The Best PvE Armor in Destiny 2

Image: Bungie

Human Made

I've been playing video games pretty much nonstop ever since I got my first 360. I love arena shooters, MMOs, and MOBAs, but I'll pretty much try any kind of game.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Destiny 2 has a ton of armor options. In fact, I’d say that’s one of the reasons so many people like the game. There’s no limit to what you can do when it comes to customizing your character’s stats, and the armor is the reason for that. In this article, we’ll look at the best PvE armor builds for each class and why they’re so good. We’ll also describe what makes for a good armor loadout in detail just below.

Ready to begin? Let’s start with a look at what makes for a good armor build in the first place.

What Makes a Good Armor Build in Destiny 2?

You’re going to want all of your armor pieces to be Legendary rarity, with one Exotic in your chosen slot. It doesn’t matter what Legendary pieces you go with, since they don’t have unique abilities like Exotics do. Just try to aim for at least one or two Raid Legendary pieces since they can use the Raid mods.

Armor in Destiny 2 is really about the stats. The stats are random for each piece, so you’ll have to optimize them as you go. Typically, you’ll want two of your stats to be maxed out, with the possibility of a third if you get god-tier stat rolls.

Getting high-roll exotics is the most frustrating part, since you can’t get them very often. Make sure and check Xur each week to see if he might have any easy ones to get.

Destiny 2 Best PvE Armor: Titan

Stats: The best stat to max on Titan is Resilience since it’s tied to the class ability. Similar to the Warlock, the Titan’s class ability is great for helping them stay alive.

We recommend either Recovery or Intellect for your second maxed stat. Recovery is the safest pick since it will help keep you alive, but for certain players Intellect is better. People using the Arc class’ Thundercrash, for example, might prefer the Super regeneration boost from Intellect.

Exotics: Cuirass of the Falling Star (Arc), Crest of Alpha Lupi (Void – Bubble), Ursa’s Furiosa (Void – Sentinel Shield), Mk.44 Stand Asides (everything else)

Cuirass is the best PvE gear for Titans in Destiny 2, as long as you’re using Thundercrash (and you should). It significantly boosts the Super’s damage, so there’s not much reason not to use it.

Crest of Alpha Lupi is also great when using Void Bubble, since it makes a few extra orbs and lets you instantly heal when casting the class abilities. Ursa’s Furiosa is more of an endgame Exotic, as its main use is allowing its user to chain Supers with someone else who is also using the same Exotic. This becomes very useful in Grandmaster Nightfall strikes and other similar content. Lastly, Mk.44 Stand Asides are my pick for anything else. The overshield it grants makes staying alive a breeze, so it’s always a solid pick.

Destiny 2 Best PvE Armor: Hunter

Stats: For Hunter, the best stat to prioritize is easily Mobility. As with the other classes, the best stat is the one that boosts the class ability. Hunters also benefit greatly from the movement boost that comes with Mobility.

For the other stats, either Recovery or Intellect are the best picks. This is for the same reason as with the other classes, as everyone likes staying alive and high Super regeneration.

Celestial Nighthawk - Hunter Builds 1 — Image: Bungie via HGG

Exotics: Celestial Nighthawk (Solar – Golden Gun), Shards of Galanor (Solar – Blade Barrage), Orpheus Rig (Void – Tether), St0mp-EE5 (everything else)

Celestial Nighthawk is the best best PvE gear for Hunter in Destiny 2, since Golden Gun is the best Super. Using Golden Gun without Nighthawk is a horrible experience, so I highly recommend hunting this Exotic down before any of the others.

Shards of Galanor is the best if you’re using Blade Barrage, but honestly you probably won’t find yourself using that Super much in PvE. Orpheus Rig, while not a necessity, is a solid and recommended companion for Tether. And for my general pick, I’ll go with St0mp-EE5, an all-rounder that is good in pretty much every situation.

Destiny 2 Best PvE Armor: Warlock

Stats: For Warlock, the most important stat is Recovery. Having a high Recovery stat makes the class ability cooldown shorter, which is essential when trying to stay alive. Always prioritize a high Recovery stat over everything else.

For the second stat on Warlocks, we recommend going with Intellect. Warlocks care a lot about their Super abilities, so having a low cooldown is extremely helpful.

Exotics: Lunafaction Boots (Solar), Geomag Stabilizers (Arc), Nezarec’s Sin (Void) Eye of Another World (Stasis)

Lunafaction Boots are an absolutely essential part of the Warlock build if you’re using Well of Radiance. It’s the best PvE gear for Warlock in Destiny 2 — nothing else that can compare.

Geomags are equally as important for Chaos Reach. Using Chaos Reach without Geomag Stabilizers is basically useless. Nezarec’s Sin is the best Void class because of the Super regeneration, but I recommend also bringing a Void weapon to make the regeneration faster. Eye of Another World is my personal favorite for the Stasis class since it shortens cooldowns — Stasis cooldown times are significantly higher than all other classes, so this helps mitigate the natural disadvantage.

Become a High Grounder

The best PvE gear in Destiny 2 isn’t too complex once you get it all figured out. I hope that after this article you have a good understanding of what makes for a good armor set and what doesn’t. Don’t forget to experiment with your loadouts and Exotics, and let us know in the comments what your favorite setups are.

Happy gaming!