Destiny 2 Best PVE Weapons

As you start getting serious with Destiny 2, one of the first questions you’ll have is: What are the best weapons in the game?

That question is not as easy to answer, as it all depends on whether you’re looking for the top weapons for PVP, PVE, casual, or endgame content.

Today, we’ll focus on the best PVE weapons in 2020 for endgame activities. And by endgame, we mean content where having a high Power Level matters and that requires weapons that will not be sunsetted any time soon.

In this guide, we’ll cover both Exotic and Legendary weapons (including their PVE god rolls), give you an overview of the current PVE meta, and provide quick guides on how to obtain the top PVE exotics. For the sake of clarity, we’ll split our selection of weapons into three categories: primary, special and heavy weapons.

A big thank you to Jarv for helping me put together this selection. Jarv is one of my favorite PVE content creators and someone you should definitely check out on YouTube.

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Destiny 2 Best PVE Primary weapons

In this section, we cover the best primary PVE weapons. And by primary, we mean either Kinetic or Energy weapons that use Primary ammo.

About DPS: You’ll see us talk a lot about DPS, damage per second, throughout this guide. DPS is important for PVE, because the higher the DPS, the more damage you can deal to a Boss or Major.

If you sometimes get confused between Kinetic, Primary, Energy, and Special weapons, just remember Primary weapons use “normal” ammo, aka, white ammo boxes:

PS: Remember, our selection of top PVE guns is limited to weapons viable for endgame content with Beyond Light. This is why you won’t see any Pinnacle weapon such as Recluse or Mountaintop in here!

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Destiny 2 Best PVE Special weapons

In this section, we cover the best Special PVE weapons. And by Special, we mean either kinetic or Energy weapons that use Special ammo. Just remember, Special weapons use “Special” ammo, aka, green ammo boxes:

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Destiny 2 Best PVE Heavy weapons

In this section, we cover the best Heavy PVE weapons. In other words, weapons that use “heavy” ammo, aka, purple ammo boxes:

If you’re looking for a video with the best PVE weapons you should farm before Beyond Light arrives, this video from Jarv is a must-see:

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Destiny 2 PVE Meta (as of September 2020)

Every sandbox change comes with a new meta. And while we love to criticize Bungie for not changing the meta often enough, the last few seasons have significantly altered the hierarchy of PVE weapon types in Destiny 2.

PS: If you’re looking for the complete rundown of the state of the current Meta for PVP and PVP, check out our Destiny 2 Meta weapons guide.

We covered the absolute best PVE weapons before, but if you’re interested in other weapons, it’s important to understand how the different weapon types compare with each other.

PS: Meta refers to the most used weapons for a particular activity. Generally, these weapons are the most used because they are the most powerful/efficient.

These are the different Tier levels used for these Tier lists:

• S Tier – Best: Highest ranking weapon types.
• A Tier – Strong: Very strong weapon types, 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.

The list starts with S Tier and moves down until it reaches the bottom Tier:

