Exotic items are typically what players think of when they imagine powerful items in Destiny. These weapons come with unique properties that can enable certain playstyles or enhance others.
Due to their innate power, you can only wield one Exotic weapon at a time, meaning you'll need to use two Legendary weapons to supplement that choice. The good news is some Legendary weapons in Destiny 2 are so powerful that they can rival Exotics themselves. Whether it's a Primary or Heavy, Legendary weapons can deal some serious damage with the right perks. Here are the best Legendary weapons in Destiny 2.
Updated June 25th, 2022, by Charles Burgar: The Witch Queen and Season of the Haunted have added some fantastic Legendary weapons for players to chase. We've updated this list to include some recent additions to the sandbox, ranking their strengths in both PvE and PvP activities. Most entries have also been reranked to account for sandbox changes.
10/10 Half-Truths
How to obtain: Xur's Treasure Hoard.
The Other Half is just as good, arguably better than Half-Truths. We're including Half-Truths since it's much easier to farm for.
If there's one Sword you need to have in your inventory, it's Half-Truths. This is one of two Swords in the game that can roll with Eager Edge, a perk that allows you to lunge at incredible speeds when switching to this weapon. It's an S-tier perk for navigating jumping puzzles and closing the gap in Gambit and PvP. If nothing else, keep one of these handy for when you get stuck in a jumping puzzle. It's not a bad Sword for DPS either, although there are better options.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Preference
- Column Two: Eager Edge
9/10 Heritage
How to obtain: Deep Stone Crypt raid.
If you're looking for a good Shotgun, you can't go wrong with Heritage. Slug Shotguns deal excellent damage in PvE, have great one-shot ranges in PvP, and they're fairly easy to use. A roll with Hip-Fire Grip and Moving Target gives Heritage some of the most consistency out of any Legendary PvP Shotgun. For PvE, Reconstruction and Recombination is great for boss DPS phases and damaging Champions.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Reconstruction, Hip-Fire Grip (PvP)
- Column Two: Moving Target, Killing Wind, Recombination
8/10 Horror's Least
How to obtain: Nightfall reward (rotates weekly).
Horror's Least is one of the best Pulse Rifles you can use in Destiny 2, both for PvE and PvP activities. This is one of the few Rapid-Fire Frame Pulse Rifles that can roll with Kill Clip, a fantastic damage perk that pulls this weapon's TTK past most Primary weapons. Paired with Steady Hands or Perpetual Motion, you have a consistent weapon that will dominate the Crucible.
In PvE, Horror's Least can act as an excellent workhorse with Perpetual Motion and Frenzy. The stat buffs you'll receive are substantial, giving this weapon immense handling, reload speed, and moderate flinch resistance. If you're looking for a good Pulse Rifle that works well in all Destiny content, this is it.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Perpetual Motion, Steady Hands
- Column Two: Kill Clip, Frenzy
7/10 Empty Vessel
How to obtain: Strikes and Vanguard Engrams
Empty Vessel is one of the best utility weapons in Destiny 2. This little Grenade Launcher provides so many benefits that it's hard to list them all. Here are just a few things this Grenade Launcher can do:
- Damage enemies around cover.
- Grants +20 Mobility and increased sprint speed while held.
- Debuff shielded enemies, causing them to take 50% increased Kinetic damage. This includes Guardians.
- Blind PvE enemies, disabling their AI.
- One-shot Guardians on direct impact.
- Generate Warmind Cells (if Wrath of Rasputin is installed on your armor).
Empty Vessel does all of this with incredible ammo efficiency. All you need is a good roll and a little bit of practice auto-detonating the weapon's grenades. A roll with Blinding Grenades, Auto-Loading Holster, and Disruption Break is all you need to debuff enemies into oblivion with a single shot.
For PvP, Spike or High-Velocity Grenades allow you to one-shot Guardians on a direct impact. If you can't hit them, manually detonate the grenades around corners or cover to kill weakened enemies.
Special Grenade Launchers are absurdly strong currently. Empty Vessel takes it one step further with phenomenal perks and its ability to generate Warmind Cells, making it a must-own for Guardians that want to tackle Destiny's endgame. Keep an eye out for a good roll on this gun.
Recommended Traits:
- Grenades: Blinding Grenades (PvE)
- Column One: Auto-Loading Holster, Field Prep (PvE)
- Column Two: Disruption Break, Vorpal Weapon, One for All (PvE)
6/10 Deliverance
How to obtain: Vow of the Disciple raid.
Stasis Fusion Rifles are a rare sight in Destiny 2. Instead of taking up your Energy slot, Stasis Fusions reside in the Kinetic slot. This allows you to pair Deliverance with the likes of Palindrome, Igneous Hammer, and other top-tier Primaries.
As a Fusion itself, Deliverance is one of Destiny 2's best. Demolitionist and Chill Clip lets Stasis users get all of their ability energy back with each kill, provided they're using certain Aspects and Fragments. Alternatively, a roll with Perpetual Motion and Successful Warm-Up can be a menace inside the Crucible. This weapon has vertical recoil, excellent perks, and it's craftable. If you want a good Special weapon to pair with your Funnelweb or Palindrome, look no further.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Demolitionist, Perpetual Motion
- Column Two: Successful Warm-Up, Chill Clip, Tap the Trigger (PvP)
5/10 Stormchaser
How to obtain: Duality dungeon (final encounter).
