Whisper of the Worm

"A Guardian's power makes a rich feeding ground. Do not be revolted. There are parasites that may benefit the host... teeth sharper than your own."

- Weapon description.

Whisper of the Worm is an Exotic Sniper Rifle introduced in Destiny 2 with an update on July 17th, 2018. It is the successor to the Black Spindle, and by extension, the Black Hammer. It is the form that Xol took to feed upon the Guardian.

Gameplay
Whisper of the Worm is a heavy sniper rifle, unlike its predecessors Black Hammer and Black Spindle. The weapon shares the White Nail perk of the Spindle as it functioned after the release of The Taken King, pulling ammo from reserves. It focuses on sustained boss DPS without reloading, heavily competing with D.A.R.C.I. and Sleeper Simulant. The Catalyst obtained by running core playlist activities grants Whispered Breathing, which, after aiming down sights for three seconds, will increase precision damage and range until de-scoped.

Lore
''Xol, the Will of Thousands, perished but was not destroyed. Death is a road, death is metamorphosis, the unsacred union between destroyer and destroyed. The might which defeats a god is also the ambrosia that god craves, the meat-sweet logic of Existence-Asserted-By-Violence, the binomial decision between two ways of being which deny each other. In dying, Xol fed richly.''

''Now came Xol unto the Taken upon Io, who fed Xol with plunder and tried to make of it an idol and a commanding will. Yet Xol was bound joyously to the very logic that sustained it in its death. It wanted the sword proof, the single proof. It wanted to become a rule which divided the mighty living from the mighty dead. So it whispered the Anthem Anatheme, the temptation to dominate the objective universe with the subjective will. It said, I shall be an engine to make your desire hegemon over your conditions. It said, WIELD ME, AND USE ME TO TEST YOUR FOE. This was its worship, Aiat.

Acquisition
Originally, to obtain the Whisper of the Worm, one had to complete a secret mission called The Whisper. As of January 29, 2019, the mission could be started on any day of the week, with any Public Event in the Lost Oasis on Io, by killing one of three Taken lieutenants. These lieutenants were called Drevis, Aspect of Darkness, Urzok, Aspect of Hate, and Ta'aurc, Aspect of War. Upon entering the anomaly, the player was taken to the Grove of Ulan-Tan Lost Sector location and would have to navigate through mazes and dark caverns, as well as fight through hordes of Taken that spawn through numerous blights. The player would eventually arrive in a large boss encounter featuring the lieutenants from before. If participants cleared these encounters within the twenty-minute time limit, they would be rewarded with the Whisper of the Worm.

After the weapon was obtained, the Whisper Catalyst could be obtained by running through the Heroic version of the same event. In order to fully unlock the catalyst, players needed to open six chests throughout the mission, including one that involved shooting Oracles not unlike those from Vault of Glass. The order for the Oracles, from left to right, was 1-3-5, 4-6-7-3-1, and finally, 7-3-1-6-4-2-5. Chests awarded 2% catalyst completion, while completing the mission rewarded 24% for a total of 36% per week.

After the removal of Io at the end of the Season of Arrivals, Whisper of the Worm was moved to the Monument To Lost Lights, where it can be purchased for 150,000 Glimmer, 250 Baryon Bough, 2 Ascendant Shards, and an Exotic Cipher. The catalyst can be obtained by completing playlist activities such as Strikes or Gambit, and fully unlocked by using Whisper of the Worm to kill enemies.

Upgrades

 * White Nail: Higher base precision damage. Rapidly landing three precision shots will refill the magazine.
 * Polygonal Rifling: Barrel optimized for recoil reduction. Increases stability.
 * Accurized Rounds: This weapon can fire longer distances. Increases range.
 * Mulligan: Missing a shot has a chance to return ammo directly to the magazine.
 * Fitted Stock: This stock makes the weapon stable but heavy. Increases stability. Moderately controls recoil. Slightly decreases handling speed.
 * Whisper Catalyst: Grants Whispered Breathing, which increases range and precision damage after a brief moment of aiming down sights without firing

Trivia

 * Whisper of the Worm is the third gun to naturally have a Taken appearance and the fourth weapon overall to appear as a Taken beside Stolen Will, the Cold Between Stars ornament for Black Spindle, and Dreadfang.
 * The three Taken Ultras you fight within the final area of "The Whisper" mission are Taken variants of three enemies encountered within Destiny:
 * Valus Ta'aurc from the Cerberus Vae III strike. Now known as "Ta'aurc, Aspect of War" in "The Whisper" mission.
 * Urzok, the Hated from public events in Skywatch. Now known as "Urzok, Aspect of Hate" in "The Whisper" mission.
 * Drevis, Wolf Baroness from a bounty obtained during the Queen's Wrath event, or from Petra Venj in the Vestian Outpost. Now known as "Drevis, Aspect of Darkness" in "The Whisper" mission.
 * Whisper of the Worm appears to be heavily based upon two similar weapons from Destiny, Black Hammer and Black Spindle. All three weapons have the "White Nail" perk, and all are closely connected to the Hive.
 * Commonly seen as its third iteration, it is technically the weakest when compared to the other three. Even in its original state with the infinite ammo version of the "White Nail" perk, it was in the Power Weapon slot. Thus, compared to both Black Hammer and Black Spindle less combinations of weapon loadouts could be used.

List of appearances

 * Destiny 2
 * Warmind