With Season of Opulence upon us it’s time to ask yet again the truly important question; What should my loadout look like?
If you are having trouble deciding what weapons should be brought to the Destiny 2 PvE endgame then look no further.
This Top 10 list gives a good look at what weapons can helpfully utilize your loadout and make the Destiny grind that much easier.
10. The Whisper of the Worm / Sniper Rifle
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The Whisper of the Worm is by far the most meta changing Exotic to come out of Destiny 2 Year One. The unannounced quest for this exotic sniper made its way into the game in June 2018 and a content starved community pounced on the opportunity to explore the Depths of Io in hopes of receiving the Whisper of the Worm.
Weapon Stats:
Impact: 100
Range: 86
Stability: 42
Handling: 31
Reload Speed: 69
Aim Assistance: 39
Recoil Direction: 74
Zoom: 40
Magazine : 3
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
Exotic Perk, White Nail: Higher base precision damage. Rapidly landing three precision hits will refill the magazine.
Extremely Farmable Catalyst for the Boxed Breathing Perk: Aiming this weapon for a short period without firing grants bonus range and precision damage that resets after firing or exiting zoom. This perk coupled with White Nail makes a near seamless Critical hit Damage loop at no ammo cost, as long as all shots find their mark.
Shot Forgiveness with the Mulligan Perk: Missing a shot has a chance to return ammo directly to the magazine.
How To get Weapon Whisper of the Worm:
9. IKELOS_SG_V1.0.1 / Shotgun
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The Ikelos Shotgun is one of the few Legendaries to make this list due to its inarguably meta breaking DPS abilities when it first dropped in the Warmind Expansion. While it no longer holds the shotgun DPS throne it once did, this weapon is still more than formidable in any end game content.
Weapon Stats:
Rounds per Minute: 140
Impact: 65
Range: 50
Stability: 48
Handling: 36
Reload Speed: 74
Aim Assistance: 72
Recoil Direction: 69
Zoom: 12
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
DPS Perk, Trench Barrel: After a successful melee hit, this weapon gains increased damage, handling, and reload speed for a short duration - or until three shots are fired.
Rapid Fire Frame: The 140 RPM Class Shotguns have always had an extremely high rate of DPS in the PvE Sandbox letting them dealing the most damage in a short amount of time.
This gun is a legendary grade item, meaning you can equip an exotic to help maximize your DPS and expand build utility to different scenarios.
How to get IKELOS_SG_V1.0.1:
8. Legend of Acruis / Shotgun
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Arguably the most slept on DPS cannon, the Legend of Acruis can solve just about any problem you put within 5 feet of it. The simple elegance of this exotic shotgun is undeniable, as its intrinsic value is simply that it can deal absurd amounts of damage in a short amount of time at close ranges
Weapon Stats:
Impact: 85
Range: 100
Stability: 82
Handling: 10
Reload Speed: 64
Aim Assistance: 90
Recoil Direction: 60
Zoom: 12
Magazine: 6
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
Exotic Perk, Shock Blast: This weapon fires blasts of high-damage Arc energy that over penetrates enemies. This is great for dealing with groups of Minor enemies surrounding a major enemy as this shotgun rips through everything in its path.
This weapon has undeniably the best Range stat in the game for the Shotgun weapon type at a whopping 100 to give it’s Shock Blast the range it needs truly potent.
The Catalyst for this weapon is naturally dropped during the exotic quest needed to gain entry to the Leviathan and upon completion, rewards increased ammo reserves and reload speeds for maximum DPS.
How to get Legend of Acrius:
7. One Thousand Voices / Fusion Rifle
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Who doesn’t love drawing a line and watching it explode? Beyond its capacity for fun and imagination, One Thousand Voices is our heavy hitter in the Fusion Rifle category for our list. Its ability to clear Minor enemies is second to none and with the right gear set can be made into an extremely efficient DPS machine.
