Destiny 2: Best weapons to obtain (PvE)

This is a long guide that will highlight some of the best weapons in Destiny 2 that allows newer players to get stronger within the game. Before I go into the weapons, I must explain what makes a weapon good in the first place as well as how to also find weapons for yourself. I also should explain my experience in the game just so it’s clear that I have a good idea on what is good or bad.

About myself
My name is Archill, and I have spent just short of 4,000 hours on Destiny 2. I have done a ton of endgame content that requires good knowledge on how to make a strong build and have weapons that have dominant weapon perks and weapon types. I have done quite a few day 1 raids and lots of GMs which can be seen here:
Raid Report[raid.report]
Nightfall Report[nightfall.report]

Perks
Perks are attributes that are given to all legendary weapons across Destiny 2, and they can add massive utility to weapons. It’s very important that newer players should get familiar with weapon perks because they play a massive part in making a good weapon. I will explain a scenario of a popular perk and why it’s a good perk, and then go over an example of a bad perk option.

Perks such as “Bait and Switch” can boost a weapon’s damage by 35% by simply dealing damage with all of your weapons. This can massively boost heavy weapon damage, and this is only one example of a perk.

One important note about perks is that whilst a perk like Bait and Switch is very strong, it is best to have such a perk on certain weapons (for this example, a heavy weapon like a rocket launcher). The reason for this is a heavy weapon is often used for much tankier targets such as bosses, and having a massive damage boost will make killing bosses much easier.

An example of a weaker perk on a rocket launcher would be frenzy. Frenzy is a perk that gives a weapon 15% damage buff after being in combat for 12 seconds. Whilst Frenzy is a good perk in general, it would not be suitable for a rocket launcher in a damage scenario because of how inconsistent it is to make the perk activate. Bait and Switch is much more consistent and rewarding, so that is why people will opt for Bait and Switch over Frenzy in this example.

This is only one example of a perk, so it can be quite a lot to digest for a new player. That is why I must advise doing research on what perks can roll on a weapon and understand what that perk does. This will not only help you understand what perk is more effective on that weapon, but it will also allow you to chase for a perk combination that suits your playstyle.

It is also important for me to mention that all weapons have a perk pool, which is a table of perks that can be found on said weapon. Many weapons have great perk pools and a lot of weapons have a poor perk pool.

Weapon Type
Weapon types are another large factor that determines a good weapon. Despite all weapons having utility, there are some weapon types that are better than others. An example in PvE would be aggressive frame / adaptive frame rocket launchers vs high-impact / precision frame rocket launchers. As of season 23, aggressive frame and adaptive frame rocket launchers perform much better than high impact and precision frame rocket launchers, meaning that using an aggressive frame rocket launcher will give better results than a precision frame rocket launcher.

Most primary weapon frames are preferential depending on your playstyle, so it’s best to play around with primary weapon types and decide which ones you enjoy and don’t enjoy (In terms of PvP the primary weapon frames will have a much bigger impact on performance than in PvE).

Conclusion
Now that I have mentioned these important notes, I will explain what legendary weapons are most commonly used in PvE activities and their best scenarios. It is important to consider the weapon types that are currently dominant in PvE and these weapon types and perks will change from update to update, so it’s important to only use this guide as a general idea for what weapons are great to have. Personal preference will also be an indicator of what weapons you will want because some weapons on this list may not feel good to use in your hands, but others may end up loving the weapon.

As of season 23, these are the best primary weapons to obtain for PvE.

Calus Mini Tool

Calus Mini Tool has been a very strong primary weapon for quite a long time due to its massive efficiency at rapidly killing enemies and its strong synergy with solar builds. The dominant perk to look for in this weapon is incandescent which makes enemies you kill spread scorch to other enemies. If you do not know, scorch is a burning effect inflicted on enemies and when enough scorch is applied, the enemy will ignite and cause an explosion around the enemy. The results of using this weapon is a lot of scorch and a lot of ignitions with enough enemies, proving to be a very effective weapon at killing red bar enemies.

