Hand Cannons are the most iconic weapons in Destiny. Taking inspiration from revolvers in real life and the Magnum from Halo, Hand Cannons are high-damage weapons that can handle almost any situation from close to medium range.
There are so many Hand Cannons in Destiny 2 that it can be hard to pick which one is good. Despite the large roster, each Hand Cannon handles differently and offers unique pros and cons. Some Hand Cannons are better for killing hordes of enemies, while some stack so much damage that they can kill tankier major foes. Ranging from Exotic Hand Cannons to randomly-rolled Legendaries, here are the ten best Hand Cannons players can use in Destiny 2.
Updated September 4th, 2022, by Charles Burgar: The return of King's Fall means the return of some original Destiny weapons, one of which being Zaouli's Bane. This Hand Cannon has seen a major overhaul in Destiny 2, gaining access to Incandescent, Explosive Payload in the first column, and much more. We've updated this tier list to include King's Fall's new Hand Cannon and replaced Bottom Dollar with Pure Poetry, a Hand Cannon that's slightly better and much easier to get.
10/10 Seventh Seraph Officer Revolver
How to obtain: Dares of Eternity (Rotation 3).
The Seventh Seraph Officer Revolver is a 180 RPM Hand Cannon with a mediocre perk pool. It's off to a rough start, although it's one of the few weapons in Destiny 2 that can spawn Warmind Cells. More importantly, this weapon is by far the strongest Legendary Kinetic to pair with Lucky Pants.
This weapon can roll with Fourth Times the Charm and Vorpal Weapon, giving it a 20% damage buff against bosses and a near-bottomless magazine. You can pair this with the Hunter's Lucky Pants Exotic to dish out some absurd damage that can match Heavy weapons. Alternatively, you can spec heavily into Warmind Cells to make the Officer Revolver a utility weapon. Its usage is extremely niche at best, although those niches can prove useful if you build into them. Keep your eyes out for a good roll of this gun. It's also a solid weapon for stunning Champions whenever the Artifact brings a Hand Cannon Champion mod.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Fourth Times the Charm
- Column Two: Vorpal Weapon, Timed Payload
9/10 Pure Poetry
How to obtain: Vanguard matches and Engrams.
Pure Poetry is nothing short of a powerhouse for most casual Destiny 2 content. Obtained from Vanguard playlists, this 120 RPM Hand Cannon packs a serious punch with its high base damage, solid stat package, and an excellent suite of perks.
Outlaw and Multikill Clip is a great pick if you're looking for a workhorse weapon, but we recommend you give Ambitious Assassin and Frenzy a try. This combination makes Pure Poetry a snappy, consistent Hand Cannon that can overflow its magazine on rapid kills, giving you up to 20 bullets in the magazine. It won't excel in GM Nightfalls or Master raids, but anyone looking for a good Hand Cannon that feels great should give Pure Poetry a try.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Ambitious Assassin, Outlaw, Shoot to Loot
- Column Two: Frenzy, Multikill Clip, Swashbuckler
8/10 Ace of Spades
How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. It costs 1 Exotic Cipher, 125,000 Glimmer, 200 Microphasic Datalattice, and 1 Ascendant Shard.
Cayde's iconic gun can be earned from the Tower's Exotic Kiosk. For one Exotic Cipher, you can wield one of the most powerful Hand Cannons in the game.
Ace of Spades is a 140 RPM Hand Cannon that effectively has five perks on it. The gun gets a permanent Kill Clip effect for six shots after reloading, causes a massive Solar explosion on targets when they die to a precision hit, flinches targets with High-Caliber rounds, maintains radar while aiming, grants increased reload speed on precision kills, and has incredibly high base stats.
Memento Mori and Firefly are the true stars of the show, allowing Ace to clear out waves of enemies with only a few bullets. While it might not have intrinsic anti-Champion properties, Ace of Spades stands as one of the most consistent and versatile Hand Cannons for Destiny 2's non-pinnacle content.
7/10 Sunshot
How to obtain: Exotic Engrams found through Xur or world drops.
Fans of explosions are likely familiar with Sunshot, a 150 RPM Exotic Hand Cannon with explosive rounds and a stronger version of Dragonfly. Thanks to the 40% damage buff Exotic Primaries received in Witch Queen, it's easier than ever to create some explosive mayhem with Sunshot.
Enemies defeated either with a precision hit or while burning will emit a large explosion, dealing moderate damage in a small area. The damage is enough to cause a chain reaction with most red bars in non-pinnacle PvE content. If you need to clear a room full of enemies with only a few bullets, Sunshot has you covered. It can even spawn Warmind Cells with the Wrath of Rasputin mod for those who want to double-down on the explosive carnage Sunshot brings to the table.
6/10 Malfeasance
How to obtain: Complete the "Darkness in the Light" quest (obtained from Gambit).
Shocking to some, Malfeasance is finally in a good spot in Destiny 2's PvE sandbox. It took quite a few balance changes to get there, but Malfeasance has finally become the jack-of-all-trades Primary it was destined to be. Three notable buffs have made this weapon great:
- The 50% buff Malfeasance's slug explosions received in the Bungie 30th Anniversary Patch
- The 40% damage buff versus red bars that most Exotic Primaries received this expansion.
- The rework to Lucky Pants in Season of the Lost.
The buff to Malfeasance's base damage and slugs have made it a treat for killing red bars and majors alike in most PvE content, capable of holding its own in the Witch Queen's Legendary campaign. It feels great, is easy to use, and can chip away at majors better than many other Exotic Hand Cannons.
