Telesto strikes again: How Destiny 2’s most notorious weapon broke Season of the Splicer
The Telesto Legacy
Destiny 2’s Telesto fusion rifle has cemented its reputation as the game’s most unpredictable weapon through a history of game-breaking exploits. Unlike other exotics that occasionally malfunction, Telesto has demonstrated a consistent pattern of interacting unexpectedly with seasonal mechanics.
What makes Telesto unique isn’t just its bug frequency, but the weapon’s uncanny ability to break fundamental game systems in ways developers never anticipated. The Destiny community has turned these incidents into running jokes, with players half-expecting Telesto to disrupt each new season.
Seasoned players recall previous Telesto exploits that allowed infinite ability generation, unintended damage stacking, and even server crashes. These incidents have created a paradox where developers must balance preserving the weapon’s unique identity while preventing it from destabilizing the game.
Season of the Splicer Breakdown
The Season of the Splicer introduced the Paradrome Cube artifact, bringing new mod combinations that would unexpectedly interact with Telesto. Among these, Energy Accelerant appeared designed to enhance explosive weapon perks like Dragonfly and Firefly.
Game designers likely never anticipated how Energy Accelerant’s damage calculation would affect Telesto’s unique projectile behavior. Unlike conventional fusion rifles, Telesto fires projectiles that stick to surfaces before detonating, creating multiple damage instances that the mod unexpectedly amplified.
Advanced testing revealed the mod wasn’t just increasing damage marginally—it effectively doubled Telesto’s output across all activities. This created an imbalance where a single weapon could trivialize high-level content like Grandmaster Nightfalls and raid encounters.
The Exploit Discovery
Community testing began immediately as players unlocked the Paradrome Cube’s full potential. Within hours of reaching artifact level 12, reports surfaced about Telesto’s abnormal performance with Energy Accelerant.
Content creator Aztecross conducted methodical damage tests, confirming the weapon could output approximately 210% of its intended damage in controlled environments. His viral video demonstration showed Telesto melting champions that normally require coordinated team fire.
The discovery created a temporary meta where any activity not requiring champion mods saw fireteams running triple Telesto loadouts. This unintended strategy persisted for approximately 42 hours before Bungie’s intervention.
Bungie’s Response
Bungie’s response followed their standard protocol for game-breaking exploits: immediate disablement of the problematic mod while maintaining other seasonal content. The @BungieHelp tweet announcing Energy Accelerant’s disablement gained over 15,000 likes within the first hour.
Due to an issue where the Energy Accelerant artifact mod can unintentionally affect damage from certain weapons, including Telesto, it has been disabled until we can deploy a hotfix. We will provide additional info. when possible.
— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) May 16, 2021
Community reaction mixed genuine frustration with humorous resignation. Many players expressed disappointment at losing a powerful tool during the season’s opening week, while others created memes celebrating Telesto’s latest achievement.
Advanced Player Insights
For high-level players, the incident highlighted several important considerations when new seasonal mods launch:
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1. Always test new mod combinations with exotic weapons, especially those with unique firing mechanics
2. Monitor community reports during the first 72 hours after seasonal launches
3. Have backup loadouts ready for when emergency fixes deploy
4. Document and report unintended interactions through official channels
While Bungie eventually corrected the Energy Accelerant interaction, the Telesto phenomenon serves as a case study in how complex game systems can produce unexpected results. Players anticipating future seasons would do well to remember: if something breaks inexplicably, check Telesto first.
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Bungie disables Destiny 2 Season of the Splicer mod that broke Telesto Telesto strikes again: How Destiny 2's most notorious weapon broke Season of the Splicer