Known for flashy abilities, lengthy invisibility, and massive utility potential, Hunters in Destiny 2 are an essential part of any fireteam, both in PvP and PvE. With an unprecedented amount of flexibility, this class has a wide range of playstyles thanks to its range of subclasses and Exotics.
Exotics are key to making Hunters powerful, granting benefits ranging from ability regeneration to a powerful follow-up punch attack. For Guardians looking for an upper hand against the enemies of the Traveler and Guardians alike, here are the best exotics for Hunters in Destiny 2.
Updated August 24th, 2022, by Charles Burgar:Season of the Plunder gave Hunters a powerhouse of a Void Exotic with Gyrfalcon's Hauberk. You can now turn your invisibility into a powerful damage buff, allowing you to dish out some absurd PvE DPS or one-tap Guardians with LFRs in PvP. We've updated this list to include Season 18's newest Hunter Exotic.
10/10 Mask Of Bakris
Light Shift: Replaces your Stasis subclass Dodge ability with a longer range, faster moving Shift that partially cloaks you during use. After Shifting, your Arc weapons deal increased damage to combatants for a short time, and you deal increased damage to all slowed or frozen combatants.
The Mask of Bakris replaces your Stasis dodge with Shift, a short-range teleport ability that cloaks you during its effect. When you finish Shifting, you receive a 10% damage bonus to Arc weapons for ten seconds. Any slowed targets you damage will also receive 10% more damage. Both effects stack with buffs and debuffs, although your Shift ability cannot recharge while these buffs are active.
PvE
Mask of Bakris is a great PvE Exotic due to its Light Shift buff. While active, your Arc weapons will deal 10% more damage, and any slowed combatants you hit will take 10% more damage from you. Since you can only use this Exotic with Revenant, you'll be able to take advantage of that slow debuff quite easily. Pair this helmet with a good Arc Heavy weapon, and you'll be able to shut down Champions with ease. It's also a good choice for Revenant mains that want a DPS-increasing Exotic for raid content, although you're usually better off using Golden Gun.
PvP
There are quite a few downsides to using this Exotic. You have to be using Stasis, it adds ten seconds to your dodge cooldown, its Arc buff doesn't work in PvP, it can't be used in the air, and you are still vulnerable during your Shift animation. The dodge nerfs in the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack hit Mask of Bakris especially hard, reducing the effectiveness of Utility Kickstart while extending your base dodge cooldown. In simple terms, this Exotic extends your dodge cooldown to 24-28 seconds at 100 Mobility.
Yet none of those negatives really impact this Exotic's greatest strength: its unmatched mobility. The confusion this helmet creates in PvP is absurdly strong for aggressive players. You can use your dodge to rush targets with a Shotgun, retreat from an aggressive player, or dodge Super projectiles. When paired with the Winter Shroud Aspect, Mask of Bakris can single-handedly swing a gunfight in your favor. But should you use this Exotic poorly, you'll have no means of escape for what feels like an eternity. It's a high-risk, high-reward Exotic that can fundamentally change the way you partake in Destiny 2's Crucible.
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9/10 Aeon Swift
Sect Mods: Select one of three Sect mods, changing your armor's Exotic perk. Ally Aeon users gain additional benefits when your Exotic perk triggers.
Aeon Swift is the Hunter version of the Aeon Exotic gloves, a class-agnostic Exotic that can fill one of three roles. This armor piece has a fifth mod slot that allows you to socket one of three Sect mods, acting as this armor's Exotic perk. The mods do the following:
| Sect of Force | Rapid precision hits grant weapon reload and handling speed. Stunning Champions and defeating minibosses will grant ability energy to allies. Aeon allies also gain Super energy. |
| Sect of Insight | Rapid precision kills spawn Orbs of Power for your allies. Finishers against majors spawn Special ammo, while Champions and bosses spawn Heavy ammo. Aeon allies also gain a 35% damage buff when you finish a target. |
| Sect of Vigor | Gain classy ability energy when an ally dies. Reviving an ally refunds your class ability. Casting your Super heals allies. Aeon allies also gain an overshield. |
PvE
Sect of Insight is the only mod worth using in PvE, although its application in PvE endgame content cannot be overstated. Since most Hunter Exotics aren't particularly great in endgame content, you can afford to use an Exotic like this. Nightstalker is the perfect subclass for endgame content when paired with this Exotic, allowing you to safely finish Champions and revive allies in the same build. The ammo generated from this Exotic is more than enough to let your allies clear an entire Grandmaster Nightfall with just their Heavy weapon. Other Sect mods aren't worth using in most PvE activities; stick with Insight.
