Fighting Lion is an Exotic-rarity breech-loaded grenade launcher, originally created by a legendarily punchy Titan who thought her girlfriend would approve more of her venting frustration by forging weapons rather than literally punching mountains. Shine on, Wei Ning. Fighting Lion is unique among Destiny 2 grenade launchers because it uses mere Primary ammunition, not Power or even Special. That means it’s less powerful than others but you can use it as much as you want. I want to use it: a lot. Because…
Breech-loaded grenade launchers are inherently fun, with the satisfying mechanical rhythm and risk/reward of pump-action shotguns and bolt-action rifles. Particle trails and explosions are great, and Fighting Lion just spits ’em up. Of course the reload has a good THWOOMP noise for loading a new grenade. You can manually time detonations by holding down fire, detonating near enemies or banking shots off walls, so there’s an art to master. Ragdolling corpses in games are still funny, and Fighting Lion does them with ease.
It is not a hot meta pick and likely never will be but it’s powerful enough for all but the toughest PvE challenges. When you meet someone else who uses Fighting Lion, you feel a kinship. They get it. Which is why an entire Reddit board is dedicated to Fighting Lion. AoE damage is always fun, especially combined with ragdolling.
Fighting Lion kills always generate ammo boxes so you can fire it so much. And I do like when Destiny rains pick-ups. I’m dead impressed when I see people using Fighting Lion in the PvP Crucible. Did I mention it’s the embodiment of fists? And the ragdolling?
Which brings me to recent events. While some were steaming about next season’s balance changing, Bungie community manager “dmg04” mentioned on Friday that the little cat which could is getting some buffs: They’re making Fighting Lion better. These changes are not big. They will not make Fighting Lion a tryhard pick. But I’ll notice the changes. The best gun is getting better. I’m so happy. Now that I’ve made you fear the worst, here’s a quick preview of how Fighting Lion is not being nerfed next season. Fighting Lion
Due to backend changes with the grenade launcher archetype, Fighting Lion inherited minor adjustments Rate of Fire increased from 72 RPM to 90 RPM Direct hit damage in PvE is now 35 (Previously 27)
