Destiny 2: PVE Weapons Tier List [September 2023]

Destiny 2 is a looter shooter which is packed with so many different types of guns available to use, which are divided into three slots; primary, energy, and heavy. The meta in PVE is constantly shifting with each new season with mid-season patches and balancing updates to the sandbox. But despite that, as a veteran player, the tier list I have prepared aims to summarize the widely used and sought-after weapons, their stats, best perks, and how viable they are in-game.

Key Takeaways

Destiny 2 offers a ton of unique weapons, which are commonly from legendary to exotics, each distinctively found in three weapon types; primary, energy, and heavy.
It is worth noting that weapon stats and perks can be modified via either crafting them, Masterworking them, or even slotting mods and exotic catalysts into them.
The ranking criteria of each weapon are based on their current viability in PVE, especially for endgame content such as Grandmaster Nightfalls and raids.
S-Tier weapons are generally considered one of the best in the PVE sandbox; despite shifts in the meta, they have been consistently superb.
A-Tier and B-Tier weapons are great; some are decent, but to tackle the true endgame content, you may need to switch between them.
C-Tier and D-Tier weapons are painfully average at best or just not used at all compared to the rest in the current Season 21 meta.

Important: The ranking of each weapon, legendary or exotic, is primarily based on the current meta in Season 21 as well as my personal experience with them in PVE content.

Destiny 2 All PVE Weapons Comparison

Following is the list of all the Destiny 2 PVE weapons included in the Tier List:

SERIAL NUMBER	WEAPON NAME	TYPE	ELEMENT	IMPACT	RANGE	STABILITY
1	Forbearance	Primary Grenade Launcher	Arc	100	74	27
2	Gjallarhorn	Exotic Rocket Launcher	Solar	90	45	64
3	Hothead	Rocket Launcher	Arc	50	57	40
4	Succession	Sniper Rifle	Kinetic	90	76	23
5	Quicksilver Storm	Exotic Auto Rifle	Strand	18	40	85
6	Osteo Striga	Exotic SMG	Kinetic	25	80	37
7	Witherhoard	Exotic Grenade Launcher	Kinetic	60	12	63
8	Vex Mythoclast	Exotic Fusion Rifle	Solar	33	85	30
9	Thunderlord	Exotic Machine Gun	Arc	41	60	50
10	Commemoration	Machine Gun	Void	41	58	55
11	Wish Ender	Exotic Bow	Kinetic	92	60	90
12	Le Monarque	Exotic Bow	Void	76	73	46
13	The Immortal	SMG	Strand	23	40	25
14	Arbalest	Exotic Linear Fusion Rifle	Kinetic	41	36	50
15	Deliverance	Fusion Rifle	Stasis	80	62	52
16	Conditional Finality	Exotic Shotgun	Solar/Stasis	80	35	20
17	Calus Mini-Tool	SMG	Solar	15	30	49
18	Izanagi’s Burden	Exotic Sniper Rifle	Kinetic	70	48	41
19	Trinity Ghoul	Exotic Bow	Arc	80	80	50
20	Riskrunner	Exotic SMG	Arc	20	50	55
21	Apex Predator	Rocket Launcher	Solar	50	49	43
22	Graviton Lance	Exotic Pulse Rifle	Void	29	50	100
23	Xenophage	Exotic Machine Gun	Solar	100	68	32
24	Submission	SMG	Kinetic	15	29	45
25	Riptide	Fusion Rifle	Stasis	55	21	31
26	Funnelweb	SMG	Void	15	39	44
27	Unforgiven	SMG	Void	22	43	16
28	The Lament	Exotic Sword	Solar	40	74	40
29	Ikelos_SMG_V1.0.2	SMG	Arc	23	44	25
30	Retrofit Escapade	Machine Gun	Void	25	23	44
31	Fatebringer	Hand Cannon	Kinetic	84	46	57
32	Rufus's Fury	Auto Rifle	Strand	18	34	58
33	BXR-55 Battler	Pulse Rifle	Solar	23	50	59
34	Sunshot	Exotic Hand Cannon	Solar	80	31	40
35	Touch Of Malice	Exotic Scout Rifle	Kinetic	45	53	36
36	Hezen's Vengeance	Rocket Launcher	Void	20	79	29
37	Chroma Rush	Auto Rifle	Kinetic	18	25	56
38	Heritage	Shotgun	Kinetic	70	68	43
39	Outbreak Perfected	Exotic Pulse Rifle	Kinetic	27	44	40
40	Doom Of Chelchis	Scout Rifle	Void	62	49	40
41	Hung Jury SR4	Scout Rifle	Kinetic	62	49	55
42	Cloudstrike	Exotic Sniper Rifle	Arc	55	60	49
43	Nation Of Beasts	Hand Cannon	Arc	84	40	57
44	Wendigo GL3	Heavy Grenade Launcher	Arc	50	29	38
45	Iterative Loop	Fusion Rifle	Arc	55	23	30
46	Perpetualis	Auto Rifle	Strand	21	43	25
47	Corrective Measure	Machine Gun	Void	41	52	57
48	Malfeasance	Exotic Hand Cannon	Kinetic	78	40	80
49	Divinity	Exotic Trace Rifle	Arc	6	67	76
50	Smite Of Merain	Pulse Rifle	Kinetic	29	43	50
51	Coldheart	Trace Rifle	Arc	6	60	60
52	Wavesplitter	Trace Rifle	Void	6	67	76
53	Typhon GL5	Heavy Grenade Launcher	Stasis	50	35	42
54	Loaded Question	Fusion Rifle	Arc	95	52	25
55	One Thousand Voices	Exotic Fusion Rifle	Solar	0	100	40
56	Merciless	Exotic Fusion Rifle	Solar	75	39	32
57	Bastion	Exotic Fusion Rifle	Kinetic	80	25	47
58	Telesto	Exotic Fusion Rifle	Void	85	25	79
59	Nessa's Oblation	Shotgun	Void	70	63	47
60	Suros Regime	Auto Rifle	Kinetic	21	45	43
61	Circular Logic	Machine Gun	Strand	41	40	33
62	Cataclysmic	Linear Fusion Rifle	Solar	41	39	48
63	Old Sterling	Auto Rifle	Strand	21	43	42
64	Sweet Business	Exotic Auto Rifle	Kinetic	18	30	40
65	Jotunn	Exotic Fusion Rifle	Solar	95	47	23
66	Age-Old Bond	Auto Rifle	Void	33	82	30
67	Techeun Force	Fusion Rifle	Arc	70	39	39
68	Zaouli’s Bane	Hand Cannon	Solar	84	43	52
69	Mykel’s Revenge	Sidearm	Strand	35	33	67
70	Thin Precipice	Sword	Strand	40	60	0
71	Targeted Redaction	Hand Cannon	Void	92	56	23

