Destiny 2 PvE Meta Weapons in Season of the Haunted
Planning a raid run with your team, or getting ready to solo some dungeons? Here are this season’s Destiny 2 PvE meta weapons to give you an upper hand in the most challenging endgame content!
Season of the Haunted kicked off with a bang, packed with big changes and a husk of new unlockables to boot. Once again, there’s been a traditional shift in the meta, and even though the best loadout is undoubtedly the one you’re most comfortable with, to ace some of the game’s activities, you still have to stick to certain top-performing weapons. Destiny 2 PvE endgame is no exception to the rule, so to help you with the best picks to add to your arsenal, we’ve come up with this fresh guide on Season 17’s PvE meta.
Without further ado, let’s get rolling!
Destiny 2 New Meta Weapons
Tears of Contrition
A Nightmare Containment drop, this kinetic 180 RPM scout rifle easily edges out most weapons of the type even with a so-so roll, while turning into an absolute beast with top-tier perk combos.
Since Tears of Contrition is craftable, you can get really creative with perks, and oh boy, there are some really good options to choose from. If you’re a skilled marksman with a knack for precision hits, try out Triple Tap with Fourth Time’s the Charm to get almost infinite ammo. For something less demanding, pair TT with Explosive Payload, and you’ll make enemies detonate, dishing out tons of AoE damage as they go up in flames. What’s more, scout rifles can take on the Unstoppable mod this season, which makes Tears of Contrition even more viable for PvE.
Unforgiven
The first – but definitely not last – SMG on our list, Unforgiven is one of the Haunted Seasonal weapons. It’s a Duality drop, boasting a terrific perk roster, with some of the combos so uncommon that only a small bunch of Destiny 2 weapons can have them.
The rarest Demolitionist and Adrenaline Junkie duo is nothing short of fantastic for those speccing into grenades, allowing you to get a damage buff and grenade energy after each kill, while also reloading your gun whenever you throw a grenade. If you’re not into grenade builds, then Feeding Frenzy + Rampage is your go-to option, as it’ll buff your reload speed and damage for simply getting kills. And even that is not all there is to Unforgiven’s versatility! Do you want Void 3.0 synergy? Come and get it! The Repulsor Brace perk gives you an overshield after taking down an enemy affected by a Void debuff. On top of that, the Overload Rounds mod will help you stun and debuff Champions, giving you yet another reason to bring Unforgiven to high-end PvE content.
Austringer
Although Austringer shines brightest in Crucible, with the right perks, this hand cannon actually performs really nice in PvE as well.
You can opt for some extra damage with Frenzy or Rampage, or equip Demolitionist to enhance your grenade builds with more ability energy. Pair any of these perks with Outlaw to speed up reload, and you’ll turn Austringer into one of the most reliable PvE hand cannons in Destiny 2. The To Excess trait also buffs your Strength and Discipline upon kills landed with a fully charged Super, which is incredible for ability-focused builds.
As part of the Opulent weapon pool, Austringer can be found in Opulent chests on the Leviathan or collected as a reward from Crown of Sorrow rank-ups. The weapon is also craftable, so you’re free to shape it with any perks from the roster to match your playstyle and loadout.
Stormchaser
Some players call Stormchaser the best fusion there’s ever been in the game, and they are not wrong. Some even call it one of the strongest Destiny 2 meta weapons today, and they are not wrong either. This three-round-burst DPS monster rolls with a really impressive damage-focused perk pool that works fantastic in PvE, especially in high-level co-op content. See for yourself: Vorpal gives you increased boss damage; Frenzy offers a twelve-second damage buff while in combat, and Firing Line buffs your crit damage for just standing close to two of your teammates. Pair any of these with the stacking Rapid Hit, which basically maxes out your reload speed and stability in just a couple of precision hits, and you get a super stable, fast-reloading weapon with the highest DPS output in its class.
All of that makes Stormchaser insanely good against bosses, both for solo players and those who do PvE in a fireteam. It drops from the Duality dungeon, so you better go and grind it out ASAP, ‘cause this gem definitely deserves a place in your weapon collection.
CALUS Mini-Tool
A well-loved weapon returned to the game as part of the Opulent pool, Calus Mini-Tool is a 900 RPM SMG with a unique intrinsic trait that places it on a par with the best Lightweight Frame SMGs in Destiny 2. Its archetype alone makes Mini-Tool extremely powerful, but couple that with the never-seen-before Incandescent perk, and you’ll get a weapon that’s absolutely god-tier within PvE.
So, what’s the deal with Incandescent? When you defeat an enemy with this perk equipped, all nearby enemies get inflicted with the stacking Scorch debuff. Once enough Scorch stacks are applied, targets ignite, creating massive AoE-damage explosions. It sounds a lot like Dragonfly, but the best thing about Incandescent is that you don’t even need precision final blows to make it work! No matter how you get them, it only takes two kills to trigger the chain reaction, causing every target in the vicinity to just detonate in mere seconds. It’s a great crowd control perk that fits perfectly into many top-tier Solar 3.0 builds, especially the Scorch-focused ones.
Even if you don’t quite dig the Solar subclass and don’t seek to achieve those perk and debuff synergies, Calus Mini-Tool packed with Incandescent is still one of the best Destiny 2 Season 17 meta weapons you can get. The SMG drops from Opulent Chests or through Crown of Sorrow upgrades and also comes in a Deepsight version, which means you can craft it with any roll you want.
Other Meta Weapons
Apart from the Haunted seasonal meta, there’s a couple of older weapons that still kick butt in PvE, and we could not but give them an honorable mention on our list.
Osteo Striga
Slightly outperformed by newer SMGs, Osteo Striga is still extremely lethal in PvE thanks to its poison-infusing shots and tracking projectiles. It gets even better with the catalyst, which returns ammo on poison kills, so if you don’t want to grind out Mini-Tool or Unforgiven, consider investing in Osteo Striga instead.
Divinity
Seasons come and go, but Divinity remains on top of Destiny 2 meta weapons, perfectly combining all the best features of the trace rifle class. Great as it is, Divinity reaches its peak performance as a supporting weapon to your PvE endgame loadout. If you want to stun and weaken targets, turn all your shots into precision fire, and spread an insane damage buff across your entire raid group, then stick to this gun, and you’ll see how much smoother that pinnacle content will get.
Gjallarhorn
One day Gjallarhorn will no longer shine in the meta… but it’ll be a long, long time before that happens. Right now, this beauty is probably the most popular PvE weapon to date, and for good reason. Thanks to its tracking projectiles, Gjallarhorn is absolutely S-tier when it comes to boss damage and add clearing, while its Pack Hunter perk takes your allies’ rocket launcher performance to a whole new level. Incredible damage output and tons of fun are guaranteed.
Well, and that’s a wrap for today, guys. We hope you find this PvE meta guide useful, and if you want to see a more detailed Destiny 2 weapon tier list, or looking for some insight into PvP meta, please give us a shout. And don’t forget to check out our weapon carry offers to add a bunch of god-tier guns to your collection without even breaking a sweat.
Thanks for reading, Guardians, and see y’all soon!
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