PvP
Sect of Vigor is much stronger in PvP than you might expect. Every ally that dies grants about 20-25% class ability energy. This works with any dodge. Solar 3.0 introduced Acrobat's Dodge, allowing you to become Radiant at will. With this Exotic, you can have close to 100% uptime on your Radiant buff, allowing the likes of Ace of Spades to two-tap with a weapon damage perk active. The other mods aren't worth using in the Crucible, but if you're looking to spam your dodge ability in 6v6 modes, Aeon Swift is surprisingly good.
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8/10 Star-Eater Scales
Feast of Light: You gain additional Super energy from Orbs of Power you pick up. While your Super energy is full, picking up an Orb of Power overcharges your Super, causing you to gain a burst of healing when cast and a bonus to your Super damage. At maximum overcharge, you also gain an overshield.
There's a lot is going on with this Exotic, so let's break it down.
- Grabbing an Orb of Power grants twice as much Super energy, even Masterwork Orbs.
- When your Super bar is full, grabbing an Orb of Power grants one stack of Feast of Light. This buff increases the damage of your Super and heals you when you cast your Super.
- If you reach x8 Feast of Light, the buff's cap, you gain an overshield upon casting your Super.
- You lose all stacks of Feast of Light when you cast your Super or die.
- At x4 Feast of Light, your Super deals 55% increased damage.
- At x8 Feast of Light, your Super deals 70% increased damage.
PvE
If a perk or Exotic description is a paragraph long, there's a good chance it's good. Star-Eater Scales is no exception. These boots allow you to cast your Super much more frequently, and it boosts the strength of your Super if you decide to hold onto it.
You can use these boots in one of two ways:
- Gain your Super much faster, allowing you to spam your Super more frequently.
- Hold your Super to create a supercharged version by grabbing Orbs.
The former is excellent for general PvE content, while the latter is much more suited for raids and pinnacle PvE content. Star-Eater Scales has a level of versatility that makes them a great choice in PvE. Every build can take advantage of these boots, and those that build around Star-Eater Scales can expect a ludicrous amount of damage or Super spam—especially with Blade barrage. They make Golden Gun stronger, allow Moebius Quiver to compete with DPS Supers, and it turns Blade Barrage into the single best burst DPS Super in Destiny 2.
Why not Orpheus Rig?
Orpheus Rig is a fantastic Exotic for Nightstalkers, provided you're using Moebius Quiver. It's more of a sidegrade to Star-Eater Scales, sacrificing raw strength for consistency. Since Star-Eater Scales works with every subclass and not just one, it won a spot on this list.
PvP
Gaining twice as much Super energy from Orbs of Power is incredibly strong, yet PvP arenas typically aren't littered with Orbs. These boots are serviceable in 6v6 playlists, but they don't offer the neutral game benefits that other Hunter Exotics provide.
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7/10 Assassin's Cowl
Vanishing Execution: Powered melee final blows grant invisibility and restore a portion of health and shields. Finishers and final blows against more powerful targets increase the duration of the invisibility and the amount of health and shields restored.
Assassin's Cowl grants nine seconds of invisibility and partial healing upon defeating a target with a melee ability. Finishers and kills against majors and bosses increase the healing effect and boosts the invisibility duration to 15 seconds.
