Destiny 2's Crucible sandbox contains hundreds of weapons for Guardians to use. SMGs serve as one of the better options for most game types, allowing you to punish Hand Cannon players with a flurry of bullets. A good SMG player is a nightmare to fight against, but a good SMG player can surely benefit from a good weapon.
With SMG changes in Season of the Haunted, most SMGs are in a great spot for PvP. From farmable world drops to raid gear, we'll be covering ten devastating SMGs that excel at 6v6 playlists all the way to the Trials of Osiris. We'll also give perk recommendations for each weapon to showcase the weapon's true potential.
Updated September 3rd, 2022, by Charles Burgar: Season of the Plunder brought with it a handful of new SMGs for Guardians to chase, some of which have excellent perk combinations for the Crucible. We've updated this list to include Pizzicato-22, a SUROS SMG that has carved a place in the sandbox with its excellent base stats and unique perk combinations.
10/10 Enyo-D
How to obtain: Legendary world Engrams.
Enyo-D is the spiritual successor to Antiope-D, a popular Hakke SMG that flourished during the Y1 and Y2 metas for Destiny 2. This weapon features the same base model as Antiope-D and can roll with various damage perks, allowing you to go on some lengthy killing sprees in 6v6 playlists.
Focusing on increasing this weapon's range stat, you can get Enyo-D's effective range to around 23 meters. For your main perks, Steady Hands is fantastic for offsetting this weapon's atrocious base handling stat of 25. The second column is filled with damage perks, including the likes of Multikill Clip and Rampage. Get a kill, reload your weapon, and enjoy a sizable damage buff. It isn't quite as good as Antiope was, but Enyo-D is still more than capable of competing with the current top dog SMGs.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Steady Hands, Encore, Well-Rounded
- Column Two: Multikill Clip, Rampage
9/10 The Hero's Burden
How to obtain: Iron Banner matches and Engrams.
Destiny 2's only Adaptive Frame SMG has returned in Season of the Haunted, complete with a new suite of perks. This weapon has the same fire rate as a Lightweight SMG but with a slightly more forgiving damage profile, allowing this weapon to shred Guardians with headshots and body shots alike.
While the range stat on Hero's Burden isn't great—reaching just over 20 meters with a good roll—it has access to some amazing lethality perks. Tunnel Vision and Kill Clip is phenomenal for 6v6 modes where killing an enemy is quite easy. Kill an enemy, reload, and enjoy an absurdly short TTK and a large aim assist boost. If you're looking for more consistency, this is one of the few SMGs that can roll with Eye of the Storm, giving this weapon near-perfect accuracy during a gunfight. We find other SMGs outperform Hero's Burden in the consistency department, but this weapon's overall lethality is tough to match.
We don't recommend Iron Reach on this weapon. The lower stability makes this weapon flinch uncontrollably in combat.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Tunnel Vision, Well-Rounded
- Column Two: Kill Clip, Eye of the Storm
8/10 Multimach CCX
How to obtain: No longer obtainable.
What was once the best Legendary SMG has been dethroned. Multimach CCX has received some Zoom nerfs in Season of the Haunted, causing it to experience damage falloff much sooner than it used to. It's been brought in line with most SMGs, although it is still quite competitive in today's sandbox.
If you were fortunate enough to get this weapon in previous seasons, any roll with Killing Wind and Kill Clip will do wonders. The changes to stability in Season 17 have made Iron Reach a far less useful perk on SMGs, causing Multimach to flinch uncontrollably if you're dueling a Pulse Rifle or other SMG. Iron Reach lets you duel from further distances, while Kill Clip makes this weapon a slaying machine in 6v6 modes. No matter how you look at it, Multimach is still a fantastic weapon for all Crucible modes. Keep an eye out for when this weapon returns.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Killing Wind, Dynamic Sway Reduction
- Column Two: Kill Clip, Iron Reach
7/10 Pizzicato-22
How to obtain: Legendary world Engrams.
SUROS creates some of Destiny 2's most consistent weapons, and the Pizzicato-22 is no exception. This Adaptive Frame SMG has a great stat package, benefits from the SUROS Synergy origin trait, and it has some phenomenal perks that are quite rare to find on an SMG.
Our recommended PvP roll is Eye of the Storm with Rangefinder, drastically improving this weapon's consistency from range and in duels. Paired with good range perks, you can reach around 23 meters with this weapon before experiencing damage fall-off, a respectable range that competes with other top-tier SMGs. Eye of the Storm makes your weapons effectively magnets when your HP lowers, drastically improving your odds of winning a duel or even 1v2 situations. If you care about consistency over raw TTK, Pizzicato-22 will not disappoint.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Eye of the Storm, Perpetual Motion, Fragile Focus
- Column Two: Rangefinder, Multikill Clip
6/10 Submission
How to obtain: Vow of the Disciple raid.
Submission is a deceptive weapon. At first glance, this weapon's base range stat of 29 seems unsalvageable. However, dig a little deeper into this weapon's perk pool, and you'll soon realize that this weapon can match the likes of Shayura's Wrath while maintaining the excellent TTK that 900 RPMs are renowned for.
