'Destiny 2' Weapons: Is The Zaouli's Bane Hand Cannon Worth Grinding For?

The return of King's Fall in "Destiny 2" brought back some of its exclusive weapons from the original game. One such weapon is the Zaouli's Bane, a 140 RPM hand cannon with some interesting perks in its modest pool.

This gun drops from the Golgoroth and Daughters of Oryx encounters in the second half of the raid. Players should now be able to farm for this item with relative ease since Challenge Mode is gone, though getting to these encounters might take a while.

At a glance, the Bane's base stats are rather average. It's slightly inferior to the Fatebringer in all aspects except Airborne Effectiveness. However, both can roll with Explosive Payload, Eye of the Storm and Firefly, and the minuscule stat difference essentially means that the Bane can be considered a Solar Fatebringer.

The lower base stats make Zaouli's Bane slightly worse in PvP, but its ability to roll Incandescent and Explosive Payload makes it a monster in PvE. Many players are already comparing this gun to the Sunshot exotic hand cannon thanks to its ability to cause a chain reaction of explosions.

Incandescent is designed to synergize with Solar subclasses because it causes Scorch and Ignition — something the Sunshot can't do. In a way, this makes the Bane better in ability-focused Solar builds than the Sunshot.

It's also worth mentioning that Explosive Payload grants a 30% damage boost in PvE. This bonus can reach up to 77% when paired with Surrounded and its dedicated Spec mod.

As far as PvP is concerned, the Zaouli's Bane will get outmatched by other meta choices like Austringer, Eyasluna, or Palindrome. However, this doesn't mean the weapon can't be useful against other Guardians.

The Bane can roll with the Gutshot Straight perk, which increases the damage dealt by body shots in exchange for less aim assist. In theory, this should let Zaouli's Bane down Guardians with two headshots and one body shot for 196 total damage, though the reduced aim assist will make landing hits more difficult.

In summary, Zaouli's Bane is an exceptional hand cannon for PvE, but it gets outclassed by other guns in its archetype in PvP.