Wicked Implement: Exotic Stasis Scout Rifle

There’s been a lot of hearsay and unnecessary hate hitting this gun and I’m here to say that almost all of it is BS. Let’s get this out of the way: it’s not meta-defining, it’s not over powered, it’s not cuckoo crazy... 

...it’s reliable and consistent.

To really get across what I mean, let’s talk numbers:

Stats:

Impact: 62

Range: 62

Stability: 63

Handling: 44

Reload Speed: 41

Aim Assist: 65

Zoom: 20

AE: 65

RPM: 180

Mag: 15

RD: 94

Implement’s stats stand above most others in it’s archetype. Only an Adept Hung Jury or Harrowed DoC can get close. It’s our first exotic 180 in D2 so this shouldn’t be too surprising. It does mean that stat-boosting buffs feel particularly nice (On Your Mark, Hedrons, etc.). 

So it shoots like a normal 180. What makes it special? 

Remember, exotic primaries deal 40% more damage over their legendary counterparts. This means in most mid-high level content you’ll be 2-3 shotting minors with no buffs from a distance. Not bad. And it plays directly into the exotic perk. 

Creeping Attrition, Tithing Harvest, and the Catalyst:

Implement's exotic perk, Creeping Attrition, states: “Rapidly landing precision hits causes targets to become slowed.” Like I said, not flashy or crazy; simple and consistent. So how does it work? 

It takes 3 precision hits to proc Creeping Attrition. 

The buff will last 3 seconds. Every precision hit will reset the timer (timer not shown in game). 

When Creeping Attrition is active, it takes 3 precision hits to freeze on all combatants. Every precision hit within those 3 slows for 4 seconds (6 w/Durance). Note: in PVP: x20 stacks of slow per crit (5 crits to freeze with perk active), same timer.

The 2nd Exotic Perk, Tithing Harvest, will create a stasis shard for precision final blows while Creeping Attrition is active. This shard will track aggressively to the player from any distance. Picking up this shard will refill the magazine. There is a small cooldown after generating the shard (unsure on timer, ~3 seconds).

The catalyst will allow you to overflow the magazine by picking up stasis shards. These shards can be from any source and will overflow the mag 5 bullets per shard up to 30.

Buildcrafting:

Buildcrafting this gun is fairly straightforward. Mostly owing to the simplicity of its perks and how it functions. Thankfully this works to its advantage; creating a solid workhorse that is versatile as much as it is useful. Out of the box it can stun 2 champion types with no assistance (slow for Overloads and Freeze/Shatter for Unstops) but it can also freeze stun Barrier Champs (as long as you don’t miss a crit!). 

The obvious setup is going to be any aspect that generates shards (Tectonic, Grim, and Glacial Harvest on Titan, Hunter, and Warlock respectively) and Whisper of Rime and Conduction to generate overshield and pickup shards. But there are a few unique interactions you should watch out for: 

Grim Harvest on Hunters creates stasis shards when defeating Stasis debuffed enemies. This will stack with Creeping Attrition’s shard creating 2 on kill. Throw in Whisper of Refraction and now we’re regenerating dodge energy on Creeping Attrition kills too. I bring this up specifically to talk about Mask of Bakris. Bakris will give 4 stacks of Arc and Stasis weapon Surge. This equates to 25% damage buff in PvE and 6% in PvP. That is enough to 3 crit T6 and below in PvP at .67 seconds. Not that a lot of folk run less than T6 these days but the bonus damage will catch people out. Bakris buff lasts 11 seconds. Once over, you begin regenerating dodge energy. 

Warlocks also have quite a bit of interaction with Implement. Freezing with Implement will create shards with Glacial Harvest, of course, and shattering that enemy can proc Iceflare Bolts. But the slow from Creeping Attrition crits also stacks with the Bleak Watcher turret. Freezing enemies more quickly. Whisper of Rending should be a mandatory pick with running anything with coldsnaps. A bonus 42% damage to frozen enemies is huge. Especially when you’re freezing enemies from across the map with the same gun. It’s the safest weapon in the game. A soloists dream.

Stasis Titan can synergize with almost anything. Right now I’m gonna talk about the Lancecap. Constant lances, constant crystals, constant shards. Outside of that, it’s more of the same. Safe slows and freezes. You could realistically pair it with nearly any subclass without worry. Use an Incandescent Trace Rifle for 90% of a strike with solar Syntho-Hammers but break out implement to freeze or stun a troublesome enemy before getting right back into the loop. That’s what I mean by reliable. 

The Problems:      

The regard and general opinions of the Destiny Community at-large doesn’t hold much value for me. Especially when they reach a toxic low point like they have recently. Usually from hanging out in the same burnout afflicted echo chambers that they sit in day in and day out. But there can sometimes be a little bit of truth lost in the nuance. Wicked Implement is not making waves and for good reason. There are simply other tools that can do what it does. Some more effectively. Some more efficiently. It’s an unpopular frame of an unpopular archetype. Not every gun can be game breaking or Quicksilver. 

The Conclusion:

I’m a big fan of Wicked Implement. And not just because it’s our first Exotic 180. It is simple, effective, easy to understand, and easy to implement (lol) in any build. There are flashier options, sure. But it will always be a good scout and good scouts will always be useful. Pair it with your favorite fusion or wave-frame, and a god-rolled rocket, and you’re set. You don’t really need much else. AND there’s already been talks of possible buffs in the future. Get in on the ground floor. With Strand being reined back in and possible Stasis buffs, I think folk who get good with this thing now are gonna be a menace in the future. Especially if we get some good Stasis artifact perks in a coming season.