Destiny 2 PVE Weapons Tier List Summary

Here is a quick overview of the commonly used best PVE weapons in Destiny 2 and which gun belongs to a higher or lower tier category:

Tier Ranking	Weapon Names
S-Tier	Forbearance, Gjallarhorn, Hothead, Succession, Quicksilver Storm, Osteo Striga, Witherhoard, Vex Mythoclast, Thunderlord, Commemoration, Wish Ender, Le monarque, The Immortal, Arbalest, Deliverance, Conditional Finality, Calus Mini-Tool, Izanagi's Burden
A-Tier	Trinity Ghoul, Riskrunner, Apex Predator, Graviton Lance, Xebophage, Submission, Riptide, Funnelweb, Unforigven, The Lament, Ikelos_SMG_v1.0.3, Retrofit Escapade, Fatebringer, Rufus Fury, BXR-55 Battler, Sunshot, Touch of Malice
B-Tier	Hezen's Vengeance, Chroma Rush, Heritage, Outbreak Perfected, Doom of Chelchis, Hung Jury SR4, Cloudstrike, Nation of Beasts, Wendigo, Iterative Loop, Perpetualis, Corrective Measure, Malfeasance, Divinity
C-Tier	Smite of Merain, Coldheart, Wavesplitter, Typhon GL5, Loaded Question, One Thousand Voices, Merciless, Bastion, Telesto, Nessa's Oblation, Suros Regime, Circular Logic, Cataclysmic
D-Tier	Old Sterling, Sweet Business, Jotunn, Age-old Bond, Techeun Force, Zaoulis Bane, Mykels Revenge, Thin Precipice, Targeted Redaction

S-Tier

The S-Tier weapons are some of the best in the game, considered by many players in the community to be top-tier for most endgame activities such as Master difficulty raids for DPS and ad-clear, Grandmaster Nightfalls, or even trying to solo farm Master Difficulty Lost Sectors. In most cases, if you have any of these weapons as a newcomer trying to ease in for the first time, then rest assured you will have a comforting time with Destiny 2.

