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Destiny 2: Best Crucible Weapons by Class (PVP Guide)

The Crucible is the ultimate place to test your skills against other players in Destiny 2, but not all classes benefit from the same play styles.

There are three classes in Destiny 2: Warlock, Titan, and Hunter. Of all the things that have changed in the decade since the first game came out, that’s the one that hasn’t. And another thing that hasn’t is the popularity of the Crucible (PVP). When you’re picking your loadouts for whatever PVP content you want to play, it’s important to remember how your class synergizes with your weapons. While some weapons work on all three classes (more on those up next), there are some that are better on a specific class.

In this article, we’ll give you three of the best weapons for each class, focusing on weapons that utilize that class’s unique features! But first, let’s take a look at those weapons that are good on all classes.

General-Use Weapons

Throughout this article, we’re going to be focusing on unique weapons and weapon types that are better on one class than others. So there won’t be much discussion regarding weapons that are just good on every one. While The Immortal and Igneous Hammer are great weapons on every one of these classes, that’s not what we’re focusing on here. This is more about unique interactions between classes and weapons, not the overall best PVP weapons.

However, if you need a generally good weapon for your build or just need some ideas, there are a few you can always rely on. I already mentioned The Immortal and Igneous Hammer, but really any reliable SMG or Hand Cannon can work on any class. If you get good with any weapon type, you can fit it into builds on any classes. Most people have certain weapon types they favor in content like Trials of Osiris where you want to play your best, and they don’t have to be weapons that are specifically good on your class.

That being said, this article is all about weapons that excel on specific classes. So without wasting anymore time, let’s get right into that with some picks for Warlocks!

Best PVP Weapons for Warlocks

In PVP, Warlocks are known for being incredibly annoying to deal with. Their class abilities, Rifts, reward Warlocks for remaining in one place while fighting, so they can be very difficult to beat in 1v1 fights. Warlocks also get a variety of interesting super abilities, from Well of Radiance to Chaos Reach, that allow them to fill every play style.

Above all else, though, what you’ll probably notice first when playing Warlock is how different their jump ability feels. Gliding around allows you to play much differently than the Hunters’ and Titans’ more impactful jump, which is great for certain weapon types.

Centrifuse – Getaway Artist Builds

Centrifuse - Arc Auto Rifle in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

The Getaway Artist build for Warlocks is one of the best and most fun you can use. With Getaway Artist on, you can consume your Arc Grenade to instantly become Amplified and generate an empowered Arc Soul. Being Amplified in PVP is much more beneficial than almost any other temporary buff, as the movement bonus is incredible and a handling bonus never hurt anybody. However, the empowered Arc Soul is the star of the show.

But this isn’t about the Getaway Artist build, it’s about the weapons that go along with it. Centrifuse is arguably the best weapon to pair with Getaway Artist, as it gives bonuses as you sprint. Sprinting fills up Centifuse’s meter, which increases range and reload speed and causes final blows to create large blinding explosions. This can lead to multikills or at least makes enemies easier to kill, so it’s always worth considering.

Centrifuse is an explosive weapon which rewards great movement, which Arc Warlocks are able to pull off just as well as any Hunter. It’s a fun weapon to use, and this is the best way to use it.

Jötunn, Vex Mythoclast, & Other Solar Fusions – Heat Rises / Rain of Fire Builds

Jötunn - Solar Fusion Rifle in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

Heat Rises is one of the most fun aspects to use in PVP, as it allows you to use weapons while gliding. This allows you to stay out of sight, get a better vantage point, and fight while moving more effectively. It really can’t be overstated how good Heat Rises is for Warlocks in PVP, as it allows them a specific strategy that no other class can really replicate.

To synergize with Heat Rises, you’ll need to use a Solar weapon that combos well with one of your Exotics. Right now, the best Solar build for Warlocks (in PVP) involves using the Rain of Fire Exotic armor piece to essentially buff your Fusion Rifles and Linear Fusion Rifles. Fusion Rifles themselves are pretty good in PVP, but Vex Mythoclast makes this build even better. Since Vex is a Linear Fusion Rifle that fires like an Auto Rifle, it gets to make far better use of this Exotic than any other weapon. It also causes you to become radiant after Fusion or LFR kills, which is an often underrated buff in PVP.