PVE Primary weapons meta

Weapon Type	Tier	Current State
Auto Rifles	Best ❘ S	Auto rifles received a significant buff with Season of the Worthy, especially 600 RPM variants. They are undeniably the most lethal and easy to use primaries right now, as they have good range and large magazines. They do have one drawback: You have to be out of cover to do the max possible damage (unlike a hand cannon or pulse), which makes them riskier in endgame content. Lastest "meta change": Auto rifles were buffed with Season of the Worthy, receiving increased base and precision damage.
Sidearms	Best ❘ S	Sidearms have been some of the most slept on weapons in Destiny 2 for too long. But ever since they were buffed and Recluse nerfed, the larger player base has realized their potential. They do some of the highest DPS in the game while having a decent magazine size. Their only drawback is the fact they have limited range, making them a little risky in Master and Grandmaster content. Lastest "meta change": Sidearms were buffed with Season of Dawn, receiving "increased target acquisition".
Hand Cannons	Strong ❘ A	Hand Cannons were the top tier choice for PVE content for years, but after a nerf to their effective range last year, they are no longer the go-to primaries they used to be. Don't get me wrong though, hand cannons are still extremely strong and efficient. They are definitely viable for Master and Grandmaster content, and although their range suffered, they are still great at hiding behind cover in-between shots. Lastest "meta change": Hand cannons were nerfed with Shadowkeep, receiving a reduced effective range.
Pulse Rifles	Strong ❘ A	Pulse rifles have been quite stable for a while now with most sandbox changes focusing on other weapon types. And that's a good thing, as Pulse rifles are in a good place. They do reasonable damage, have a good range, and are, overall, safe and easy to use in Master and Grandmaster content. Lastest "meta change": Pulse rifles haven't received any noticeable PVE changes in a long time.
Combat Bows	Average ❘ B	Combat bows may not be very popular, but they can truly excel in some niche situations. Namely, in very difficult content in which you want to stay as far away from enemies as possible (namely, solo flawless dungeon attempts). With virtually infinite range, bows can deal good damage from insane distances. Granted, their damage is not as good as other weapon types, but they do offer a lot of safety. Lastest "meta change": Bows were buffed with Season of Arrivals, receiving +10% PvE damage VS minors.
Submachine Guns	Average ❘ B	The Recluse reigned supreme as the best PVE primary for a very long time, but it was an exception. Because in general, SMGs are not bad, but they aren't great either. They can do decent damage but now that auto rifles are so strong, it's hard to recommend an SMG over a good 600 RPM auto rifle. And even if you don't care about having more range, a sidearm will do better DPS too. Lastest "meta change": SMGs haven't received any noticeable PVE changes in a long time.
-	Weak ❘ C	-
Scout Rifles	Worst ❘ D	Where to begin with scout rifles? Scout rifles have been in a sorry state for a long time. They offer good range but their damage is simply abysmal compared to other weapon types. To be fair, some Scouts can get the job done, namely the re-issued Night Watch. But there's no reason why you should use a scout when auto rifles and pulse rifles are so much more lethal and consistent. Lastest "meta change": Scouts haven't received any noticeable PVE changes in a long time.

PVE Special weapons meta

For the sake of clarity, all weapon categories consisting of only 1 or 2 exotics have been excluded. Weapons such as Divinity or Eriana’s Vow are too unique to be representative of an entire weapon type.

If you’re particularly interested in these unique exotics, check out our Exotic Tier list including every exotic weapon currently in the game.

Weapon Type	Tier	Current State
-	Best ❘ S	-
Shotguns	Strong ❘ A	Shotguns are in a good place right now, and that's mainly due to the many new shotguns recently released with great stats and insane damage-dealing perks such as trench barrel, Vorpal weapon, one-two punch, etc. Overall, shotguns are finally hitting that sweet spot between risk and reward. Slug shotguns are finally viable too, thanks to a recent PVE buff. Lastest "meta change": Slug shotguns were buffed with Season of Arrivals, receiving a massive +30% PVE damage.
Sniper Rifles	Average ❘ B	Up until Season of Dawn, snipers were the best PVE special weapons in the game. They were extremely lethal and safe to use in endgame content, as they allowed players to deal insane DPS from afar. But Bungie decided to nerf them hard because they were "too safe", bringing them back to pre-Shadowkeep values. Except, they were buffed with Shadowkeep because they were too average... Lastest "meta change": Snipers were nerfed with Season of the Worthy, receiving a -20% PvE damage VS majors.
Fusion Rifles	Average ❘ B	Fusion rifles were recipients of a significant nerf some time ago, making them technically weaker than before. That said, fusion rifles deserve more love, because even if they were nerfed, they are still powerful. They are capable of dealing more damage than snipers while being safer to use (due to having more range) than shotguns. Lastest "meta change": Fusion rifles were nerfed with Season of the Worthy, receiving an increased damage falloff and a decreased effective range.
Grenade Launchers	Weak ❘ C	Special ammo Grenade launchers used to be Top tier, but that was only because of the Mountaintop. Technically, the Mountaintop is still one of the best (if not THE best) special weapon for PVE. Thing is, Mountaintop will be retired with Beyond Light and won't be viable for endgame content anymore. And as much as people keep saying Truthteller will replace it, no other grenade launcher will be nearly as good as the Mountaintop. Lastest "meta change": While not technically a "nerf", grenade launchers will greatly suffer from the loss of the Mountaintop.
-	Worst ❘ D	-