Forbearance

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Arc Grenade Launcher
Blast Radius	100
Velocity	74
Stability	27
Handling	70
Reload Speed	71
Aim Assistance	79
Inventory size	67
Zoom	13
Airborne effectiveness	4
PVE God Rolls	High-velocity rounds, Ambitious Assassin, Chain Reaction
Excels In	It can quickly clear trash fodder enemies across all PVE activities and gameplay.

Gjallarhorn

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Rocket Launcher
Blast Radius	90
Velocity	45
Stability	64
Handling	66
Reload Speed	37
Aim Assistance	76
Inventory size	50
Zoom	20
Airborne effectiveness	6
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	One of the best exotics weapons since Destiny 1 and returns in Destiny 2 with an exotic catalyst that makes it even better for DPS.

Hothead

WEAPON TYPE	Arc Rocket Launcher
Blast Radius	50
Velocity	57
Stability	40
Handling	47
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	67
Inventory size	34
Zoom	20
Airborne effectiveness	8
PVE God Rolls	Impact Casing, Field Prep/Auto-loading holster, Explosive Light
Excels In	Considered one of the best DPS weapons right now across most endgame activities due to the damage and perks.

Succession

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Sniper Rifle
Impact	90
Range	76
Stability	23
Handling	30
Reload Speed	35
Aim Assistance	48
Inventory size	50
Zoom	50
Airborne effectiveness	4
PVE God Rolls	Extended Barrel/Corkscrew Rifling, Reconstruction, Recombination/Firing Line
Excels In	One of the best PVE snipers as Reconstruction doubles ammo size, allowing you to fire it longer for maximum DPS.

Quicksilver Storm

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Strand Auto Rifle
Impact	18
Range	40
Stability	85
Handling	48
Reload Speed	54
Aim Assistance	83
Inventory size	59
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	26
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Alt-firing mode, recent buffs to auto rifles, and the nano rockets combined with a Strand subclass build make it tremendously good for PVE activities.

Osteo Striga

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Exotic SMG
Impact	25
Range	80
Stability	37
Handling	26
Reload Speed	18
Aim Assistance	55
Inventory size	30
Zoom	13
Airborne effectiveness	27
PVE God Rolls	Fluted Barrel, Tactical Mag/Flared Magwell, Composite Stock
Excels In	With the exotic catalyst, the gun gains an exceedingly large ammo size on successful poison final blows, making it a potent weapon for ad-clear.

Witherhoard

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Grenade Launcher
Impact	60
Velocity	12
Stability	63
Handling	48
Reload Speed	33
Aim Assistance	84
Inventory size	46
Zoom	12
Airborne effectiveness	6
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	AoE effects are great for ad-clear along with exotic catalyst, which grants it an auto-loading holster perk.

Vex Mythoclast

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Fusion Rifle
Impact	33
Range	85
Stability	30
Handling	50
Reload Speed	60
Aim Assistance	75
Inventory size	40
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	19
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	High burst damage allows you to melt trash mobs with ease.

Thunderlord

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Arc Machine Gun
Impact	41
Range	60
Stability	50
Handling	60
Reload Speed	69
Aim Assistance	90
Inventory size	30
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	66
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	One of the best PVE LMGs, which boasts strong ad-clear perks as well as great against bosses like Nezerac for DPS.

Commemoration

WEAPON TYPE	Void Machine Gun
Impact	41
Range	58
Stability	55
Handling	57
Reload Speed	55
Aim Assistance	64
Inventory size	55
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	18
PVE God Rolls	Flared Magwell/Tactical Mag, Reconstruction, Rampage/Killing Tally
Excels In	Clearing ads and other trash fodder mobs easily, especially in raids and dungeons.

Wish Ender

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Exotic Bow
Impact	92
Accuracy	60
Stability	90
Handling	40
Reload Speed	30
Aim Assistance	51
Inventory size	50
Zoom	18
Airborne effectiveness	19
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Greatly helpful in neutralizing Anti-Barrier champions in Master-level PVE content.

