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Hello there, do you have time to learn more about our lord and savior, the glaive? Just released in Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, the glaive enables fast-paced melee combat while its powerful projectile allows for pinpoint mid-range death-dealing. And that's not all, because these attacks fuel the strongest defensive ability in the entire game: a deployable shield which can block virtually any attack that comes your way. The glaive really can do it all. Truly a miracle product! The weapon of the future. So what do you say, can I put you down for two?
I've been playing a lot of Destiny 2's latest expansion – check out our ongoing Destiny 2 Witch Queen review in progress for more detailed impressions – and the new glaive weapon has hardly left my hands the entire time. Every time I put the glaive down – reluctantly, stubbornly, frowning – the game instantly becomes a little less fun. This thing slaps. The glaive in Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is the game's first and only first-person melee weapon, and its mix of offense and defense has totally transformed the way I play the game, much to the dismay of the clanmates who have to listen to me sing its praises.
The right way to use a glaive
The glaive has three main uses: stabbing dudes, shooting dudes, and blocking attacks from dudes who will soon be stabbed and shot. The stabbing bit is probably the most primally satisfying. The glaive has a fast, three-hit melee combo which you can chain infinitely, and for an attack that doesn't use any ammo, it deals a heck of a lot of damage. Whether you're cleaving through groups of weak enemies or fileting a tanky Champion, the glaive feels incredible. It's a massive power-up for your basic melee attack and when you combine it with some healing mods or abilities – I've been running it with Devour on Void Warlock so every kill heals me – you become an unstoppable whirlwind.
Of course, some enemies are better dispatched from a distance, which is where the glaive's projectile comes in. The craftable glaive, the Enigma, has a relatively small magazine at five to six rounds, and yes it is weird that you have to reload a stick, but the surprisingly potent glaive shot is worth the fuss. The projectile itself has some travel time to it so you have to lead your shot a bit, but I find that more satisfying than anything. I mainly use this shot to pop enemy shields before going into a melee combo, or to pick off explosive enemies like Cursed Thrall, but it's also the best way to stun Unstoppable Champions since the Unstoppable glaive mod doesn't have any charge time.
We haven't even gotten to the real showstopper. Landing shots with the glaive charges up its shield, which is handily the strongest thing about it. This thing is busted. It blocks literally anything. Boss stomps? Blocked. Supers from Hive Lightbearers? Zero damage. Savathun's knock-off Nova Bomb? Scattered like rain on a windshield. The glaive shield is only limited by its duration; as long as you have energy, you can block everything that comes your way. I couldn't count how many times this thing has gotten me out of a tight spot, and it's only been a few days.
You can even use the glaive shield to safely revive a downed ally even when their Ghost is getting hammered by enemy fire. You can melee bosses to pieces as long as you raise your shield when they go for a stomp attack. Hell, you can shoot with the shield up to extend its duration and knock out dangerous targets from total safety. I keep finding new ways to use the glaive, even in high-end content like Nightfalls, and it's never let me down. I'm definitely bringing it into the day-one raid on March 5, I'll tell you that. I'll bring other special weapons, too, but the glaive is an absolute powerhouse. It doesn't deal a zillion damage, but it basically does everything else, making it more flexible than any other weapon type.
Build a better glaive
"But how should I build my glaive?" I hear you ask. Well, I'm glad you asked, reader. Step one is to unlock the suppressing glaive mod on the seasonal artifact as soon as possible. I loved the glaive before getting this mod, but it practically turns it into a cheat code. Anything you hit is reduced to a blinded, suppressed, stumbling mess just waiting to be slashed to ribbons. It's genuinely absurd how quickly this mod trivializes virtually all non-boss enemies and I will never take it off.
As for crafting the ideal glaive – and we only have access to the Enigma at this stage – after testing most of the perk combinations, I'd currently recommend Impulse Amplifier and Unstoppable Force. Grave Robber might be good, too, but it's bugged for the time being. I'm also pretty fond of Frenzy since it boosts a lot of stats and has high uptime because the glaive is such an aggressive weapon.
Impulse Amplifier greatly boosts the travel speed of your shots and makes reloading much faster, and Unstoppable Force gives your projectile damage a big boost whenever you block an attack. This plays right into the almost parry-like rhythm of meleeing, blocking, and weaving in shots, making it a virtually hands-free damage bonus.
Try some of these perks out – the normal versions are cheap to unlock at the old crafting table – and see what feels right to you. For the stats, you want high shield duration and reload speed. Range isn't that valuable because you're usually pretty close to enemies, and shield duration is probably the most important stat on this thing. Seriously, once you get good at blocking, you feel invincible.
I'll be first in line once the class-specific Exotic glaives become available, and I'm hoping the other craftable glaive is unlocked soon, too. This is unquestionably my new favorite weapon, so I'm more than happy to spread the word of good old-fashioned dude-slashin', whether my clanmates want to hear it or not.
