Best PvP Weapons in Destiny 2 Right Now

The best PvP weapons in Destiny 2 right now include Rose and Spare Rations among Hand Cannons, Felwinter's Lie and The Inquisitor among Shotguns, and Vex Mythoclast as a standout Exotic after the Monument of Triumph update. Since that update is the game's final major patch, these rankings are unlikely to be shuffled by a future major sandbox pass.

Primary weapons worth your slot

Hand Cannons still dominate the primary conversation. Rose is a Lightweight Frame Kinetic Hand Cannon that drops from Crucible Competitive and is free to play, and current god-roll recommendations pair Slideshot with Precision Instrument. Spare Rations is an Adaptive Frame Kinetic Hand Cannon from Gambit Ops, also free to play, with Slideshot and Eye of the Storm as the recommended roll. Both have low Range for 140 RPM Hand Cannons but high Handling, which is why they feel snappier than the rest of the category.

Igneous Hammer remains the pick among 120 RPM Hand Cannons, dropping from the Trials of Osiris Lighthouse and requiring The Final Shape. A max Range Igneous Hammer hits hard out to 40 meters, and Rapid Hit is the perk most players build around.

If you would rather not grind a Legendary roll, Hawkmoon is a Kinetic Exotic Hand Cannon from the Beyond Light Pack whose Paracausal Charge stacks let the final round in the magazine deal bonus damage, enough for consistent two-taps on accurate play.

Pulse Rifles have their own standouts. Horror's Least is a free-to-play Arc Rapid-Fire Pulse Rifle from Pinnacle Ops Engrams, with Zen Moment and Kill Clip recommended for PvP. High Tyrant is a Void Balanced Heat Pulse Rifle from the Equilibrium Dungeon in Renegades, where Rapid Hit and Headseeker are the PvP roll. The Martlet is a Void Lightweight Pulse Rifle from Trials of Osiris in Week 3 of Renegades, with Keep Away or Headseeker plus Kill Clip or Zen Moment. Outbreak Perfected is the safe Exotic option, a 540 RPM Pulse Rifle whose Nanite swarms soften up anyone standing near your target.

Submachine Guns are covered by M-17 Fast Talker, a Stasis Balanced Heat SMG from the Lawless Destination in Renegades, where Delicate Tuning and Target Lock are the PvP roll. With Delicate Tuning and Tap the Trigger and a high enough Weapons stat, its optimal TTK drops to 0.67 seconds. Shayura's Wrath, a 600 RPM Precision Frame SMG from Trials, trades Handling for Range and Stability, with Perpetual Motion and Tap the Trigger as the perks to chase.

One outlier is worth knowing: the Modified B-7 Pistol is a 180 RPM Dynamic Heat Hand Cannon that can three-tap without any third- or fourth-column perks, provided you have Overclocked Heatsink in the second column and a Weapons stat of 177–180, for a 0.67 second optimal TTK.

Special weapons: Shotguns and Snipers

The Inquisitor sits at the top of current PvP Shotgun picks. It is a Pinpoint Slug Shotgun from the Trials of Osiris Lighthouse requiring The Final Shape, and the recommended roll is Lone Wolf with Closing Time or Opening Shot. Range and Handling are what make it work, and Threat Detector or Opening Shot are the perks to look for if you build your own.

Felwinter's Lie is back in reissued form as a Solar Aggressive Frame Shotgun from Iron Banner, free to play, with Slideshot plus Iron Reach as the preferred roll. Matador 64 is the Arc Precision Frame alternative from the Grasp of Avarice Dungeon in the 30th Anniversary content, where Threat Detector and Opening Shot are the roll. Astral Horizon is the Kinetic Aggressive option from Trials of Osiris in Week 1 of Renegades, with Slideshot and Opening Shot. Deadlock is the Stasis Precision Frame Shotgun from Crucible Competitive, free to play, and the default Kinetic-slot choice when you are running an Energy primary. MIDA Macro-Tool is an Arc Shotgun from Crucible Ops Engrams in The Edge of Fate, with Threat Detector and Opening Shot.

For Snipers, Eye of Sol is the Kinetic Adaptive pick from Trials of Osiris in Week 3 of The Final Shape, with Moving Target and Snapshot Sights. Cloudstrike is the Arc Exotic from the Beyond Light Pack whose precision final blows generate a lightning bolt, and rapid precision hits create a lightning storm at the impact point. It is weaker than it was at release but still a solid pick if you have the Exotic slot free.

Heavy weapons

Cataphract GL3 is the Heavy Grenade Launcher named among the best Heavy PvP weapons: a Strand Adaptive Frame from Trials of Osiris in Week 2 of Renegades, with Quickdraw or Impulse Amplifier plus Explosive Light.

TTK and why these picks

The numbers behind the picks matter more than the names. The Modified B-7 Pistol and a well-rolled M-17 Fast Talker both reach a 0.67 second optimal TTK, which is what puts them ahead of most primaries in their range band. Hand Cannons like Rose and Spare Rations win duels through Handling and movement rather than raw damage, which is why Slideshot shows up in almost every recommended roll. On the Special side, Shotguns are decided by Range and Handling, so perks like Opening Shot and Closing Time do more for a roll than any damage perk.

One thing to keep in mind: perk performance is unchanged in PvP under the current sandbox, so a roll that was strong before the final patch is still strong now.

How to get each pick

Several of these come out of Trials of Osiris, which rotates its featured weapons weekly, so a given gun is not always farmable. If you would rather skip the grind, the Timelost Weapons Bundle covers that route.