Le Monarque

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Void Bow
Impact	76
Range	73
Stability	46
Handling	54
Reload Speed	40
Aim Assistance	70
Inventory size	56
Zoom	18
Airborne effectiveness	18
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Highly effective in neutralizing Overload champions in Master-level content, making it one of the best bows in Destiny 2’s PVE weapon tier list.

The Immortal

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Strand SMG
Impact	23
Range	40
Stability	25
Handling	58
Reload Speed	30
Aim Assistance	39
Inventory size	37
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	25
PVE God Rolls	Smallbore, Armor-piercing rounds/High-caliber rounds, Threat Detector/Perpetual Motion, Target Lock
Excels In	It pairs fantastically with Strand subclass builds, with high damage and fire rate.

Arbalest

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Exotic Linear Fusion
Impact	41
Range	36
Stability	50
Handling	25
Reload Speed	28
Aim Assistance	31
Inventory size	34
Zoom	25
Airborne effectiveness	12
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	One of the best exotic weapons in the Destiny 2 PVE weapons tier list, as it can help neutralize anti-barrier and elemental shields in GM Nightfalls.

Deliverance

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Stasis Fusion Rifle
Impact	80
Range	62
Stability	52
Handling	32
Reload Speed	34
Aim Assistance	67
Inventory size	39
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	9
PVE God Rolls	Accelerated Coils, Demolitionist, Chill Clip
Excels In	It can freeze targets using Chill clip, making it easier to take down champions and majors in PVE.

Conditional Finality

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Dual Element Shotgun
Impact	80
Range	35
Stability	20
Handling	60
Reload Speed	66
Aim Assistance	56
Inventory size	51
Zoom	12
Airborne effectiveness	4
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Easily takes down champions and majors using its Solar/Stasis dual elements and has high per-shot damage.

Calus Mini-Tool

WEAPON TYPE	Solar Energy SMG
Impact	15
Range	30
Stability	49
Handling	65
Reload Speed	31
Aim Assistance	49
Inventory size	70
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	28
PVE God Rolls	Accurized Rounds, Unrelenting/Threat Detector, Incandescent
Excels In	One of the best SMGs for crowd control as Incandescent can trigger multiple AOE chain explosions on enemies.

Izanagi’s Burden

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Sniper Rifle
Impact	70
Range	48
Stability	41
Handling	47
Reload Speed	40
Aim Assistance	62
Inventory size	60
Zoom	45
Airborne effectiveness	6
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	One of the best PVE snipers that has the highest single-shot DPS value across most weapons in Destiny 2.

A-Tier

Now moving on to the A-Tier PVE weapons in this Destiny 2 tier list, these weapons are only slightly outmatched by the S-tier as they are mainly used across most PVE content and modes. So there’s a high chance you might see other players using these at certain intervals, such as GM Nightfalls or even Master raids (unless the encounter can’t easily adjust or demand to use them in favor of other weapons.)

Trinity Ghoul

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Energy Arc Bow
Impact	80
Accuracy	80
Stability	50
Handling	53
Reload Speed	50
Aim Assistance	74
Inventory size	52
Zoom	18
Airborne effectiveness	24
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Exotic Perk allows you to chain arc explosions to multiple targets (as long as you get critical shots), which is great in most PVE ritual content.

Riskrunner

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Arc SMG
Impact	20
Range	50
Stability	55
Handling	46
Reload Speed	35
Aim Assistance	50
Inventory size	50
Zoom	13
Airborne effectiveness	31
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Provides a superb resistance shield against arc damage, which can be extremely helpful on certain Nightfalls and especially in the latest dungeon, Ghosts of the Deep.

Apex Predator

WEAPON TYPE	Solar Rocket Launcher
Blast Radius	50
Velocity	49
Stability	43
Handling	44
Reload Speed	44
Aim Assistance	68
Inventory size	33
Zoom	20
Airborne effectiveness	3
PVE God Rolls	Impact Casing, Reconstruction, Bait and Switch
Excels In	Now that the weapon is craftable from the Last Wish raid, it boasts some insane perks that can make it one of the best rocket launchers for DPS.

Graviton Lance

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Void Pulse Rifle
Impact	29
Range	50
Stability	100
Handling	54
Reload Speed	57
Aim Assistance	60
Inventory size	60
Zoom	17
Airborne effectiveness	27
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Has jumped up into the meta since the reworks to this and other exotics, and a fun weapon to use with Void subclass builds.

