Gjallarhorn currently dominates Destiny 2 – but it will probably never be as bad as in Destiny 1 again

The Gjallarhorn is Destiny’s most famous weapon, and it’s not because of its fancy looks. The part established itself early on in Destiny 1 as a kind of supreme weapon and eventually developed into the meta-OP weapon par excellence. MeinMMO author Maik Schneider remembers the creation of the legend.

Destiny 1 blew my mind when it was released in September 2014. My studies ran alongside, Call of Duty didn’t have a great moment with “Ghosts” and I’d been looking for a game for a long time that would finally allow me to switch completely to the PlayStation 4.

Lots of free time and even more keen on gambling. Then came Destiny.

My Fungaming clan suddenly thrived again, everyone wanted to play this awesome new shooter. Bought the Limited Edition and jump right into the adventure.

Right from the start, I found exotics particularly attractive. At that time Exos were only available as loot and in the first few days I had proven that I had the right amount of luck to collect them all.

It even went so far that I didn’t buy a nice rocket launcher from that crazy new merchant, Xur. The thing was called “Gjallarhorn” and one of my buddies had already bought the thing from the weird spirit dealer.

“I don’t have to copy everything, I’d rather keep my strange coins together,” I thought to myself. That was the moment the Gjallarhorn legend began.

Gjallarhorn takes over the PvE in Destiny

At this time, Xur was only visiting the tower for the second time and generously distributed the good piece. It was to be a good year before the mysterious merchant distributed the Gjallarhorn again.

And in the meantime, the Rocket Launcher was the pinnacle of PvE. The damage was so severe that enemy masses, intermediate bosses and even the raid bosses capitulated. No matter what you played in PvE back then, everything was faster with Gjallarhorn.

At the latest with the expansion “Darkness Lurks” and the introduction of the raid “Crotas Ende” the part was absolute meta. The rocket launcher was even considered mandatory equipment in the raid.

Unless you had your own group playing for the shared experience, it was extremely difficult to find foreign players if you didn’t have Gjallarhorn.

The nasty thing did so much damage that the raid mechanics were almost ignored. You didn’t have to explain much to your teammates. You held onto it, saw Crota suffer, someone waved his sword and you bagged the loot. End.

Most foreign players just wanted to get through the raid as quickly as possible, not explain anything. So players without a Gjallarhorn were turned down with a bang.

The cult of the rocket launcher emerges

After word of the weapon’s power spread – as a damage dealer and raid ticket – everyone wanted the part. And for the first time it was noticeable how difficult it is to get certain exotics.

Guardians hunted for the part for months, and not everyone was lucky enough to bag one. Some danced around chests, others downright despaired.

I myself was lucky, as so often in Destiny. I got my Gjallarhorn just days after refusing Xur’s.

But many in the community had to suffer, waited forever and sometimes gave up hope. And then there was the “holy shit” moment:

On August 14, 2015, Xur had one of his best days. It is even said that some have seen him grin. Because Xur had the Gjallarhorn with him a second time – what a thing.

This day is still celebrated to this day and August 14th is considered Gjallarhorn Day in the community. The G Day.

And even if the Gjallarhorn is currently dominating the activities in Destiny 2 again – it will probably never be as bad as it was when the rocket launcher was considered a content ticket.

I’m also interested in your stories about the Gjallarhorn or other exotics. For example, I’ve been hit on more often because I’d rather play the thunderlord than the squirrel. Please leave us a comment.