Destiny 2 Exotic Tier List – All Weapons Ranked

So you’ve just started playing Destiny 2 and aren’t sure which weapons are good? Well, you’re in luck, as that’s exactly what our Destiny 2 Exotic tier list is here to help with. In this very guide, we rank all of the weapons from S tier to D tier, with S being best and D being worst. That way, you can focus on filling out your party with S and A tiers to ensure that you perform well, skipping the B-D tiers. We’ll also include a description of the tiers so you know what they actually mean.

Destiny 2 should surely need no introduction. This sci-fi shooter basically made live service games the publisher obsession they are today. You play as a futuristic take on a traditional RPG class and head out on an adventure across a variety of different planets, flattening foes, beating raids and dungeons, and participating in story beats.

You can learn more about it on the official site. For more Destiny 2 content, take a look at our Destiny 2 weapon tier list, and Destiny 2 codes. We also recommend checking out our Multiversus codes, and our Multiversus tier list.

Destiny 2 Exotic Tier List

Before we move onto the tier list proper, here’s a description of how our tiering system works so that you can make sense of it.

What Do Our Tiers Mean?

Here’s a brief explanation of each of our tiers:

• S Tier: Weapons in this tier are the absolute best that the game has to offer. You should prioritise unlocking these and increasing their power. One of these can carry you through the entire game, and a full party will make most of the endgame content trivial – provided you focus on growing their power.
• A Tier: If your collection is lacking in S tiers, A tiers are great for filling gaps. These weapons are still great in their own right, but they just lack a little something when you compare them to an S tier. Use them when you need to, but drop them when you can.
• B Tier: During the early phases of the game, you’ll likely rely on a party of a single S tier and a bunch of B tiers. These weapons are quite easy to get, and are solid, if unremarkable. Definitely swap them out for A tiers and S tiers, but don’t be ashamed to use them if you need to.
• C Tier: This is when we get into ‘bad character’ territory. C tiers are, much like D tiers, some of the worst weapons in the game, but they often have niche uses. They might be really strong in a particular game mode, or during a certain phase of the game. Take a close look at their skills and judge accordingly.
• D Tier: Weapons in this tier are simply never worth using. They’re the worst weapons in the game, suffering from severe balance issues, and will underperform at all points in any modes. Don’t use them if you can avoid it.

S Tier

God tier weapons.

• Divinity – Trace Rifle
• Agers Scepter – Trace Rifle
• Vex Mythoclast – Fusion Rifle
• Ace of Spades – Hand Cannon
• The Chaperone – Shotgun
• 1k Voices – Fusion Rifle
• The Lament – Sword
• Gjallajorn – Rocket Launcher
• Heir Apparent – Machine Gun
• Eriana’s Vow – Hand Cannon
• Witherhoard – Grenade Launcher
• Osteo Striga – SMG
• Trinity Ghoul – Combat Bow
• Conditional Finality – Shotgun
• Wicked Implement Catalyst
• Wicked Implement Scout Rifle
• Mothkeeper’s Wraps – Grenades

A Tier

Solid weapons that are great for filling gaps in your party when you don’t have enough S tiers.

• The Last Word – Hand Cannon
• Wardcliff Coil – Rocket Launcher
• Hawkmoon – Hand Cannon
• Eyes of Tomorrow – Rocket Launcher
• Izanagi’s Burden – Sniper Rifle
• Travelers Chosen – Sidearm
• Sturm (PVP) – Hand Cannon
• Cloudstrike – Sniper Rifle
• Dead Man’s Tale – Scout Rifle
• Jötunn – Fusion Rifle
• Bastion – Fusion Rifle
• Dead Messenger-Grenade Launcher
• Deathbringer – Rocket Launcher
• Xenophage – Machine Gun
• Huckleberry – SMG
• Thunderlord – Machine Gun
• Outbreak Perfected – Pulse Rifle
• Thorn – Hand Cannon
• MIDA – Scout Rifle
• Forerunner – Sidearm
• Duality – Shotgun
• Sleeper Simulant – Linear Fusion Rifle
• Sunshot – Hand Cannon
• Whisper of the Worm – Sniper Rifle
• Monte Carlo – Auto Rifle
• Anarchy – Grenade Launcher
• Rat King – Sidearm
• Wavesplitter – Trace Rifle
• Crimson – Hand Cannon
• Lorentz Driver – Linear Fusion Rifle
• Riskrunner – SMG
• No Time to Explain – Pulse Rifle
• Verglas Curve – Combat Bow
• Centrifuse – Auto Rifle

B Tier

These weapons start strong but fade later on. Don’t be ashamed to use them, but do swap them out as you unlock S and A tiers.