Fourth column has two perks of interest, threat detector and unrelenting. Threat detector will give you reload speed, stability and handling when near enemies which will happen often with an SMG, meaning you can quickly reload and get back to shooting again. Unrelenting is a perk that when getting rapid kills, it will begin health regeneration for the player (less kills are needed for stronger enemies). These come down to preference, but I personally opted for unrelenting because it improves survivability in slightly tougher content since I am closer to enemies with an SMG.

Ikelos SMG

On the topic of SMGs, Ikelos SMG and Funnelweb are two alternative weapons that do a similar job as Calus mini tool but with different weapon elements. Ikelos SMG is found in the exotic mission Operation Seraph Shield and Funnelweb can be found in world drop or from gunsmith focusing.

Ikelos SMG rolls with voltshot which when reloading after a kill will jolt enemies, causing a chain of lightning to kill surrounding enemies. Feeding Frenzy is in the third column to make reloading faster since you will be reloading often.

The Recluse

The Recluse has been a popular void SMG since its first introduction in season of the drifter. The gun was sunset in Beyond Light but has been reprised this season with the ‘Into the Light’ update. The perk options are very simple here, subsistence for ammo to be refunded to the magazine after a kill, and frenzy to increase the SMG’s damage whilst in combat, which will happen quite often when running with a primary weapon. Feeding Frenzy or threat detector are personally better perks for the third column and master of arms and desperate measures are alternative fourth column options

Submission

One final mention of an SMG is the Submission from Vow of the Disciple raid. This SMG has been a dominant pick for a kinetic damage SMG and goes by the same logic as Funnelweb. Subsistence/Overflow to keep your magazine full, and Frenzy to deal more damage to red/orange bar enemies.

Fatebringer

Holding its reputation from Destiny 1, Fatebringer is still a very popular hand cannon in PvE. Having explosive payload gives this weapon 15% more damage and practically infinite range, and Firefly to create elemental explosions on precision kills. Frenzy also rolls on this weapon which can be better in higher level activities where precision kills are less frequent.

Zaouli’s Bane

As with Fatebringer, Zaouli’s Bane does practically the same thing. Explosions. Incandescent, a perk found from Calus mini tool, is now on a hand cannon, and it’s very strong in PvE. Explosive Payload is an obvious choice for the third column and demolitionist is in the fourth column which grants grenade energy on kills. This gun comes from the King’s Fall raid and is definitely worth grabbing.

Rufus’s Fury

Rufus’s Fury, from Root of Nightmares, has some superb perk options for buildcrafting and overall feels great to use (although that could be subjective). Having reconstruction / rewind rounds to have a longer lasting magazine in the third column and fourth column having frenzy and target lock which increases damage based on how many hits you deal on a target. If you want to make this gun lean more into subclass builds, paracausal affinity is a new perk added to this gun that gives a 20% damage buff if you have the strand or stasis subclass equipped. This auto rifle is absolutely worth grabbing.

Ammit AR2

There’s a clear pattern that solar primaries with incandescent are very strong in PvE, and Ammit is no exception. Having the omolon origin trait of having faster reloads on the top half of the magazine is very helpful and gives it bonus points. The usual perk combination is surplus in third column for increased handling, stability and reload speed for each charged ability and incandescent in the fourth column. This gun is a world drop but can also be focused at the gunsmith.

Age-Old Bond

Age-Old Bond, from Last Wish, is the only craftable void auto rifle and it has some great perks for PvE. Dragonfly is a great perk option in the third column for a boost to ad-clear and golden tricorn in the fourth to give a 15% damage boost for getting kills and a 50% damage buff for getting grenade or melee kills. Destabilising Rounds, which makes enemies volatile when getting a kill, and target lock can also be used instead of golden tricorn if it’s not ideal for you.

BxR-55 Battler

BxR is a unique pulse rifle from Dares of Eternity and has some very strong perks for PvE and PvP (which I will mention later). The most common perks used are demolitionist / pugilist to grant grenade / melee energy and incandescent for improved ad-clear. This pulse rifle has amazing stats which makes it worth chasing for.