PVE Heavy weapons meta

Same as before, weapon categories consisting of only 1 or 2 exotics have been excluded. In this case, snipers, shotguns, and fusion rifles have been excluded:

Weapon Type	Tier	Current State
Swords	Best ❘ S	Swords have never been stronger than they are today. The huge rework they received with Season of the Worthy made them much more usable. They are now safer to use, have a better ammo economy, and can deal much more damage. Swords have taken an even more prominent place this season, with the release of the monster that is Falling Guillotine. That sword is as high risk / high reward as it gets. When used right, you can basically delete any enemy in front of you, no matter the difficulty. Lastest "meta change": Swords were buffed with Season of the Worthy, receiving a complete overhaul of how they function.
Grenade Launchers	Strong ❘ A	Grenade launchers used to be the top tier choice for PVE content, especially Aggressive Frame variants such as Swarm of the Raven. But after the removal of the Aggressive Frame archetype entirely (now called Rapid-Fire) and a blanket nerf to all grenade launchers, they are no longer the indisputable choice. To be fair, they remain a strong option, especially when getting too close to the enemy is impossible. Otherwise, they have been replaced by Swords as the go-to damage-dealing Heavy weapon type in the game. Lastest "meta change": Grenade launchers were nerfed with Season of the Worthy, receiving a reduced damage to Major enemies of -10% overall and a reduced damage to all Rapid-fire frames.
-	Average ❘ B	-
Rocket Launchers	Weak ❘ C	Rocket launchers went from top tier to mediocre in a heartbeat when Bungie removed most auto-loading abilities. This means we now have to actually reload these extremely slow single-round weapons every time we fire them. This makes all the difference because, for as much damage a rocket can do, their reload time destroys their DPS. Until Bungie finally gives them a proper buff, there is no reason to use a rocket launcher over a good grenade launcher right now. Lastest "meta change": Rocket launchers were nerfed with Shadowkeep, having their DPS destroyed with the removal of instant reloading capabilities.
Linear Fusion Rifles	Weak ❘ C	Linear fusion rifles are also in the middle of an identity crisis. They cannot do as much damage as grenade launchers and even lag behind exotic heavy snipers. Granted, some of the newer linear fusion rifles with Vorpal weapon and firing-line can do decent DPS but there's really no reason to use one over a grenade launcher or even Whisper of the Worm if you need to be precise. Lastest "meta change": Linear fusion rifles haven't seen any significant changes in a while.
-	Worst ❘ D	-

As you can see, the Meta can completely change in a heartbeat. You can rest assured, though, as this overview is up to date with the current Season of Arrivals sandbox and will be updated as soon as a new meta arrives.

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Destiny 2 Best PVE Exotics: How to get them

We cover every exotic quest in Destiny 2 in this guide, but these are the detailed steps on how to acquire all the top PVE exotics in Destiny 2 mentioned before. Note that exotic quests involve very different steps of varying difficulty:

0. Season Pass: How to get Witherhoard

This one is extremely easy to get. It’s part of your Season Pass and is immediately available in the Paid track of the Season Pass or at Rank 35 in the Free Track.

Witherhoard will probably be available via the Exotic ciphers (read section below) once the season is over, but who knows when. I recommend claiming this weapon right now, just to be safe!

1. Exotic Engrams: How to get Trinity Ghoul and Monte Carlo

Trinity Ghoul and Monte Carlo can be found as random exotic engrams. This is bad news if you don’t already have them as you won’t be able to actively work to get them.

In a nutshell, there are only a few ways you can get exotic engrams in Destiny 2:

• From the Season pass (the Free track offers while the Paid track offers )
• From Xur: Either as his random exotic engram or as his weekly Exotic weapon for sale
• As a random World drop

There isn’t much more that can be said about grinding Exotic engrams, only that they have a higher chance to drop from end-game activities. If finding this exotic is your priority, Nightfall: The Ordeals are for you. And the higher the difficulty (Master level and above), the higher the chance to get one.

