Destiny 2: 4 BEST Exotic & Legendary Glaives [Hands-On Experience]

Glaives are a new weapon type that was introduced with the Witch Queen expansion. Destiny 2’s best glaives utilize special ammo and are unique because they have a ranged and melee attack. They are the first of the kind in the game to have both attacks at the same time. Despite being a weaker weapon type compared to other weapons in the game, they still provide great utility and support.

Best Glaives In Destiny 2 With Comparison

Here is a summary of the 4 best Glaives in Destiny 2, with stats comparison:

1. Winterbite

Following are the stats for Winterbite Exotic Glaive:

Winterbite is an Exotic weapon that was introduced in the Lightfall expansion. It is the only Glaive in the game that uses Heavy ammo instead of Special ammo. After using it in some GM Nightfall runs, I personally found Winterbite strong, especially against Champions and other high-tier enemies.

The exotic perk on Winterbite ‘Big Frigid Glaive’ fires a large ball of Stasis energy that locks onto nearby enemy combatants and freezes them. The secondary perk, Tilting at Windmills, increases your movement speed when you are blocking damage with the Glaive shield.

You can acquire Winterbite exotic glaive through a long and tedious quest, ‘The Hall of Heroes’, which is only available after you have completed the Lightfall campaign. 

Pros

• Synergizes extremely well with all Stasis sub-class builds in Destiny 2.
• Viable against Major and Champion enemy types.

Cons

• Quest to acquire Winterbite is extremely long and tedious.
• Reduced magazine size and fire rate.

2. Vexcalibur

Following are the stats for Vexcalibur Exotic Glaive:

Yet another exotic Destiny 2 best PVE glaive is Vexcalibur, which was also introduced in Lightfall, Season 20. However, unlike Winterbite, it uses special ammo and is also a craftable weapon. As a Titan main, I highly recommend Vexcalibur because it integrates with Void builds very well.

Its exotic perk M1R Distribution Matrix offers great shielding features. When you block damage with Vexcalibur, it grants you and your allies a void overshield. Furthermore, with the perk Perpetual Loophole, your Glaive melee damage is increased when your shield is up. Killing enemies will keep refreshing the shield.

Vexalibur is only available to players who own Season of Defiance. If you want to learn in detail about how to get Vexcalibur from the secret mission, you can visit this guide.

Pros

• Overshield grants great utility and support.
• The shot fired covers a wide area, damaging more enemies.
• It pairs fairly well with various Void sub-class builds.

Cons

• Requires players to own Season of Defiance.
• The secret mission is long and difficult for some players.
• You may need a fireteam of three people for the secret mission.

3. Edge of Action

Following are the stats for Edge of Action Exotic Glaive:

One of the three class-specific Destiny 2 PVE best glaive, Edge of Action, was introduced with the Witch Queen expansion. It is a void energy special weapon and is only usable by the Titan class. The exotic perk Edge of Action provides a void over-shield to the player when you deal ranged damage, very similar to the Titan bubble. However, the weapon boost you get from the Titan bubble is missing.

It can be obtained as an RNG drop from the Wellspring activity. I honestly found Edge of Action to be slightly weaker compared to Vexcalibur which has similar functions. However, one place where it stood out for me was its high shield duration.

Pros

• It gives a Void Overshield similar to Ward of Dawn.
• When paired with a Void sub-class, it can be a decent combination.

Cons

• Lacks damage and uses your only weapon Exotic slot.
• Random reward with very low chances of dropping.

4. Edge of Intent

Following are the stats for Edge of Intent Exotic Glaive:

Edge of Intent is the Warlock, class-specific glaive in Destiny 2. It is a Solar energy glaive that features some healing capabilities, which makes it a good choice to pair with a Solar warlock build focused on healing allies.

The exotic perk, Edge of Intent, generates energy on ranged and melee attacks, and when the glaive is fired with full energy, it grants healing to you and your allies. However, the healing is so little that the results are insignificant, especially in the endgame.

Similar to Edge of Action, this glaive is a random drop from the Wellspring activity in the Witch Queen expansion. I found Edge of Intent to be the weakest of all three class-specific Glaives; therefore, I will not recommend going after it unless you need it for the Throne World seal or a Healer-only Warlock build.

Pros

• Grants the user and allies healing when fired with full energy.
• It can be integrated into a Warlock solar sub-class build to provide support.

Cons

• Healing provided by Edge of Intent is little compared to healing from other sources.
• Edge of Intent is very annoying to obtain due to it being a random drop.

My Criteria For The Best Destiny 2 Glaives

My favorite amongst these is definitely Vexcalibur because of the overshield and damage resistance it provides. Also, the secret mission to obtain this gun is pretty cool. Be sure also to check out my review of Destiny 2 and its overall past expansions, excluding the Lightfall expansion, which has its own separate review with my full thoughts on the campaign and new additions.

Up Next

• Destiny 2: Best Grenade Launcher
• Destiny 2: Best Pulse Rifles
• Destiny 2: The Best Titan Builds
• Destiny 2: Root of Nightmares Raid