Best Warlock exotics in Destiny 2: Season 20 Tier List Ranking

Exotic armor is a truly unique and essential 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 that 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 Warlock Exotic in Destiny 2. We’ll rank them from best to worst, and explain how to use them for maximum lethality.

Updated as of Season of Defiance (S20).

Destiny 2 Warlock Exotics Tier list

The Tier list below includes every Warlock Exotic armor piece in the game. It starts with the S Tier weapons and moves down from there:

Name	Type	Rank	Excels	Subclass	Source	Requirements	Armor	Tier rank	Subclass?	Final Verdict	Class
Boots of the Assembler	Legs	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Boots of the Assembler	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Standing in a healing rift creates Noble Seekers that seek out allies that are not in a rift and heal them. Noble Seekers from Empowering rift grant both you and your ally a damage bonus. Each time a Noble Seeker finds one of your allies, the duration of your rift is briefly extended." ► Best used with Child of the Old Gods or Arc Soul Aspects. This exotic can grant a powerful healing effect or damage buff to your allies, depending on your rift choice. If you add on the Child of the Old Gods Aspect, your rift will also grant you tons of ability energy, health, and even the ability to weaken combatants around you.	Warlock
Lunafaction Boots	Legs	S › Best	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Lunafaction Boots	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Your Rifts gain the additional ability to increase weapon reload speeds. Empowering Rift makes weapons effective over longer ranges." ► Best used with Well of Radiance. This exotic is so good that it is difficult to find a raid group that doesn't have a member of their team wearing them. They work with Well of Radiance, which means you can place it down to grant your team healing, bonus weapon damage, and now max reload speed as well.	Warlock
Ophidian Aspect	Arms	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Ophidian Aspect	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Weapons ready and reload very quickly. Melee range is extended." ► Ophidian Aspect sees most of its usage in PvP, but it's also not a bad option for PvE. The buffs they give are always active, and they're extremely noticeable, making them a great pick if you have nothing else to run.	Warlock
Phoenix Protocol	Chest	A › Strong	PvE	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Phoenix Protocol	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Kills and assists you make while standing in your Well of Radiance return Super energy." ► Best used with Well of Radiance. Giving you more uptime with one of the strongest supers in the game, Phoenix Protocol is a simple but powerful exotic that excels in any PVE activity.	Warlock
Starfire Protocol	Chest	S › Best	PvE	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Starfire Protocol	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Fusion Grenades have an additional charge and recharge from empowered weapon damage. Fusion Grenade kills grant Rift energy." ► Best used with Well of Radiance and the Touch of Flame Aspect. Fusion grenades are extremely powerful at their base, but with Starfire Protocol and Touch of Flame, this becomes one of the best builds in the game right now. For a complete build to make this as potent as possible, check out our Top Warlock Builds guide.	Warlock
Transversive Steps	Legs	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Transversive Steps	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Sprint speed increased. After a short time sprinting, your currently equipped weapon is automatically reloaded." ► The movement speed buff that Tranversive Steps gives is super potent, and the reload ability can be useful at times. If you are looking for a great neutral exotic to run in any activity, this exotic is one of the best options out there.	Warlock
Rain of Fire	Legs	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Solar	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Rain of Fire	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Solar	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Air dodge reloads all of your weapons and improves the airborne effectiveness of Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles; final blows with these weapons make you radiant." ► Best used with Vex Mythoclast. Providing a damage buff, free reloads, exceptional Solar 3.0 synergy and airborne effectiveness, Rain of Fire has nothing to dislike. To elevate this exotic to its max potential, check out our Top Warlock Builds!	Warlock
Mantle of Battle Harmony	Chest	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Mantle of Battle Harmony	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Takedowns with weapons that have a damage type matching your subclass element grant you Super energy. While your Super energy is full, you instead gain a temporary bonus to weapon damage of the type matching your subclass element." ► Mantle of Battle Harmony grants you super energy (or a damage bonus) just by killing enemies, making it a great part in any build. It does require a bit of planning prior to using it, but after figuring that out, this chest piece is very powerful. If you need some help figuring out a build to use with it, check out our Top Warlock Builds guide!	Warlock
Aeon Soul	Arms	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Aeon Soul	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." ► Best used with Shadebinder or Voidwalker. With the three mods you can choose from, Aeon Soul grants as much variety as it does power. While these gauntlets can easily excel in any team-based activity, they're best utilized on subclasses that don't have an excellent subclass-specific exotic.	Warlock
