Best Hunter Exotics in Destiny 2: Tier List Ranking

by Matthew Evans | Oct 9, 2023

Exotic armor is a truly unique and important part of Destiny 2. While weapons get most of the attention, your choice of armor plays a crucial role too. This is especially true for Exotic armor, as one single piece of equipment can elevate your playstyle and lethality to new levels. Destiny 2 is all about finding synergies within your gear, and Exotic armor is often the first piece of the puzzle.

This guide covers every Hunter Exotic in Destiny 2, including the brand-new Mothkeeper’s Wraps. We’ll rank them from best to worst, and explain how to use them for maximum lethality.

Updated as of Season of the Witch (S22). See Updates.

Destiny 2 Hunter Exotic Tier list

This Tier list features the best Hunter Exotic armor for PvE and PvP:

Name	Type	Rank	Excels	Subclass	Source	Requirements	Armor	Tier rank	Subclass?	Final Verdict	Class
Star-Eater Scales	Legs	S › Best	PvE	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Star-Eater Scales	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "You gain additional Super energy from Orbs of Power you pick up. While your Super energy is full, picking up an Orb of Power overcharges your Super, causing you to gain a burst of healing when cast and a bonus to your Super damage. At maximum overcharge, you also gain an overshield." ► Star-Eater Scales is a beast. It focuses entirely on your super and can buff Hunters' supers to the highest DPS levels in the game. When using Star-Eater Scales, all subclasses get the highest DPS supers in the game, making Star-Eater Scales an excellent pick everywhere, no matter the difficulty.	Hunter
Omnioculus	Chest	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Void	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Omnioculus	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE + PvP	Void	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "You gain a second Smoke Bomb charge and have damage resistance while invisible. When you make an ally invisible, they gain damage resistance while invisible and you gain melee energy." ► Omnioculus is a ridiculously strong exotic. Granting an extra smoke bomb charge and giving melee energy when you make allies invisible is already excellent. However, giving your team damage resistance on demand takes Omnioculus to another level in both PvP and PvE.	Hunter
Assassin's Cowl	Helm	S › Best	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Shadowkeep	Assassin's Cowl	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Powered melee final blows grant invisibility and restore a portion of health and shields. Finishers and final blows against more powerful targets increase the duration of the invisibility and the amount of health and shields." ► Assassin's Cowl is a ridiculously powerful pick for Hunters right now. A key staple in a number of powerful Hunter builds, Assassin's Cowl has the ability to turn you invisible while also granting plenty of health on a melee kill.	Hunter
Lucky Pants	Legs	S › Best	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Lucky Pants	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "When you ready a fully loaded Hand Cannon that deals kinetic damage or a damage type that matches your subclass energy type, each hit from that Hand Cannon increases the damage of the next shot for a short time against a combatant. Hand Cannons ready faster and are more accurate immediately after swapping to them." ► Lucky Pants are pretty insane right now. When combined with Malfeasance or the recently reworked Warden's Law, they can result in remarkably high DPS outputs. When using Warden's Law, you can easily pair it with support weapons such as Gjallarhorn or Tractor Cannon with a Fusion Rifle to still pump out some excellent DPS.	Hunter
Renewal Grasps	Arms	S › Best	PvE	Stasis	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Renewal Grasps	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE	Stasis	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Your Duskfield grenades have a much larger effect radius. Allies inside the Duskfield take reduced damage and targets inside the area deal reduced damage." ► Renewal Grasps saw their absurdly long cooldown reduced back to standard levels, which results is a monstrous buff. While Stasis may not be in the best of spots these days, Renewal makes Revenant Hunter actually viable which is a testament to how strong these gloves actually are.	Hunter
