People keep asking for more (good) bows, and it appears Bungie finally delivered a worthy endgame bow in the form of Pre Astyanax IV. Coming from Nightfalls, this bow features all the bells and whistles: an Adept version, a refined perk pool, and new and unique traits.
That said, bows typically don’t see much love from the community these days. Are Pre Astyanax IV’s strengths enough to warrant farming for it? And if so, what rolls should you look for? We’ll cover all that and more below.
| Art | Weapon | Archetype | Rarity | Ammo | Element | Requirements | In loot pool? | Ammo? | Element? | Tier | Excels | Source | Craftable? | Requires | Released | Slot | Can be Crafted? | Best of? | Top Perk? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Pre Astyanax IV | Precision | Legendary | Primary | Solar | Free-to-Play | Yes |   Primary |   Solar | - | Nightfall: The Ordeals |   |  Free-to-Play | Season 22 | Energy | No |
How to get Pre Astyanax IV this Season
Pre Astyanax IV is a Nightfall weapon, meaning it’s only available as a regular drop every six weeks. However, after you obtain it once, you can purchase additional copies from Zavala at any point for:
- 1 Vanguard Engram
- 25 Legendary Shards
- 20,000 Glimmer
How to get Pre Astyanax IV, Destiny 2
You can also grab more Adept variants from him, but these are on the six-week rotation mentioned previously. Adept variants also come at a higher price and require Nightfall Ciphers to purchase (available from Grandmaster Nightfalls).
How good is Pre Astyanax IV
Legendary bows have always been in a weird spot in Destiny 2; they’ve never fully entered the meta, yet they remain a decently popular pick in high-difficulty PvE.
Pre Astyanax IV follows this trend, with most of its use coming from the ability to deal serious damage from a safe distance. Especially with new perks like Collective Action and Precision Instrument, Astyanax can fill various roles with relative ease.
The main issue this weapon sees—other than belonging to a generally off-meta weapon type—is the relatively large amount of competition it has. Strident Whistle and Tyranny of Heaven, both Solar bows, are also new picks that contain some of the same top-tier perks as Pre Astyanax IV. While Astyanax definitely won’t be causing a huge meta-shift any time soon, it’s an outstanding bow for PvE that does exactly what you’d expect it to.
Best alternatives:
| Art | Weapon | Archetype | Rarity | Ammo | Element | Requirements | In loot pool? | Ammo? | Element? | Tier | Excels | Source | Craftable? | Requires | Released | Slot | Can be Crafted? | Best of? | Top Perk? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Point of the Stag | Precision | Legendary | Primary | Arc | Free-to-Play | Yes | Primary |   Arc | Strong ❘ A | PvE + PvP | Iron Banner | | Free-to-Play | Season 10 | Energy | No | Top-tier | |
 | Strident Whistle | Precision | Legendary | Primary | Solar | Free-to-Play | Yes | Primary | Solar | Best ❘ S | PvE | Vanguard Focusing | | Free-to-Play | Season 17 | Energy | No | Top-tier | Incandescent |
 | Tyranny of Heaven | Lightweight | Legendary | Primary | Solar | Forsaken Pack | Yes | Primary | Solar | Weak ❘ C | - | Last Wish Raid |   |  Forsaken Pack | Season 4 | Energy | Craftable | Incandescent |
Pre Astyanax IV God rolls, Destiny 2
Best Pre Astyanax IV Rolls for PvE and PvP
Pre Astyanax IV PvE god roll
- Bowstring: Flexible String (also good: Elastic String)
- Arrow: Straight Fletching
- Perk 1: Archer’s Tempo
- Perk 2: Precision Instrument (also good: Successful Warm-Up)
- Masterwork: Draw Time
In PvE, Pre Astyanax IV performs the same as Strident Whistle but with a newer and more refined perk pool. The bowstring and arrow don’t matter much (especially in PvE), but we prefer the ones that decrease Draw Time without sacrificing too much Accuracy.
Column 3 is somewhat of a no-brainer with Archer’s Tempo; the other perks here aren’t that exciting. The final column, however, is an entirely different story. With the exception of Opening Shot, every perk is extremely powerful in PvE. From the build potential Incandescent and Collective Action provide to Precision Instrument’s pure power, your choice here relies slightly on your playstyle.
Pre Astyanax IV PvP god roll
- Bowstring: Polymer String
- Arrow: Straight Fletching
- Perk 1: Perpetual Motion
- Perk 2: Opening Shot
- Masterwork: Accuracy or Handling
As with all other bows (aside from Le Monarque), Pre Astyanax IV lacks in The Crucible. Regardless, if you plan on using one, you’ll want to get high Accuracy and Handling stats. For this reason, we’ll utilize Polymer String, Straight Fletching, and an Accuracy or Handling masterwork.
The first column of main perks on Astyanax is extremely lacking for PvP. Perpetual Motion is the only one you’ll feel in moment-to-moment gameplay, so we’ll seek that out. For the final column, Opening Shot is really the only viable pick, increasing your Accuracy even more.
Pre Astyanax IV: Is it worth farming?
For a bow, Pre Astyanax IV is outstanding. It contains a variety of exceptional perks for PvE that allow it to cover a multitude of different roles while also not having many dead perks in its pool. That said, this weapon alone won’t convince anyone to begin loving bows. If you’re already an avid archer, this will be a great addition to your arsenal. However, entering Nightfalls to chase Pre Astyanax IV isn’t worth it for the average player.
Interested in more top-tier Season of the Witch weapons? You should definitely check out the new Tesselation Exotic Fusion or the Warden’s Law hand cannon. Both are new weapons that are getting a lot of traction this season.
0 Comments