The Ice Breaker made a name for itself in the first installment of the franchise. But now, it may come to Destiny 2.
Destiny veterans usually talk about this weapon as if they’re referring to an old, eldritch god or with a thousand-year stare, depending on which side of the scope they were on the most. The Ice Breaker is among a litany of mythical Exotic weapons from the original game, which also includes Thorn, Touch of Malice, Necrochasm, Vex Mythoclast, and others.
Some of those weapons have already appeared in the sequel (with Red Death Reformed being the latest one). Whenever the topic of “which Destiny weapon would you like to see in D2” appears, Ice Breaker inevitably features on the list—usually accompanied by doubts about how to balance it. Now, though, this Exotic sniper rifle may finally show up in Destiny 2.
Will Ice Breaker come back to Destiny 2?
In typical Bungie fashion, the studio hinted heavily that Ice Breaker is coming to Destiny 2 with an extremely specific clue.
“A certain Exotic Sniper Rifle, one considered a myth by many at this point, is resurfacing in the upcoming Dungeon,” Bungie wrote in a blog post honoring the franchise’s 10th anniversary “We’ll share more info at a later date, but we hope this helped… break the ice.”
Even if the clue left something to the imagination, the key art for the blog post shows a Titan holding the Ice Breaker, with Bungie acknowledging it. This essentially confirms the new weapon might be on the way.
What did Ice Breaker do in Destiny 1?
Destiny’s version of Ice Breaker regenerated one shot roughly every five seconds, according to an ancient video by content creator Datto (who covers Destiny 2 to this day). This came with a few caveats: It’s impossible to reload the gun, and the only way to get more bullets is by waiting.
Ice Breaker’s Destiny 2 version will likely take that fantasy of regenerating ammo to heart in some way, maintaining what made the weapon so special. It’s unclear if it will be a one-for-one copy of it, and how powerful (or how weak) its effect will be. Bungie has experimented with special ammo economy since the release of Rocket Sidearms like Indebted Kindness (in Season of the Wish) and the Choir of One Exotic auto rifle (in Echoes’ second act).
Balancing it for PvP is a different beast on its own, and that’s before taking the ammo economy into account. Depending on how dominant it becomes, Ice Breaker can be even more oppressive considering it’s a dungeon Exotic, which relies on RNG to obtain. (This debate had an intense resurgence when Vex Mythoclast, locked behind the Vault of Glass raid and its potentially torturous RNG, dominated the Crucible in 2021).
When is Ice Breaker releasing in Destiny 2?
While Ice Breaker doesn’t have an exact release date, it might come as early as the next new dungeon, which should drop alongside Episode Revenant. This is the second of three episodes for the year of The Final Shape and should kick off in October. There’s no confirmation or timeline for this, however, and players should wait for an official announcement.
