[2022] Xenophage got hard Nerfed this season.

TL;DR Xenophage received a 13% nerf against bosses.

The pre-season TWAB stated that Xeno would be receiving a 5% buff in total damage. I have a spreadsheet that I started last season to catalog base damage to bosses and short window DPS(15 Sec). After reading about the new buff to one of the best weapons in Destiny 2, I rushed to test the new and improved Xenophage and was surprised by what I found.

All of my damage testing is done against Alkestis in the Perdition lost sector on Europa. Alkestis is one of the few LS bosses that is an actual Boss as opposed to some LS bosses that are classified as Majors (Carl on Nessus is a major, not a boss). Some weapons have specific damage scaling depending on their target’s classification so it is important to test against Bosses if you want an accurate comparison for Raid and Dungeon bosses.

Last season, Xenophage was dealing 36536 Damage per shot, this season it has dropped to 31960. That is a 13% damage Nerf! Last Season, Xenophage was the second-best short window DPS weapon in the game, only outclassed by Taipan. Yes, Xeno was even better than pre-nerf Gjallarhorn which fired its entire reserves in 15 seconds.

With the recent change, Xenophage has an almost identical short window DPS as Sleeper Simulant (Less than 1% difference) and now falls behind Stormchaser. Linears always led in the total damage department, but Xeno is now behind Thunderlord and Sleeper in total damage. I have not tested Grand Overture, Merciless, or Darci yet, but expect Xeno to be behind Grand Overture at least.

Honestly, I care more about the inaccurate patch notes than the Xeno Nerf.