Witherhoard is a weapon that just about every Destiny 2 player should know of by now.
If you are ready to finally unlock Witherhoard for yourself, this guide is the place to start!
Recommended Read: Best Sidearms to Use in Destiny 2
To get Witherhoard in Destiny 2, purchase the Shadowkeep Expansion before purchasing Witherhoard from the Exotic Kioske in the Tower.
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How to Get Witherhoard in Destiny 2
Since its release, Witherhoard has been a must-have weapon for any Destiny 2 player who takes PvE content seriously.
The amount of free extra damage it provides to any Loadout can not be overlooked when crafting the perfect DPS build for shredding Majors, Champions, and Boss enemies.
Witherhoard was originally the Seasonal weapon reward for Season 11 of Destiny 2, the Season of Arrivals.
Players who purchased the Shadowkeep Expansion and the Season Pass would unlock Witherhoard upon login during the new Season.
Now, Witherhoard is obtained from the Exotic Kioske in the Tower, found near the Vault. It doesn’t come cheap, requiring 1 Exotic Cipher, 100,000 Glimmer, and 1 Ascendant Shard to purchase.
You will also need to own the Shadowkeep Expansion before you can purchase Witherhoard. Check out our guide on What Expansions/DLC to Buy to see if Shadowkeep is right for you.
How to Get Witherhoard Catalyst
After unlocking Witherhoard, the Catalyst will be available to pick up from Banshee-44 in the Tower. Speaking with Banshee-44 will begin The Bank Job Exotic Quest, which is required in order to unlock the Witherhoard Catalyst.
There are really only two parts to this Exotic Questline, with each requiring you to use a Grenade Launcher.
While you can solely use Witherhoard to complete these steps, you may find that other Grenade Launchers are better depending on the activity.
The first step is called High-Stakes Heist and will have you collecting 50 Vault Keys. These keys are dropped by enemies who are killed with non-Heavy Grenade Launchers, so Witherhoard will do just fine for this step.
The last step, Crime Spree, requires you to kill 100 Guardians with Grenade Launchers in either Crucible or Gambit matches, get 200 Multikills with Grenade Launchers in any activity, and acquire 300 Filthy Lucre.
Filthy Lucre is obtained at the end of any matchmade activity, including Strikes, Gambit, and Crucible matches. For your Guardian kills, you might find it easier to use a Heavy Grenade Launcher to score you a few kills every match.
This step may take some time, so be patient and keep at it. The Catalyst for Witherhoard is definitely worth it.
Once you complete Crime Spree, head back to Banshee-44 in the Tower to complete the quest and unlock the Witherhoard Catalyst.
You will still need to get kills using Witherhoard in order to fully unlock the Catalyst and equip it.
Is Witherhoard Worth It?
Witherhoard is unlike any other Exotic weapon in the game, providing one of the only damage over time sources that has found its way into many damage rotations due to how optimal and simple it is to set up.
This is thanks to its Exotic Perks and hidden Traits.
Witherhoard comes with the Intrinsic Perk Primeval’s Torment, creating a blight pool upon impacting the ground. This blight pool will continually damage any enemies who step inside.
Upon a direct hit with an enemy, Witherhoard will blight the enemy. The Break the Bank Perk causes blighted enemies to take damage over time and drop a pool of blight once they die.
This is a great tool for dealing with large groups of enemies. Blighting one of the enemies will usually be enough to kill it, spawning a pool of blight that will take care of any enemies close to your initial target.
Once blighted, enemies will continue to tick for damage for about 7 seconds. You can reapply blights to enemies during this time to rest the timer, though multiple blights on the same target will not increase the damage per tick.
This means that the most optimal way to deal damage with Witherhoard is to fire a single shot and wait for the timer to run out before reapplying another blight.
During the wait, you will be able to swap to your Primary or Heavy weapon and continue to deal with any other enemies around you.
Aside from being a great ad-clearing weapon, players have found that the damage over time is practically free extra damage when it comes to Boss DPS rotations.
You only need to fire a single shot of Witherhoard for a full 7 seconds of continual damage.
While Witherhoard does its thing, you can swap to your usual DPS weapons and continue your rotation as you normally would.
This results in some impressive damage rotations, especially for Rocket Launcher Loadouts that are looking to fire as many rockets as they can during the DPS phase.
The damage over time also plays into DPS builds that rely on Bait and Switch for increased damage, as the constant damage of Witherhoard will mean you only need to swap to one other weapon before activating Bait and Switch for your Bait and Switch weapon.
The Catalyst for Witherhoard makes it much, much better and is a must-have, granting it increased Handling, and the Perk Silent Arms, which is basically Auto-Loading Holster.
After you fire your first shot, stowing the weapon for a short time will reload the weapon for you, guaranteeing that you always have a shot ready when you need it.
This saves you precious time during damage phases and makes clearing out groups of enemies much easier without having to constantly reload the weapon yourself.
The increased Handling also means you will ready and store Witherhoard much faster.
One final tip for Witherhoard is a secret interaction with blighted targets. Along with blighting enemies upon direct hits, enemies blighted by Witherhoard are considered Taken enemies.
This is important for weapons like Malfeasance that deal additional damage to Taken enemies. Keep this in mind when build crafting.
Overall, Witherhoard is a powerhouse of a weapon and is one of the most versatile Exotic weapons you can get.
It is more than worth the price, and the Catalyst is necessary if you plan on truly abusing this thing in end-game PvE activities.
Now you are ready to go and unlock Witherhoard!
What do you think of Witherhoard? Are there any tips you would like to give to players who are about to go and get Witherhoard? Let me know in the comments!