If you prefer a funnier weapon, Jötunn is a great choice to pair with Heat Rises / Rain of Fire builds. While it isn’t quite as strong as it once was, you can still pick up tons of free kills with Jötunn. It takes basically no skill to use, but that’s why it’s so fun. You just shoot it and sometimes it gets you free kills, or you can just blow up Titan Barricades with it since that’s pretty funny too.

Sniper Rifles and Long-Ranged Primaries – Rift Synergy

Mercurial Overreach - Arc Sniper Rifle in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

The Warlock class ability, Rift, is excellent for PVP, but it requires a specific play style. If you want to get the most out of your Rifts, you’ll need to stay in them for the most part. You have two options for which Rift to use: Healing or Empowering. Healing Rift allows you a bit more movement, as you’ll only need to be in it when you’re not full HP. Healing Rift is a fantastic tool for surviving long fights or healing quicker after them, so it’s always a great tool to build around. Empowering Rift, on the other hand, gives you a damage bonus when you’re in it. You’ll have to stay in the Rift more often, but it makes winning fights a million times easier.

To get the most out of your Rifts, a good long-range weapon is great. Since it’s better to be further away from your opponents when standing still, this is the best way to prevent getting rushed by Shotgun-wielding Titans. Sniper Rifles like Mercurial Overwatch or Beloved are S-tier for Rift-using Warlocks, but Scout Rifles and Pulse Rifles are also great.

Best PVP Weapons for Titans

Titans are known as the most powerful class in PVP more often than not, and for good reason. Since they have so many abilities which benefit from good movement and close combat gameplay, they’re great for making crazy plays and clearing out whole teams. Between the multiple Shoulder Charge abilities to some of the best synergies in the game, there are a million reasons to play Titan in PVP.

One interesting thing about playing Titan in PVP is that since they often favor a more aggressive style, their class ability doesn’t come into play constantly. But when you do need some safety, nothing is more reliable than Titans’ Barricades. While you don’t want to stand around behind it all that often, it’s great for capturing objectives, peeking corners, or winning duels.

Shotguns – Melee Builds

Conditional Finality - Stasis Shotgun in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

Titans are all about getting up close and obliterating enemies before they even know you’re there. The class has more strong melee abilities than any other, and they also have a variety of Exotics which empower them. From ACD/0 Feedback Fence to Dunemarchers, Titan Exotics heavily favor close-range builds over longer ones. That makes Titans the undisputed most menacing class in Crucible, because of how quickly they can kill you. Where other classes tend to play better at range, Titans don’t care about that even a little.

To get the most out of your melee-oriented Titan builds, there’s no better weapon type than a Shotgun. Shotguns have always been one of the strongest weapon types in PVP, whether the player base wanted them to be or not. Whether you’re still using Felwinter’s Lie or you’ve moved on to Conditional Finality, shotguns are everywhere no matter what map you’re playing.

Plus, if you use a Shotgun you’ll have a much easier time killing your opponents when your Shoulder Charge ends right in front of them. Which seems to happen at least half of the time.

Sweet Business – 6v6 Mode Builds

Sweet Business - Kinetic Auto Rifle in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

While most Titans can be found sprinting full speed around the Crucible meleeing everyone in sight, some prefer a more “refined” build. Sweet Business is without a doubt one of the most fun and unique weapons in Destiny 2, as it’s an Exotic Auto Rifle that functions as a mini-gun. As you shoot it, it spins up and fires faster over time. Once it’s fully spun up, you’ll have no trouble taking out anyone that dares to come near you. The only problem is keeping it loaded, as you’ll burn through a ton of ammo and the reload speed is very long.

To fix that problem, Titans have the Actium War Rig Exotic chest piece. This chest piece constantly reloads your equipped Auto Rifles and Machine Guns, which is perfect for Sweet Business. Actium War Rig allows you to fire Sweet Business without stopping for a very long time. While it doesn’t technically allow you to fire it infinitely, it will let you fire much longer than you’ll ever realistically need to in PVP.

The downside to Sweet Business, though, is that it makes you very obvious. You’re a literal walking mini-gun, so it won’t be hard to pick you off. But in Control or other larger game modes, you can get away with being pretty obvious with all the chaos going on.