Weapon Stats:
Charge Time: 1000
Impact: 100
Range: 100
Stability: 55
Handling: 10
Reload Speed: 37
Aim Assistance: 100
Recoil Direction: 100
Zoom: 25
Magazine:4
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
Exotic Perk, Ahamkara's Eye: Charging this weapon unleashes a giant continuous beam of death.
Exotic Perk, Unforeseen Repercussions: This weapon's beam superheats its targets upon impact, causing delayed explosions.
These perks synergize naturally to help control the flow of Minor enemies in encounters and create a consistent and viscous flow of DPS during any boss damage phase.
How to get One Thousand Voices:
6. 21% Delirium / LMG
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The season of the Drifter brought this Minor enemy clearing machine to the table and it did not disappoint. While the Gambit grind for this LMG is long it is oh so worth it as this Legendary performs on par if not better than its Exotic counterparts.
Weapon Stats:
Rounds Per Minute: 900
Impact: 25
Range: 49
Stability: 52
Handling: 38
Reload Speed: 61
Aim Assistance: 70
Recoil Direction: 60
Zoom: 16
Magazine: 105
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
DPS Perk, Killing Tally: Kills increase this weapon's damage until it is stowed or reloaded.
Synergizing Perk, Overflow: Picking up Special or Heavy ammo reloads this weapon to beyond normal capacity.
These perks were quite literally made for each other. Killing Tally’s ability to create a consistent rate of higher than normal dps while Overflow creates a seemingly never-ending flow of ammo allows this weapon to out damage almost any weapon over significant periods of time.
This weapon is legendary, allowing for the equipping of an exotic weapon to further increase DPS optimality.
How to get 21% Delirium:
5. Outbreak Perfected / Pulse Rifle
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Much like the Whisper of the Worm, the Outbreak Perfected quest dropped with little warning and much to the communities pleasant surprise. Destiny veterans were thrown back in time as you fought your way through the original tower space while the lore fanatics experienced major development in the Fallen story Arc in order to acquire what is arguably the best Pulse Rifle in-game.
Weapon Stats:
Rounds Per Minute: 450
Impact: 27
Range: 49
Stability: 46
Handling: 50
Reload Speed: 50
Aim Assistance: 65
Recoil Direction: 80
Zoom: 17
Magazine: 34
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
Exotic Perk, The Corruption Spreads: This weapon creates SIVA nanite swarms on rapid hits and precision kills. This Perk applies to all SIVA nanite swarms created by the party.
Synergizing Exotic Perk, Parasitism: This weapon does more damage to enemies based on the number of SIVA nanites that attach to them.
These perks were designed to create an exponential damage loop for any boss damage phase while also providing Minor enemy clearing utility with it’s swarming capability.
This weapon is one of the only primary weapons included in this list. This weapon type allows for both intense damage loops and sustainable Minor enemy clearing utilities.
How to get Outbreak Perfected:
4. Lord of Wolves / Shotgun
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With the recent update accompanying the Season of Opulence, the Lord of Wolves saw a significant enough decrease to it’s PvE potential to take it from the top three and put it in the middle of the pack. That being said, it would be a fool's gambit to assume that this wolf has lost its claws. Rest assured that any build with this weapon will not have any trouble keeping up in damage and will have more than enough utility to keep up in the current PvE meta.
Weapon Stats:
Rounds Per Minute: 100
Impact: 68
Range: 28
Stability: 45
Handling: 46
Reload Speed: 82
Aim Assistance: 80
Recoil Direction: 80
Zoom: 12
Magazine: 5
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
Exotic Perk, Shrapnel Launcher: Fires a powerful short-range burst of Solar damage. This weapons ability to channel a large amount of accurate critical hit damage makes it’s an extremely satisfying major enemy killing machine at close to medium ranges.
Synergizing Exotic Perk, Release the Wolves: Not happy with the amount of critical hit damage you're doing to a particularly beefy Major or Boss DPS phase? Just hold down that reload button and deal double the amount of damage per burst.
While Legend of Acruis has undoubtedly the highest range stat of any shotgun, the Lord of Wolves is able to deal a considerable amount of damage in precise bursts, allowing for more base critical hit damage than the Legend of Acruis can produce on its best day.