Felwinter's Helm	Helm	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Shadowkeep	Felwinter's Helm	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Powered melee final blows create a burst of energy that weakens nearby targets. Finishers and final blows against more powerful targets increase the radius of the burst and the length of the weakening effect." ► Best used with the Feed the Void Aspect. As long as you have something to keep you alive, like Devour, this exotic can debuff and blind any enemy in sight in PVE.	Warlock
Crown of Tempests	Helm	A › Strong	PvE	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Crown of Tempests	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Arc ability kills increase the recharge rate of your Arc abilities and extend the duration of Stormtrance." ► Best used with Spark of Shock, Delicate Tomb, or other Jolt-based perks. With Arc 3.0 now all over the place, Crown of Tempests has seen a jump in popularity. Whether you use Fallen Sunstar or this is really up to you, but both are extremely strong when used correctly.	Warlock
Contraverse Hold	Arms	A › Strong	PvE	Void	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Contraverse Hold	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Void	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Resist incoming damage while charging your Void grenade with Chaos Accelerant, Feed the Void, or Handheld Supernova. Charged Void grenades return an amount of grenade energy on a hit." ► Best used with Vortex Grenade and Echo of Undermining. The damage resistance while charging grenades is excellent, but the main focus of this exotic is the returned grenade energy. With all of the easy ways to get bonus damage and extra effects added to your grenade, Contraverse Hold is one of the best PvE exotics out right now.	Warlock
Karnstein Armlets	Arms	A › Strong	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Karnstein Armlets	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Melee kills instantly restore a large amount of health and continue to restore health afterwards for a short duration." ► Best used with projectile melees. Karnstein Armlets are extremely good for any solo PVE content and are even good in PVP. While it's incredible with any subclass or melee you choose, projectile melees are the best option because they make the exotic perk safer and easier to trigger.	Warlock
Nezarec's Sin	Helm	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Nezarec's Sin	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Void-damage kills increase ability energy recharge rate." ► Best used with Voidwalker. Nezarec's Sin works as long as you are doing void damage, regardless of where it comes from (abilities or weapons). It provides great regeneration to all of your abilities (including super), and excels even further with a Void subclass, making it a very strong option in PVE.	Warlock
Sunbracers	Arms	A › Strong	PvE	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Sunbracers	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Increases the duration of Solar Grenades. Solar melee kills grant unlimited Solar Grenade energy for a brief time." ► Best used with Touch of Flame and Heat Rises. Giving you tons of grenades, Sunbracers provides great ad clear. Plus, it has great synergy with Dawnblade's Aspects and Fragments, making it a great option for any low-mid level PVE activity. For a full build, check out our Top Warlock Builds guide!	Warlock
The Stag	Helm	A › Strong	-	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	The Stag	Strong ❘ A	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Your Rift provides damage reduction to allied Guardians standing in it. Grants Rift energy when you are critically wounded. On your death, creates a healing rift on your corpse." ► An excellent option in PvP, The Stag gives you a free rift reasonably frequently. That said, it isn't anything extraordinary in PVE, and options like Ophidian Aspect will still beat this helmet out.	Warlock
Osmiomancy Gloves	Arms	S › Best	PvE + PvP	Stasis	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Osmiomancy Gloves	Best ❘ S Excels in: PvE + PvP	Stasis	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Your Coldsnap grenades have an additional charge that recharges quicker on direct impact. The seeker spawned from Coldsnap grenades travels further." ► Best used with Bleak Watcher. Even though Coldsnap Grenades aren't currently very good, being able to have two stasis turrets at a time (using Bleak Watcher) makes this exotic an exceptional choice in harder PVE content. And with the ability to constantly freeze opponents in PVP, the Osmiomancy Gloves are one of the best picks in the game.	Warlock
Fallen Sunstar	Helm	A › Strong	PvE	Arc	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Fallen Sunstar	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Arc	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Ionic traces you create move faster and grant you additional ability energy. Nearby allies also gain ability energy when you collect an ionic trace." ► Best used with Electrostatic Mind in a team-based activity. Crown of Tempests finally has some competition in the form of Season 18's exotic, Fallen Sunstar. Both are very strong and can give absurd amounts of ability energy, but what you use depends on what activity you're running.	Warlock
