I’ve spent the last three months grinding endgame Grandmaster Nightfalls and Trials of Osiris runs, testing every exotic armor piece I can get my hands on for my Hunter main. One of the most common questions I see pop up in clan chats and build forums is how to choose between Desert Hills vs Crimson, two of the most versatile exotics added in the latest expansion. Both are locked behind the same endgame activity drop pool, so most players get one long before the other, and many wonder if they should even bother farming for the second. Both offer unique perks that can completely shift how you play your class, but picking the wrong one for your activity can leave you feeling underpowered, even with a perfect rolled stat spread. I’ve put both through dozens of runs across every game mode to break down exactly how they stack up, so you don’t waste your hard-earned upgrade materials on a piece you’ll never use.
Core Perk Differences: Desert Hills vs Crimson
To understand which exotic works for you, you first need to look at their base perks, which are built for entirely different play patterns. Desert Hills comes with the Wanderer’s Respite perk: For every 5 meters you move unbroken, you gain 2% damage resistance and 1% increased weapon handling, stacking up to 10 times. If you’re in an open, unobstructed area, stacks persist for 8 seconds instead of 3. The cap of 20% damage resistance and 10% handling might not sound like a lot on paper, but it adds up fast when you’re moving consistently.
Crimson, on the other hand, has the Blood Rush perk: Every precision kill you get grants 5% increased critical damage and 10% faster reload speed for 12 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Stacks refresh on every new precision kill, so if you’re landing consistent headshots, you can keep the 25% crit damage and 50% reload speed buff active indefinitely. That’s one of the biggest raw damage boosts available for any Hunter exotic right now.
These two perks cater to completely opposite playstyles right out of the gate. If you’re the type of player who likes to flank, reposition constantly, and stay on the move between gunfights, Desert Hills rewards that behavior directly. I’ve used it to outrun enemy super rushes in Trials and avoid one-shot mechanic attacks in raids more times than I can count, just by keeping my stacks maxed out. If you prefer holding angles, picking off targets with precision weapons, and maintaining a steady position to rack up kills, Crimson will give you far more value. I’ve hit 1.2 million damage numbers on Rhulk boss phases with a max stack Crimson build, which is higher than any other Hunter exotic I’ve tested for sustained damage. I’ve seen players write off both exotics just because they tried to use them with a playstyle they weren’t built for, so don’t skip this core difference when making your choice.
Best Use Cases for Each Exotic
The easiest way to pick between the two is to look at the content you play most often, and how you like to approach that content. For PvE, Desert Hills is ideal for open-world activities, public events, Grandmaster Nightfalls with large open maps like The Glassway, and raid encounters that require constant movement between mechanics. Desert Hills shines in activities where you aren’t stuck in small, enclosed rooms — if you’re running a patrol session or farming for crafting materials on open planets, you’ll keep those resistance stacks up almost 100% of the time, making you far tankier than most other armor options.
Crimson is a much better pick for small, tight content like lost sectors, short strikes, and raid boss damage phases where you can hold a steady position and land consistent headshots. Crimson’s stackable crit buff can push your boss damage output up by 25% at max stacks, which is a bigger damage boost than almost any other Hunter exotic in the game right now, as long as you can land those headshots. It’s also a great pick for low-difficulty content where you can mow down adds quickly to keep your stacks up.
For PvP, the same rules apply. Desert Hills works best on large, open maps like Endless Vale or Bannerfall, where you’re flanking and moving between zones constantly. The weapon handling boost makes snipers and fusion rifles feel far snappier, and the damage resistance can save you from one-shot body shots from high-impact snipers. Crimson is perfect for small-map PvP like Control on Firebase Hades, or Trials of Osiris maps with tight corridors, where you’re getting constant kills to refresh your stacks. The reload speed boost makes hand cannons and pulse rifles feel almost broken when you’re chaining kills.
If you’re still not sure which fits your playstyle, use this quick checklist:
- Pick Desert Hills if you regularly run open-area activities, use flanking playstyles, or prioritize survivability over raw damage
- Pick Crimson if you main precision weapons, run small-map content, or focus on max damage output for boss phases
- Avoid both if you prefer ability-focused builds that don’t rely on weapon usage or constant movement
Stat Roll Priorities to Maximize Value
Even if you pick the right exotic for your playstyle, a bad stat roll can make it feel completely useless, so don’t waste ascendant shards upgrading a piece that doesn’t have the right stats. For Desert Hills, the two most important stats are mobility and resilience. Mobility amplifies the movement speed bonus you already get from the perk’s handling boost, so you can build stacks faster and reposition more quickly. Resilience stacks with the damage resistance from Wanderer’s Respite to make you surprisingly tanky even in high-difficulty content — I run a 100 resilience build with Desert Hills in Grandmasters, and I can survive multiple shots from champion enemies that would one-shot most other Hunters.
You don’t need to worry too much about discipline or strength for Desert Hills builds, unless you’re pairing it with a specific ability cooldown loop. I usually dump extra points into recovery, so I can heal up faster after taking damage while I reposition.
For Crimson, the top stats are discipline and recovery. Discipline lets you throw grenades more often to flush enemies out of cover so you can land precision hits to build your stacks. Recovery lets you get back into gunfights faster if you take damage between kills, so you don’t lose your buff stacks while you’re hiding to heal. You can skip mobility almost entirely for Crimson builds, since you’ll be holding positions more often than moving around, and extra mobility won’t add any benefit to the Blood Rush perk.
I made the mistake of upgrading a Desert Hills roll with 2 mobility and 18 strength early on, and it felt completely useless until I farmed a better roll with 16 mobility and 14 resilience. Don’t waste your rare upgrade materials on a roll that doesn’t have the right stats for the exotic’s core use case.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Both Exotics
I’ve seen dozens of players write off both of these exotics as mid-tier, just because they were using them wrong. The biggest mistake people make with Desert Hills is using it in small, enclosed maps. If you’re running a lost sector with tight corridors, you’ll rarely get to 10 stacks, and the perk will only give you a tiny bonus that’s not worth the exotic slot. You’re far better off running a different exotic like Omnioculus or Stompees for that type of content. Another common mistake with Desert Hills is standing still while using it — if you’re camping a corner, you lose all your stacks after 3 seconds, so you’re basically running a legendary armor piece with no exotic perk at all.
For Crimson, the most common mistake is using it with non-precision weapons. If you’re maining a shotgun, a grenade launcher, or a sidearm that mostly gets body shots, you’ll never get the crit kill stacks to trigger Blood Rush, so you’re wasting the exotic’s entire value. You also don’t want to pair it with slow-firing weapons like heavy sniper rifles, since you won’t get enough kills fast enough to keep your stacks up. Another mistake is repositioning too often while using Crimson — if you’re running around the map instead of holding angles where you can land consistent headshots, you’ll lose your stacks before you can get any real benefit from the buff.
You never want to use both exotics in the same build, even if you’re swapping between content types — it’s far better to have two separate loadouts saved, so you don’t have to reconfigure your mods and stats every time you switch activities. I have one loadout saved for open-world content with Desert Hills, and another for lost sectors and boss phases with Crimson, so I can swap between them in 2 seconds.
At the end of the day, there’s no clear winner between Desert Hills vs Crimson — they’re both top-tier exotics that serve very different purposes. If you play a mix of open world and closed content, it’s worth picking up both and keeping separate builds saved for each. I keep both in my loadout rotation, swapping between them depending on whether I’m farming patrols or grinding lost sectors for exotic engrams. Take the time to test both out with your favorite weapons and playstyle, and you’ll find the right fit for your runs in no time.