Gyrfalcon's Hauberk	Chest	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Void	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Gyrfalcon's Hauberk	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE + PvP	Void	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Your weapons gain a bonus to damage briefly after you emerge from being invisible. When you are invisible and defeat a combatant using a finisher, you and your nearby allies gain a reserve overshield and improved class ability regen. These reserve overshields can be deployed by using a class ability." ► Gyrfalcon's Hauberk is still arguably one of the strongest exotics in the entire game. It's practically an entire build all by itself and can turn any Nightstalker setup into an ad-clearing machine.	Hunter
Mask of Bakris	Helm	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Stasis	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Mask of Bakris	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Stasis	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Replaces your Stasis subclass Dodge ability with a longer range, faster moving shift that partially cloaks you during use. After shifting, your Stasis and Arc weapons deal increased damage for a short time." ► Mask of Bakris can be a powerful PvP exotic in the right hands and is generally a good pick in PvE due to its x4 Surge boost to your Stasis and Arc Weapons. Allowing you to deal more damage, Masl of Bakris is a very decent PvE pick for DPS phases.	Hunter
Radiant Dance Machines	Legs	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Radiant Dance Machines	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Activating your dodge ability while near targets allows you to dodge additional times for a short period. Defeating targets extends the duration of the additional dodge." ► Radiant Dance Machines are the go-to option if you want to deal the highest DPS possible in the entire game due to its multi-dodge perk. While these are incredibly powerful, there isn't really a place where this ridiculous level of DPS is needed unless you're trying to fully optimise your damage, and it can just be a hassle for the average player when you can just spam your Heavy Weapon normally and still kill any boss in the game.	Hunter
Aeon Swift	Arms	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Aeon Swift	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Aeon Exotics have an additional mod socket which is used for Aeon Cult mods." ► Aeon Safe is still a powerful exotic, but it is no longer good enough to be deemed a 'must-have' exotic.aThere are so many ways to obtain Heavy Ammo these days, such as Cenotaph Mask or Heavy Ammo Finder mods while using an Exotic Primary. That being said, Aeon Swift is still a very solid exotic that can be swapped to while finishing a miniboss if your team needs ammo.	Hunter
Celestial Nighthawk	Helm	A › Strong	PvE	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Celestial Nighthawk	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Modifies Golden Gun to fire a single high-damage shot. Enemies eliminated by the shot explode and grant you Super energy." ► Celestial Nighthawk is still a solid choice, in spite of Golden Gun not being the best Super right now, and Star-Eaters being more powerful in terms of raw damage. Celestial's instant burst damage shouldn't be ignored as it can be used very easily in high DPS rotations due to its fast cast time, use, and practically no downtime.	Hunter
Foetracer	Helm	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Foetracer	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Damaging a powerful combatant or Guardian with an ability grants you a temporary bonus to weapon damage matching your subclass type. Defeating that target with a weapon matching the damage type of your subclass creates an elemental pickup." ► Foetracer saw a complete rework with the release of Season 22, gaining a whole new functionality that allows it to serve as a damage exotic. It's a great exotic to swap to after using your Star-Eater Scales super, as it boosts your weapon surge bonus to x4 or even x5 with the artifact mod Monochromatic Maestro.	Hunter
Graviton Forfeit	Helm	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Void	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Graviton Forfeit	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Void	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Increases the duration of any invisibility effects. While you are invisible, your melee recharges faster, your weapons reload faster, and your Recovery is greatly increased." ► Graviton Forfeit is a great exotic, but it's often overlooked in favor of Omnioculus and Gyrfalcon's Hauberk, as these are both remarkably strong exotics. However, Graviton Forfeit is still the simplest way to remain invisible forever while also granting some stat boosts.	Hunter
Fr0st-EE5	Legs	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Fr0st-EE5	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Increased grenade, melee, and dodge regeneration while sprinting. Dodging increases your sprint speed." ► Fr0st-EE5 are a great alternative to other movement exotics like St0mp-EE5 as they passively increase your sprint speed which is a substantial benefit. However, the main draw of the Frostees is the improved ability regeneration while sprinting, which can allow you to spam even more abilities, especially in PvP.	Hunter