Dawn Chorus	Helm	B › Average	PvE	Solar	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Dawn Chorus	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE	Solar	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Your Daybreak projectiles cause targets to burn on contact and deal more damage to them. All of your burn effects last longer, and you gain a small amount of melee energy each time one of your burns damage a target." ► Best used with Ember of Combustion and Ember of Beams. The part of Dawn Chorus's perk that affects you outside of super isn't that useful as combatants usually die too quickly to be burned for a significant amount of time. Despite this, it noticeably buffs the Dawnblade super, making it an average exotic.	Warlock
Necrotic Grip	Arms	B › Average	PvE	Neutral	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Necrotic Grip	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Damaging combatants envenoms them with poison that deals increasing damage over time. Defeating a poisoned combatant spreads the condition to nearby targets." ► Best used with projectile melees and Thorn. Necrotic Grip gives great ad clear in easier PVE content, but has little to no place in PVP or harder PVE activities. Projectile melees make this exotic's perk significantly easier to proc, but it still is usually used just for fun.	Warlock
Nothing Manacles	Arms	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Void	Lost Sectors	Beyond Light	Nothing Manacles	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Void	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "You gain an additional Scatter Grenade charge. Enables tracking for Scatter Grenade projectiles." ► Best used with Echo of Undermining and the Chaos Accelerant Aspect. Before Void 3.0, when you could use Handheld Supernova with any grenade, this exotic was great. However, now that Supernova can't be used with Scatter Grenade, this exotic feels like a worse version of Contraverse Hold.	Warlock
Astrocyte Verse	Helm	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Void	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Astrocyte Verse	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Void	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Blink further and more frequently. Weapon readies quickly out of Blink and Radar remains up." ► This exotic makes Blink significantly more user-friendly and is a great option to run while having fun on Voidwalker. Despite this, using Blink usually isn't worth the hassle, and most people settle for a different jump ability and exotic.	Warlock
Claws of Ahamkara	Arms	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Claws of Ahamkara	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Gain an additional melee charge." ► Best used with projectile melees. While on a subclass with a strong melee ability, this exotic is pretty good. Despite that, this usually doesn't see too much use, as there are more powerful options out there.	Warlock
Eye of Another World	Helm	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Eye of Another World	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Highlights priority targets and improves the regeneration speed of your grenade, melee, and Rift abilities." ► Best used with Shadebinder. Because of how powerful the base abilities of Shadebinder are, Eye of Another World's ability regeneration is extremely potent here. If you have nothing else to use, this is a great passive armor piece to choose; however, most of the time, something more powerful can easily replace it.	Warlock
Getaway Artist	Arms	B › Average	PvE + PvP	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Getaway Artist	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE + PvP	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Convert your Arc Grenade into a supercharged Arc Soul. The Arc Soul functions as an autonomous turret." ► With Season of the Plunder and Arc 3.0, both Getaway Artist and base Arc Souls got a buff. While they still aren't overpowered, pairing the aspect, exotic, and a Demolitionist weapon can produce a fun combo in any activity.	Warlock
Verity's Brow	Arms	A › Strong	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Verity's Brow	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Weapon final blows with a damage type matching your subclass energy grant Death Throes, which provides a grenade damage bonus and grants you grenade energy. When you have Death Throes and throw a grenade, nearby allies gain greatly increased grenade regeneration for a short time." ► Verity's Brow takes what Starfire Protocol and Sunbracers do but applies it to all grenades in the game. While it can be hard to keep it up 24/7, the buff Verity's gives is very substantial and can be great for builds.	Warlock
Secant Filaments	Legs	B › Average	PvE	Void	Lost Sectors	The Witch Queen	Secant Filaments	Average ❘ B Excels in: PvE	Void	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Casting an empowering rift will grant you Devour. Damage dealt by you and your allies from within your empowering rift will disrupt combatants." ► Best used with Voidwalker. While on Voidwalker, this exotic allows your Empowering Rift to also grant you Devour, which can be very helpful while trying to survive in harder content. In addition, giving you and your allies the ability to stun Overload Champions with any weapon allows for a wider range of weapons to be used in some activities.	Warlock
Sanguine Alchemy	Chest	C › Weak	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Sanguine Alchemy	Weak ❘ C Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Weapon kills while standing in any rift pause the rift's countdown, extending its duration. Further kills maintain and extend the length of the pause." ► While highly effective at what it is supposed to do, being locked to one position to kill people in is never a good (or fun) idea.	Warlock
