Destiny 2 Liar’s Handshake Guide: How to Get and Use the Exotic Gauntlets

The Liar’s Handshake Hunter Exotic Gauntlets are one of the most powerful tools in an Arc Hunter’s DPS toolbox. Time was, when facing bosses where you can be up in their face for damage, there were few better options, and the Destiny 2 Exotic is still amazing today.

How to Get Liar’s Handshake in Destiny 2

Like any Destiny 2 Exotic you don’t already have, you can get the Liar’s Handshake in a few ways. One of those is by soloing Lost Sectors on Arms Day. No, it’s not Arms Day from Destiny 1, but rather the day the rotating high-difficulty Lost Sector awards Exotics in the Arms slot. As long as you complete them alone from beginning to end, you have a chance at getting an Exotic you don’t already have. Just know that I’ve gone 10 completions without an Exotic drop, and friends of mine have had a streak of more than 15 with no reward.

Another way is by playing Nightfall activities. Nightfalls, especially at the Master and Grandmaster levels, have always been great ways to get your hands on Exotics, and that’s as true today as it was in 2014. With the FIreteam Finder feature, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a squad to complete even Legend-difficulty activities, which still have a good chance at awarding the Liar’s Handshake, if you’re lucky.

Of course, you can also buy them from Xur. Xur’s weekly Exotic inventory (not the one he has in Xur’s Treasure Horde) sometimes offers the Liar’s Handshake, and the engram you can buy from him supposedly prioritizes Exotics you don’t already have. Lastly, decrypting Exotics at Master Rahool is an acceptable method. It’s not the quickest or most efficient way to get the Exotic you want, but if you have too many to hold, turning in a few at Master Rahool has a small chance of awarding what you want.

How to Use Liar’s Handshake in Destiny 2

Using the Liar’s Handshake couldn’t be easier. Either you hit an enemy with your melee, or they hit you with a melee, and you enter the Cross Counter state. While in Cross Counter, you deal massive additional damage with a second melee strike. You’ll then use Gambler’s Dodge to refill your melee charge. That refunds your class ability if you can get a kill with the recharged melee. Repeat until the thing you want to kill dies.

I should mention also that the increased melee damage, as well as the supplemental healing, occurs whether your melee is charged or not. The animation and in-game effects are the same minus whatever the effects of your charged melee are. The Cross Counter also stacks with other damage buffs including One-Two Punch, the Weaken effect, and auras like Well of Raidance or Weapons of Light. The number of times players solo-killed Riven from the Last Wish Raid with the Liar’s Handshake was too damn high, though some would say not high enough.

Is Liar’s Handshake Still Bugged?

During Season 21, players noticed that one of the key parts of the Liar’s Handshake was bugged: enemy melee hits didn’t activate Cross Counter if you had the Gathering Storm Super equipped. Bungie was quickly made aware of the issue and promised a patch with the start of Season 22. Having tested it for myself, I can confirm that no, Liar’s Handshake is no longer bugged. I had several enemies melee me and each time I saw Cross Counter pop up on my buffs screen.

That’s everything you need to know about how to get and use the Liar’s Handshake. For more on Destiny 2, we’ve covered tons of additional content in our D2 guides hub.