[b]Some clarification before we get into the meat of this thread: I know that Bungie has no intention of bringing it back, nor am I asking for it to return. I've simply been curious about the consequences of it returning in a hypothetical scenario.[/b]
So, compared to D1, D2 rocket launchers in general are pretty lackluster. They don't really have much variety in terms of useful perks, damage is mediocre for the ammo they carry even after the reserve ammo buff, and they all share the perk of 1 warhead save for Truth or the few launchers that roll Ambitious Assassin/Clown Cartridge.
On the other hand, the exotic ones we have aren't half bad:
>Deathbringer is a good PvP heavy with some usefulness in PvE thanks to the seekers.
>Eyes of Tomorrow not only looks like a portable war crime, but it is basically the potara fusion of Truth and Wardcliff. Haven't gotten it yet to test it myself though.
>Wardcliff has high multikill potential in PvP without even needing to ADS.
>Truth is a 'Nam flashback for many Gambit players.
>Two-Tailed Fox is..ok...? I never really used this one tbh. Never really hear anything good or bad about it either.
So, with this all in mind, where would Gjallarhorn fit in D2 hypothetically? Odds are they wouldn't make it strong for raids or other endgame content so they don't repeat the problems of D1. It'd likely be reduced to one warhead too unless 2 warheads in the tube was retained as an instrinsic perk similar to Truth's 3.
As a PvP weapon, it probably wouldn't be as favored as the other exotic ones, and as a PvE weapon it would need the damage and/or blast radius strength to be worth using over a legendary RL (ignoring that there's already better options than RLs in general).
From my own perspective, I see at least four hypothetical cases for it if it were to ever return:
1. It retains its old power and risks resurging D1 issues again.
2. It loses much of its power and is more or less reduced to a niche weapon held up by its D1 legacy.
3. It keeps a balance of its old D1 strength but with enough limitations to prevent it from being broken or mandatory for all activities.
4. The weapon receives a noticeable rework/overhaul compared to its original design, possibly forgoing Wolfpack Rounds or reworking them in a way that doesn't make them broken. This could easily bleed into any of the aforementioned cases as a result.
To reiterate, I'm not asking for it to return, but I am curious to know what the community's thoughts on it would be if it did return, with the "recycled content blah blah blah" stuff aside. Do you think it would cause problems like it did in D1, or would it suffer too much from D2 RL changes and just exist for nostalgia? Could it be reworked if necessary?
I appreciate any constructive thoughts.
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Eyes of tomorrow is a better version of Ghorn