Stormdancer's Brace	Chest	C › Weak	PvE	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Shadowkeep	Stormdancer's Brace	Weak ❘ C Excels in: PvE	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Each target you defeat with Stormtrance increases the damage you deal with it and refunds Super energy when Stormtrance ends." ► While the damage buff you receive from Stormdancer's Brace is substantial, Stormcaller just isn't meant to be a boss damage super. Plus, with Arc 3.0, Getaway Artist, Crown of Tempests, and Fallen Sunstar are tough to beat with their constant uptime and potent effects.	Warlock
Winter's Guile	Arms	C › Weak	PvE	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Winter's Guile	Weak ❘ C Excels in: PvE	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Eliminating enemies with melee attacks increases your melee damage." ► Best used with a One-Two Punch shotgun. When stacking the buff all the way up to x5 and using a shotgun with One-Two Punch on it, Winter's Guile can deal some pretty good damage. Despite that, it is extremely hard to get to five stacks of the buff and generally isn't worth running into melee range and risking your life for.	Warlock
Chromatic Fire	Chest	D › Worst	-	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Chromatic Fire	Worst ❘ D	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Precision final blows with your Kinetic weapon create an explosion in the element of your subclass." ► Chromatic Fire used to be alright, as it allowed any kinetic weapon to make Warmind Cells with certain mods; however, now that Warmind Cells have been nerfed, it's nothing more than a fun option to run while doing easy content.	Warlock
Promethium Spur	Legs	D › Worst	-	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Shadowkeep	Promethium Spur	Worst ❘ D	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Defeating combatants or Guardians while Daybreak is active creates a healing and empowering rift at their location. While standing in any rift, [Solar] Solar weapon final blows grant Rift energy. When your Rift energy is full, final blows consume your Rift energy and create a healing and empowering rift at the target's location." ► Best used with Ember of Benevolence. While sounding cool on paper, these boots don't have a practical use in most areas of the game.	Warlock
Vesper of Radius	Chest	D › Worst	-	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Vesper of Radius	Worst ❘ D	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Rifts release an Arc shockwave when cast. Rift energy recharges faster when you are surrounded by enemies." ► To make Vesper of Radius work, you need to be in an extremely high-risk area, and you end up getting barely any reward. Unless these robes get changed in some way, this exotic is sadly not worth running in most activities.	Warlock
Wings of Sacred Dawn	Chest	D › Worst	-	Solar	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Wings of Sacred Dawn	Worst ❘ D	Solar	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "When Dawnblade is equipped, aiming weapons while you're midair suspends you there for a short time, improving airborne accuracy, reducing incoming flinch, and granting damage resistance. Weapon hits extend this effect's" ► Best used with Heat Rises and Icarus Dash. While Wings of Sacred Dawn is fun, locking yourself in place midair isn't the best choice and usually leads to your death.	Warlock
Apotheosis Veil	Helm	Swap	-	Neutral	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Apotheosis Veil	Swap	Neutral	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Immediately regenerate health, melee, grenade, and Rift energy upon activating your Super. Nearby allies recharge class abilities faster." ► Best used with Well of Radiance or Shadebinder. Giving your abilities back can be nice on some subclasses, but this exotic is very lackluster and is usually considered a swap exotic.	Warlock
Geomag Stabilizers	Legs	Swap	PvE + PvP	Arc	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Geomag Stabilizers	Swap Excels in: PvE + PvP	Arc	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Damaging targets with Chaos Reach extends its duration." ► Only extending your Super a slight amount, Geomag Stabilizers are usually just swapped to when Chaos Reach is ready to go.	Warlock
Skull of Dire Ahamkara	Helm	Swap	PvE	Void	Exotic Engrams	Free-to-Play	Skull of Dire Ahamkara	Swap Excels in: PvE	Void	Source: Exotic Engrams Exotic Perk: "Provides additional damage resistance during Nova Bomb. Nova Bomb kills grant Super energy." ► Because Nova Bomb usually isn't used as an ad clear super, this exotic sees little use. Those who do run it usually just swap to it once they get their super.	Warlock
Ballidorse Wrathweavers	Arms	Swap	PvE	Stasis	Lost Sectors	Lightfall	Ballidorse Wrathweavers	Swap Excels in: PvE	Stasis	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Your Winter's Wrath Shockwave deals increased shatter damage. Allies in range of your Shockwave gain an overshield and increased damage with Stasis weapons." ► Equivalent to Renewal Grasps on Hunter, the Ballidorse Wrathweavers are an exceptional support pick for Shadebinder. That said, they provide no benefit outside of Winter's Wrath, so swapping from Osmiomancy Gloves to these when you have your Super is the play.	Warlock
Swarmers	Legs	A › Strong	PvE	Strand	Lost Sectors	Lightfall	Swarmers	Strong ❘ A Excels in: PvE	Strand	Source: Legend/Master Lost Sectors Exotic Perk: "Destroying a Tangle spawns a Threadling. Your Threadlings unravel targets that they damage." ► Best used with Threadling Grenade. Swarmers takes the main focus of Broodweaver (Threadlings) and enhances it even more. From unraveling everything in sight to spawning more Threadlings via Tangles, Swarmers is a no-brainer for any Strand Warlock.	Warlock

