Destiny 2: 10 Best Sniper Rifles for PVP, Ranked

#10 Far Future

How to Get: Banshee-44 or Xur

PVP God Roll:

• Opening Shot
• Quickdraw or Moving Target
• Accurized Rounds
• Arrowhead Brake

Far Future doesn’t stand out as a top tier Sniper Rifle in PVP, but don’t underestimate it if you get a god roll. The Opening Shot + Quickdraw / Moving Target roll has the potential to hang with the best Snipers, even though it largely gets forgotten about. You could even use this Sniper in Trials, as long as you have a good roll. That’s one of the reasons this gun gets forgotten so quickly, I believe. There aren’t many perk options, and the roll it does have isn’t necessarily flashy enough to draw attention.

To make up for Far Future’s very low recoil control, I really recommend using Arrowhead Brake over any other barrel options. Usually the barrel you choose isn’t that important, but I can’t imagine a reason to pick any of the other ones in this case.

#9 Adored

How to Get: “Forging Your Own Path” Quest (check Banshee-44’s inventory or the Quest Terminal to get the quest)

Pre-Determined Roll (not just the god roll):

• Vorpal Weapon or Snapshot Sights
• Triple Tap or Killing Wind
• Accurized Roll
• Hammer-Forged Rifling

Adored is a special weapon, in that it comes from a quest instead of just randomly dropping. In addition to that, you also get a pre-determined roll with Adored. That means you can’t farm for any other perks–what you see is what you get. Luckily, the two choices you do get to make are fairly easy ones for PVP. Snapshot Sights is a strong perk for any Sniper Rifle, and while Killing Wind isn’t all that great, it’s far from bad.

It feels like Adored used to be stronger than it is now, but it’s still a good pick. Killing Wind is a fairly unique perk for Sniper Rifles, so you can go for some really unique plays with it active. You could also venture off and try Vorpal Weapon instead of Snapshot to help deal with Guardians in their super, but it’s not worth losing Snapshot Sights for that most of the time. Ultimately, Adored is a strong Sniper Rifle for people who like the unique roll it has and/or its general feel.

#8 Frozen Orbit

How to Get: Crucible Playlist Rewards

PVP God Roll:

• Snapshot Sights, Opening Shot, or Quickdraw
• Moving Target, No Distractions, or Firmly Planted
• Accurized Rounds
• Arrowhead Brake

Frozen Orbit is the king of variety. It’s common for playlist weapons to have a ton of perks, but Frozen Orbit goes over the top almost. Picking one specific god roll as the best is basically impossible, but the best perk combos are Snapshot + Moving Target, Opening Shot + Moving Target, and Opening Shot + No Distractions. However, any combination of these or other perks can really work as long as they synergize.

Having weapons like this that are actually good is great for everyone from new players who are looking for their first Sniper to veterans optimizing for flawless Trials runs. Even though Frozen Orbit might not be the absolute best Sniper, its perks make it viable in any level of content. You could make an argument for using this thing anywhere, and some people even like it for PVE if you care about that.

#7 1000 Yard Stare

How to Get: Grasp of Avarice Dungeon

PVP God Roll:

• Snapshot Sights
• Quickdraw
• Accurized Rounds
• Fluted Barrel, Arrowhead Brake, Corkscrew Rifling, or Hammer-Forged Rifling

1000 Yard State might be annoying to farm, but it’s absolutely worth it. The signature roll for this weapon features Snapshot Sights + Quickdraw, which allows you to ready and shoot this weapon at near-instant speeds. 1000 Yard State is the strongest Sniper Rifle for people who want to switch off their SMG and get lightspeed quick-scopes or take out long-range opponents faster.

While there are plenty of other Sniper Rifles with more varied perk pools, the god roll 1000 Yard Stare has is perfect for what it wants to do. It does also have No Distractions and Moving Target, but why use either of those when the current roll is faster and synergizes better together? This is a great Sniper for Trials or other 3v3 modes since it allows you to take more chances with your movement. Usually, sprinting around is bad for Snipers in those modes since it’s so likely you’ll get taken out before you can shoot. But the Snapshot Sights + Quickdraw roll helps prevent that, giving you the best handling you could possible have.

#6 Bite of the Fox

How to Get: Iron Banner

PVP God Roll:

• Moving Target, Opening Shot, or Iron Gaze
• Snapshot Sights
• Accurized Rounds
• Fluted Barrel, Arrowhead Brake, or Corkscrew Rifling

Bite of the Fox is one of the strongest aggressive frame Sniper Rifles in the game right now. As an Iron Banner weapon, it gets access to many great Sniper perks but also the unique Iron Banner perks. Whether you go with the more reliable Moving Target / Opening Shot + Snapshot Sights combos or a more exciting Iron Gaze / Snapshot roll, there’s something for everyone here.

Bite of the Fox hasn’t gotten a ton of hype, but it feels like it definitely deserves a higher place in the meta than it has right now. Next time it’s available in Iron Banner, make sure and keep an eye out for a solid roll. If more of those weapons were craftable I’m sure we’d see weapons like Bite of the Fox surge in popularity, but who knows what might happen.