Knucklehead Radar	Helm	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Knucklehead Radar	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Provides radar while you're aiming. Enhances your radar resolution while crouched. Visually marks targets. Deals more damage to low-health marked targets. Provides a small benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons." ► Knucklehead Radar is a good exotic to swap to in a final stand situation. With its Season 22 rework, it gained the traits of the old Foetracer perk, increasing damage against a boss when they have less than 30% HP, increasing the bonus by 1% for every percentage point below 30% (e.g. you will have a 20% damage buff when the boss is at 10% health).	Hunter
Orpheus Rig	Legs	A › Strong	PvE	Void	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Orpheus Rig	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Void	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Provides ability energy for each enemy tethered by Deadfall anchors. Moebius Quiver has more shots." ► Orpheus Rig is a powerful exotic. Able to provide significant ability energy, it allows you to spam your Deadfall Super, which in turn, is great for ad control. Alternatively, tihs Exotic can provide a boost to your damage as it adds an additional shot to Moebius Quiver, allowing you to deal more damage in a DPS phase or extend the Tether debuff even longer.	Hunter
St0mp-EE5	Legs	A › Strong	PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	St0mp-EE5	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Increases sprint speed and slide distance while your dodge energy is full and improves High Jump, Strafe Jump, and Triple Jump." ► With all the changes that St0mp-EE5 have seen, it's hard to enjoy them as much as before, especially now that their effect is only active when your class ability is up. They are decent for movement, though, making them a solid, and enjoyable, option.	Hunter
The Dragon's Shadow	Chest	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	The Dragon's Shadow	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Dodging reloads all weapons and increases both movement and weapon handling speeds for a brief time." ► The Dragon's Shadow is an incredibly niche pick in PvE and a solid pick in PvP. In PvE, this exotic can be used to massively decrease the downtime between firing single-shot damage weapons, like Rocket Launchers. Dodging and firing as soon as the next rocket is inserted into the launcher will allow you to fire off another shot much faster than simply reloading.	Hunter
Young Ahamkara's Spine	Arms	A › Strong	PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Young Ahamkara's Spine	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Increases Tripmine Grenade duration and blast radius. Ability damage grants Tripmine Grenade energy." ► Young Ahamkara's Spine received a major nerf to its viability in PvP, making it much weaker in the Crucible. However, it still retains some power as an ad-clear pick in PvE. It can't handle tankier enemies as easily anymore as you cannot combo your abilities as efficiently, but you'll still be able to use them for general ad-clear.	Hunter
Caliban's Hand	Arms	A › Strong	PvE	Solar	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Caliban's Hand	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Solar	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Your Proximity Knife scorches targets it damages with its explosions, or ignites targets on a direct hit. After throwing a Proximity Knife, you gain increased melee regeneration until the knife explodes." ► Caliban's Hand is the go-to option to reliably cause ignitions on Hunter. A simple throwing knife kill can result in a huge explosion, clearing areas incredibly quickly. However, this exotic struggles in harder content as the knife can't actually one-hit kill targets anymore, and the ignition isn't potent enough to warrant going through the hassle of priming a target.	Hunter
Cyrtarachne's Facade	Helm	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Strand	Lost Sectors	Lightfall	Cyrtarachne's Facade	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Strand	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Gain Woven Mail when activating grapple. Increased flinch resistance while Woven Mail is active." ► Cyrtarachne's Facade is probably the easiest way to get Woven Mail in the entire game. All you have to do is use your Grapple, and you'll get 10 seconds of Woven Mail, a 58% damage resistance buff. Using this in general play can massively boost the survivability of Threadrunner and make it a viable pick in harder content.	Hunter