Sniper Rifles – Citan’s Ramparts Builds

Cloudstrike - Arc Sniper Rifle in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

Citan’s Ramparts is an interesting Exotic armor piece. It allows you and your allies to fire through your Towering Barricades, but greatly reduces its strength and increases the cooldown time. But while it was nerfed a while back, Citan’s Ramparts remains one of the best Exotics to base your build around. Since you can fire through it, it allows Sniper Rifle users to surveil an area without risk of being picked off. If you turn a corner and there’s a Sniper behind a Citan’s Rampart empowered Barricade, it’s over.

Sniper Rifles are very strong in PVP in general right now, and Citan’s Ramparts helps counter one of their biggest weaknesses–vulnerability. Since you have to put yourself at risk to take shots, having a way to peak corners and take shots safely is invaluable. Titans are the only class with a way to get this effect in this way, allowing them some of the absolute best starts for Trials matches and any objective based game mode.

Best PVP Weapons for Hunters

Hunters are the class with the highest mobility, and they also have some of the best super and general abilities for PVP. Since being quick is so important in PVP, Hunters always have that advantage thanks to their class ability and mobility-centered builds and Exotics. If your goal is to get from point A to point B as quick as possible and assassinate any enemies along the way, Hunter is the perfect class for you.

Ace of Spades – High-Mobility Builds

Ace of Spades - Kinetic Hand Cannon in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

No weapon has ever felt more tied to a single class than Ace of Spades to Hunters. While it’s still a fantastic weapon for Warlocks and Titans, it was clearly meant for Hunters. Not only was it Cayde’s weapon, but it heavily benefits from increases to reload speed and handling, which Hunters have easy access to.

The aspect, On Your Marks, allows Hunters to instantly get a significant reload speed and handling bonus every time they use their class ability, which they can usually do quite often. Pair that with the other great PVP fragments and melee abilities that Hunters get and it’s not hard to see why Ace of Spades feels so good on Hunter. If you want to stay mobile and still go for precision shots, this is the perfect weapon. The damage bonus given after kills is more reliable than perks like Kill Clip which are already good on their own, and even Firefly feels natural in PVP on this weapon. There’s nothing about Ace of Spades that isn’t great for Hunters in PVP, so it’d be wrong not to include it.

The Chaperone – Mid-Range Shotgun Build

The Chaperone - Kinetic Shotgun in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

While Titans are the best class for Shotguns as a whole, Hunters make the best use out of The Chaperone. This is an Exotic Shotgun with more range than most, as it fires precision slug shots. This allows you to get one-shot kills from longer range than usual, especially if you’re able to land precision shots. The Chaperone has been a fan favorite weapon ever since it came out, and it’s at its best in the hands of a Hunter.

When using The Chaperone, it’s important to remember the Roadborn trait it has. Unlike most Shotgun perks, it gives you a short-term buff after getting a precision kill. Not only does this allow for a more unique play style, but the buff itself is incredible. It gives a large boost to handling, range, and precision damage, which helps make every aspect of the weapon stronger during its duration.

Once you get used to landing precision kills with a Shotgun, The Chaperone quickly becomes one of the best weapons in Destiny 2 for PVP. And for Hunters, it’s even better.

Heavy Weapons

Typhon GL5 - Heavy Grenade Launcher in Destiny 2
Bungie / Brett Moss

So, this is a broad category, but it’s worth the spot. Heavy ammo is very difficult to get in PVP, as it only spawns on occasion and everyone fights over it. It’s often easy to forget about your heavy weapon since it doesn’t come into play as often, but that isn’t always the case. In game modes where more heavy spawns or where it’s more important, Hunters have a pretty significant advantage. Since they’re the fastest and most mobile class on average, they’re able to get in and out quicker. When the heavy ammo spawns, you want to get it and leave (or blow everyone up with it) and Hunters are great at that.

No matter what heavy weapon you choose (feel free to check out our guide on that here!) Hunters are just a bit better for securing the ammo. And without that ammo, your heavy weapon doesn’t matter at all. While not all Hunter builds will be able to do this every time, if you focus on it and know where the ammo spawns are, you’ll have a better chance than anyone else.

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