Destiny 2 guardians found another weapon to wield, and this one comes from the hands of Xivu Arath. The new Wicked Implement scout rifle started appearing after week seven of Season of the Deep, but players are still struggling with how to obtain its Exotic catalyst.
After the long Exotic quest to obtain the Wicked Implement Exotic scout rifle, which is hidden within a Deep Dive activity, you’ll have to dive back into the methane oceans of Titan to secure the catalyst for this Exotic. But that’s about all anyone knows so far.
Here is the drop source for the Wicked Implement Exotic Catalyst in Destiny 2, as well as its effect.
How to unlock the Wicked Implement Exotic Catalyst in Destiny 2
While the process of getting the Wicked Implement scout rifle is clear-cut once you know what to do (and easy to find information about), this weapon’s catalyst is a bit more cryptic. The Collections tab only says it’s “acquired from Deep Dive,” without further explanation. There is no secret quest after the secret quest, though: This catalyst seems to follow the same steps as a previous quest Exotic.
Related: How to get Deep Dive Keys in Destiny 2
Ager’s Scepter made its way to the game as part of a quest in Season of the Lost (season 15), and though guardians had a consistent way to get the weapon itself, its catalyst had a random chance of dropping after completing the seasonal activity, Astral Alignment.
The Wicked Implement Catalyst started dropping on week eight of Season of the Deep, just one week after Bungie introduced the Whetstone encounter to Deep Dives. The Catalyst drops from both Tier Seven completions and Tier Five completions, according to player reports. It doesn’t seem to be a guaranteed drop, though, so you may need to run a few more Deep Dives than intended until you get it to drop (and we’re already having flashbacks to Ager’s Scepter again).
What does the Wicked Implement Exotic Catalyst do?
While some weapons like Witherhoard need their catalyst to function properly, this Darkness-infused scout rifle doesn’t seem to fall into that category. The Wicked Implement Exotic Catalyst seems to overflow your magazine when you pick up a Stasis shard, which brings it closer to a quality-of-life push than an actual game changer (such as Witherhoard’s Auto-Loading Holster and extra handling from its catalyst).
This effect may seem odd on most weapons, but it works particularly well with Wicked Implement. The Exotic’s intrinsic effect, Creeping Attrition, slows targets after landing a few precision hits. Its unique trait, Tithing Harvest, creates a tracking Stasis shard if you land precision kills while Creeping Attrition is active and lets Stasis shards refill the magazine. The catalyst’s supposed effect would make this effect even better (though we were hoping for something flashier, like Headstone or Collective Action).
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This may not mean the catalyst is a waste, though. This can potentially help chain slows and freezes for longer and you’ll essentially get a modified version of Overflow, which can be handy. It’s not as impactful as we were personally hoping for (again, Headstone or Collective Action would be great). It can’t make Orbs of Power either due to old changes to accommodate for origin traits, but we’re still giving it a go with our Exotic scout.