That covers all of the primary weapons that are a must for new players. There are other great primary ammo weapons in Destiny 2, but these are the weapons I would point people to grab. Other weapons such as scout rifles, sidearms and pulse rifles come down to preference in PvE and mostly see use in activities with champions that require a specific weapon to stun them, so I won’t cover recommendations for those scenarios since weapons for that use case comes down to preference.

Moving from primary weapons, special weapons can bring massive utility in Destiny 2. Whether you need a weapon for massive ad-clear, yellow bar enemy takedowns or boss damage, many of these special weapons will tick these boxes.

The Mountaintop

Another weapon that was introduced in Forsaken, The Mountaintop was a monster of a weapon in its prime during the auto-loading meta. Nowadays it doesn’t see this much strength but is still an excellent weapon for any activity. I would have overflow or ambitious assassin in third column for an overflowed magazine and recombination in the fourth column for high damage from killing enemies.

Forbearance

Infamously known for being an ad-clear machine, Forbearance is a waveframe grenade launcher that can clear entire rooms in seconds. This grenade launcher drops from Vow of the Disciple and has the popular Ambitious Assassin and Chain Reaction perk combo. Ambitious Assassin overflows the magazine based on how many kills you get, and chain reaction will make enemies explode on death, which kills nearby enemies. The origin trait, souldrinker, will heal you based on the amount of kills you get before reloading. Everything about this weapon is absolutely insane, definitely put this gun as a high priority to chase after.

Ignition Code

Staying on the grenade launchers, ignition code is a very good utility grenade launcher. Earnable from Dares of Eternity, this weapon rolls with blinding grenades (disorienting grenades is the new name for it in-game) and slideshot allows you to slide to reload the weapon. You can spam this launcher and blind all enemies, rendering them harmless for quite some time. Since this weapon is hard to chase, pardon our dust is another alternative from dares of eternity, but you do lose slideshot.

Wilderflight

Wilderflight, from Spire of the Watcher, is the first and only weapon so far that is a double fire frame, meaning it shoots two rounds. There are a lot of interesting rolls to chase for this weapon and it also rolls with blinding grenades, so you can chase for this instead of ignition code. The third column has auto loading holster and demolitionist, and fourth column rolls with vorpal weapon which deals 15% more damage to bosses which makes it a popular hotswap weapon to trigger bait and switch on a heavy weapon. This may not be an absolute must have, but it is definitely something to consider grabbing.

Heritage and Nessa’s Oblation

Two of the strongest slug shotguns in Destiny 2, Heritage and Nessa’s Oblation can deliver very high burst damage to bosses.
Heritage, from Deep Stone Crypt, rolls with reconstruction and recombination or focused fury. Recombination adds stacks to the weapon based on elemental kills that can add up to a max of 100% bonus damage on the next shot. Focused fury grants 20% bonus damage when getting precision hits with 50% of the magazine.
Nessa’s Oblation, from Root of Nightmares, rolls with reconstruction and vorpal weapon to deal 15% damage to bosses. Focused fury can also roll on the fourth column for 20% damage but with an activation cost.
Both of these slug shotguns are mainly used for boss damage in certain raid encounters, so they may not be a must-have for general play. Despite this, they are very strong weapons to own and are definitely worth chasing after.

Succession

Being one of the highest damage legendary sniper rifles in Destiny 2, succession earns a high spot at being worth chasing after. Having reconstruction in the third column and recombination / vorpal weapon in the fourth column makes it great for bosses. This weapon is also earnable from Deep Stone Crypt.

Swordbreaker

Swordbreaker, from Crota’s End, is mostly popular for having strand synergy and one-two punch as a perk (which increases melee damage by 100% when hitting all pellets on an enemy). There are alternative options such as IKELOS_SG or Ragnhild, but you miss out on a lot of strand synergy. Third column is preferential with either pugilist or threat detector depending on the build you’re running. The Cursed Thrall origin trait is also great with melee builds since after getting a melee kill, this shotgun will make enemies explode on death. Due to strand titans being the dominant subclass in PvE content, it’s heavily advised to grab yourself this shotgun or any shotgun with one-two punch.

