Destiny 2's Prometheus Lens exotic is completely broken and a menace in PvP [Updated]

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Update: Destiny 2 community manager David 'DeeJ' Dague addressed Prometheus Lens in a tweet:

Original story:

Destiny 2's first expansion, Curse of Osiris, is now live, bringing a shot of fun campaign content and a much-needed patch. Among other improvements and fixes, the coinciding patch included nerfs to problem PvP weapons like the Uriel's Gift auto rifle and Last Hope sidearm. Yay! Or not. Little did we know, the expansion also added the most overpowered weapon in the history of Destiny PvP: the Prometheus Lens, a new exotic trace rifle. 

A sister weapon to Coldheart, the Prometheus Lens also fires a steady laser beam. But instead of building up damage like Coldheart, which is actually pretty weak in PvP, it generates a heat field around the point of impact that expands as Prometheus is fired. Getting kills with it also refills the magazine, but the key point is that the beam's damage is constant, because it is fucking nuts.

Tim and I were on the receiving end of Prometheus in a few matches last night, and we both had the same reaction: absolute bewilderment. Prometheus kills from virtually any range in no seconds flat. It has the fastest time-to-kill of any kinetic or energy weapon. You simply cannot fight it. It is, bar-none, the most overpowered weapon in the Crucible, and it needs to be nerfed from orbit, like, today. Yesterday, actually. 

Naturally, the Destiny subreddit is ablaze with Prometheus posts, as well as plenty of evidence. Reddit user Vetoed provided this clip, which blew the starting whistle for a barrage of justified complaints: 

This Twitch vod from streamer iBLINKtv is even scarier:  

Void titan-loving PvP expert The Destiny Fun Police also managed to bag a Prometheus of his own, and seeing it in action is just disgusting:  

For reference, Prometheus feels even worse than the infamous Vex Mythoclast from Destiny 1, which was quickly nerfed. Thankfully, Destiny YouTuber kjhovey preserved its stupidity in a highlight reel:  

So yeah, Prometheus is capital-B broken and needs fixing. It's single-handedly ruining PvP, and it will totally undermine the next Trials of Osiris weekend if left unchecked. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.