These are the different Tier levels used for our list:

• S Tier – Best: Highest ranking weapons in our Tier List.
• A Tier – Strong: Very strong weapons, 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.

More Destiny 2 Exotic Armor Tier lists:

• Titan Exotics
• Hunter Exotics
• Lost Sector Exotics

Best Destiny 2 Warlock Exotic armor in 2022

This section not only covers the top Exotic armor pieces for Warlock 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 Warlock Exotics for PvE and PvP.

10. Mantle of Battle Harmony

Excels in PVP

Mantle gives tons of extra super energy and gives a damage buff once your super is full, two extremely valuable things. Plus, it works with any subclass element, making it even more powerful.

This exotic can be a little annoying to set up, but after matching your weapon and subclass elements, all you need to do is get kills to start seeing the effects.

Each kill will grant you super energy (with a cooldown of 3 seconds between kills), allowing you to get your most powerful ability before any of your opponents. In addition, once at full super energy, kills with your matching weapon instead grant a 20% damage increase for 10 seconds. This is useful in any activity and can stack with debuffs to enemies, increasing your damage even more.

Overall, this chestpiece gives you two of the most valuable things in the game for minimal cost. This makes it extremely powerful in both PVE and PVP, and extremely easy to craft builds around.

How to get it: Mantle of Battle Harmony can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Mantle of Battle Harmony	Warlock	Chest	Beyond Light	Lost Sectors	Season 13	Beyond Light	Exotic Perk: "Takedowns with weapons that have a damage type matching your subclass element grant you Super energy. While your Super energy is full, you instead gain a temporary bonus to weapon damage of the type matching your subclass element."

9. Rain of Fire

Excels in PVE and PVP

With Solar 3.0 synergy, auto-reloads, damage bonuses, and more, it’s not hard to see why Rain of Fire has taken the community by storm.

Regardless of whether or not you build into the rest of the perk, Rain of Fire starts by reloading all of your weapons instantly using Icarus Dash. Even with the intrinsic cooldown of five seconds between Icarus Dashes, this bonus is absurd, allowing you never to have to reload again manually.

Although, that’s only one-third of the perk! Equip a linear fusion rifle or fusion rifle, and Rain of Fire only shines brighter. If you get a kill with either of those weapon types, you become Radiant (a 25% damage bonus) instantaneously. The exotic also passively grants airborne effectiveness for those two weapon types, and it works with Vex Mythoclast (allowing for a crazy low TTK in The Crucible).

With all of that said, it’s probably already pretty clear as to why people love Rain of Fire. But, remember that Radiant is a Solar 3.0 buff, which means it synergizes perfectly with different Fragments and Aspects. If you’re looking to take advantage of these synergies, we have an exceptional Rain of Fire build you can check out in our Best Destiny 2 Warlock Builds article!
How to get it: Rain of Fire can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Rain of Fire	Warlock	Legs	The Witch Queen	Lost Sectors	Season 17	The Witch Queen	Exotic Perk: "Air dodge reloads all of your weapons and improves the airborne effectiveness of Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles; final blows with these weapons make you radiant."

8. Boots of the Assembler

Excels in PVP

These exotic boots provide your allies with your rift benefits on the run, making them a key piece of gear in any support player’s arsenal.