• Ticuu’s Divination – Combat Bow
• The Colony – Grenade Launcher
• The Fourth Horseman – Shotgun
• Hard Light – Auto Rifle
• Symmetry – Scout Rifle
• Black Talon – Sword
  Bad Juju – Pulse Rifle
• Vigilance Wing – Pulse Rifle
• Arbalest – Linear Fusion Rifle
• Merciless – Fusion Rifle
• Wish-Ender – Combat Bow
• Tractor Cannon – Shotgun
• Tommy’s Matchbook – Auto Rifle
• Polaris Lance – Scout Rifle
• Lord of Wolves – Shotgun
• Ruinous Effigy – Trace Rifle
• Malfeasance – Hand Cannon
• Sky Burner’s Oath – Scout Rifle
• Legend of Acrius – Shotgun
• Parasite- Grenade Launcher
• Lumina – Hand Cannon
• Fighting Lion – Grenade Launcher
• The Queenbreaker – Linear Fusion Rifle
• Final Warning – Sidearm
• Winterbite – Glaive
• The Navigator – Trace Rifle

C Tier

In certain game modes, or at the beginning, weapons in this tier can excel. Mostly, they’re useless though.

• Prometheus Lens – Trace Rifle
• Coldheart – Trace Rifle
• Borealis – Sniper Rifle
• Leviathan’s Breath – Combat Bow
• Cerberus+1 – Auto Rifle
• Worldine Zero – Sword
• Truth – Rocket Launcher
• The Prospector – Grenade Launcher
• D.A.R.C.I. – Sniper Rifle
• The Jade Rabbit – Scout Rifle
• Deterministic Chaos – Machine Gun

D Tier

Never use D tiers unless you can’t avoid it. They’re awful at all game modes, and at all phases of the game.

• Graviton Lance – Pulse Rifle
• Crosethia 77k – Sidearm
• Two Tailed Fox – Rocket Launcher
• Sweet Business – Auto Rifle
• Salvation’s Grip – Grenade Launcher

Destiny 2 Exotic Tier List FAQ

Still unsure about our tier list? Got questions about Destiny 2 in general? Hopefully our tier list can help!

What’s A Tier List?

We should probably have answered this question at the beginning, eh? A tier list is, quite simply, a list of all of the characters in a specific game ranked from best to worst. In our case, S is the best characters with D being the worst, and A, B, and C filling the gaps.

The purpose of a tier list is to help you determine which characters to use at all stages of the game. We try and make our tier list as useful as possible by explaining our tier system.

For example, there are instances where certain characters are excellent during the beginning of a game, but fade later on. Or, they could be good at a certain game mode. We’ll always try and make this clear.

How Did We Select Our Destiny 2 Exotic Tier List?

We used a number of different sources when selecting our Destiny 2 Exotic tier list, but, primarily, we judge based on our personal experience with the game. As a result, it is bound to be quite a subjective list, but there’s no getting around that.

To determine the rankings, we both experiment with the weapons in the game (if unlocked), as well as theory-craft based on skill descriptions and raw statistics. That’s why you’ll see our tier list change so much when a game first launches, as we’re in the testing phase.

It’s also worth noting that we do scour communities, like Reddit, for community feedback. If the general consensus is that a specific weapon is strong or weak, we will reflect that in our tier list. That way, it’s got a certain degree of objectivity.

We’ll wrap this section up by reminding you that tier lists are subjective by nature. Your experience may vary completely to ours, so take it with a pinch of salt.

When Do We Update Our Destiny 2 Exotic Tier List?

You can expect to see an update to our Destiny 2 Exotic tier list whenever a new weapon is introduced. It might take us a while to test the character for ourselves though, so expect a brief delay.

We also update the list whenever a big balance patch hits, as this will throw the meta out the window. Again, there may be a brief delay as we experiment with the changes and update our rankings.

Adele Wilson

Editor

With experience writing for GameRant and in SEO copywriting, Adele loves to combine her adoration for gaming and writing. She'll talk your ear off about anything fantasy, and if she's not typing away at her desk, she's probably playing an RPG somewhere.