Xenophage

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Machine Gun
Impact	100
Range	68
Stability	32
Handling	30
Reload Speed	31
Aim Assistance	33
Inventory size	3
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	12
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	Each shot hits hard, making it a great DPS exotic weapon, especially in modes like Gambit against bosses and for invasions.

Submission

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic SMG
Impact	15
Range	29
Stability	45
Handling	70
Reload Speed	29
Aim Assistance	58
Inventory size	65
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	27
PVE God Rolls	Accurized Rounds, Overflow/Subsistence, Frenzy
Excels In	The aforementioned god-roll perks allow it to gain an almost neverending supply of ammo for PVE.

Riptide

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Stasis Fusion Rifle
Impact	55
Range	21
Stability	31
Handling	50
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	31
Inventory size	46
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	3
PVE God Rolls	Accelerated Coils, Auto-loading Holster, Chill Clip
Excels In	It can freeze targets just like the Deliverance and is also easily farmable due to it belonging to the Crucible loot pool.

Funnelweb

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Void SMG
Impact	15
Range	39
Stability	44
Handling	70
Reload Speed	31
Aim Assistance	54
Inventory size	45
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	20
PVE God Rolls	Perpetual Motion/Subsistence, Frenzy
Excels In	Widely used in PVE for ad-clear with fantastic perks but no clear way to farm it unless from focused decoding in seasons.

Unforgiven

WEAPON TYPE	Void Energy SMG
Impact	22
Range	43
Stability	16
Handling	50
Reload Speed	21
Aim Assistance	33
Inventory size	34
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	20
PVE God Rolls	High-caliber rounds, Feeding Frenzy, Frenzy/Rampage
Excels In	One of the best legendary SMGs with amazing PVE perks that can help with ad-clear across most PVE activities.

The Lament

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Sword
Swing Speed	40
Impact	74
Range	40
Guard Efficiency	50
Guard Resistance	60
Aim Assistance	50
Inventory size	60
Zoom	0
Airborne effectiveness	0
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels In	A must-have exotic sword that can melt certain bosses in activities such as Atraks-1 in the Deep Stone Crypt raid.

Ikelos_SMG_V1.0.2

WEAPON TYPE	Arc Energy SMG
Impact	23
Range	44
Stability	25
Handling	62
Reload Speed	24
Aim Assistance	37
Inventory size	45
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	12
PVE God Rolls	Seraph Rounds, Threat Detector/Subsistence, Surrounded/Demolitionist
Excels In	While not as readily farmable at the moment, it is a great gun with Demolitionist and spam grenades any build.

Retrofit Escapade

WEAPON TYPE	Void Machine Gun
Impact	25
Range	23
Stability	44
Handling	56
Reload Speed	67
Aim Assistance	70
Inventory size	29
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	12
PVE God Rolls	Fourth Time’s the Charm/Feeding Frenzy, Target Lock/Frenzy
Excels In	One of the best legendary Machine guns with fantastic perks that is viable against all kinds of enemies as well as DPS for most bosses in strikes.

Fatebringer

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Hand Cannon
Impact	84
Range	46
Stability	57
Handling	55
Reload Speed	46
Aim Assistance	84
Inventory size	53
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	10
PVE God Rolls	Explosive Payload, Firefly/Frenzy
Excels In	A fan-favorite hand cannon that returns from Destiny 1 that still remains one of the best legendary hand cannons for PVE with a single yet powerful perk combination.

Rufus’s Fury

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Strand Auto Rifle
Impact	18
Range	34
Stability	58
Handling	41
Reload Speed	50
Aim Assistance	82
Inventory size	60
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	22
PVE God Rolls	High-Caliber Rounds, Reconstruction, Target Lock
Excels in	Quite easily one of the best auto rifles right now for PVE and synergizes greatly with Strand subclass builds.

BXR-55 Battler

WEAPON TYPE	Solar Energy Pulse Rifle
Impact	23
Range	50
Stability	59
Handling	71
Reload Speed	63
Aim Assistance	85
Inventory size	60
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	10
PVE God Rolls	Demolitionist/Perpetual Motion, Incandescent/Kill Clip
Excels in	With a fantastic perk pool and how easy it is to farm the weapon from Xur’s Treasure Hoard chests, it is one of the best legendary Pulse rifles for PVE.

