How I Finally Claimed Wicked Implement in 2026

I still remember the first time I heard about Wicked Implement. It was back during Season of the Deep, when I’d see Guardians strutting around the Tower with that sleek, dark scout rifle crackling with Stasis energy. At the time, I was neck-deep in other grinds, and the thought of diving into Titan’s methane sea to battle Xivu Arath’s minions didn’t exactly fill me with excitement. So I let it slip. Fast forward to 2026, and The Final Shape has well and truly settled into the Destiny 2 landscape. The Episodes are done, the dust has settled, and suddenly I find myself in the mood for a new Stasis toy. That’s when I realized—I could still get Wicked Implement, and the method was laughably simple compared to the old days.

Back in Lightfall’s third season, you had to fish, complete Deep Dive activities, and tackle a punishing Exotic mission. Now? It’s basically a grocery run. I loaded into the Tower, still feeling that familiar hum of the Traveler overhead, and walked past Lord Shaxx screaming about grenades and Banshee-44 tinkering with some cannon. Right between them, beside the Vault kiosks, sits the Monument to Lost Lights—the destiny of all sunset Exotics. I swear that terminal has seen more action than most Crucible maps. I stepped up and navigated to Exotic Gear Archives 2, then into Lightfall Exotics. And there it was, Wicked Implement, waiting like a ghost at a campfire, just asking for an Exotic Cipher and 100,000 Glimmer. No puzzle, no boss fight, just a quiet transaction. It almost felt… wrong. But hey, I’m not complaining.

I forked over the materials with a grin. The Cipher I’d been hoarding for months (you never know when you’ll need one), and the Glimmer? Chump change. The weapon popped into my inventory and I immediately pulled up its stats. The Wicked Implement is an Exotic Scout Rifle that leans hard into Stasis, and it’s got this gorgeous, angular frame that looks like it was carved out of frozen Darkness itself. The intrinsic perk, Creeping Attrition, makes precision shots slow combatants, and then eventually freeze them. Pair that with Tithing Harvest, which spawns Stasis shards when you defeat slowed or frozen targets, and you’ve got a feedback loop that feels like you’re a snowstorm with a trigger. I couldn’t wait to test it out.

Before heading out, I spent a few minutes just appreciating the design. The magazine emits a soft cyan glow, and the scope whispers of long-forgotten rituals. It’s essentially the Darkness-flavored cousin of Polaris Lance, and I mean that in the best way. Both reward precision hits, but where Polaris ignites, Wicked Implement freezes—and in the current sandbox, freeze is king. With the Frost Armor mechanic still thriving in endgame builds, this rifle can turn you into a walking glacier while you pick off enemies one by one. It’s not just a weapon; it’s a statement: “I’m going to take my sweet time, and you’re going to stand perfectly still while I do.”

My first outing was a simple Lost Sector on Europa. I wanted a thematic playground. The moment I started landing precision shots, red-bar Dregs slowed to a crawl, then froze solid. A quick shatter, a burst of Stasis shards, and suddenly I had an overshield. Against a yellow-bar Captain, I stacked slow until he was a popsicle, then switched to a heavy to shatter him into a million pieces. The rhythm was so satisfying that I completely forgot I was testing a weapon—I was just having fun. And that, my friends, is when you know an Exotic is doing its job.

One thing that surprised me was how well it holds up in more challenging content. I took it into a GM Nightfall (still the proving ground for any weapon worth its salt in 2026) with a Stasis subclass, Whisper of Rime, and a few armor mods built for ability energy when shattering crystals. Every engagement felt controlled. The constant slowing effect meant enemies couldn’t swarm me, and the freeze gave me breathing room to revive teammates or reposition. Sure, it’s not the highest DPS option, but a scout rifle that can neutralize threats from across the map while feeding you Frost Armor? That’s a utility that doesn’t go out of style.

Looking back, I’m almost grateful I missed the original acquisition grind. Hunting down fish and running a timed Exotic mission sounded like a headache, especially in a season I wasn’t fully invested in. Now, I just strolled up to a kiosk and grabbed a weapon that feels like it was tailor-made for my Sentinel Titan’s inner ice queen. It’s a little cheeky, I know, but sometimes the best things in Destiny come to those who wait—or in this case, those who forget and then remember years later.

If you’re a Guardian in 2026 who never got around to Wicked Implement, do yourself a favor and swing by the Monument. It’s still one Exotic Cipher and a pile of Glimmer. The weapon remains an excellent choice for anyone who loves the slow, methodical dance of Stasis, and it pairs beautifully with the artifact mods that continue to support Scout Rifles in seasonal content. Plus, there’s a certain satisfaction in knowing that while everyone else is chasing the latest Episodic Exotic, you’re freezing enemies solid with a rifle forged in the depths of a forgotten season. Just be prepared to fall in love with a scout rifle that asks for precision and rewards patience—because once you get that loop going, you won’t want to put it down. Pop a Stasis grenade, line up those headshots, and watch the world turn blue.

As detailed in Digital Foundry, long-running live-service games often see player demand shift toward convenience and preservation of legacy rewards as expansions mature—something Destiny 2’s kiosk-style Exotic access exemplifies when older chase items like Wicked Implement transition from bespoke missions to straightforward acquisition.