#5 Defiance of Yasmin

How to Get: King’s Fall Raid

PVP God Roll:

• Opening Shot or Moving Target
• Snapshot Sights or No Distractions
• Accurized Rounds
• Arrowhead Brake, Fluted Barrel, or Corkscrew Rifling

To put it simply, Defiance of Yasmin is just a generally good Sniper with all the good rolls you could want. It has the best Sniper perks, so there’s no lack of good synergies here. Opening Shot + No Distractions is great for holding down zones, Moving Target + Snapshot Sights is perfect for Snipers on the move, and from there you can also try out any number of other combos as well.

If you’re down to farm King’s Fall for patterns, it’s absolutely worth crafting this weapon. Enhanced perks are always nice when you can get them, and this one is no different. There is also a Master-exclusive version of this weapon called Defiance of Yasmin (Harrowed). If you get it, you’ll be able to use adept mods like Adept Range and Adept Targeting to get an even bigger advantage in every fight you’re in.

#4 Mercurial Overreach

How to Get: Competitive PVP Playlist (3v3)

PVP God Roll:

• Opening Shot or Moving Target
• Snapshot Sights
• Ricochet Rounds
• Arrowhead Brake, Corkscrew Rifling, or Hammer-Forged Rifling

Mercurial Overreach has been the featured weapon for the Competitive 3v3 playlist for two seasons now, and it’s just about lived up to the expectations left by Rose before it. It has a massive perk pool with a bunch of solid alternative options if you don’t like the ones I’ve recommended, and it even has Ricochet Rounds as a magazine option, which is always nice.

This Sniper Rifle does nothing crazy, but it’s really good for what it is. If you just want a standard Sniper Rifle in the Energy slot, this is one of the best options. Opening Shot + Snapshot Sights is great for standard use, and Moving Target + Snapshot Sights is better for people who prefer to move around while they snipe people. Both are great options, so I highly recommend farming this weapon while it’s still here. If you never got a good Rose god roll, you know how much it sucks to miss out on the featured Competitive weapon once it rotates to a new one.

#3 Eye of Sol

How to Get: Trials of Osiris

PVP God Roll:

• Opening Shot or Snapshot Sights
• No Distractions or Moving Target
• Accurized Rounds
• Fluted Barrel or Corkscrew Rifling

Eye of Sol is one of the Trials Sniper Rifles, so thankfully it’s pretty good for PVP. It’s an adaptive frame Sniper in the Kinetic slot, which makes it a very viable pick for many PVP builds. There aren’t many good options for Kinetic Snipers, so it’s always nice to have more of them.

There are two main perk combinations I’d recommend for Eye of Sol. Any combination of Opening Shot or Snapshot Sights in the last slot combined with either No Distractions or Moving Target is a perfect Sniper roll. Opening Shot is my personal favorite perk for Snipers since it guarantees the first shot will have more range and accuracy, but Snapshot Sights is better for more mobile builds. If you’re on the go, make sure and take Moving Target in the first slot, since it boosts aim assist while you’re moving.

As a Trials weapon, Eye of Sol is expected to have some of the best perk options available for PVP. Luckily, it fulfills that requirement and then some. If you like Snipers in PVP, you owe it to yourself to get one of these.

#2 Cloudstrike

How to Get: Drops from high-difficulty Empire Hunts

This is far from the first time I’ve discussed Cloudstrike in weapon lists, and I doubt it’ll be the last. Even with the recent nerfs, Cloudstrike remains one of the best Sniper Rifles for picking off grouped up enemies. For whatever reason, even in Trials enemy Guardians love to group up for no reason around corners. Cloudstrike is the best Sniper for punishing careless players, and it can even catch the most careful players off guard in the right situations.

Cloudstrike is consistent, synergizes well with Arc builds, and has the ability to carry your team with ease. You’ll have to play smart to get the most use out of it, but that’s the case with any Sniper Rifle. But with Cloudstrike you have much higher multi-kill potential than with any other Sniper, so it justifies playing a bit more aggressively if you see fit.

#1 Beloved

How to Get: Exotic Mission Rotator (Presage weeks only)

PVP God Roll:

• Moving Target or Quickdraw
• No Distractions, Snapshot Sights, or Firmly Planted
• Accurized Rounds
• Fluted Barrel, Arrowhead Brake, Corkscrew Rifling, or Hammer-Forged Rifling

Beloved is exactly what any Sniper user should be looking for. In general, it’s fairly simple in terms of what it offers. All that sets Beloved apart from other Snipers (other than its feel) is the huge perk pool it has. In the first slot we have access to No Distractions, Snapshot Sights, and Firmly Planted, then there’s Quickdraw and Moving Target in the second slot. You could make ten different god rolls for Beloved and there would still be someone else out there with a different one they’re using just as well.

If you like Sniper Rifles, this is the best one to go for. It’s craftable, feels great to use, and is the easy pick for best overall Sniper Rifle in Destiny 2 PVP. Thankfully Bungie added back into the game, as it was unavailable for farming for most of this year. Now that it’s once again back in the loot pool, Beloved is an easy pick for any Trials player, no matter how new they may be. It’s even worth using Deepsight Harmonizers on them, if you have any to spare.