Destiny 2's Season of the Deep is already being regarded as one of the best in the game's history, and that's likely because of several factors, such as the nostalgic feeling of exploring the depths of Titan as well as the highly-praised Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon. What makes Destiny 2's Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon a popular addition is that each of the main encounters doesn't feel like the same mechanic over and over again, which is more than what can be said about the Root of Nightmares Raid from Lightfall's launch. As customary with new pieces of content like Dungeons and Raids, Ghosts of the Deep also comes with its signature Exotic weapon, a trace rifle called The Navigator, which is quite broken - but in a good way.
The Navigator is not a guaranteed drop from the Dungeon, and it can still cause a massive headache for players who want to buildcraft around it, but there are several Triumphs in place that Destiny 2 players can complete in order to make the weapon's drop rate go up. As it stands, Destiny 2's The Navigator is the only Strand trace rifle in the game, and it's one of the most unique Exotic designs players have gotten access to. Pairing its Exotic perks with current Strand options makes The Navigator an incredible gun to use.
Destiny 2's The Navigator Opens Many Doors For Strand Buildcrafting
The Navigator has two main Exotic perks, them being Protective Wave and Weft Cutter. Protective Wave grants the user and a target ally the Woven Mail buff from Destiny 2's Strand subclasses whenever The Navigator hits an ally, whereas the Weft Cutter perk severs enemy targets after sustained fire, which is another of the various Strand debuffs. These are great in both PvP and PvE given that Woven Mail reduces incoming damage and Sever reduces the target's damage output, but players can take them to the next level.
Destiny 2's Artifact Mods in Season of the Deep feature several great choices for Strand builds, and they all pair nicely with The Navigator. For starters, Improved Unraveling increases the amount of damage dealt with Unraveling Rounds, then Strand Soldier grants Unraveling Rounds whenever Strand players get the Woven Mail buff, and finally, Conductive Cosmic Needle makes targets affected by Strand debuffs take more damage from Arc and Void abilities. In a group play scenario, these mods alone make The Navigator a top-tier weapon.
But these are not the only combos players can use, as there are other Exotics one can pair with The Navigator, such as the Cyrtarachne Facade Exotic helm for Hunters, who can get flinch resistance while Woven Mail is active. What's probably an even better option is Destiny 2's Cenotaph Mask Exotic for Warlocks, a Season of the Deep Exotic that has great synergy with trace rifles by making them mark targets for ten seconds, and then make them drop ammo for the user and their allies when one ally kills said target with a finisher.
Other great interactions with the Strand subclasses involve The Navigator's Exotic Catalyst in Destiny 2, which grants players the ability to perform a special reload and then create a grapple point with a single shot. This is particularly good when combined with the Thread of Ascent Fragment for Strand, which allows players to reload their weapons instantly whenever they grapple, essentially making for an amazing DPS strategy in both solo and group play. On top of all that, The Navigator also seems to be granting Woven Mail to the user even when not hitting an ally with its shots, which further makes this gun a fantastic addition to Guardians' loadouts.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.