PvE
Assassin's Cowl fundamentally changes how you play as a Hunter. Melee ability kills or finishers give you a way of disengaging from a fight, allowing you to recover your health or reload your weapons. It does mean you'll need to stay at close range, yet the healing this Exotic provides is more than enough to keep you in the fight in most activities. And since you can proc Assassin's Cowl on finishers, it gives you a safety net in just about every PvE encounter with fodder enemies.
This Exotic really shows its potential on Top Tree Arcstrider and Revenant. The former allows you to frequently punch targets to death, becoming invisible while restoring almost all of your health upon doing so. The latter turns you into an ice ninja that acts as a synthesis of the Nightstalker and Revenant playstyles. Use your grenade to freeze or shatter targets, then throw a Withering Blade on a weakened target to get out of a gunfight. If you love playing aggressively or main Revenant, you need to give Assassin's Cowl a try.
PvP
While this Exotic does work in PvP, its usefulness is limited at best. Enemies can still see you while you're invisible, and it doesn't hide you from enemy radar while double jumping or when you begin to sprint. Unless you have some type of ranged melee attack, getting this helmet's Exotic perk to activate is incredibly risky. Most players are better off using something else.
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6/10 The Dragon's Shadow
Wraithmetal Mail: Dodging reloads all weapons and increases both movement and weapon handling speeds for a brief time.
Yet another dodge-augmenting Exotic, the Dragon's Shadow grants the Wraithmetal Mail buff for ten seconds after you dodge. This buff grants the following:
- Auto reloads all of your weapons after you dodge
- Faster sprint speed
- Further slide distance
- +50 Mobility
- Faster reload speed
- A massive increase to weapon handling (more than Quickdraw)
- Faster reload speed
PvE
The Dragon's Shadow is surprisingly strong in PvE, giving you a massive boost to handling while auto-reloading all of your weapons after a dodge. This can lead to some powerful DPS options like double slug Shotgun swapping or weaving Rocket Launcher shots with your Special weapon. If used properly, you can drastically improve your DPS with this Exotic. It doesn't beat Star-Eater Scales or other must-have PvE Exotics for raids or Grandmaster Nightfalls, but if you want a great neutral game Exotic that works with any subclass, the Dragon's Shadow is a great choice.
PvP
Wraithmetal Mail is one of the strongest buffs in PvP. Unfortunately, this Exotic was hit the hardest with the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack. This Exotic's downtime was effectively doubled with the nerf to Gambler's Dodge and Utility Kickstart. You can't maintain 100% uptime with this Exotic unless you run double Utility Kickstart mods, Marksman's Dodge, and certain Arcstrider Aspects and Fragments. Even then, you'll need to constantly be sprinting to maintain Wraithmetal Mail.
It says a lot about the strength of Wraithmetal Mail that Dragon's Shadow is still so high on the list despite being hit by various nerfs. This buff effectively gives all of your guns Quickdraw, Snapshot Sights, and it allows you to ignore reloading entirely. Gunfights are heavily swung in your favor while this perk is active, but the nerf to dodge cooldowns in the Anniversary Pack have made this Exotic much less desirable.
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5/10 Gyrfalcon's Hauberk
See Me, Feel Me: Your weapons gain a bonus to damage briefly after you emerge from being invisible. When you are invisible and defeat a combatant using a finisher, you and your allies gain a reserve overshield and improved class ability regen. These reserve overshields can be deployed by using a class ability.
This description is quite long and still doesn't fully explain what this Exotic does. Let's break it down:
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When you break invisibility, you gain a 35% damage buff for the next five seconds.
- This does not stack with other damage buffs. It can stack with weapon perks and Font of Might.
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Performing a finisher while invisible makes enemies Volatile.
- This can trigger Stylish Executioner.
- Performing a finisher while invisible increases the class ability recharge rate for you and nearby allies
- Performing a finisher while invisible causes your next dodge to grant a 10-second Void Overshield to you and nearby allies.
In essence, you gain a massive damage buff when you break invisibility, and you can support your team by performing finishers while invisible.