Besides getting perks that boost your range stat, Submission has an amazing perk combination that no other SMG can get: Encore and Killing Wind. A single precision kill will give you +30 range, extending your damage falloff by four meters. Get yourself an Adept variant, and you can throw on Adept Range to give this weapon close to 100 range after a single kill. It has great base stability, handling, perfectly vertical recoil, one of the cleanest sights in the game, and it can kill Guardians from 25 meters away if you have Encore and Killing Wind active. Best of all, you can craft this weapon. If you're looking for a good Kinetic SMG, give Submission a try.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Encore, Perpetual Motion
- Column Two: Killing Wind
5/10 Borrowed Time
How to obtain: Gambit matches and Engrams.
Gambit's Borrowed Time has slowly become one of the best SMGs you can use. The range buffs to most SMGs in Season of the Haunted benefited Borrowed Time the most, allowing this weapon to achieve falloff distances that rival top-tier SMGs.
Borrowed Time has 15 base zoom and 37 range. While increasing range is quite easy, Borrowed Time is one of the few SMGs in Destiny 2 that can get Rangefinder, increasing your Zoom by 10%. With a good roll, you can extend this weapon's effective range to 23-24 meters. Paired with Tap the Trigger, you have one of the most consistent SMGs in Destiny 2 that can slay from excellent ranges.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Rangefinder
- Column Two: Tap the Trigger, Snapshot Sights, Frenzy
4/10 The Huckleberry
How to obtain: Exotic Engrams found through Xur or world drops.
Huckleberry saw a Zoom increase in Season of the Haunted, allowing this weapon to duel at greater distances. This makes it far easier to get a kill with Huckleberry to start ramping up its Exotic perk and Rampage effect. Continuous fire will ramp up Huckleberry's fire rate, and each kill fully reloads the magazine and grants a stack of Rampage. Going on a lengthy killing spree is quite easy with this gun, and Huckleberry's unrelenting storm of bullets will out flinch most weapons in a duel. If you can control this weapon's fire rate and recoil, you're left with one of the most lethal weapons in the Crucible.
3/10 Funnelweb
How to obtain: Legendary world Engrams.
Funnelweb continues to dominate the Destiny 2 meta after its release in The Witch Queen. Most use Funnelweb as an add-clearing machine in PvE, but this weapon is also fantastic inside the Crucible—provided you have a good roll.
Killing Wind and Rangefinder is a fantastic combo that lets Funnelweb compete with most 600 RPM SMGs. The weapon is a dream to use, featuring a solid base stability of 44 and high handling of 70. It can melt Guardians if you land headshots, has great damage falloff for an SMG, and has one of the best origin traits in the game. If you're lucky enough to get a PvP roll of Funnelweb, be sure to give it a try.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Killing Wind, Perpetual Motion
- Column Two: Rangefinder
2/10 Shayura's Wrath
How to obtain: No longer obtainable.
Shayura's Wrath set the bar for what SMGs can do inside the Crucible. This 600 RPM SMG comes with 59 range and 16 zoom by default. Without any perks, it can duel at 22 meters. That's on par with most god roll SMGs we've included on this list. Once you start accounting for perks and its Adept variant, it's clear that Shayura's Wrath is a trailblazer for SMGs as a whole.
It's possible to get 100 range on Shayura's Wrath with the right roll, causing damage falloff to begin at 28 meters. There isn't a single SMG in Destiny 2 that compete. That isn't even accounting for its main traits. You can get Killing Wind or Tunnel Vision in the first column to bump its consistency after a kill. Paired with Kill Clip in the second column, you won't find a better feeling SMG. For sheer consistency, Dynamic Sway Reduction and Tap The Trigger have great synergy, giving this weapon virtually no recoil and a nice boost to its accuracy. Overall, Shayura's Wrath has set the bar for all Legendary SMGs to come.
Recommended Perks:
- Column One: Killing Wind, Tunnel Vision, Dynamic Sway Reduction
- Column Two: Kill Clip, Tap the Trigger, Elemental Capacitor (Arc)
1/10 Tarrabah
How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. Costs 1 Exotic Cipher, 150,000 Glimmer, 240 Spoils of Conquest, and 2 Ascendant Shards.
Few SMGs can rival the sheer stopping power of Tarrabah. This 750 RPM SMG is mediocre on the surface, but this weapon's Exotic perk turns it into a Machine Gun with infinite ammo. Taking or receiving damage will slowly charge Tarrabah. Once the gun is charged, hold the reload key to activate Ravenous Beast.
When Bungie says this gun "unleashes the beast," they mean it. This gun fires faster, deals significantly more damage, makes you move faster, and increases Tarrabah's reload speed. Enemies drop in a quarter of a second, and kills extend the duration of this perk. And with the prevalence of Restoration and healing in today's meta, Tarrabah serves as an excellent counter that punishes passive play.