While running healing rift, you can stand in your rift to send out small healing orbs that automatically track nearby allies. Once they reach them, it will give them a bump in health to aid them in battle. This is great in PVP to keep your team alive, but is also good in PVE, allowing your fireteam to play more aggressively without a worry of death.

Rather, while running empowering rift, you send out small orbs that buff your teammates’ damage by 35% (20% in PVP), which is higher than supers like Well of Radiance or Ward of Dawn. This is once again a great buff in both PVE and PVP and is usually even more useful than its healing counterpart.

Overall, this is a great exotic that is simple to use and very powerful in both PVE and PVP. Any warlock who enjoys playing a support role while also not wanting to be restricted to Well of Radiance should have this in their kit.

How to get it: Boots of the Assembler can only via acquired via solo Legend/Master Lost Sectors.

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Boots of the Assembler	Warlock	Legs	Beyond Light	Lost Sectors	Season 14	Beyond Light	Exotic Perk: "Standing in a healing rift creates Noble Seekers that seek out allies that are not in a rift and heal them. Noble Seekers from Empowering rift grant both you and your ally a damage bonus. Each time a Noble Seeker finds one of your allies, the duration of your rift is briefly extended."

7. Verity’s Brow

 Excels in PVE

When you know how to use it, Verity’s Brow can be extremely potent in any PvE activity you play.

With its ability to buff both your grenade damage and recharge rate, Verity’s Brow is a great choice when you have nothing else to run. Sunbracers and Starfire Protocol will be more powerful if you’re running the grenades they require, but Verity’s is the play for any other grenade.

This helmet also works exceptionally well with the Armor Charge system, allowing you to generate numerous Orbs of Power with both Firepower and Harmonic Siphon.

While it may not be the flashiest exotic Warlock has, Verity’s Brow is a great neutral exotic for those that want to spec into grenades.

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

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Verity's Brow	Warlock	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams		Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Weapon final blows with a damage type matching your subclass energy grant Death Throes, which provides a grenade damage bonus and grants you grenade energy. When you have Death Throes and throw a grenade, nearby allies gain greatly increased grenade regeneration for a short time."

6. Swarmers

 Excels in PVE

New with Lightfall, Swarmers creates green fireworks everywhere, resulting in one of the best ad clear exotics in the game.

With Swarmers’ ability to generate Threadlings when destroying Tangles, you can spawn Threadlings with all your abilities. Plus, with a Hatchling weapon, almost anything you do will grant you some green helpers.

On top of that, all Threadlings you create now Unravel targets, which can then spread to other nearby enemies, providing even more ad clear capabilities.

Swarmers are the perfect boots for any Broodweaver wanting to take their gameplay to the next level. If you’re looking for a build that’ll help you master Swarmers with Broodweaver, this guide has you covered!

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

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Swarmers	Warlock	Legs	Lightfall	Lost Sectors	Season 20	Lightfall	Exotic Perk: "Destroying a Tangle spawns a Threadling. Your Threadlings unravel targets that they damage."

5. Ophidian Aspect

Excels in PVP

Ophidian Aspect provides a simplistic neutral buff to your gameplay, which makes it a great option to run if nothing else fits what you’re looking for.

These gauntlets improve your weapon ready speed (how quickly it takes to pull out your gun), reload speed, and melee range. All three of these are great buffs, especially in PVP, and you can feel all three of them working all the time.

This exotic is mainly used to help you get back into the fight quicker in Crucible, but can also be used in any PVE activity to give you basic passive stat buffs. Overall, Ophidians are great gauntlets that you can’t go wrong with.

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

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Ophidian Aspect	Warlock	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams		Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Weapons ready and reload very quickly. Melee range is extended."

4. Osmiomancy Gloves

Excels in PVP

Stasis abilities are all powerful at base, but what if you were able to use more of them? Osmiomancy Gloves answers this question in a way that makes it one of the best Exotic armor pieces in the game.

In PVE, you can utilize Bleak Watcher to convert the two Coldsnap Grenade charges into Stasis Turrets. These turrets last a reasonable amount of time and can quickly slow and freeze entire rooms of combatants in higher-level activities.

When stepping into the Crucible, these gloves can excel even further. Able to freeze groups of opposing Guardians with ease, having two Coldsnap Grenades in your pocket is extremely useful. Plus, when used correctly, you can gain some grenade energy back just by throwing them.

