.
An example comes from SMGs, an otherwise great weapon archetype that sees a lot of use in PvE due to its add-clearing potential. However, even with the Overload SMGs mod equipped, players need to shoot halfway through the magazine to stun a Champion, something that is often dangerous and also irritating if the enemy keeps moving around. Le Monarque solves this problem by breaking Destiny 2's Overload Champions with its poisonous damage-over-time, as every tick of poison damage counts as anti-Overload damage.
This means that players can safely shoot Overload Champions in the head from a distance, constantly applying damage effects that trivialize Overload Champions. On top of that, Overload arrows will also grant Le Monarque a damage debuff against enemies hit by the poisonous arrows, meaning Destiny 2 players can use this bow to great effect even in activities like Grandmaster Nightfalls. Overall, there is a good chance this Exotic bow will see a lot more usage in PvE and become a must-have in many loadouts for every Season beyond Season 18, as Le Monarque's boosted efficiency won't be tied to seasonal mods.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
