Bungie disables Destiny 2's Telesto Exotic after it breaks the game again

Telesto, an Exotic fusion rifle in Destiny 2, was disabled over the weekend after players discovered a game-breaking exploit that allowed for functionally infinite Supers. Telesto is still available in-game - and funnily enough, it was very recently sold by Xur, meaning there's quite a lot of them in-game - but you won't be able to equip it until Bungie fixes the glitch. In other words, until further notice, Telesto is under arresto. 

As Destiny 2 YouTuber Ehroar explained in a new video, the exploit in question was tied to Telesto's unique projectiles. Unlike other fusion rifles, Telesto fires sticky orbs which detonate when an enemy gets close. If you actually hit an enemy with the orbs, they'll explode shortly after contact. However, if nothing's around to trigger them, these orbs will persist nearly indefinitely. But as players learned, you can detonate them yourself using a grenade, and when you do, each orb detonated will register as an enemy defeated. Defeating enemies generates Super energy, and the Ashes to Assets mod grants bonus Super energy for grenade kills. You can probably see where this is going.

All in all, the exploit was remarkably simple. Step one: carpet the floor with Telesto orbs. Step two: throw a wide-range grenade at the orbs. Step three: fill your Super bar in no seconds flat. This exploit was accessible in both PvE and PvP, and it was every bit as broken as it sounds. Fortunately, Bungie disabled Telesto on Saturday before this exploit could wreak any real havoc - but not before players captured exactly how broken it was. 

The funniest thing is that this isn't the first time Telesto's orbs have caused balance issues. Back in Forsaken, players learned that detonating Telesto orbs during the Blind Well activity would also register them as defeated enemies, instantly filling the progress bar for each wave of the horde mode. This was also true of the Gauntlet stage of the Menagerie. Same glitch, different purpose. What will Telesto users think of next? 

Exploits aside, Destiny 2 is due for a raft of balance changes later this month.