How to get Lord of Wolves:
3. The Recluse / SMG
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Coming in at number three we have what was arguably the biggest upset of Season of the Drifter. Up until this point SMGs were cast off as specialty weapons in PvP builds and nothing more, and then The Recluse came out as the crucible pinnacle weapon during the season of the Drifter.
While those that were able to attain this weapon dominated in PvP, PvE potential for this weapon seemed limitless with its ability to erase Minor enemies at competitive ranges in quick succession, all without requiring special ammo.
Weapon Stats:
Rounds Per Minute: 900
Impact: 15
Range: 40
Stability: 52
Handling: 66
Reload Speed: 35
Aim Assistance: 55
Recoil Direction: 100
Zoom: 13
Magazine: 36
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
The Minor Killer Perk, The Master of Arms: Kills with any weapon improve this weapon's damage for a short time. This perk alone makes this gun synergize with just about any build imaginable. Take out a Major with your special weapon and clean up the Minor enemies with a now increased killing machine.
Synergizing Perk, Feeding Frenzy: Kills with this weapon increase reload speed for a short time. Keep the damage going with an almost instant reload speed upon kill with a newly procked Master of Arms damage buff to clear any room of unneeded distractions.
The true unsung hero of this weapon is its Recoil Direction Stat. This weapon has little to none recoil in when ADS’d and what little recoil it has is entirely manageable as it is entirely vertical making this weapon a consistent damage laser.
How to get the Recluse:
2. Mountaintop / Grenade Launcher
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The Mountaintop premiered alongside the Recluse in the season of the Drifter and was quickly determined to be as useful if not more than its counterpart.
Combining the raw damage that grenade launchers now produce with pinpoint accuracy, this Grenade launcher can one shot just about anything short of Major enemy, and even then it’s comfortable two tap.
Weapon Stats:
Rounds Per Minute: 90
Stability: 30
Handling: 72
Reload Speed: 66
Velocity: 77
Blast Radius: 55
Aim Assistance: 75
Recoil Direction: 62
Zoom: 13
Magazine: 1
What makes this a top PvE Gun?
Simple yet Devastating, the Micro Missile Perk: This weapon fires in a straight line and has massively increased projectile speed. This perk alone brings this weapon into a class all of its own with its ability to provide pinpoint accuracy for a devastating payload.
Coupling Accuracy with Range, The Rangefinder perk. Kill any major with a two tap from this weapon across the map with Rangefinders increased ADS accuracy and damage at increased ranges coupled with the accuracy of Micro Missile.
Volatile Launch and Spike Grenades come rolled with this weapon upon completing the pinnacle quest associated with it. These traits combine deal huge amounts of damage to direct hits on targets which are unnaturally easy when combined with Micro Missile and Range Finder.
How to get Mountaintop:
1. The Prospector / Grenade Launcher
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Much like the number two slot, this weapon dominated our top spot at number one on our list with the recent and generous buffs to Grenade Launcher PvE damage.
With this being a year one season one exotic, almost everyone has a Prospector sitting in their vaults collecting dust that they should be powering up and taking with them into the hardest of PvE activities.
Weapon Stats:
Rounds Per Minute: 165
Stability: 41
Handling: 55
Reload Speed: 32
Velocity: 64
Blast Radius: 10
Aim Assistance: 60
Recoil Direction: 75
Zoom: 13
Magazine: 8
What makes this the top PvE Gun?
Exotic Perk, Excavation: Hold to fire grenades. Release to detonate all live grenades simultaneously. Grenades stick to surfaces and set targets on fire.
The Prospectors DPS ace in the hole is its full auto trigger system coupled with its RPM of 165, making it the quickest firing Grenade Launcher and the highest DPS rating for any Boss damage phase.
Why hello there! My name is Taylor Thelen, and you as can tell from the contents of this page, I am an article based video game journalist, who's main foucs is Destiny 2 Content.