PvE
Gyrfalcon's Hauberk is an offensive replacement for Omnioculus that enables Stylish Executioner builds. Gaining a 35% damage buff after breaking invisibility is invaluable for fighting Champions in GMs or raid bosses. Its ability to inflict Volatile on finishers also gives your Nightstalker a close-quarters add clear role that was missing from its kit, enabling a much more aggressive playstyle. If you play your cards right, your team will have constant overshields, charged class abilities, and you'll be able to stay invisible simply by chaining finishers.
PvP
The damage buff in PvP is reduced to 15%, but that is still plenty. This Exotic enables Linear Fusion Rifles to one-tap to the body, including Lorentz Driver. And since Hunters can trigger invisibility so easily, you'll have incredible uptime on this devastating buff. Playing Trials and need an easy pick? Dodge, line up your shot, then fire your Arbalest or Lorentz Driver for an easy kill. Simply put, Gyrfalcon's Hauberk is the new king of Void Exotics for Hunters inside the Crucible, especially after the DR nerf Omnioculus is slated to receive in Season of the Plunder's first hotfix.
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4/10 Caliban's Hand
Roast 'Em: Your Proximity Knife scorches targets it damages with its explosions, or ignites targets on a direct kill. After throwing a Proximity Knife, you gain increased melee regeneration until the knife explodes.
Caliban's Hand is a fantastic Exotic for giving your Gunslinger spec some additional add-clearing potential. This Exotic allows your Proximity Knife to Scorch targets. Should the knife kill them, they'll trigger an Ignite that deals immense damage over a wide area.
PvE
Caliban's Hand is the best Exotic for Gunslingers. Now that Knock 'Em Down works with Caliban's Hand, this Exotic has quickly turned into a powerhouse for most builds. Throwing a knife and a grenade will cause any target to Ignite, dealing massive damage over a wide area.
This isn't a niche Exotic for low-level content. Ignites scale well into Master and even GM content. And with the strength of Knock 'Em Down, it's possible to keep chaining these high-damage Ignites in low to mid-tier content. Young Ahamkara's Spine might help recharge your grenade, but Caliban's Hand makes it incredibly easy to Ignite targets in all forms of content. Caliban's Hand is an excellent pick for Gunslingers across all PvE content.
PvP
Multikills are incredibly easy to get with Caliban's Hand. Your Proximity Throwing Knife will inflict 60 Scorch onto the target. With a Fusion Grenade and Ember of Ashes, you can easily trigger an Ignite with your grenade and knife. Any enemy tagged by the grenade will die from the Ignite. Caliban's Hand is a powerhouse in 6v6 modes and quite strong in 3v3 playlists.
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3/10 Omnioculus
Beyond the Veil: You gain a second Smoke Bomb charge and heave damage resistance while invisible. When you make an ally invisible, they gain damage resistance while invisible and you gain melee energy.
While playing Nightstalker, you have two melee charges instead of one. Anyone that becomes invisible from your Smoke Bombs will gain Resist x4 while invisible. You also gain 50% Smoke Bomb energy for each ally you make invisible.
PvE
Omnioculus lets you bypass the Gambler's Dodge nerf in the Bungie 30th Anniversary Pack since it gives you melee energy outright. Making two allies invisible is fairly easy in content where it matters, allowing you to spam infinite Smoke Bombs to give allies extra damage resistance.
Damage resistance might seem redundant when you're invisible, but this DR can be a lifesaver when going up against AoE attacks. It also stacks with other DR sources like Well of Tenacity and Concussive Dampener, making your team much harder to kill. Overall, Omnioculus is a powerful endgame Exotic for Nightstalker Hunters that gives you on-demand invisibility and damage resistance. If you run Grandmaster Nightfalls or raids at all, you need this Exotic in your inventory.
PvP
Omnioculus does lose some value in PvP but is far from useless. Going invisible will wipe you from the enemy's radar and a sizable damage resistance increase—even after its Season of the Plunder nerf. That DR buff is enough to alter the TTK of just about every meta weapon in the Crucible. While niche, Omnioculus can be a powerhouse in the Crucible when used correctly.