What makes Malfeasance truly spectacular is its synergy with the Hunter's Lucky Pants Exotic. This weapon goes from a solid add-clearing weapon into what's effectively a Special weapon when Lucky Pants' perk is active. You can easily reach the x10 damage buff from Lucky Pants since this weapon is a 180 RPM Hand Cannon, allowing you to dish out some absurd damage with each bullet for a short duration. Red bars instantly die. Majors drop in a heartbeat, and bosses take some serious damage from this combo. If you have a teammate using Witherhoard, you also get another 20% damage buff thanks to the Taken Predator perk. Malfeasance has finally found its niche.
5/10 Eriana's Vow
How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. It costs 1 Exotic Cipher, 100,000 Glimmer, 150 Helium Filaments, and 1 Ascendant Shard.
Eriana's Vow has been slowly forgotten throughout the years. Released with the Shadowkeep expansion, Eriana's Vow is Destiny 2's only Special ammo Hand Cannon that releases Anti-Barrier rounds with each trigger pull. It fires slowly, has the range of a Sniper Rifle, and can pierce right through Barrier Champion shields.
While this weapon is still good for countering Champions, it's fallen to the wayside after Arbalest was buffed in the latter half of Year 4. Arbalest fulfills the same niche as Eriana's Vow but can also break all shield types. Does that mean Arbalest is bad? No, far from it. This weapon is a monster when paired with Solar 3.0, capable of proccing Radiant and Font of Might with ease. Throw on High-Energy Fire and Lucky Pants into the mix, and you have yourself one of the hardest-hitting Special weapons in Destiny 2. Just don't expect this weapon to top Arbalest without some investment.
4/10 Eyasluna
How to obtain: Grasp of Avarice dungeon
Eyasluna is a monster inside of the Crucible due to its incredible stat package and solid PvP perks. Many players have disregarded this weapon in PvE, yet there's one powerful thing going for Eyasluna: Headstone. This perk allows Eyasluna to dish out immense AoE damage while synergizing with Stasis Aspects and Fragments.
Need to recharge your melee ability? Run an Aspect that generates Stasis shards, then use Headstone. Need damage resistance? Use Headstone alongside Whisper of Chains. The build possibilities are quite large for this gun. To make this playstyle even better, try to get an Eyasluna with Headstone and Unrelenting; Unrelenting triggers off Headstone kills. Beyond that, this Hand Cannon is mediocre at best. Keep an eye out for this roll if you want to use it in PvE.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Unrelenting, Rapid Hit
- Column Two: Headstone
3/10 Hawkmoon
How to obtain: Sold by Xur.
Most Guardians don't give Hawkmoon enough credit for what it does. It might not have its luck motif tied to its Exotic perk anymore, but Hawkmoon is still the one-shotting beast Destiny veterans remember it as.
Landing precision hits with this 140 RPM Hand Cannon grants stacks of Paracasual Charge, granting increased range, handling, and reload speed. When only one bullet is left in your magazine, Hawkmoon gains an absurd boost to its damage. With enough stacks, a single Hawkmoon bullet can one-shot most majors and even some bosses. Champions lose half of their health in Legend and Master content to Hawkmoon's Paracasual Bullet, making it an excellent weapon to pair with any burst DPS weapon. It's a fantastic Hand Cannon that can kill fodder and bosses with little issue.
Recommended Trait:
- Column One: Rangefinder, Killing Wind, Surplus
2/10 Zaouli's Bane
How to obtain: King's Fall raid.
Zaouli's Bane is the Energy variant of Fatebringer, but even that's selling this weapon short. This is the only Hand Cannon in Destiny 2 that can roll with Incandescent, causing slain targets to explode while inflicting Scorch to nearby foes. Get a few rapid kills, and nearby enemies will Ignite.
You can pair Incandescent with Explosive Payload or Gutshot to make Zaouli's Bane an add-clearing machine. If you prefer a more traditional Hand Cannon, you can get Firefly or One for All in the second column instead of Incandescent. No matter what you prefer, Zauoli's Bane is a devastating Hand Cannon that makes short work of fodder enemies.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Explosive Payload, Pugilist
- Column Two: Incandescent, One for All, Firefly
1/10 Fatebringer
How to obtain: Vault of Glass raid (Templar and Gatekeeper encounters)
Fatebringer has proven itself to be Destiny 2's best Legendary Hand Cannon. This weapon features one of the best perk pools out of all Hand Cannons, a great stat package, and it has an Adept variant. Most players consider this Hand Cannon a PvP menace and nothing more, but this weapon is just as much of a powerhouse inside PvE activities.
Explosive Payload and Osmosis can both roll in the first column for Fatebringer. You can stagger just about every enemy with Explosive Payload while granting Fatebringer a passive 15% damage increase. Osmosis is far more interesting, as it allows Fatebringer to take on any element. Want to make Fatebringer Void and have it utilize Volatile Rounds? Go for it. Need Fatebringer to be Stasis so you can benefit from Font of Might? Simply throw a grenade. The build potential with Osmosis alone makes Fatebringer worth chasing.
The second column is also fantastic. Frenzy is a great consistency bump for this weapon, Kill Clip makes your rounds hit much harder in mid-tier content, and Firefly makes Fatebringer an add-slaying machine when you land a precision kill. Just about every roll of this gun will serve you well, but a truly great roll of Fatebringer can only be matched by Exotics.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Explosive Payload, Osmosis
- Column Two: Firefly, Kill Clip, Frenzy