Stormchaser is an Exotic weapon disguised as a Legendary. This weapon is the first Linear Fusion Rifle to fire in three-round bursts, giving this weapon a massive DPS buff over standard LFRs. Better yet, this weapon's bursts can be charged mid-burst to effectively remove any downtime you spent firing this weapon.
That downtime is further reduced with this weapon's excellent perk pool. Clown Cartridge and Firing Line is the preferred roll for this gun, allowing you to fire seven or eight consecutive shots with a 20% precision damage bonus. With this combination, Stormchaser outclasses just about every LFR in the game, even Sleeper Simulant. The DPS on offer here is absurdly strong and trivializes most dungeons and Nightfalls. As for raids, this weapon will expend all of its ammo before a DPS phase ends, so be sure you have a backup weapon. For PvP, Stormchaser is great but doesn't outclass Gjallarhorn or Legendary GLs.
Recommend Traits:
- Column One: Clown Cartridge, Rapid Hit
- Column Two: Firing Line, Frenzy, Vorpal Weapon
4/10 The Hothead
How to obtain: Nightfall reward (rotates weekly)
The Hothead is a reprised Rocket Launcher from the original Destiny. And like most reprised weapons that were added in Year 4, The Hothead features one of the best perk pools that a Rocket Launcher has ever seen.
This is one of the only Rocket Launchers to roll with Explosive Light, a perk that ramps up the damage of your next rocket when collecting an Orb of Power. With the nerf to Vorpal Weapon in the 30th Anniversary Pack, Explosive Light has become the best damage perk for Rocket Launchers. If you have someone running Gjallarhorn in your fireteam, you can replace Explosive Light with Clown Cartridge to deal more DPS than most Exotic Rocket Launchers. And if that wasn't enough, you can pair all of these perks with Demolitionist in the first column to get grenade energy for every kill. Oh, and this weapon also has an Adept variant that can equip Adept Big Ones Spec.
For PvP, The Hothead isn't the best but far from terrible. Tracking Module and Vorpal Weapon will shut down just about every Super in Destiny 2, provided the rocket hits. You'd be better off with Wardcliff Coil or Truth, although the fact this weapon is a Legendary shouldn't be dismissed.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Demolitionist, Tracking Module (PvP)
- Column Two: Explosive Light (PvE), Clown Cartridge, Vorpal Weapon (PvP)
3/10 Salvager's Salvo
How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower.
You're not going to find a better PvE workhorse weapon than Salvager's Salvo. Each shot from this Grenade Launcher will cause a chain explosion when it kills something, potentially activating multiple times if the explosion itself kills someone. Each of these kills will activate the grenade energy from Demolitionist, making this one of the best add-clearing weapons in Destiny history.
Salvager's Salvo also has a massive ammo reserve that allows you to forgo using a Primary entirely. Just be sure to equip some finder and scavenger mods on your armor to keep the carnage going. For PvP, Salvager's can be used for blinting—damaging a target before immediately switching to your Primary—but doesn't have perks like Disruption Break to beat the likes of Empty Vessel or Truthteller. But for PvE, Salvager's Salvo is nothing short of an S-tier weapon.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Demolitionist
- Column Two: Chain Reaction
2/10 Funnelweb
How to obtain: Legendary world Engrams.
Funnelweb is one of the best SMGs you can use in Destiny 2, provided you can get a good roll of this gun. This 900 RPM Veist SMG is a spiritual successor to The Recluse, arguably the strongest Primary in Destiny 2 history up until this point. Funnelweb takes the sheer lethality of Recluse and pushes it further with its origin trait and perks.
Veist Stinger is one of the best origin traits in the game, causing Funnelweb to periodically reload its magazine when you hit an enemy. This effect has a short cooldown, but it isn't uncommon to have this perk trigger a few times in a single Nightfall or PvP match. You can pair this with Subsistence to have an SMG that seldom reloads. Pair it with a damage perk—Frenzy or Adrenaline Junkie—and you have an add-slaying machine for PvE. If you can proc Volatile Rounds as a Void subclass, this gun rivals most Exotics.
Funnelweb is also a fantastic SMG in the Crucible after Year 5's SMG buffs. Killing Wind and Rangefinder allow Funnelweb to duel opponents at 20 meters and beyond, comparable to some top-tier SMGs in the meta. It has a fast TTK, is incredibly easy to use, and it gives you a passive Mobility and sprint speed buff while equipped. Keep your eyes open for a good roll.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Subsistence (PvE), Killing Wind (PvP)
- Column Two: Frenzy, Adrenaline Junkie (PvE), Rangefinder (PvP)
1/10 Fatebringer
How to obtain: Vault of Glass raid (Gatekeeper encounter)
The king of Hand Cannons has returned. Fatebringer still stands as one of the best Hand Cannons in Destiny 2, both in PvE and PvP.
Explosive Payload and Firefly mimic how this weapon behaved in the original Destiny, dealing incredible AoE damage on a precision kill while each bullet packs an explosive punch. If you enjoy buildcrafting, this is also the only Primary in Destiny 2 that can roll Osmosis and a damage perk like Kill Clip, allowing you to take full advantage of Elemental Wells. Crucible players can also get some use out of Fatebringer, utilizing Explosive Payload and Eye of the Storm to make an incredibly consistent 140 RPM Hand Cannon. If you love Hand Cannons at all, you'll want a Fatebringer in your inventory at all times.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Explosive Payload, Tunnel Vision (PvP), Osmosis (PvE)
- Column Two: Firefly, Kill Clip (PvE), Eye of the Storm (PvP), Frenzy
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