Ice Breaker arrives at Destiny 2 at last. This popular Exotic from the first installment of the franchise was almost mythical, but now, you can snag it for yourself—if you’re willing to brave a dungeon for it, that is.
Ice Breaker originally hails from the first Destiny, where it regenerated ammo over time. Its new form is a Solar sniper that uses Special ammo and leans on a Solar verb, but it also has small ties to Stasis. Since it’s tied to the Vesper’s Host dungeon, though, Ice Breaker requires ownership of The Final Shape‘s dungeon key, available from the in-game store for 2,000 Silver.
Here’s how you can get Ice Breaker in Destiny 2 and more information on its effects.
How to get Ice Breaker in Destiny 2
Ice Breaker is a random drop from the final encounter of the Vesper’s Host dungeon. This means you should have three chances of obtaining it per week (once per character). The rest of the dungeon’s gear remains farmable, however.
Additionally, Ice Breaker is a guaranteed drop during the contest mode version of Vesper’s Host, which runs for 48 hours. Anyone who clears the final encounter and loots the chest gets an Ice Breaker. It may be easier said than done, though: not only does this limited-time difficulty cap your level, but it also brings more aggressive enemies, resurrection tokens, and even potential enrage mechanics, according to Bungie. The strongest of guardians can guarantee themselves an Ice Breaker this way, but it’s going to be a tough fight.
Is Ice Breaker farmable?
For now, players can only attempt to get Ice Breaker once per character per week. Subsequent clears will still award you with regular drops, but the final encounter’s pool won’t get you the Exotic. This is standard procedure for dungeons in Destiny 2.
The returning sniper will eventually become farmable once the next dungeon releases, which will move Vesper’s Host to the featured dungeon rotator—though that may still be ways off.
What does Ice Breaker do in Destiny 2?
Ice Breaker lives up to its name and takes after its infinite ammo-generating capacity from the original Destiny, though with a few adjustments. Here’s what it does, as seen in the API (via D2foundry).
- Ice Breaker (trait): “Defeating a target with this weapon causes them to explode. Precision final blows or shattering a frozen target instead triggers an ignition.”
- No Backpack (intrinsic): “Final blows or assist with any other weapon have a chance to create ammo for Ice Breaker. Defeating powerful combatants will create multiple rounds.”
Based on this information, the Exotic sniper can deal decent damage and clear adds well on its own, especially with its potentially great ammo economy. It’s unclear how (or if) its unique trait works with ammo bricks, though. This weapon can play well in Solar builds thanks to Ignitions, but it may be hard to drop a Solar primary for its easy benefits like Ember of Empyrean.
Builds that incorporate Stasis (such as a Prismatic Warlock using Bleak Watcher) also get an unexpected synergy with this weapon, since they can freeze enemies for easy Ignitions. Ice Breaker goes on your Energy slot, opening up room for a Stasis primary such as a god-rolled Exuviae or even a Special weapon with Chill Clip like Riptide or Deliverance, depending on how its ammo economy goes. All in all, it looks like a solid addition for a couple of different builds. Provided you can get your hands on it, of course.