These are the different Tier levels used for our list:

S Tier – Best: Highest ranking Exotics in our Tier List.
A Tier – Strong: Very strong Exotics, but not on the same level as S Tier Choices.
B Tier – Average: Decent choices that can be lethal in the hands of a skilled player.
C Tier – Weak: The middle of the pack, somewhat mediocre.
D Tier – Worst: Lagging behind the competition, these don’t have much to offer.

Swaps: You’ll see a couple of armor pieces ranked as “Swap“. Swap refers to those armor pieces that are generally not great but can be excellent in very specific situations, namely when using your Super. For that reason, these deserve a different ranking as they still have a place in your loadout.

All Hunter Exotics: The rest of the best

This database includes all Hunter Exotics available in Destiny 2:

Name	Type	Rank	Excels	Subclass	Source	Requirements	Armor	Tier rank	Subclass?	Final Verdict	Class
Athrys's Embrace	Arms	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Solar	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Athrys's Embrace	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Solar	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Weighted Knife gains a second bounce. Rapid precision hits with your weapons grant Weighted Knife a significant damage bonus, bonus strength, and the ability to stun unshielded combatants for a short time. Empowered Weighted Knife is strong against Unstoppable Champions." ► Athrys's Embrace is a strong pick for those wanting to land some cheesy kills with their Weighted Knife. This combo has only gotten stronger with the addition of the Knock 'em Down aspect, which allows you to get your knife back on any kill, letting you chain one-hit kill knives.	Hunter
Gemini Jester	Legs	B › Average	PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Gemini Jester	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Dodging disorients nearby enemies and temporarily removes their radar." ► Gemini Jester is a super annoying exotic to play against in PvP. When paired with the Vanishing Step aspect on Nightstalker, you can easily get the drop on many people. Gemini Jester also disables the opponent's radar temporarily, and given how strong radar is in PvP, Gemini Jester can be an invaluable tool.	Hunter
Khepri's Sting	Arms	B › Average	PvP	Void	Exotic Engrams	Forsaken Pack	Khepri's Sting	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvP	Void	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Punching someone with full melee energy will instantly cast Smoke Bomb. Gain Truesight while in your own Smoke Bomb effect. Your smoke bombs deal increased damage." ► Khepri's Sting is an average exotic right now. While it can be used to great effect in game modes like Trials of Osiris thans to its ability to grant Truesight, it really isn't as powerful as some players make it out to be. This Exotic is hardly ever used as there are usually more powerful options at your disposal.	Hunter
Liar's Handshake	Arms	B › Average	PvE	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Forsaken Pack	Liar's Handshake	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Using your Arc melee ability or being hit by a melee attack will allow you to follow up with an extremely powerful melee counterpunch that will heal you." ► Liar's Handshake can deal absurd damage to high-health enemies once you get Combination Blow up to maximum stacks. However, using this build may be slightly risky in endgame content because it focuses on meleeing, which is always dangerous.	Hunter
Mechaneer's Tricksleeves	Arms	B › Average	PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Mechaneer's Tricksleeves	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Increases Sidearm ready and reload speed. While you're critically wounded, swapping to a Sidearm increases its damage." ► Mechaneer's Tricksleeves remains a solid pick, as Sidearms are quite capable in PvP. However, other weapon types currerntly beat Sidearms, meaning that Mechaneer's are not as easy to recommend as before.	Hunter
Shinobu's Vow	Arms	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Shinobu's Vow	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Improves Skip Grenade, and you gain an additional Skip Grenade charge. Skip Grenade returns energy when it damages enemies." ► Shinobu's Vow is the exotic for Arcstriders who are tired of meleeing. They are the core component of many decent grenade-based builds and can be used successfully in difficult content. That said, they are not strong enough to be considered a top-tier option as much stronger builds requiring other Exotics exist.	Hunter
The Sixth Coyote	Chest	B › Average	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Forsaken Pack	The Sixth Coyote	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Gain a second dodge charge." ► The Sixth Coyote can be used with Strand to gain two suspending dives, but given the nerfs to Suspend, this build isn't as powerful as it used to be. While Sixth Coyote is still decent with the right build, there are simply more powerful builds that do more in all types of content.	Hunter
Wormhusk Crown	Helm	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Wormhusk Crown	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "We strive to know infinity, and sharpen our minds on the whetstone of the impossible." ► A comfort exotic, Wormhusk Crown is a solid backup option for any Hunter that doesn't really know what Exotic to use. +67hp on dodge is indeed very powerful in PvP. However, it has slightly fallen off due to the vast number of more accessible survivability options right now.	Hunter
Speedloader Slacks	Legs	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Lightfall	Speedloader Slacks	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Dodging boosts reload speed, handling, and airborne effectiveness for you and nearby allies. While the buff is active, final blows and additional dodges increase the buff strength and refresh the timer. Maxes out at 5 stacks." ► Speedloader Slacks is an interesting pick. Similar to The Dragon's Shadow in functionality, they provide a weaker buff with the tradeoff of allowing you to retain the buff more easily. However, the buff they provide is somewhat meaningless as Warlocks can just use Lunafaction Boots instead, and Hunters can use a more effective DPS-enhancing exotic.	Hunter
Mothkeeper's Wraps	Arms	B › Average	PvE	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Season 22	Mothkeeper's Wraps	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Your grenade becomes a cage of loyal moths that release on impact and fly toward the nearest target or ally. If they reach a target, they detonate in a blinding explosion; if they reach an ally, the moths grant your ally a Void overshield." ► Mothkeeper's Wraps are incredibly unique but not that powerful. They can help with some survivability as they give an overshield, but in higher-level content, this overshield will just be destroyed instantly. There is a fun interaction with Ex Diris, though, which is interesting and fun.	Hunter
