The Best Weapons in Destiny 2 to Take Into the Witch Queen Expansion

The latest Destiny 2 expansion, Witch Queen, is hitting our screens in just over a month and players are now tasked with obtaining the best weapons in Destiny 2 with optimal perks on them as well. If you’re stressing and don’t know what you’re looking for, stress no longer as this guide on the best weapons in Destiny 2 has you covered.

Source: Random world drop or open the Xur exotic engram each week, which prioritises weapons and items you haven’t collected.

Arbalest will be a good start for anyone, it got updated to have automatic anti-barrier rounds and melts any enemy shield no matter what element it is. Additionally, the exotic linear fusion rifle is supposed to be getting a buff for Witch Queen, so might be worth picking it up.

Source: New Light quest, curated roll is obtained a few steps in.

Easily the best long-range weapon in the game, the curated roll you get from the New Light quest comes with Overflow and Explosive Payload. Overflow increases the potential magazine size when you pick up ammo and Explosive Payload means you get no damage drop off.

Source: Random world drop.

One of the best SMGs in the game and maybe the best kinetic one. Having overflow basically gives this weapon a bottomless mag, you can also pair it with Surrounded or Vorpal Weapon. Surrounded will give a damage boost when near 3 or more enemies while vorpal will give a damage boost to majors, ultras or bosses.

Source: Season of the Splicer weapon, can be farmed through prismatic recaster engrams in the HELM.

This is the most useful kinetic grenade launcher in the game because you can get Slideshot and blinding grenades on it. Blinding grenades mean you’ll be able to take out enemies without them shooting back and Slideshot means you’ll never have to go through the reload animation, as sliding will reload the weapon for you.

Source: Last Wish raid chests.

Very good for burst damage against majors and ultras, but it’s not advisable to use against bosses and the long-term damage isn’t very sustainable. You can get it pretty easily from the secret chests in the Last Wish raid making it a good option for solo players as well. Getting it with Snapshot will drastically decrease your ADS time and Triple Tap, which will add a bullet back into the magazine if you hit three consecutive precision shots.

Source: Master Vault of Glass raid.

This might just be the best hand cannon in the game, you can get the guaranteed god roll if you complete the gatekeeper challenge in the master difficulty Vault of Glass raid. The roll will come with Explosive Payload, which eliminates damage drop off and Firefly, which will create a solar explosion on precision kills.

Source: Deep Stone Crypt raid.

Another great burst damage weapon, but also has better long-term sustaining damage on bosses when compared to The Supremacy. Having Reconstruction on the weapon will mean the magazine will automatically refill to double its normal capacity. Rampage or Vorpal Weapon are both good secondary perks, Rampage will go up to a x3 buff as you pick up kills, and will increase damage on anything until the buff runs out, while Vorpal will increase the weapon’s damage on bosses.

Source: Archive item vendor.

This exotic grenade launcher is easily the best ad clear and passive damage weapon in the game. Sticking the shots to bosses means it’ll continue to damage the boss while you shoot with other weapons, it’s also great for shooting at enemy spawn and choke points. Additionally, having the catalyst essentially gives the weapon Auto-Loading Holster, meaning it will reload while you’re using another weapon.

Source: Random world drop

Without a doubt the best SMG in the game, it creates warmind cells to help with quick ad clear. The perks you want are Threat Detector, which will increase your reload speed, stability and handling when enemies are close and Surrounded will boost your damage when near enemies.

Source: Last Wish raid, Morgeth encounter.

A very good elemental hand cannon if you wanted to use something else in the kinetic slot, the curated roll is best here and has a chance of dropping after you defeat Morgeth in the Last Wish raid. It’ll come with Outlaw, which increases your reload speed after precision kills and Dragonfly, which will create an elemental explosion on precision kills as well.

Source: Random world drop or Last Wish secret chest.

These are the best two bows that are easy to get, but really any bow will do. You can get Arsenic from random world drops or Tyranny from Last Wish chests. Explosive Head is great here and Rampage will increase your damage. Additionally, if you want a kinetic bow, you can get Accrued Redemption from the first encounter of the Gard of Salvation raid.

Source: Prismatic recaster engrams in Season of the Splicer section.

Currently the best fusion rifle in the game, this is the one you want to take into Witch Queen. The most important thing to get on it is Vorpal Weapon, but Liquid Coils and a charge time masterwork are very useful as well, if you want the god roll then try to get Lead from Gold as the other perk.

Source: Random world drop.

This is great for burst damage on weaker enemies and is pretty much the elemental version of The Supremacy. Triple Tap is great here and pair it with High Impact Reserves, which will boost your damage at the end of the mag.

Source: Random world drop:

Pretty much the elemental version of Ignition Code, but unfortunately you can’t get Slideshot on it. The next best thing here is to get Auto-Loading holster and Blinding Grenades, so it can at least reload as you run around. Another good perk here is Demolitionist, where kills with the weapon will charge your grenade ability, and activating that ability will reload the weapon from its reserves.

Source: Wrathborn hunt activity.

If you need an elemental scout rifle, this is the best option. Auto-loading Holster is a great primary perk and Dragonfly as the secondary will make it pretty good if you need to clear ads from a distance.

Source: Obtainable from the archive vendor.

A great heavy weapon that does passive damage to bosses and can also be used on ad spawn and choke points, much like Witherhoard.

Source: Strike, Gambit and Crucible rank ups.

Ascendancy is this season’s rocket launcher, you get the curated roll for progressing through Strike, Gambit, and Crucible ranks, it comes with Explosive Light, which increases the weapon’s damage and blast radius when you pick up an orb of light.

Source: Strike playlist.

The rocket launcher you get from the strike playlist, you can get Lasting Impression on it, this increases the damage and blast radius if the rocket attaches to an enemy. Using Lasting Impression may also be more useful in more scenarios than Explosive Light.

Source: Last Wish raid.

Obtainable after completing the Last Wish raid, it’s a great ad clear linear fusion rifle but can also do pretty good and sustainable damage to bosses.

Source: Random world drop.

This sword is fantastic when it comes to long-term, sustainable damage on bosses and also has very good ammo efficiency. The undisputed god roll is; Jagged Edge, Swordmaster’s Guard, Relentless Strikes and Whirlwind Blade.

Source: An exotic quest with the Beyond Light expansion,

Another sword but this time exotic, a fantastic DPS weapon on bosses and it also has very good ammo efficiency.

Source: Archive Vendor.

Very good this season with high DPS and solid at producing sustainable damage over time. The catalyst is also pretty useful as it’ll drop the charge time a little.

Source: Archive Vendor.

This has also been a good sniper for DPS, but it’s getting buffed in Witch Queen, where hitting three consecutive precision shots will take two shots from your reserves and one from thin air, allowing you to do sustainable damage for a longer period of time. The catalyst also boosts the DPS each shot does so that’s also worth having, but unfortunately, you’ll have to wait for next season to get it.

Source: Exotic world drop

The opposite of Whisper, DARCI gives very good burst damage and is getting buffed next season as well.

Source: Exotic world drop

Tractor has always flown under the radar for power weapons, the positive thing about this weapon is that it’s an enemy debuff rather than player buff, meaning it doesn’t have to compete with the likes of Well of Radiance or Weapons of Light, it also does pretty decent DPS as well.

With all that being said, you now have a great understanding of what Destiny 2 weapons and rolls you need to aim for and are ready for any situation you get thrown into in the new expansion coming next month.