The Eremite / Scatter Signal

Two seasons where we see a fusion rifle coming into the PvE meta for single-target burst damage. The Eremite and Scatter Signal both have controlled burst in the fourth column which gives 20% bonus damage and faster charge time when hitting all fusion bolts.
Scatter Signal performs better due to it being a rapid fire frame, so it would be of higher priority to chase after. The third column perk choice would most likely be overflow to have as much ammo in a magazine. You can currently farm this weapon from season of the wish’s seasonal vendor.
The Eremite, despite being slightly worse, is still a great fusion rifle and having one can add much needed flexibility for changing kinetic weapons. Envious assassin would be the third column choice for The Eremite since it overflows the magazine based on kills from other weapons.
Riptide / Deliverance

Riptide was the fusion rifle that Scatter Signal replaced, but Riptide still has utility that Scatter Signal lacks. Having chill clip in the fourth column means that enemies are slowed, making it great for champions. Third column has auto loading holster, field prep or lead from gold.
Deliverance is an alternative option that will soon only require 2 shots to freeze targets instead of 3, so this may be a preferred option for a chill clip fusion. Having compulsive reloader in third column can make reloads faster, but for buildcrafting I prefer demolitionist to generate grenade energy.

Apex Predator / Cold Comfort

Apex Predator from Last Wish or Cold Comfort from Ghost of the Deep are both the strongest rocket launchers in the game with Apex Predator having the edge for having enhanced perks. No flexibility of perks for Apex Predator since reconstruction and bait and switch are the strongest perk combo, but cold comfort has envious assassin and either bait and switch or explosive light.

Half Truths / The Other Half (or The Slammer / Falling Guillotine)

It doesn’t really make a difference which sword you seek out, but these swords all have the ability to roll with eager edge, which is very good for mobility and is suitable for most content in the game (aside from GMs). This one’s up to you which one you want to seek out because these drop from either Dares of Eternity, Onslaught or GMs

Wendigo GL3 / Edge Transit

Wendigo and Edge Transit are both very strong grenade launchers that are suitable for different encounters. Wendigo drops from GMs and has field prep, auto loading or clown cartridge in third column with explosive light in fourth.
Edge Transit drops from Onslaught and has some improved perks with field prep, auto loading or envious assassin in third column with bait and switch or explosive light in fourth column.

Hammerhead / Commemoration

Hammerhead and Commemoration are less used for damage and are more useful for GM content for its good damage on majors and ammo economy. Commemoration has enhanced perks for reconstruction and killing tally. Hammerhead has more flexible perks with the third column having rewind rounds, envious assassin and feeding frenzy and fourth column having killing tally, onslaught and desperate measures. The perks you choose are your choice and you can’t go wrong with any combination of the above.

Cataclysmic / Briar’s Contempt

Linears are not as strong as rocket launchers, but they are still very viable options and are sometimes preferred in certain DPS scenarios. Cataclysmic has the standard perks of fourth time’s the charm and bait and switch, whereas Briar’s Contempt is a bit more niche and mainly sees use in DPS situationsj with lots of enemies but can be very strong with reconstruction and surrounded. You’ll only really use Briar’s on Tormentor / Lucent Hive bosses due to its origin trait dealing bonus damage to these enemies.

This guide took a lot of time to make, and whilst there are other weapon choices and plenty of Exotics to also chase, I won’t cover exotic weapons since it’s recommended to chase most if not all exotics in Destiny 2, and the player will discover which ones are great or poor performing on their own.

For the sources of all these weapons and to learn more about weapon perk choices, it’s best to check these websites below.

Find out which weapon perks are popular[www.light.gg]

See how the perks affect your weapon[d2foundry.gg]

Find out the sources for any item in the game[bray.tech]