Destiny 2 Explosive Light: Weapons and Perk guide

Explosive Light is a perk unique to Rocket launchers and Grenade launchers. Overall, this is a great PvE perk to have on your Heavy weapon, as it makes your projectiles even deadlier than before.

Today, we go over the exact properties of the perk, which weapons can get it, and what synergizes well with it.

Explosive Light weapons in Destiny 2

Currently, the list of weapons that can roll Explosive Light is quite robust and some of these are actually easy to farm. This is the list of all weapons that can roll Explosive Light:

Art	Weapon	Type	Archetype	Rarity	Ammo?	Element?	Requirements	In loot pool?	Ammo	Element	Tier	Excels	Source	Craftable?	Requires	Released	Slot	Can be Crafted?	Best of?	Top Perk?
	Apex Predator	Rocket Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Solar	Forsaken Pack	Yes	Heavy	Solar	Best ❘ S	PvE	Last Wish Raid	Yes	Forsaken Pack	Season 4	Heavy	Craftable	Top-tier	Incandescent,Explosive Light,Reconstruction,Bait and Switch
	The Hothead	Rocket Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	Strong ❘ A	PvE	Nightfall: The Ordeals	No	Free-to-Play	Season 15	Heavy	No	Top-tier	Explosive Light
	Typhon GL5	Grenade Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Stasis	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Stasis	Strong ❘ A	-	Gunsmith	No	Free-to-Play	Season 16	Heavy	No	Top-tier	Explosive Light
	Palmyra-B	Rocket Launcher	Precision	Legendary	Heavy	Stasis	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Stasis	Weak ❘ C	-	Gunsmith	Yes	Free-to-Play	Season 16	Heavy	Craftable		Explosive Light
	Blowout	Rocket Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	Average ❘ B	PvE	Playlist: Crucible	No	Free-to-Play	Season 19	Heavy	No		Explosive Light
	Wendigo GL3	Grenade Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Arc	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Arc	Strong ❘ A	PvE + PvP	Nightfall: The Ordeals	No	Free-to-Play	Season 19	Heavy	No	Top-tier	Explosive Light
	Marsilion-C	Grenade Launcher	Rapid-Fire	Legendary	Heavy	Solar	Free-to-Play	Yes	Heavy	Solar	Strong ❘ A	PvE	Lost Sector	Yes	Free-to-Play	Season 20	Heavy	Craftable	Top-tier	Incandescent,Explosive Light
	Regnant	Grenade Launcher	Adaptive	Legendary	Heavy	Void	Season 20	Yes	Heavy	Void	Strong ❘ A	PvE	Seasonal activity	Yes	Season 20	Season 20	Heavy	Craftable	Top-tier	Destabilizing Rounds,Repulsor Brace,Explosive Light
	Cold Comfort	Rocket Launcher	Aggressive	Legendary	Heavy	Stasis	Deluxe Edition	Yes	Heavy	Stasis	Best ❘ S	PvE	Ghost of the Deep Dungeon	No	Deluxe Edition	Season 21	Heavy	No	Top-tier	Explosive Light,Bait and Switch

There are a few World pool drops on that list, but the easiest one to get would be Blowout from the Crucible. If you’re looking for higher-end options, you can wait until Wendigo GL3 or The Hothead become the featured Nightfall weapons.

If you are more of a raid person, Apex Predator (which is now craftable) is also a good option too. Even the latest Ghosts of the Deep dungeon has Cold Comfort that can roll Explosive Light.

What does Explosive Light do: Hard Figures

The perk gives you a damage boost when picking up Orbs of Power just like it says in the perk’s description:

Picking up an Orb of Power increases the next projectile’s blast radius and damage.

-	Weapon Perk	PvE Damage increase	PvP Damage increase	Duration	Activation | Effects	Type	Weapons	Released
	Explosive Light	25%		-	Picking up an Orb of Power increases the next projectile's blast radius and damage.	Specific	Rocket Launchers	Season 15

We can break it down thanks to light.gg. Whenever you pick up an Orb of Power, you get a stack of Explosive Light (max 6 stacks). And with Explosive Light active, your projectiles get the following damage buff:

• Rocket launchers get a 25% damage increase
• Grenade launchers get a 52% damage increase

How to use Explosive Light and what synergizes with it?

The damage boost from the Explosive Light is invaluable in PvE. And because it relies on creating Orbs of Power, it is generally easy to get those stacks.

Bottom line: To make the perk more consistent, you must create more Orbs of Power. For that, there are a few Armor mods and subclass fragments that focus specifically on generating Orbs.

Armor Mods

Armor mods are the main source of Orbs of Power. The exact choice of these mods will depend on what kind of build you are running. You need to consider both your subclass and the prioritized abilities.

On your helmet, the top choices are Siphon mods. Those mods can create Orbs of Power on rapid kills with weapons of a chosen element. Equip the mods matching your weapons, and you will be good to go.

On your arms, there are two mods that you can equip: Firepower and Heavy Handed. Firepower creates an Orb of Power on grenade final blows and Heavy Handed on powered melee final blows. You can also stack them depending on which ability your build focuses on.

The last mod you can use to create Orbs of Power is Reaper on the class item. It is a widely used mod, so chances are you already have it equipped. But if not, adding it will create an Orb of Power on a final blow after using your class ability.

Important note: We did not mention artifact mods because they change with every new season and, most of the time, are not the core part of the build. But make sure to check what the current seasonal artifact has in store to make you even stronger.

Fragments

Each subclass (except for Stasis) currently has a fragment that will create Orbs of Power. So depending on what Subclass you are running, you can choose to add these fragments to your build:

• Ember of Wonder (Solar): Rapidly defeating multiple targets with Solar ignitions generates an Orb of Power.
• Spark of Amplitude (Arc): Rapidly defeating targets while you are amplified creates an Orb of Power.
• Thread of Wisdom (Strand): Defeating suspended targets with precision final blows creates an Orb of Power.
• Echo of Harvest (Void): Defeating weakened targets creates an Orb of Power and a Void Breach.

Each fragment takes advantage of an effect unique to the subclass. All of them are really strong and will be great for PvE builds. If you want to go for the strongest one, we suggest Spark of Amplitude for the Arc subclass as it relies on you rather than your enemies.

Before you go…

The efficiency of Explosive Light depends on the quality of your build and how many Orbs of Power you can create. So make sure to explore new mods, exotics, and fragments. If you’re looking for more top-tier perks, you should definitely check out Kinetic Tremors or Destabilizing Rounds.