2. Exotic Kiosk: How to get Eriana’s Vow, Izanagi’s Burden and Anarchy

With the release of Beyond Light on November 10, 2020, several Exotics became available via the new Exotics kiosk in the tower, called the Monument to Lost Lights. The Monument to Lost Lights includes weapons that used to be part of Exotic quests that are no longer in the game. Nowadays, weapons such as Erian’s Vow, Izanagi’s Burden, and Anarchy can be instantly acquired at the Exotics kiosk, provided you have the necessary materials. We cover all the weapons and materials from the Monument to Lost Lights here.

3. Raid Exotics: How to get Divinity and One Thousand Voices

One Thousand Voices is straightforward to obtain as it an only drop from the Last Wish raid final boss.

And now that Bungie has added drop protection to all raid exotics, you should eventually get it if you put in the work:

💠This is next week.
💠It is not retroactive.
💠Tarrabah already has these cumulative drop chances.

I know my followers already have all of them, though. 😤 pic.twitter.com/xJgge156LJ

— Andrew Hopps (@kingkeoua) June 4, 2020

Divinity on the other hand is more complicated to obtain. It’s part of an exotic quest that eventually takes you to the Garden of Salvation raid. This video guide from Datto has all the details.

4. Exotic Quests: How to get Xenophage

Xenophage is part of a long Exotic quest that will take you to a special boss in the Pit of Heresy dungeon. You can find video guides for all the Exotic quests still in the game here.

The Exotic quests to acquire Outbreak Perfected and Traveler’s Chosen are no longer available. Bungie will probably add new ways to acquire them but it could take a few more months…

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Destiny 2 Best PVE loadouts

Up until now, we have split our Top PVE guns into Primaries, Special and Heavy weapons. This makes sense when comparing weapons against each other.

But once you start building towards the ultimate loadout, a weapon’s slot becomes crucial. That’s because you can only carry one Kinetic, one Energy, and one Heavy weapon at a time. For example, if you’re committed to using a Gnawing Hunger as your primary weapon, then your Special weapon will have to be kinetic.

In this section, we’ll share some of the most popular PVE loadouts right now. This is how our Top PVE weapons look like, filtered by slot and not by ammo type:

Destiny 2 Best PVE Kinetic weapons:

Weapon	Type	Ammo Type
Sacred Provenance	Pulse Rifle	Primary
Traveler’s Chosen	Sidearm	Primary
Dire Promise	Hand Cannon	Primary
Outbreak Perfected	Pulse Rifle	Primary
Monte Carlo	Auto Rifle	Primary
Witherhoard	Grenade Launcher	Special
Izanagi’s Burden	Sniper Rifle	Special
Astral Horizon	Shotgun	Special
The Supremacy	Sniper Rifle	Special
Hawthorne’s Field-Forged Shotgun	Shotgun	Special

Destiny 2 Best PVE Energy weapons:

Weapon	Type	Ammo Type
Gnawing Hunger	Pulse Rifle	Primary
Nation of Beasts	Sidearm	Primary
Trinity Ghoul	Hand Cannon	Primary
Last Hope	Pulse Rifle	Primary
IKELOS_SMG_v1.0.2	Auto Rifle	Primary
Eriana’s Vow	Hand Cannon	Special
Divinity	Trace Rifle	Special
Seventh Seraph CQC-12	Shotgun	Special
IKELOS_SR_v1.0.2	Sniper Rifle	Special
Hollow Words	Fusion Rifle	Special

PVE Loadout examples

If we mix and match the top kinetic and energy weapons, some the potential top PVE loadouts might something like this:

Loadout 1:

Kinetic	Energy	Heavy
Izanagi’s Burden	Gnawing Hunger	Falling Guillotine

Loadout 2:

Kinetic	Energy	Heavy
Nation of Beasts	Seventh Seraph CQC-12	Anarchy

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Your Turn

Hopefully, this list should help you plan and prepare for Beyond Light. We did our best to include both Legendary weapons and Exotics, as well as the top tier, most difficult to obtain weapons, and easier to get, yet still great alternatives.

Did we miss your current favorite PVE weapon? Do you have a particularly good PVE loadout you would like to share? Let us know in the comments section below!

For the record, this list is based on my experience playing the PC version of the game.