Oathkeeper	Arms	C › Weak	-	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Forsaken Pack	Oathkeeper	Weak ❘ C	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Bow charges can be held indefinitely. Gain a bonus to the Bow's damage when released, based on how long the charge was held. Provides a moderate benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of Bows." ► Oathkeepers are interesting but not too powerful. Their rework made them boost the damage of bows depending on how long the bow charge was held. Unfortunately, this doesn't really increase the DPS of some of the top bows such as Leviathan's Breath, resulting in a quite useless Exotic in the end.	Hunter
Ophidia Spathe	Chest	C › Weak	-	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Ophidia Spathe	Weak ❘ C	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Grants two knives per charge." ► Ophidia Spathe doesn't have much purpose these days, with the Knock 'em Down aspect being so prevalent. If you can fully recharge your throwing knife on a kill, why waste a valuable exotic slot on another throwing knife?	Hunter
Shards of Galanor	Arms	C › Weak	-	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Forsaken Pack	Shards of Galanor	Weak ❘ C	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Hits and kills with Blade Barrage will return Super energy after the Super ends." ► Shards of Galanor are a decent option, and with the resurgence of Blade Barrage with Solar 3.0, it is unsurprising to see them used more. However, other options like Star-Eater Scales are used much more as they bring a more noticeable effect. The super regeneration is okay, but it doesn't transform Blade Barrage.	Hunter
Raiju's Harness	Chest	C › Weak	PvP	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Shadowkeep	Raiju's Harness	Weak ❘ C Excels in: PvP	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: " In Super, deactivate Arc Staff early to create a blinding explosion and gain a temporary boost to Arc weapon damage. Arc Staff consumes energy more slowly when not attacking." ► Raiju's Harness is a powerful exotic for a powerful super. Arc Staff's ability to deflect is one of the strongest abilities on a super, and making this feature last for much longer is always a plus. On top of this, being able to cancel your super early adds even more versatility to the super.	Hunter
Sealed Ahamkara Grasps	Arms	C › Weak	-	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Sealed Ahamkara Grasps	Weak ❘ C	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Dealing melee damage reloads your currently equipped weapon. Charged melee final blows reload all weapons. Provides a large benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons, and movement speed and jump height after dealing melee damage." ► Sealed Ahamkara Grasps improved a tad when they received a couple more functionalities to improve general mobility and reload, but they are still underwhelming. There are better choices you can go for.	Hunter
The Bombardiers	Legs	C › Weak	-	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Shadowkeep	The Bombardiers	Weak ❘ C	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Dodging leaves behind an explosive that detonates after a short delay, damaging targets around it and creating a secondary effect based on your subclass energy type: Arc Blinds, Solar Burns, Void Suppresses and Stasis Slows targets." ► The Bombardiers are an incredibly niche pick that can synergize nicely with some builds and can see success in PvP, but they are certainly more of a 'fun' option than a viable one, as there are simply better and more consistent options.	Hunter
Triton Vice	Arms	C › Weak	-	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Lightfall	Triton Vice	Weak ❘ C	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Increases Glaive reload speed and melee damage when surrounded. Glaive melee final blows overflow a round to the magazine. Glaive projectile final blows detonate if the Glaive deals damage matching your subclass type." ► Outside of perhaps one or two niche situations, Triton Vice, on the whole, is quite useless. That being said, if Glaives ever become a top pick, Triton Vice will surely become a stronger option naturally.	Hunter
Gwisin Vest	Chest	D › Worst	-	Void	Exotic Engrams	Forsaken Pack	Gwisin Vest	Worst ❘ D	Void	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Each Spectral Blades kill you make before going into stealth will restore more of your Super energy." ► Gwisin Vest has fallen far from its glory days. This is not only because it has been massively nerfed but mainly because Spectral Blades is a pretty poor super in PvP right now. Committing a lackluster exotic to a mediocre at best super isn't wise, especially when there are better options.	Hunter
Lucky Raspberry	Chest	D › Worst	-	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Lucky Raspberry	Worst ❘ D	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Increases the chaining capabilities of Arcbolt Grenades. Damaging enemies with Jolt lightning strikes and collecting Ionic Traces both grant additional Arcbolt Grenade energy. Arcbolt Grenades stun [Disruption] Overload Champions and delay their health regeneration." ► Arcbolt Grenades. Lucky Raspberry was changed to be less luck-dependent and more of a sure bet, but it's still a bit of a pointless exotic. It lets your Arcbolt Grenade chain an additional time, but this doesn't do much as spamming your grenade is hardly your best strategy. There are simply much more powerful Arc builds out there.	Hunter
Blight Ranger	Helm	D › Worst	-	Arc	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Blight Ranger	Worst ❘ D	Arc	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Attacks you redirect with your Arc Staff deal massively increased damage and generate Orbs of Power for your allies." ► Blight Ranger is a bit of a joke of an exotic right now. The 'massively increased' damage from the exotic perk is laughable as you still deal negligible damage, and the only purpose this exotic serves is to build a good fashion set.	Hunter
Raiden Flux	Chest	Swap	PvE	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Raiden Flux	Swap Excels in: PvE	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Quick successive attacks with Arc Staff increase its damage output and duration." ► Raiden Flux has been the go-to exotic for Arc Staff Hunters in PvE since its launch, as it increases the damage and duration of the super. This makes Arc Staff one of the strongest add clear supers in the game, and when Synapse Junctions reaches maximum stacks, you can take down high-health targets very quickly.	Hunter