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2/10 Wormhusk Crown
Burning Souls: Dodging gives a small health and shield bump.
Wormhusk Crown needs no introduction. This helmet grants a flat chunk of health after you dodge, effectively causing your dodge to heal you.
PvE
Unlike most PvP Exotics, Wormhusk Crown is a surprisingly good PvE Exotic. There are very few ways of getting your health back as a Hunter in Destiny 2, most of which involve Combat Style mods or Exotic weapons. Wormhusk Crown gives you a sizable health bump for dodging, an action you'd normally perform when you're in danger. This isn't the best Exotic for pinnacle PvE content, but if you're tired of dying in more casual content, this helmet will save your life more times than you might expect. If you want to take Wormhusk into hard content, pair this helmet with Gunslinger and Ember of Singeing.
PvP
If it wasn't clear, Wormhusk Crown's effectiveness in PvP is the main reason we've rated this helmet so highly. Players typically rush Hunters when they dodge on low life. This Exotic flips those encounters on their head by granting a sizable amount of HP after a dodge, allowing you to get straight back into a duel.
These Exotics allow you to get away with much more sloppy movement and aggressive gameplay, making these an excellent Exotic for players that are new to playing Hunter. Even Hunter mains will use this Exotic for the number of aggressive plays it lets you get away with, allowing you to aggressively snipe or duel enemies in competitive modes. Simply put, Wormhusk Crown is one of the best PvP Exotics in Destiny 2—arguably the best for newer Hunters. Just be sure to spec for 100 Mobility and use Marksman's Dodge to get the most out of this Exotic.
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1/10 St0mp-EE5
Hydraulic Boosters: Increases sprint speed and slide distance. Improves High Jump, Strafe Jump, and Triple Jump.
Did The Airborne Changes Ruin St0mp-EE5?
No, although it has forced St0mp-EE5 mains to engage all gunfights on the ground. Airborne Effectiveness changes have impacted all players, not just Hunters. Very few players attack from the air anymore, so what should be a crippling negative has barely impacted their usage rate. Hunters still won't find a better PvP Exotic than St0mp-EE5.
Mobility is king in Destiny 2, both for PvE and PvP. St0mp-EE5 is all about enhancing your mobility, causing your jumps to become stronger while increasing your sprint and slide speeds. This Exotic also reduces the Airborne Effectiveness of all weapons by -50.
PvE
Movement Exotics are entirely subjective in PvE. They prevent you from using a Super-enhancing Exotic like Celestial Nighthawk, although the movement enhancements can make the difference for some players. St0mp-EE5 are as powerful as they come in terms of movement Exotics, making your jumps and overall mobility much stronger. You can avoid enemies more easily, slide to cover much faster, and be able to traverse the battlefield more quickly than other players.
It's up to you if that's worth it over other top-tier PvE Exotics. You'll at least want to have a pair of these boots in your inventory for when you encounter a platforming section.
PvP
You won't find a better movement Exotic as a Hunter. St0mp-EE5 has everything you'd want from a movement Exotic: faster sprint speed, further slide distance, and much stronger jumps. These boots transform your movement game, allowing you to traverse maps in the blink of an eye. When players speak of "hoppity Hunters," these boots are what allow that playstyle.
Unfortunately, these boots make it virtually impossible to land headshots in the air. The Airborne Effectiveness penalty tied to this Exotic is extreme, causing all weapons to have absurd bloom while airborne. If you so much as jump or walk over a staircase, your weapons won't be able to hit the broad side of a barn.
You can forget about landing headshots, and body shots become much harder to land. This makes St0mp-EE5 a movement tool and nothing else, although the extra agility you get is nothing short of S-tier. You can reposition so much faster than any other Hunter in the game, giving you a massive advantage in just about every gunfight. But you need to play grounded, or else you're going to lose every gunfight.
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