Sunshot

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Hand Cannon
Impact	80
Range	31
Stability	40
Handling	81
Reload Speed	72
Aim Assistance	60
Inventory size	53
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	27
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels in	Explosive effects from the Sunburn perk can melt trash fodder; plus, if you have an Ignition or Scorch Solar subclass build, it becomes a fun weapon to use.

Touch Of Malice

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Scout Rifle
Impact	45
Range	53
Stability	36
Handling	40
Reload Speed	46
Aim Assistance	40
Inventory size	58
Zoom	20
Airborne effectiveness	25
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels in	If used properly, it can become one of the best exotic primaries for PVE in Destiny 2 as it will syngerize greatly with heal builds while dealing maximum damage.

B-Tier

The B-Tier of my Destiny 2 PVE weapons tier list comprises guns that can get you through most ritual and weekly PVE activities. Most of them do not have any notable qualities at the moment in the high-level meta in my personal opinion, hence why it’s best to just them if you want to try something different for a change.

While most of them are fun to use on their own, they’re just not that viable in the grand scheme of things with the endgame content meta in terms of stats and perks, so you might just end up using them in your leisure time for normal content such as strikes, seasonal activities or casual modes such as Dares of Eternity.

Hezen’s Vengeance

WEAPON TYPE	Void Rocket Launcher
Impact	20
Range	79
Stability	29
Handling	23
Reload Speed	60
Aim Assistance	35
Inventory size	50
Zoom	20
Airborne effectiveness	3
PVE God Rolls	Auto-loading Holster, Vorpal Weapon

Chroma Rush

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Auto Rifle
Impact	18
Range	25
Stability	56
Handling	35
Reload Speed	47
Aim Assistance	80
Inventory size	54
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	10
PVE God Rolls	Feeding Frenzy/Subsistence, Kill Clip/Rampage

Heritage

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Shotgun
Impact	70
Range	68
Stability	43
Handling	70
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	68
Inventory size	49
Zoom	12
Airborne effectiveness	5
PVE God Rolls	Tactical Mag, Reconstruction, Recombination

Outbreak Perfected

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Pulse Rifle
Impact	27
Range	44
Stability	40
Handling	45
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	65
Inventory size	54
Zoom	17
Airborne effectiveness	29
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Doom Of Chelchis

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Void Scout Rifle
Impact	62
Range	49
Stability	40
Handling	39
Reload Speed	44
Aim Assistance	64
Inventory size	54
Zoom	20
Airborne effectiveness	17
PVE God Rolls	Accurized Rounds, Explosive Payload/Firefly, Frenzy/Dragonfly

Hung Jury SR4

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Scout Rifle
Impact	62
Range	49
Stability	55
Handling	50
Reload Speed	46
Aim Assistance	67
Inventory size	60
Zoom	22
Airborne effectiveness	22
PVE God Rolls	Shoot to Loot/Rapid Hit, Kinetic Tremors/Firefly

Cloudstrike

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Arc Sniper Rifle
Impact	55
Range	60
Stability	49
Handling	46
Reload Speed	40
Aim Assistance	68
Inventory size	70
Zoom	50
Airborne effectiveness	7
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels in	The AOE chain lightning effects from Mortal Polarity are great for clearing ads in ritual activities but not suitable for endgame content.

Nation Of Beasts

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Arc Hand Cannon
Impact	84
Range	40
Stability	57
Handling	42
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	71
Inventory size	51
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	10
PVE God Rolls	Flared Magwell, Dragonfly, Voltshot/Explosive Payload

Wendigo GL3

WEAPON TYPE	Arc Grenade Launcher
Blast Radius	50
Velocity	29
Stability	38
Handling	41
Reload Speed	46
Aim Assistance	66
Inventory size	43
Zoom	13
Airborne effectiveness	16
PVE God Rolls	Spike Grenades, Auto-Loading Holster, Explosive Light
Excels in	One of the best PVE grenade launchers but is currently not that viable in the endgame meta for DPS.