More Destiny 2 Exotic Armor Tier lists:

Best Destiny 2 Hunter Exotic armor this Season

This section not only covers the top Exotic armor pieces for Hunter currently in the game, but it also tells you where you can find them. On top of being top-tier options for PvE and PvP, some of them look great. So much so, that they are often seen in Destiny 2 fashion contests.

Overall, these are our Top 10 favorite Hunter Exotics for PvE and PvP.

Cyrtarachne’s Facade Hunter Exotic Destiny 2

10. Cyrtarachne’s Facade

Excels in PVE and PVP

Crytarachne’s Facade is a pretty simple exotic for how hard it is to say. This Exotic Helmet gives Woven Mail upon using your Grapple grenade, making it arguably the easiest and most accessible method of obtaining the Woven Mail buff (a 58% damage resistance buff).

Threadrunner can struggle with survivability sometimes. There aren’t many defensive options or natural ways to obtain Woven Mail. This makes Cyrtarachne’s Facade quite a high-value pick in the eyes of many Hunters.

Cyrtarachne’s can also be easily thrown into any Strand Hunter setup, so long as it uses Grapple as its grenade of choice. It also works nicely with any Aspect and even synergises well with the Whirling Maelstrom Aspect with the Thread of Transmutation Fragment.

How to get it: Cyrtarachne’s Facade can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Forces.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Cyrtarachne's Facade	Hunter	Helm	Lightfall	Lost Sectors	Season 20	Lightfall	Exotic Perk: "Gain Woven Mail when activating grapple. Increased flinch resistance while Woven Mail is active."

9. Radiant Dance Machines

Excels in PVE

Radiant Dance Machines have had a recent surge in relevance in many high-end Hunter DPS rotations. Their perk, Multi-Dodge, allows you to constantly reload your weapon by granting you infinite Marksman Dodges for a short duration. This is especially powerful in the current meta, as Rocket Launchers are very strong right now.

Outside of this, there isn’t much of a use for Radiant Dance Machines, so they are very meta-dependant. If the meta ever enters a period where weapons with larger magazines are best, Radiant Dance Machines will decrease drastically in value. However, right now, they are a pretty fantastic pick for DPS.

How to get it: Radiant Dance Machines can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Forces.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Radiant Dance Machines	Hunter	Legs	Beyond Light	Lost Sectors	Season 15	Beyond Light	Exotic Perk: "Activating your dodge ability while near targets allows you to dodge additional times for a short period. Defeating targets extends the duration of the additional dodge."

8. Aeon Swift

Excels in PVE

Aeon Swift is a very powerful exotic. It can help you bypass the ammo economy and the RNG that comes with it by simply performing a finisher on a yellow-bar enemy. This obvious strength is notable. However, given the prevalence of ability damage and Special weapon DPS, Aeon’s aren’t exactly a necessity unless you are fully trying to optimize your runs.

The Aeon suite of exotics are also rather one-dimensional. The other two ‘sect’ choices are pretty lackluster and force you into running Sect of Insight. Furthermore, the player using the Aeon exotic does not receive the heavy or special ammo drops that come with the exotic.

Despite the downsides, the Aeon exotic armor pieces are very good at what they do and are never a bad pick in a Grandmaster Nightfall.

How to get it: Aeon Swift can be acquired via Exotic engrams, Xûr, or farming Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Aeon Swift	Hunter	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 2	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Aeon Exotics have an additional mod socket which is used for Aeon Cult mods."

7. Renewal Grasps

Excels in PVE

Renewal Grasps have been on a bit of an adventure regarding their viability. They were incredibly broken in PvE and PvP, then they were nerfed pretty hard, and now they’re back, granting incredible CC and damage resistance for your team.

Renewal Grasps increase the size of your Duskfield Grenade, and this rise in size stacks with Touch of Winter’s size, too, letting you hurl mini blizzards at the enemy.

Renewal Grasps are honestly held back by how weak the rest of Revenant Hunter’s kit is and how weak Stasis is compared to other options. Still, Renewal Grasps makes the subclass somewhat endgame viable, which is a testament to their strength.

How to get it: Renewal Grasps can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Forces.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Renewal Grasps	Hunter	Arms	The Witch Queen	Lost Sectors	Season 16	The Witch Queen	Exotic Perk: "Your Duskfield grenades have a much larger effect radius. Allies inside the Duskfield take reduced damage and targets inside the area deal reduced damage."

6. Lucky Pants

Excels in PVE

Lucky Pants are situational, but in their niche, little can match a Hunter with Malfeasance and Lucky Pants outside of burning through Heavy Ammo.

