Destiny 2’s New Event Puts the ‘Weak’ in Arms Week

Destiny 2’s first-ever Arms Week event has officially kicked off. This week-long event introduces a variety of challenges for players to complete while using a featured weapon type, and the majority of the rewards are new and returning weapons of the same type. For Destiny 2‘s first Arms Week event, hand cannons are the featured weapon, which is no surprise considering how popular this weapon type is in PvE and PvP meta builds.

Despite hand cannons consistently being one of the most popular weapon types in meta builds, the Arms Week event’s rewards have sparked a new controversy in Destiny 2. This is because the vast majority of the rewards from the event belong to the weaker, legacy Armor 2.0 system, instead of the new and improved Armor 3.0 meta. Hence, the rewards from the new Arms Week event arguably feel weak.

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Destiny 2’s Arms Week Has the Weight of the World on Its Shoulders

The new Arms Week Seasonal Event in Destiny 2 will be arriving at a time when tensions among the community are at an all-time high.

Destiny 2’s Arms Week Rewards Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb

Destiny 2’s July 29 Arms Week Rewards

• Phoneutria Fera (new)
• Ribbontail (new)
• Exalted Truth
• The Palindrome
• Sightline Survey
• Luna’s Howl
• Exuviae
• Warden’s Law
• Kept Confidence
• Austringer

Of all the rewards from the current Arms Week event, the two new weapons, Phoneutria Fera and Ribbontail, are admittedly quite strong. Phoneutria Fera is a new spread shot frame hand cannon in Destiny 2, which has firepower closer to a shotgun than a hand cannon, while also having the benefit of unlimited ammo as a primary weapon. This weapon can also roll with legendary weapon perks that are normally exclusive to shotguns, making it a powerful buildcrafting tool for melee builds in Destiny 2.

As for the new Ribbontail weapon from this event, legendary trace rifles in Destiny 2 are a relatively niche weapon type, so this weapon might not appeal to everyone. Regardless, the limited-time availability and rare Holofoil variants of both the Phoneutria Fera and Ribbontail make them appealing as collector’s items, so players should consider grabbing these weapons before they’re gone.

Destiny 2’s Arms Week Offering Armor 2.0 Legacy Rewards Is a Real Head-Scratcher

Although the two new weapons from Destiny 2’s first Arms Week event have generally turned out to be welcome additions to the current meta, the returning weapons available in this event haven’t been so well-received. And rightfully so, given that a whopping eight out of the 10 rewards featured in the Arms Week event are Armor 2.0 legacy rewards.

Destiny 2’s meta after the Armor 3.0 update hasn’t quite reached the point where Armor 2.0 legacy loot is entirely obsolete, but as posts like that of Redditor u/ShardofGold point out, the difference between these two generations of buildcrafting tools isn’t negligible. In general, Armor 3.0 loot will only continue to grow more powerful than legacy loot, so it’s admittedly quite confusing why the majority of the rewards from Destiny 2’s Arms Week event belong to the lesser Armor 2.0 system.

Destiny 2’s New Arms Week Event Misses a Golden Opportunity

Given that the selection of Armor 3.0 loot in Destiny 2 is rather sparse right now, since this major overhaul of the game’s core loot system was introduced only a couple of weeks ago, the Arms Week event could have been the perfect opportunity to expand the loot pool with a sizable amount of new weapons. Unfortunately, this event is packed with more legacy loot than anything else, making its overall offering of rewards rather weak, despite the new spread shot hand cannon and trace rifle event rewards being notable outliers.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate

Released

July 15, 2025

ESRB

Teen / Blood, Game Experience May Change During Online Play, Language, Violence

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op

Engine

Tiger Engine