While Osmiomancy Gloves and Stasis haven’t been buffed in a while, they still seem to be on the rise. If you’re looking for a reliable option in mid-high level PVE or general Crucible, these gloves are for you.

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

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Osmiomancy Gloves	Warlock	Arms	The Witch Queen	Lost Sectors	Season 16	The Witch Queen	Exotic Perk: "Your Coldsnap grenades have an additional charge that recharges quicker on direct impact. The seeker spawned from Coldsnap grenades travels further."

3. Transversive Steps

Excels in PVP

Transversive Steps are the default exotic for most Warlocks. While they don’t do anything fancy, the buff they give is extremely valuable and passive, resulting in it being one of the best exotics to run when nothing else suits what you’re using.

These exotic legs do two simple things: make you move faster and reload your weapon after sprinting for a short time.

The movement speed buff is very substantial, allowing you to traverse any PVP map, jumping puzzle, or PVE activity quicker than ever before. In addition, the reload speed buff is a nice cherry on top, giving you one less thing to worry about.

While these boots can mainly be seen in PVP, you can also easily find use in them in PVE if nothing else fits the playstyle/subclass you are running. Transversive Steps are neutral and simplistic, but amazing at what they do, making them a great pick for any Warlock player.

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

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Transversive Steps	Warlock	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams		Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Sprint speed increased. After a short time sprinting, your currently equipped weapon is automatically reloaded."

2. Karnstein Armlets

Best PVP Warlock Exotic in Destiny 2

Karnstein Armlets are one of the most powerful exotics in the game, allowing you to get constant healing. While these gloves excel in PVP, they are also amazing in PVE and can keep you alive in moderately challenging content.

When you get a melee kill, you first instantaneously get a large bump in health (around 50-70% from what we’ve seen). In addition, you gain around 8 seconds of health regeneration afterwards. This health regeneration is extremely strong and even continues to work while you’re losing health.

In addition, these gauntlets work with projectile melee abilties, making the buff way easier to trigger from significantly further away.
Karnsteins can easily help you win a fight in Crucible, and can even keep you alive in PVE. Overall, these gauntlets are an amazing choice anywhere in the game and provide you with health regeneration that is unrivaled.

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

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Karnstein Armlets	Warlock	Arms	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams		Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Melee kills instantly restore a large amount of health and continue to restore health afterwards for a short duration."

1. Starfire Protocol

Best PVE Warlock Exotic in Destiny 2

Starfire Protocol has been the talk of the community ever since Bungie released Season of the Haunted, and for a good reason—it has the potential to be one of the best sustained-DPS options in the game.

Without any synergies, Starfire already has a perfect gameplay loop. Place down an Empowering Rift (or Well of Radiance) and shoot at enemies with your weapons until you get a Fusion Grenade. Throw it, and repeat. If your Fusion Grenade kills something, you instantly get your class ability back, allowing you to start this process again once your rift expires.

There are a couple of synergies that put this exotic above anything else. Firstly, the Touch of Flame Aspect causes Fusion Grenades to explode twice, making their damage even better. Additionally, you can use Witherhoard or Anarchy in a rift to regain your Fusion Grenades passively. If you master the setup’s gameplay loop, you can damage with Fusion Grenades, Anarchy/Witherhoard, and a heavy weapon simultaneously.

Starfire Protocol is one of the most potent exotics we’ve seen in Destiny’s history, and it’s a monster in PVE, even without a build surrounding it. However, if you want to check out some more synergies Starfire Protocol has with Dawnblade, check out our Best Destiny 2 Warlock Builds article!

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

Armor	Class	Type	Requirements	Source	Released	Requires	Exotic Perk
Lunafaction Boots	Warlock	Legs	Free-to-Play	Exotic Engrams		Free-to-Play	Exotic Perk: "Your Rifts gain the additional ability to increase weapon reload speeds. Empowering Rift makes weapons effective over longer ranges."

Honorable mentions

While not among our 10 favorites, Exotics such as Starfire Protocol, Contraverse Hold, and Osmiomancy Gloves can be used to create insanely powerful builds.

How to farm Warlock Exotics

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.

Lost Sectors

A few specific armor pieces can only be found in Legend and Master Lost Sectors when completed solo. Lost Sectors are on a daily rotation (with only one Legend and one Master available each day), as well as their rewards (one day will reward Legs pieces, the next day only Arms pieces, etc). You can find the daily rotation and list of exclusive Lost Sector Exotics here.