Lucky Pants force players into using a Hand Cannon, and most players will opt to use either Malfeasance with its exotic catalyst or Eriana’s Vow. Eriana’s is a decent option, but Malfeasance is the true star of the show when it comes to Lucky Pants, as the amount of burst damage possible from this weapon is ridiculous. In fact, some players have defeated the Root of Nightmares Raid Boss, Nezarec, using a strategy that involves the brief use of the Malfeasance Lucky Pants loadout.

This deadly duo can be used in an extended DPS rotation; however, most bosses in Destiny will die before you can even get a full rotation of Lucky Pants Malfeasance and Rockets out. This loadout also suffers from the prominence of double Special Weapon loadouts due to their interactions with Heavy Ammo drops. However, running this exotic combo in a high-level Nightfall or Lost Sector is a viable strategy.

How to get it: Lucky Pants can be acquired via Exotic engrams, Xûr, or farming Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Lucky Pants	Hunter	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "When you ready a fully loaded Hand Cannon that deals kinetic damage or a damage type that matches your subclass energy type, each hit from that Hand Cannon increases the damage of the next shot for a short time against a combatant. Hand Cannons ready faster and are more accurate immediately after swapping to them."

5. Foetracer

Excels in PVE

Foetracer was recently reworked with the release of Season of the Witch, and it has made serious waves in the community, cementing itself as the go-to subclass agnostic neutral-game exotic. It provides a general buff to your weapon damage by using your abilities and can also be used in a DPS phase to slightly boost your damage.

Foetracer also works nicely in many builds, especially on Strand Hunter, as it generates an elemental pickup when defeating an enemy with a weapon that matches your subclass, making it great with a simple Whirling Maelstrom Quicksilver Storm build. Foetracer is an exotic to be reckoned with and is definitely one you should consider.

How to get it: Foetracer can be acquired via Exotic engrams, Xûr, or farming Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Foetracer	Hunter	Helm	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams	Season 1	Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Damaging a powerful combatant or Guardian with an ability grants you a temporary bonus to weapon damage matching your subclass type. Defeating that target with a weapon matching the damage type of your subclass creates an elemental pickup."

4. Assassin’s Cowl

Excels in PVE

Assassin’s Cowl can turn you into an unkillable, death-dealing machine with the right build. Viable on every single subclass, Assassin’s Cowl gives you invisibility and healing on any powered melee kill.

With the changes to build crafting that came with Lightfall, Orbs of Power are the main focus, and thankfully, you can generate these constantly with the right setup. When combined with certain mods, you can continuously pump out orbs for your entire Fireteam while also getting your Super back every minute. The potential this Exotic has to offer cannot be overstated.

We have two builds detailing how to take Assassin’s Cowl to the next level on Solar and Arc subclasses with these top-tier Hunter Builds.

How to get it: Assassin’s Cowl can be acquired via Exotic engrams, Xûr, or farming Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Assassin's Cowl	Hunter	Helm	Shadowkeep	Exotic Engrams	Season 8	Shadowkeep	Exotic Perk: "Powered melee final blows grant invisibility and restore a portion of health and shields. Finishers and final blows against more powerful targets increase the duration of the invisibility and the amount of health and shields."

3. Star-Eater Scales

Excels in PVE

Star-Eater Scales is a fantastic option for any Hunter looking to top the damage charts in boss fights. Given how strong some setups can be on other classes, like Starfire Fusion Grenade Warlock, Hunters can often be overlooked. However, with Star-Eaters, this all changes.

Star-Eater Scales provide a 70% damage buff to your Super at maximum stacks. This allows Hunter’s already high base damage Supers to rocket into nearly 1 million damage numbers with specific options such as Gathering Storm, Blade Barrage, or Silkstrike.

The amount of burst damage Hunters can put out is unparalleled right now, and Star-Eaters is a big reason for this. We have two builds with Star-Eater Scales on how to really become the DPS master of your Fireteam and top the charts every single time.

How to get it: NAME can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors or Vex Strike Forces.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Star-Eater Scales	Hunter	Legs	Beyond Light	Lost Sectors	Season 14	Beyond Light	Exotic Perk: "You gain additional Super energy from Orbs of Power you pick up. While your Super energy is full, picking up an Orb of Power overcharges your Super, causing you to gain a burst of healing when cast and a bonus to your Super damage. At maximum overcharge, you also gain an overshield."

2. Omnioculus

Excels in PVE and PVP

Omnioculus remains arguably the best support exotic in the game. Keeping your entire team invisible forever is not something to scoff at, and the resistance that comes with the exotic is second to none.

