For the past few months, one gun in Destiny 2 has stood above the rest. Lord of Wolves has been a monster in both DPS and major clear, outputting insane damage numbers with its hip-fire mode even against tanky bosses.
But, in this week’s major Rite of the Nine update, Bungie took action against it and gave its hip-fire mode a hefty 30% (or a 28% damage nerf when looking strictly at the numbers). So, with that, does it still sit at the top tier of damage strategies? Is it worth using? After all, before its huge buff at the start of Episode Heresy, Lord of Wolves was relatively obscure in its usage.
In this review, we’ll go over what the nerf actually means, how it’s changed Lord of Wolves’ place in the damage, and whether the gun is now just an obscurity or if it should still contend as one of the best guns in the game.
Overview
Element: Solar
Ammo: Special
Magazine: 30
Reserves: 273
Rate of Fire: 640RPM
Perks:
- Shrapnel Launcher: Fires a powerful short-range burst of Solar damage.
- Release the Wolves: When firing from the hip, this weapon shoots in full auto and damage and rate of fire are increased, but accuracy and range are decreased.
Catalyst: Fang and Claw: Increases reload speed and stability. While Release the Wolves is active, damaging targets with this weapon applies Scorch. When aiming down sights, defeating a target spreads Scorch to those nearby.
PvE Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
PvP Rating: ⭐
Lord of Wolves is still really good, turns out. Even with a 30% damage nerf, it still melts minors and outputs decent enough DPS with little to no effort, that it’s still one of the best options in the game, even though the damage isn’t as high as it used to be.
It’s no surprise, that this gun is good. It always has been close to being really good at worst and broken at best, but the Release the Wolves hip-fire addition has turned it into an absolute monster once again. Bungie intended for it to be a Solar Choir of One, and it basically took the mantle from that gun completely — with the ability to annihilate bosses faster than ever.
How to obtain Lord of Wolves
Lord of Wolves is obtainable through Exotic Engrams, meaning that it’s a matter of luck decrypting Exotic Engrams at Rahool to find it.
You can also occasionally find it in Xur’s special offerings for 23 Strange Coins. This is random, though, so make sure to check Xur every week to see if he’s got it for you.
Is Lord of Wolves Still Good in PvE?
For general gameplay, Lord of Wolves is still one of the best options in the game for major clear and for general usage. While, of course, killing general ads with it is inefficient, it just shreds anything big that you put in front of it, and so it’s still definitely worth using.
While a lot of the buzz has been ‘Lord of Wolves sucks now!’, the DPS change doesn’t stop the fact that for a smaller enemy or yellow-bar, Lord of Wolves is still going to shred it incredibly quickly. Which, for most content, is really useful. Of course, it does take up your exotic slot, and so if you need that for another DPS weapon or utility weapon, then maybe it’s not suitable to run, but otherwise, Lord of Wolves just makes shredding big enemies as simple as a few clicks.
There are a few alternatives that I do like in the same slot, though. Choir of One is my immediate thought, but other weapons like Ergo Sum with a Caster frame and The Perfect Fifth perk feels like it does some good work. But, Lord of Wolves is just a gun that you can pull out and shred a major with, without having to worry about doing much else.
DPS
After its recent 30% buff, the major question on everyone’s mind is whether Lord of Wolves still holds up in the current damage meta.
To put it shortly, yes. Lord of Wolves is still one of the best DPS guns in the game. While the nerf did affect its damage, it’s still in the top 10 single weapon DPS options in the game (as shown by TheAegisRelic’s sustained DPS testing chart) — and is probably one of the only real options there, only comparable to Legend of Acrius (and performing better than Acrius on the Templar boss).
I did my own testing on Grasp of Avarice’s Phry'zhia The Insatiable, comparing it to a few different short-range DPS strategies that Lord of Wolves competes with. All of the tests were done with just a Well of Radiance, and no other buffs.
Here are the numbers that I got:
- Summum Bonum (Relentless Strikes + Whirlwind Blade) = 1,129,382
- Choir of One = 1,247,835
- Lord of Wolves = 1,641,826
- Legend of Acrius = 2,280,152
While it didn’t exactly match Aegis’s Acrius numbers, it still shows that out of the single weapon, close-range options, Lord of Wolves competes incredibly well, while being easier to pull off than an option like Legend of Acrius (with its necessity for Trench Barrel). I’m also unsure whether Lord of Wolves is as effective on Phry'zhia as it is on other bosses, and especially how effective swords are in the same scenario.
My general advice for DPS and Lord of Wolves is as follows — it’s easy DPS and doesn’t require much investment. It isn’t the highest damage DPS option in the game, but you don’t need to hit any crazy rotations to be able to pull it off. If it’s suitable for the encounter and you want an easy, potent DPS option, then Lord of Wolves is great, and the nerf doesn’t change that whatsoever in my opinion.
Is Lord of Wolves Good in PvP?
To put it simply, no. Lord of Wolves is not good in PvP. Even at point-blank range, getting a one-burst kill is difficult, and you only get one burst in most PvP modes. There was a time when Lord of Wolves was unbeatable in PvP, but nowadays, after many changes, it just doesn’t really work well whatsoever.
Most legendary shotguns like Prophet of Doom are going to do better, while also not taking up your exotic slot (which means you can run an exotic primary or heavy if you’d like).
When should you use Lord of Wolves?
Lord of Wolves isn’t good in every encounter, of course. Using it against the Witness won’t yield results, nor will using it against a close-range boss with an insanely short damage window like Atraks against other options like Parasite and swords.
Lord of Wolves is a great sustained DPS weapon at a close range, with its effective damage being so good and its ammo economy meaning that it shouldn’t run out of ammo during a damage phase. But, its sustained damage is different to that of a weapon like The Queenbreaker, as it does burn through ammo comparatively. Plus, its range is its biggest weakness — it has decent enough range to kill a boss like Templar from Vault of Glass, but it’s still a shotgun, meaning its range only goes so far.
Another important factor to succeeding with Lord of Wolves is that for it to get its most damage, you need to be hitting constant crits with it. Otherwise, Lord of Wolves falls off quite a bit, and other weapons work better. So, making sure that you’re taking it into encounters where you know you can crit the boss easily is vital to using it successfully.
Raid Bosses I use Lord of Wolves for:
- Templar and Atheon in Vault of Glass
- Crota in Crota’s End
- Caretaker and Rhulk in Vow of the Disciple
- Explicator and Nezarec in Root of Nightmares.
- Herald of Finality in Salvation’s Edge
As for roaming, I keep Lord of Wolves in my inventory at all times. It provides so much utility, and with the main form of ad clear strategy being abilities more than weapons, you have the free slot to be able to dedicate to killing majors and other tanky ads quickly, such as in Nightfalls or Dungeons.
The fact that you just have to hip fire to get the most damage out of this gun makes it incredible to put into any build, and the fact that it does both DPS and clear makes it a flexible option that you should probably keep in your inventory at all times anyway, as it’s just too good not to.
Closing TIme
Lord of Wolves is still a phenomenal weapon, and shouldn’t be laughed at even with its large 30% damage nerf. It can still do a lot, and while it isn’t just absurd, the DPS it offers still puts it at the pinnacle of the game. So, make sure that you don’t sleep on this one — it’s still worth it.
If you’re interested in knowing what guns are essential and what you should look for as a new player, check out our guide to the best gear to get started with endgame. Lord of Wolves wasn’t an inclusion because, frankly, most people expected it to get gutted at the release of Rite of the Nine, but it’s still standing strong.
Thank you for your time, and I’ll see you among the wolves.
