Summary

• Arc buffs in Destiny 2 have shifted the meta towards Arc subclasses due to powerful new Aspects.
• Le Monarque with Storm's Keep Aspect and Artifact mod creates a potent build for generating Bolt Charge stacks.
• The strong Le Monarque combo may need a nerf to balance its OP capabilities with Aspect and mod interactions.

With the release of Destiny 2's third Episode came many changes to the sandbox that ended up shaking the meta in many ways, especially with three new Aspects distributed among Arc Titan, Arc Warlock, and Void Hunter. So far, the meta has moved almost exclusively toward Arc subclasses in Destiny 2, including Prismatic with the use of some changed tools. This is because Bungie introduced the new Bolt Charge verb, which proved to be quite powerful so far and will likely remain as such unless it's nerfed. While nerfs are unlikely to come soon, there is one old Exotic that has become extremely strong, and it may need to be tweaked sooner rather than later.

It's not uncommon for new releases and sandbox updates to make older items or perks viable or even game-breaking, especially since Bungie likes to update multiple Exotic weapons and armor pieces at least once or twice every season or Episode. For example, Destiny 2's Arc Warlocks have an OP build with Geomag Stabilizers in Heresy, and the previously memed-upon Exotics Thunderlord and The Queenbreaker are now actually great picks for DPS. Among these shifts, the Exotic bow Le Monarque surprisingly rose to the top of the meta, to the point it may need to be addressed.

How Destiny 2's Arc Buffs Made Le Monarque a Top PvE Weapon

It was a perfect storm that led Destiny 2's Le Monarque to become one of the best weapons to use for DPS in the game. The first piece of the puzzle comes from the new Arc Aspect for Striker Titans called Storm's Keep. What this does is generate Bolt Charge stacks for the Titan and their allies whenever a Barricade class ability is used, all while also making weapons able to discharge the lightning bolt from Bolt Charge instead of abilities. This is very potent on its own, but Le Monarque takes it to the next level.

It may seem counterintuitive to use a Void weapon in an Arc build, but Le Monarque makes it so that the new Storm's Keep Aspect for Arc Titans generates Bolt Charge stacks passively from the poison that the Exotic bow applies on perfectly drawn precision shots. This means that one can stack Bolt Charge incredibly fast with Le Monarque and other Titans in the fireteam, as the effect from Storm's Keep stacks, meaning one could theoretically get full stacks and almost immediately discharge them.

Not only that, the Artifact for Episode Heresy also comes with a powerful perk in column two that further makes this build overpowered. This Artifact mod is called Volatile Marksman, and at base, it makes rapid precision hits and final blows with Void weapons grant Volatile Rounds, which is already a nice increase in DPS on its own. However, Volatile Marksman can be enhanced by activating a Ritual of Desire with Destiny 2's Tome of Want, and the boost provides the mod with an additional effect that makes Volatile explosions generate class ability energy. This perfectly combines with Storm's Keep to not only generate the highest number of Bolt Charge stacks possible, but also generate more Barricade energy to recast it and instantly regain more Bolt Charge stacks.

Why Le Monarque's Combo With Storm's Keep May Be Nerfed

This entire combo is powerful enough that some players are soloing Sundered Doctrine with it and even complete encounters in one phase or two, which is rather impressive. As much as this all makes Le Monarque immediately a top pick, it can be a bit too strong in its current state. Bungie shouldn't nerf Le Monarque itself, if at all, but rather how it interacts with Storm's Keep or Volatile Marksman, maybe putting an internal cooldown on how often these effects can proc. For now, this remains one of the best builds in Destiny 2, but it may not stay this way forever.