The Ice Breaker

Exotic #1: Ice Breaker

As a weapon that was recently for sale, I feel as if the Ice Breaker, as a highly valuable exotic special weapon, is well worth a post. 

How to Obtain:
   Purchase from Xur, 17 Strange Coins.
   Reward from Legendary Engram
   Reward from Nightfall Strike
   Reward from Raid Chests

Even without its abilities, the gun's stats by themselves render it a valuable addition to your armory. Impact-heavy snipers are fairly rare to come by. Not to mention that fire is a versatile element that allows you to effectively combat Wizards, the bane of Guardians at higher levels, Centurions, and Shanks. While the weapon's recoil is fairly significant, its sheer power more than makes up for it. 

Its abilities are also unique and quite possibly among the best. The Ice Breaker does not suffer from spare ammunition and the curse of having magazines/reloading, something I thought they would have solved a few hundred years in the future. However, the Ice Breaker stands apart from the crowd in that its ammo regenerates. Neither Ammo Synths nor Special Ammo pickups make any difference, and while this may be an inconvenience in times of emergency, at most times, the constantly regenerating ammo, that stacks up to 6 shots, that can be fired as fast as the fire rate allows, is a blessing. It allows you to take on any bosses in a strike without concern of ammo; your primary, heavy, grenades and super can all be used to take on minor enemies while you use your ice breaker to hammer away at bosses' health. The ammo regen rate could be considered slow, but if you have patience, or even occasionally switch to a primary or heavy while the ammo regenerates, then it's barely noticeable. Provided you aren't just pulling the trigger all the time, with properly aimed shots, you can fire roughly nine times, not 6, before having to wait some time. 

What is unfortunate is that the Ice Breaker's main ability, that makes its 'victims spontaneously combust,' is a huge disappointment. Not only does the explosion have no noticeable or worthwhile visual effect, but it has a very small blast radius. Also, it plays against the weapon's strengths. This is a weapon best for focusing on individual, high value targets, that usually require a fireteam's concentrated fire to take down. 

Despite its main ability, both Mulligan (missed shots have a chance to be returned to the magazine) and its ammunition regen, combined with the gun's element and very high Impact stat, make the Ice Breaker an essential addition to your Guardian's armoury. 

Practicality: 9/10

Abilities: 8/10

Stats: 9/10

Ossim Possim: 9/10