In PvE, Omnioculus brings Nightstalker to a new level, and in Grandmaster content, playing Nightstalker and not running Omnioculus is just hindering yourself (with the exception of Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk). Omnioculus does so much for your team that it can be tough to pass up.

We have a build detailing the ‘anchor’ playstyle that you can master with Omnioculus. By mastering this playstyle, you can technically carry anyone through the most challenging content in the game as you can keep your entire team safe or secure revives in even the most dangerous situations.

How to get it: Omnioculus can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Omnioculus	Hunter	Chest	Beyond Light	Lost Sectors	Season 13	Beyond Light	Exotic Perk: "You gain a second Smoke Bomb charge and have damage resistance while invisible. When you make an ally invisible, they gain damage resistance while invisible and you gain melee energy."

1. Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk

Best PvE Hunter Exotic in Destiny 2

The Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk got a change early into Season 19, which reworked it to provide Volatile Rounds whenever you leave invisibility. This may sound like a nerf at first. However, the build-crafting potential that permanent Volatile Rounds provide is second to none. Combining this exotic with the Stylish Executioner fragment and a Repulsor Brace weapon makes you near unkillable as you’ll be mowing through ads like no tomorrow.

Another benefit of Gyrfalcon is the sheer ease of use of the exotic. With how simple the exotic perk is, it almost feels as if Gyrfalcon is a build on its own, but when paired with Lightfall’s mod system, you can take any build with Gyrfalcon to the next level. We have a build detailing how to get the most out of the exotic in our Top Hunter Builds post.

How to get it: Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Gyrfalcon's Hauberk	Hunter	Chest	The Witch Queen	Lost Sectors	Season 18	The Witch Queen	Exotic Perk: "Your weapons gain a bonus to damage briefly after you emerge from being invisible. When you are invisible and defeat a combatant using a finisher, you and your nearby allies gain a reserve overshield and improved class ability regen. These reserve overshields can be deployed by using a class ability."

Destiny 2 Hunter Exotics sources: How to get them

Unlike Exotic weapons, finding Exotic armor is a straightforward affair. This is not to say it’s easy to farm for specific armor pieces. It, unfortunately, isn’t. To be fair, if you’re starting out and just want to find as many different exotics as possible, it can be done. Things become difficult when you are looking for good rolls of armor.

Exotic Engrams

Most Exotic armor can be found within Exotic Engrams: These can be found in the Season pass, they are sold by Xur and can also drop randomly at any time. There isn’t much more to say about Exotic engrams, only that they have a higher chance to drop from end-game activities. If collecting exotics is your priority, Nightfall: The Ordeals are for you. And the higher the difficulty, the higher the chance to get one.

Exotic Armor focusing

Some Exotic engrams won’t automatically decrypt when found. These can be taken to the Tower and can be decrypted into exactly the Exotic you want (it will cost you, though). We cover Exotic armor focusing in detail here.

Lost Sector farming

If you’re looking for new Exotic armor, those can be farmed by completing Legend and Master Lost Sectors solo on specific days (Lost Sector rewards are on a daily rotation, one day will reward Legs pieces, the next day only Arms pieces, etc). You can read more about how to farm Legend and Master Lost Sectors here.

Vex Strike Force Public event

Another option is to participate in Vex Strike Forces, which are unique (and very challenging) Public events that randomly occur in Neomuna. These can drop up to three Exotic armor pieces per completion!

See latest Updates

We keep our content up to date! These are the latest changes made to this guide:

October 9, 2023: General updates based on recent buffs/nerfs to underused Exotics, plus, inclusion of Seasons 22 Exotics.
July 17, 2023: General updates and the inclusion of Seasons 21 Exotics.
March 24, 2023: Inclusion of Lightfall Exotics.
November 24, 2023: General updates based on the current meta and the inclusion of Year 4 (The Witch Queen) Exotics.
February 28, 2022: The guide is published for the first time.

Stay tuned, and don’t forget to bookmark this page for next season!

About The Author

Matthew Evans

I've been hooked on Destiny 2 for years now... I've racked up countless hours and plenty of experience, which I hope to share with Blueberries who want to get involved with Destiny. You can find Matthew on Twitter.

1 Comment

123 on July 28, 2023 at 8:53 pm

Very useful guilde and site overall for starting players, but i cant find same list for other classes. And also there is no link to this page at your starting web page, cant even remember how i found this page to try find other classes lists like this.
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Best Hunter Exotics in Destiny 2: Tier List Ranking