Destiny 2’s New DPS Perk Beats Bait & Switch – If You Use It Right

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In the Episode Heresy, Destiny 2 introduced a fresh Damage-per-Second (DPS) enhancement titled Elemental Sharpening. This is an advanced choice, superior to Bait and Switch in certain scenarios, yet its effectiveness hinges on how skillfully it’s utilized.

This advantage catches my attention because it operates in such a way: For every distinct element you employ, you accrue an Elemental Honing stack. Each time you inflict damage with a new element, another stack is accumulated, up to a maximum of five stacks. Importantly, each stack resets the timer.

When fully charged, Elemental Weapons increase their damage output by 35% for twenty seconds, whereas Kinetic weapons amplify their damage by 40%. This implies that if you can consistently dish out damage from five distinct elements in your build, you’ll achieve the highest DPS (Damage Per Second) in the game.

In most cases, it’s not feasible for subclasses, but Prismatic constructs perform exceptionally well when combined with Elemental Sharpening. To illustrate, an ideal DPS sequence on a Prismatic Hunter might look something like this:

[Your text here]

  1. Use Threaded Spike (Strand, 1 stack)
  2. Throw an Arcbolt Grenade (Arc, 2 stacks)
  3. Activate Trancendence and throw a Hailfire Spike (Stasis & Solar, 4 stacks)
  4. Use Shadowshot: Deadfall (Void, 5 stacks)
  5. Switch to Elemental Honing weapon and fire for 20 seconds while buff is active.

In simple terms, both the Prismatic Titans and Warlocks possess the capability to perform this rotation using their unique skills. Furthermore, you have the option to swap out specific weapons in the process. For instance, Arcbolt can be changed to any Arc weapon, while Threaded Spike might be replaced with a Strand weapon.

Elemental Honing vs Bait & Switch

To really make Elemental Honing valuable, it needs to outperform Bait & Switch, the widely favored DPS enhancement at present. If you check out any high-ranking Rocket Launchers, Linear Fusion Rifles, or Heavy Grenade Launchers, that’s usually what Guardians are opting for.

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It’s great news that Elemental Honing performs better than Bait & Switch, particularly when it comes to Prismatic builds. If you possess a variety of skills that encompass different elements, using Elemental Honing becomes beneficial because you can quickly amass the maximum stack in just a few seconds.

From a player’s perspective, compared to other perks like Bait & Switch, Elemental Honing seems a bit more challenging to set up and utilize effectively. While Bait & Switch just demands shooting three different guns, Elemental Honing requires significant compromise when playing a standard subclass, making the benefits it offers seem debatable at best.

In light of this information, Bait & Switch continues to be the preferred high damage-per-second (DPS) choice for most character builds. However, when paired with Prismatic, Elemental Honing emerges as the superior option. The ideal perk for you ultimately depends on your preferred subclass playstyle.

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2025-02-25 14:55