Hey there, Bungie, I’ve spent a little time trying to work out what this Severance Enclosure does, and how effective it is. It’s neat, a cool concept! However, there are a few things that could use some definite improvement; its usability, and reward are insufficient in my, and public opinion everywhere I’ve read. There are notable competing pieces that have good reviews, are powerful, and are not imbalanced. If this could compete with some of these, using them as a bit of a compass, I could see its use increasing. To be fair, with reviews often being “this may be the worst exotic for titans yet” I think we’re not in too much danger if we buff it up a bit. -Competition- As a Titan melee “collateral” exotic, its main competition, the Dunemarchers, do lots more, with less commitment. They make you run quickly, side farther, and simply landing a melee will send damaging arc lightning out, targeting nearby enemies from the initial melee victim over an amount of time. Popular opinion is, “Why use severance, when Dunemarchers do everything it does, but better, plus more?” And it’s hard to disagree, unfortunately. To compete, while also holding its identity, the Severance Enclosure would need some improvements to what it does. Considering another piece in competition, the hunters’ new Grenadier boots, the commitment is a dodge, something with what can be a very brief cooldown. Though I know it’s not direct competition, it is a “do a thing, make an explosion out of thin air” exotic. And the damage and blast radius for the Grenadiers is PALPABLE in comparison, devastating, and is not hard to nail someone with, not to mention the commitment does not involve engaging or killing an opponent. I think it’s a good mark to shoot for as well. -Improvements- PvP- Activating on melee kills is a commitment, which is fine to adhere to as a rule, since it doesn’t require charged melees or anything. It also helps it retain its identity versus the Dunemarchers. However, the damage and blast radius seems quite underwhelming, compared directly to exotics that do not require the commitment of a melee kill. The small blast radius makes it a serious task trying to get its effect to do any damage to a nearby opponent in PvP, and when it does, the damage is likely low enough it won’t clean someone up unless they’re already substantially hurt. Damage could get a little bump, sure, but the usability goes WAY up if the blast radius is extended. I’d dial it up to the blast radius of the Grenadiers, or within reach of the Dunemarchers’ arc damage, and see where it lands for usability. PvE- Honestly, linking this explosion perk ONLY to finishers is a serious neutering of its efficacy and even just its enjoyability, and I find it to be a big mistake in the design (And I don’t often indulge in hyperbole). Bungie games are flow-heavy action wise, but stopping mid burst to do a finisher animation on a thrall, and doing it multiple times throughout a fight so you can get fair use out of add clear really halts the flow of action, especially if one could have just used their guns the whole time. If it could be finishers AND melees, with a cooldown of a few seconds in between (think icarus dash cooldown), it would be much less annoying and breaking to the flow. It would be essentially what it was meant to be, not completely changed between PvP and PvE, and I know Bungie prefers their in-game gear not to behave differently between realms. Final note: Visually, I can understand that it needs to adhere to a non-elemental “kinetic” explosion, but a little more drama could help in that department. Sometimes when I fail to hurt a nearby opponent in PvP, I wonder if it’s because the explosion’s not gone off at all. Perhaps the extended blast radius proposed and maybe some damage will be enough to put those thoughts to rest, simply knowing that the damage is reaching opponents at all. Thanks Bungie, I hope this critique makes sense to you, and you’ll consider it, if you see it.