Iterative Loop

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Arc Fusion Rifle
Impact	55
Range	23
Stability	30
Handling	52
Reload Speed	44
Aim Assistance	34
Inventory size	50
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	8
PVE God Rolls	Accelerated Coils, Compulsive Reloader/Lead from Gold, Voltshot

Perpetualis

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Strand Auto Rifle
Impact	21
Range	43
Stability	35
Handling	62
Reload Speed	58
Aim Assistance	67
Inventory size	54
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	19
PVE God Rolls	Zen Moment, Target Lock/Hatchling

Corrective Measure

WEAPON TYPE	Void Machine Gun
Impact	41
Range	52
Stability	57
Handling	64
Reload Speed	49
Aim Assistance	72
Inventory size	59
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	6
PVE God Rolls	Rewind Rounds/Subsistence, Firefly

Malfeasance

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Hand Cannon
Impact	78
Range	40
Stability	80
Handling	29
Reload Speed	80
Aim Assistance	50
Inventory size	57
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	53
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Divinity

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Arc Trace Rifle
Impact	6
Range	67
Stability	76
Handling	51
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	100
Inventory size	50
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	17
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels in	While now heavily nerfed, it still provides a great 15% critical multiplier and allows you and your teammates to hit critical spots on raid bosses easily.

C-Tier

The C-Tier PVE Destiny 2 weapons in the tier list are average at best, and while some are arguably decent, they will only closely work with specific builds or situations in order to make them viable in gameplay. At the end of the day, you can still use them in your weekly or ritual activities, but I wouldn’t recommend using them in high-level content as stated in the previous tier too.

Smite Of Merain

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Pulse Rifle
Impact	29
Range	43
Stability	50
Handling	47
Reload Speed	47
Aim Assistance	60
Inventory size	49
Zoom	17
Airborne effectiveness	21
PVE God Rolls	Demolitionist, Firefly/Adrenaline Junkie

Coldheart

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Arc Trace Rifle
Impact	6
Range	60
Stability	60
Handling	35
Reload Speed	30
Aim Assistance	100
Inventory size	60
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	14
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Wavesplitter

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Void Trace Rifle
Impact	6
Range	67
Stability	76
Handling	51
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	100
Inventory size	50
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	14
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels in	Viable with Void subclass builds and Orbs of Power-related seasonal mods, but aside from that, Aegar’s Scepter is a cut above it.

Typhon GL5

WEAPON TYPE	Stasis Grenade Launcher
Blast Radius	50
Velocity	35
Stability	42
Handling	42
Reload Speed	45
Aim Assistance	60
Inventory size	45
Zoom	13
Airborne effectiveness	12
PVE God Rolls	Demolitionist/Impulse Amplifier, Explosive Light

Loaded Question

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Arc Fusion Rifle
Impact	95
Range	52
Stability	25
Handling	25
Reload Speed	19
Aim Assistance	66
Inventory size	30
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	4
PVE God Rolls	Accelerated Coils, Overflow/Auto-loading Holster, Controlled Burst/Reservoir Burst

One Thousand Voices

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Fusion Rifle
Impact	0
Range	100
Stability	40
Handling	0
Reload Speed	30
Aim Assistance	100
Inventory size	80
Zoom	25
Airborne effectiveness	6
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Merciless

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Fusion Rifle
Impact	75
Range	39
Stability	32
Handling	41
Reload Speed	43
Aim Assistance	69
Inventory size	55
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	15
PVE God Rolls	N/A
Excels in	While it may be one of the few decent Year 1 exotics after the recent rework, it can work splendidly for melting the HP of minibosses in some ritual activities.

Bastion

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Fusion Rifle
Impact	80
Range	25
Stability	47
Handling	27
Reload Speed	24
Aim Assistance	65
Inventory size	30
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	3
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Telesto

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Void Fusion Rifle
Impact	85
Range	25
Stability	79
Handling	53
Reload Speed	80
Aim Assistance	46
Inventory size	55
Zoom	20
Airborne effectiveness	9
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Nessa’s Oblation

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Void Shotgun
Impact	70
Range	63
Stability	47
Handling	69
Reload Speed	49
Aim Assistance	48
Inventory size	49
Zoom	12
Airborne effectiveness	5
PVE God Rolls	Reconstruction/Repulsor Brace, Vorpal Weapon/Destabilizing Rounds

Suros Regime

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Auto Rifle
Impact	21
Range	45
Stability	43
Handling	64
Reload Speed	63
Aim Assistance	68
Inventory size	0
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	31
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Circular Logic

WEAPON TYPE	Strand Machine Gun
Impact	41
Range	40
Stability	33
Handling	58
Reload Speed	51
Aim Assistance	59
Inventory size	51
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	11
PVE God Rolls	High-Caliber rounds/Ricochet Rounds, Feeding Frenzy, Hatchling/Target Lock

Cataclysmic

WEAPON TYPE	Solar Linear Fusion Rifle
Impact	41
Range	39
Stability	48
Handling	31
Reload Speed	25
Aim Assistance	66
Inventory size	37
Zoom	25
Airborne effectiveness	13
PVE God Rolls	Enhanced Battery, Fourth Time’s the Charm, Bait and Switch
Excels in	Pre-nerf, it could’ve been the best PVE Destiny 2 weapons in this tier list, but it’s become heavily outclassed by Rocket Launchers and other DPS-focused arsenals.

