Master The Other Half Sword Crafting in Destiny 2

The Other Half represents one of the most distinctive legendary weapons introduced during Destiny 2’s 30th Anniversary celebration. This void-element sword draws inspiration from Halo’s iconic Energy Sword, offering players a unique weapon that bridges two beloved franchises. Unlike typical legendary drops that require extensive farming, The Other Half follows a more exclusive acquisition path through Xur’s Treasure Hoard. Once obtained, the weapon opens up significant crafting possibilities for both player-versus-environment and player-versus-player content.

Understanding the Acquisition Journey

Obtaining The Other Half begins with accessing Dares of Eternity, the six-player matchmade activity that serves as the primary source for all 30th Anniversary weapons. The process requires accumulating Treasure Keys through repeated activity completions. Each run of Dares of Eternity provides opportunities to earn these keys, which function as currency for opening specific chests within Xur’s Treasure Hoard.

The Treasure Hoard itself is accessible after completing Dares of Eternity runs. Located beyond Xur’s position, the Treasure Room contains multiple chests, but The Other Half specifically drops from the elevated chest positioned on a ledge overlooking the main chamber. This specific placement prevents accidental chest opening and ensures players deliberately target this sword.

What distinguishes The Other Half from Half-Truths, its companion weapon in the two-part sword collection, is its significantly lower drop rate balanced against a more generous pattern unlock requirement. While most weapons require five Deepsight weapons to unlock their crafting pattern, The Other Half requires only a single red-bordered variant. This generous trade-off acknowledges the weapon’s rarity and removes the frustration of requiring multiple drops to begin crafting iterations.

Building Your Pattern Library

The transition to craftable weapons across Destiny 2’s arsenal fundamentally changed how players approach legendary gear optimization. When The Other Half became available for crafting during Season of Plunder, it instantly became more valuable to players who had successfully obtained even one copy. The single-copy pattern requirement means that any guardian fortunate enough to acquire this sword can immediately begin crafting multiple variations tailored to specific content.

Players should prioritize acquiring their first red-bordered copy to unlock the fundamental pattern. Once unlocked, subsequent acquisitions become valuable purely for Resonant Elements and weapon enhancement materials rather than pattern requirements. This removes the pressure of farming identical drops and allows focus to shift toward gathering resources needed for crafting optimization.

Optimal Blade Configuration for PvE Dominance

Constructing an effective PvE variant of The Other Half requires understanding how different blade modifications interact with endgame encounter mechanics. The blade selection determines fundamental damage output and swing speed characteristics that define the weapon’s playstyle.

Jagged Edge emerges as the premier choice for damage-focused builds. This modification sacrifices ammunition capacity in exchange for increased damage per swing, a trade-off that heavily favors PvE content where ammunition management is secondary to sustained damage output. The modifier particularly shines during extended combat phases where raw damage output directly translates to faster enemy elimination and higher survivability.

For players prioritizing sword guard mechanics, Enduring Blade presents an alternative that emphasizes defensive capabilities. This configuration enhances guard efficiency and sustain during defensive positioning, making it valuable for encounters emphasizing survivability over pure offense.

Guard Selection and Playstyle Integration

The guard mechanism in Destiny 2’s sword combat system deserves careful consideration during crafting. Different guard types produce distinct stat distributions affecting charge rate, efficiency, and ammo conservation.

Enduring Guard maximizes guard efficiency and endurance while improving ammunition reserves. This configuration suits players who actively utilize sword guarding as a defensive cornerstone rather than relegating it to emergency mechanics.

Heavy Guard prioritizes raw mitigation over efficiency, appealing to players facing encounters with extreme burst damage requiring sustained defensive positioning.

Balanced Guard provides middle-ground statistics for players seeking versatility across varied encounter types without specializing in either extreme.

Most guardians optimize for pure damage output by selecting guards that minimize defensive overhead. Since The Other Half functions primarily as an offensive tool rather than a defensive cornerstone, the Balanced Guard variant provides necessary protection without sacrificing too much offensive capacity.

Perk Selection for Maximum Effectiveness

Duelist’s Trance in the first column provides sustained combat buffs that increase charge rate, efficiency, and personal defense. The buff persists until the weapon is manually stowed, enabling guardians to maintain enhanced performance through multiple encounters or extended combat phases. This consistency makes it invaluable for progression content where sustained pressure matters more than burst capability.

Frenzy as the second column selection grants permanent damage amplification during extended combat. Once activated after brief engagement, the buff maintains indefinitely as long as combat continues. This creates a damage scaling mechanic that rewards aggressive positioning and continuous engagement—ideal for managing groups of enemies or sustained boss phases.

For PvP-focused guardians, Eager Edge fundamentally changes sword movement mechanics by providing enhanced lunge distance immediately after swapping. This enables both traditional sword skating techniques and superior engagement range during competitive encounters. Pairing Eager Edge with Whirlwind Blade creates burst-focused builds where rapid swings generate escalating damage bonuses.

Advanced Crafting Considerations

Beyond basic perk selection, advanced guardians should understand how origin traits influence overall weapon behavior. The Other Half carries an origin trait called Hot Swap that activates when rapidly swapping weapons while damaged. This mechanic enables sophisticated damage optimization sequences where players deliberately take damage, trigger Hot Swap benefits, then unleash empowered sword strikes.

Guardians should also consider crafting multiple variants for different content types. While the single-pattern unlock removes farming pressure, collecting sufficient materials to craft two or three distinct configurations provides flexibility for varying encounter demands. One configuration might emphasize Duelist’s Trance for survivability during difficult progression, while another maximizes Frenzy for straightforward farming content.

Comparison with Alternative Legendary Swords

Understanding The Other Half’s position within Destiny 2’s broader sword ecosystem helps contextualize crafting priorities. Half-Truths, despite sharing thematic origin, presents inferior perk combinations and damage scaling. The Other Half’s exclusive access to Frenzy and enhanced first-column options makes it superior for most PvE applications.

Against exotic options like Falling Guillotine, The Other Half occupies a different niche. While exotic swords provide superior raw damage, The Other Half’s legendary status enables efficient ability builds and subclass synergies that exotics cannot match. The weapon succeeds by enabling guardian playstyles rather than demanding specific builds around its existence.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Deepsight copies are required to craft The Other Half? Only one red-bordered copy is necessary to unlock the crafting pattern. This generous requirement acknowledges the sword’s rarity and removes frustration from pattern acquisition.

What activity provides Treasure Keys most efficiently? Dares of Eternity offers the most reliable Treasure Key generation. Each completion grants keys from boss encounters, with higher difficulties providing slightly better odds.

Can The Other Half be crafted without purchasing the 30th Anniversary DLC? Yes. While the DLC pack is available for purchase, it is not required to access The Other Half or Dares of Eternity.

Which perk combination outperforms alternatives for solo content? Duelist’s Trance combined with Frenzy provides the most consistent solo performance by maintaining buffs through extended combat phases without requiring group synergy.

Should players craft multiple variants of The Other Half? Crafting two variants—one optimized for survivability and one for damage—provides flexibility across varying content difficulty levels and encounter mechanics.

Conclusion

The Other Half represents Destiny 2’s commitment to meaningful weapon customization through the crafting system. Its generous pattern unlock requirements combined with distinctive perk pools create opportunities for optimization across playstyles. By understanding blade configurations, guard mechanics, and perk synergies, guardians can construct legendary swords capable of performing across the entire content spectrum from casual farming to endgame challenges.