Gambit has always had an unusual meta, and there’s no better proof of that than one particular that dominates Drifter’s arena but is never used elsewhere. The weapon in question is the Xenophage, a Solar Machine Gun that was released back in Season 8. It is a unique gun, as Xenophage fires explosive ammunition at a very slow rate of fire, unlike any other LMG in the game.
While Xenophage is mediocre in PvE, it dominates the for a few key reasons. Most notably, it makes quick work of enemy Guardians, and Heavy ammo isn’t hard to come by, unlike in The Crucible, where it is much more limited. Xenophage excels while invading thanks to its fast TTK, forgiving splash damage, and practically unlimited range.
It fires explosive shots like a Grenade Launcher, has a huge magazine like a Machine Gun, and is capable of long-range kills like a Sniper Rifle. This Frankenstein Exotic provides the perfect combination to dominate Gambit. The Destiny 2 community came to the same conclusion, with the most upvoted post on a discussing the best weapons in Gambit replying, “Xenophage is pretty easy,” with others following up, “This for sure,” and “My Gambit K/D is around 40.
I give all the credit to Xenophage.” Describing their last experience with the Solar Exotic, another Guardian revealed, “Xenophage was as brainless as it could get. It didn’t matter what range or where I aimed they always got 2 tapped, so I just had to save up 8 ammo before invading each time,” highlig.