D-Tier

Lastly, it brings me to discuss the D-tier PVE weapons of Destiny 2 in the tier list, which quite a few players and I would consider are at the bottom of the barrel. While you can certainly put various other non-meta weapons here, these are just recent or known ones that are heavily outmatched via the previous tiers. You will hardly notice any player using these weapons in the main line PVE content.

Old Sterling

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Strand Auto Rifle
Impact	21
Range	43
Stability	42
Handling	63
Reload Speed	55
Aim Assistance	65
Inventory size	54
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	17
PVE God Rolls	Accurized Rounds, Rewind Rounds, Frenzy/Harmony

Sweet Business

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Kinetic Auto Rifle
Impact	18
Range	30
Stability	40
Handling	0
Reload Speed	0
Aim Assistance	80
Inventory size	80
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	32
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Jotunn

WEAPON TYPE	Exotic Solar Fusion Rifle
Impact	95
Range	47
Stability	23
Handling	26
Reload Speed	23
Aim Assistance	67
Inventory size	26
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	8
PVE God Rolls	N/A

Age-Old Bond

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Void Auto Rifle
Impact	33
Range	82
Stability	30
Handling	38
Reload Speed	34
Aim Assistance	61
Inventory size	49
Zoom	16
Airborne effectiveness	10
PVE God Rolls	Flared Magwell, Repulsor Brace, Destabilizing Rounds

Techeun Force

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Arc Fusion Rifle
Impact	70
Range	39
Stability	39
Handling	27
Reload Speed	34
Aim Assistance	44
Inventory size	29
Zoom	15
Airborne effectiveness	4
PVE God Rolls	Liquid Coils/Accelerated Coils, Kill Clip, Rampage/High-Impact Reserves

Zaouli’s Bane

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Solar Hand Cannon
Impact	84
Range	43
Stability	52
Handling	46
Reload Speed	43
Aim Assistance	77
Inventory size	50
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	19
PVE God Rolls	Flared Magwell, Explosive Payload, Incandescent

Mykel’s Revenge

WEAPON TYPE	Kinetic Strand Sidearm
Impact	35
Range	33
Stability	67
Handling	53
Reload Speed	47
Aim Assistance	61
Inventory size	67
Zoom	12
Airborne effectiveness	25
PVE God Rolls	Rewind Rounds/Unrelenting, Hatchling/Frenzy

Thin Precipice

WEAPON TYPE	Strand Sword
Swing Speed	40
Range	60
Stability	0
Guard Efficiency	0
Guard Resistance	0
Aim Assistance	0
Inventory size	0
Zoom	0
Airborne effectiveness	0
PVE God Rolls	Blanaced Guard, Relentless Strikes, Chain Reaction

Targeted Redaction

WEAPON TYPE	Energy Void Hand Cannon
Impact	92
Range	56
Stability	23
Handling	26
Reload Speed	25
Aim Assistance	60
Inventory size	49
Zoom	14
Airborne effectiveness	15
PVE God Rolls	Outlaw, Destabilizing Rounds/Explosive Rounds

Tier List Ranking Criteria

The following Destiny 2 best PVE Weapons Tier List was crafted using my (Steam ID: LIONT4MER) knowledge of the game and after numerous discussions with fellow clanmates, LFG players, as well as via forums on Bungie.Net. Not to mention that the main emphasis of the ranking is tied to their performance for the true endgame of Destiny 2, comprising of raids and dungeons.

Following Season 21, new meta legendary or exotic weapons may be introduced with the passage of time, so I’ll be sure to update the list with any new weapon taking center stage or being nerfed with a balancing patch.

This brings me to the end of my Tier List. In the meantime, if you’re looking for similar Destiny 2 guides, then be sure to check out how you can get the Winterbite Exotic Glaive as well as the Best PVP Sniper Rifles.

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