Destiny 2: All Red War Exotics Ranked

#9 Worldline Zero

Worldline Zero is honestly amongst the worst Exotics in Destiny 2. The ability to blink forward is kind of cool, but it doesn’t really do much in any situation. It does provide good movement, but not any that you can’t get in other ways. Especially now that Strand made quick movement so effective, there doesn’t seem to be much of a reason for these kinds of perks at the moment. In addition to that, Worldline Zero just doesn’t have any place in the current meta. Swords aren’t the best right now, and Worldline can’t even keep up with the better ones. If you enjoy having fun with Swords, then you should get Worldline just to try it out. But I can’t really recommend it for anything else.

#8 Sturm

By default, Sturm has always felt like a meme weapon. Since one of its perks requires you to use the sidearm Drang alongside Sturm, it’s hard to use this weapon optimally. Since double primary weapons isn’t very good (even though the perk is solid), using Sturm for anything other than easy content is hard to justify. But, on the other hand, Sturm is perfectly fine without Drang and actually works really well in PVP. Its forced loadout (for optimal use) leaves it in a weird place and always will, but it’s still a really cool weapon worth using in the right situations.

If you want to use Sturm, I’d personally recommend getting a crafted Drang (Baroque) first. While you don’t have to use it, you should at least have the loadout ready to go for when you to want to. Sturm deserves more attention than it gets these days, so go give it some!

#7 Polaris Lance

It’s really a shame that Polaris Lance hasn’t seen more of a comeback in the Solar 3.0 world. In terms of Scout Rifles that work for both major enemies and add-clear, Polar Lance is a great weapon. The catalyst gives it Dragonfly, which allows it to clear waves easier, and The Perfect Fifth intrinsic perk allows you to stack Scorch stacks with a Solar explosive round. This synergizes perfectly with Solar 3.0 builds focusing on Scorch, so it’s a great pick for those builds if you can spare the Exotic slot. Exotic primary weapons are getting better and better these days, though, so this is a great time to try this awesome weapon out.

The only reason Polaris Lance hasn’t seen tons of play recently is that it’s not quite as powerful as some more recent primary Exotics (like Quicksilver Storm, Osteo Striga, etc.). While I can’t really argue that it’s as strong as those kinds of weapons, it can be in the right build.

#6 MIDA Multi-Tool

One good thing about MIDA Multi-Tool is that it’s basic enough to always be consistent. If you get good with this weapon, you’ll be able to get really consistent results thanks to its great base stats and generally useful perks. You don’t have to go crazy and get several kills for any of its perks, and there aren’t any gimmicks attached that push you to play in any specific way. It’s a Scout Rifle for people who love Scout Rifles, and it couldn’t be too much better in that role. Plus, it also gives you a passive movement speed bonus, which has a huge impact on PVP.

The people who love the MIDA Multi-Tool seem to never put it down, so maybe that could be you. The movement speed boost makes using this weapon feel different from any other, so it can be addictive once you get used to it.

#5 Legend of Acrius

Legend of Acrius is definitely one of the more fun weapons from the Red War era, which makes sense given it was one of the original raid weapons (for D2). When it first came out Acrius was quite popular, but it had fallen off for a long time before the Arc 3.0 updates last year. Once that update came out and there were more Arc synergies to use, Acrius got a second wind. Now that the initial subclass 3.0 hype has died down, so has Acrius’ popularity. But it still remains a viable choice since you can combo it with so many fragments and mods that make it significantly better. Acrius isn’t the best weapon from the Red War, but it’s certainly one of the most satisfying to use.

#4 Rat King

If there’s ever been a weapon that perfectly sums up the spirit of Destiny (or any MMO), it’s the Rat King. While on your own it’s a fairly standard Sidearm with a really cool invisibility effect when reloading post-kill, it excels in groups. For each player in your fireteam with the Rat King, everyone’s Rat King gets stronger. This is thanks to the Rat Pack perk, which stacks up to 6 times. So if you have a full fireteam of Rat King users, everyone gets a huge damage boost!

Having a full squad of Rat Packs might sound ridiculous, but it’s actually more powerful than expected. While not as good as an actual fully-optimized loadout, you can accomplish a lot with the Rat King. There have been many, many videos made by groups clearing hard raid encounters and such with Rat Kings, so it’s absolutely viable (with the right group).

#3 Whisper of the Worm

Whisper of the Worm originally had one of the coolest missions in the game tied to it, but even though that’s gone now, there’s still a lot to love here. Whisper isn’t a weapon you should use all the time, but it’s great for specific fights. If you need a high-DPS weapon for a very long-range fight, Whisper is always a weapon you can rely on. For fights like Oryx where the boss is incredibly far away, Whisper is one of the most consistent ways to do high DPS without requiring any crazy setup. It really is a shame Bungie vaulted the original mission for Whisper, but at least they left the weapon itself for us to use. And thankfully they made the catalyst available to those who didn’t get it when the mission was available. (Even though that did take years for some reason.)

#2 Sleeper Simulant

Sleeper Simulant has, at times, been the best DPS weapon in the game. Anytime Linear Fusion Rifles are strong, Sleeper ends up at the top of the meta without fail. What makes Sleeper Simulant (or Stimulant, as half the community says it) good actually has nothing to do with its Exotic perks. While the overpenetration of its intrinsic trait is certainly helpful at times, it’s not all that impactful for boss DPS. Instead, the super high raw damage of this weapon is what makes it work so well. If you just need to do high DPS numbers and Linear Fusion Rifles are strong, there’s no better weapon to go with.

Just wait until the next time the DPS meta ends up being Linear Fusion Rifles. Sleeper is an absolute beast when it’s allowed to do its thing, so let’s just hope it gets to that point again soon.

#1 Outbreak Perfected

Outbreak Perfected is the best weapon from the Red War era. Ultimately, there’s nothing this weapon doesn’t do, especially considering it’s a primary ammo weapon. The SIVA nanites allow Outbreak to function as one of the best multi-purpose weapons in the game. They clear adds like crazy, do solid damage to bosses, and help out with anything else you might want to do. Being able to spawn the SIVA nanites via rapid hits instead of exclusively precision kills gives this weapon a ton of functionality. It also makes it far more forgiving, as you don’t need to be accurate to get the bonuses.

Regardless of what kind of content you play, everyone should own Outbreak Perfected. It’s great for everything from Nightfall Strikes to Contest-Mode Raids and everything in-between.