Dragon's Breath has finally returned to Destiny 2 in Season of the Wish. Its Exotic traits are a big improvement over the original while maintaining what made the weapon special in Destiny 1. Though its return is welcome, players seem to be confused on how to effectively use it.
Players seem to be using it as a DPS rocket as they would something like Gjallarhorn or Two Tailed Fox, both of which are top-tier for that category. However, that's not how the weapon is meant to be used. If there is a kind of Exotic rocket launcher that players should consider comparing its utility to, it’s ad-clear rockets like Eyes of Tomorrow or Deathbringer. However, the Exotics that are closest to its utility are Anarchy and Witherhoard, which may seem a bit surprising.
How to Use Dragon’s Breath
Dragon’s Breath is a damage over time weapon as its base functionality is a rocket that spreads Scorch through a fire pool to nearby enemies upon impact. The duration of this fire pool is tied to a meter on the left that indicates the amount of fuel a rocket has. This meter fills up when a rocket isn’t fired and can go up to five units of fuel. Upon getting ignitions, the rocket gains two units of fuel. Getting back to five units of fuels instantly reloads the rocket. As Destiny 2 content creator, Coolguy, puts it in this video, “Dragon’s Breath is a lasting impression rocket with extra steps.”
While Dragon’s Breath can be spammed at bosses like other rockets, it’s not recommended. This rocket launcher is not that strong when spammed as it doesn’t have the burst DPS capabilities other rockets have. It does, however, have access to Scorch and Ignitions — which have great ad-clear potential as it is but even more potential when synergized with Solar fragments.
Utilize Solar Abilities Too
Ember of Empyrean can have constant uptime with how effectively this rocket kills waves of enemies with Solar damage over a period of time — which means constant Radiant and Restoration for no effort whatsoever. Moreover, its damage over time makes it a strong choice for damage rotations involving Supers, abilities and other weapons over time.
By the way, this weapon works great with Apotheosis Veil, where players can use it with Well of Radiance and fusion grenades to cause several Ignitions, which reload Dragon’s Breath faster and fire rockets alongside grenade and melee spam. You don’t even have to use it with Solar, try it with a good DPS Super like Strand Warlock’s Needlestorm and deal some serious DPS.
There’s even great synergy with Verity’s Brow on Solar Warlock, which gains stacks of Death Throes upon getting kills with Solar Weapons, which in turn gives players and their allies bonus grenade regeneration. Not only do the fire pools allow for constant uptime on Death Throes, it also creates situations where players' DPS rotations can have additional grenade spam without having to worry about getting Death Throes stacks.
Dragon’s Breath is a fantastic weapon for solo players and team settings alike. Once players understand how to use it right, more players will see its true potential.
