Destiny: The Taken King’s new Exotic heavy weapon looks amazing

If last week's trailers, leaked gameplay footage and details for Destiny: The Taken King didn't get you hyped for the expansion, maybe gameplay footage of one of the new Exotic Weapons coming with it will. Courtesy of GameInformer, we've got our first look at the new Sleeper Simulant, an Exotic fusion rifle that sits in the heavy weapon slot.

As explained by GI, the Sleeper Simulant's charged up blast can "penetrate through multiple enemies and will ricochet off walls up to five times when fully upgraded." Obtaining this new weapon won't be easy, however. It looks like you'll need to complete a series of quests to unlock the gun, similar to Exotic Weapon Bounties. According to GI:

"… players first have to collect relics of the Golden Age which have been scattered across the various locations of Destiny. After players bring these pieces back to Banshee-44 (the Tower's gunsmith), the ancient artifacts trigger a memory in the ancient Exo gunsmith, and he will invite players on an odyssey to repair and reactivate one of the Taken King's most striking exotics."

Bungie didn't spoil any of the story details, but did say there will be "unique tasks and objectives," as well as puzzles.

GI also shared the Sleeper Simulant's upgrade path. As a reminder, all new Exotic weapons will contain an intrinsic property that is unlocked immediately upon acquisition:

• Intrinsic properties:
  Projectile over-penetrates enemies and will ricochet once. Projectile capable of dealing precision damage

• Barrel column upgrades:
  CQB Ballistics – Bonus to Stability
  Linear Compensator – Bonus to Range, straighter recoil, bonus to Impact. Reduced Stability.
  Accurized Ballistics – Bonus to Range, bonus to Impact. Better Target Acquisition. Reduced Stability.

• Support Perk:
  Just a Scratch – Reduces aim deflection on incoming rounds while you're aiming with the weapon. Helps the wielder stay on target during the long charge up.

• Stat upgrades:
  Speed Reload – faster reload speed
  Perfect Balance – Better Stability
  Single Point Sling – Ready the weapon faster, and faster move speed while aiming.

• Exotic Perk:
  [Final name TBD] – Increases bounce count of projectile to 5.

For more details on the creation of the Sleeper Simulant, including a video of it in action, check out GameInformer's in-depth coverage of Destiny: The Taken King.