Destiny 2 Lightfall: PvE Weapon Tier List (2024)

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When it comes to performing well in Destiny 2 PvE content, your weapons are almost as important as your build. In fact, many players craft their entire build with a specific weapon in mind. We here at High Ground Gaming have made a PvE weapon tier list for Destiny 2: Lightfall content – including standard Strikes, Nightfalls, Dungeons, Raids, and even things like Lost Sectors and Gambit. 

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Tier List of PvE Weapons in Lightfall

This tier list features the 20 best weapons for PVE in Lightfall. We take a closer look at the top 10 best of the best further down the page.

Let’s take a second to break down these tiers. S-tier weapons are weapons that perform really well regardless of the player’s build, class, or subclass. A-tier weapons become great if not amazing when paired with the right build or in specific situations. Weapons from both tiers tend to provide the player with some kind of buff, whether that be faster movement, faster ability regeneration, or increased damage.

B-tier weapons are good all around but don’t have the kind of game-changing stats/abilities that the A and S-tier weapons have. Finally, we have the C-tier weapons which are still pretty good, but they don’t quite have the same usefulness/damage output as the higher-tier weapons.

Another thing to keep in mind when viewing this list is that some weapons are harder to obtain than others and that was factored into their placements. 

The Top 10 PVE Weapons in Lightfall

Let’s take a closer look at the top ten weapons from the tier list in order to better understand what makes them so powerful and unique. A lot of these weapons can be taken to even grander heights when their god rolls are factored into the equation but we kept things simple for this list and considered how good the weapons are regardless of their rollable traits. 

After all, some people don’t have countless hours to spend grinding away at the same activity. If you’re just looking for some solid weapons to hunt for this list should have you covered.

Witherhoard (S-Tier)

Witherhoard is an exotic grenade launcher. It’s a kinetic weapon and it uses special ammo. This weapon can be obtained through the Monument to Lost Lights located at the tower. You’ll need some high-tier crafting components to make it so keep that in mind.

Witherhoard’s grenades leave behind a decently sized pool of Blight that will damage enemies over time. This A.O.E. attack can be useful for both clearing out large groups of red bar enemies and dealing solid damage to bosses over time. 

You can obtain Witherhoard’s exotic catalyst by talking with Banshee-44 at The Tower after obtaining Witherhoard. He will offer you a questline called The Bank Job. Upon completing this questline, you will receive Witherhoard’s catalyst. This weapon’s catalyst perk is called Silent Alarm, it increases the weapon’s handling and reloads the holstered weapon after a short period of time.

This ability can be coupled with a weapon that has the perk Bait and Switch in order to absolutely shred boss health bars. The Bait and Switch perk increases weapon damage by 35% if the player deals damage with all three of their weapons within 3 seconds of each other. Witherhoard’s usefulness isn’t just limited to PVE content. The weapon can be very effective in both Crucible and Gambit because of the area denial abilities built into its AOE projectiles. 

Thunderlord (S-Tier)

Thunderlord is an exotic Arc power weapon. This machine gun is perfect for both clearing out mob hoards and dealing heavy damage to bosses. This weapon can be obtained through exotic engrams and as a rare world drop. 

Thunderlords exotic perk is Reign Havoc which generates lightning strikes on final bows. It catalyst perk grants increased stats and the Return Stroke perk, which will partially reload the weapon’s magazine whenever a lighting strike is generated. This weapon’s exotic catalyst can be obtained by completing activities like Vanguard Strikes.

This weapon also has the ability to disrupt overload champions. This weapon has two traits, a legendary trait, and a basic trait. Lightning Rounds is the legendary trait and it increases the weapon’s fire rate and accuracy the longer the trigger is held down. This trait also generates lightning strikes on targets that take continuous damage. The basic trait is Feeding Frenzy which increases the weapon’s reload speed with each rapid kill the weapon gets.

Funnelweb (S-Tier)

Funnelweb is a legendary Void submachine gun. Despite being an energy weapon it uses primary ammo. This weapon can be obtained by opening legendary engrams or ranking up specific faction leaders. 

Funnelweb’s Archetype perk is called Lightweight Frame, it grants massively improved handling and increased movement speed while holding this weapon. This weapon’s basic origin trait is Veist Stinger. This trait grants a small chance for the weapon to refill 25% of its magazine and increase movement speed slightly while aiming down sights on hit. Funnelweb also has a surprisingly high range stat for an SMG at 39, allowing it to compete with some auto rifles.

Forbearance (S-Tier)

Forbearance is a legendary Arc grenade launcher. This energy weapon can only be obtained from the Vow of the Disciple raid and it’s definitely worth the grind.

This weapon’s Archetype perk is called Wave Form. This perk causes projectiles fired from this weapon to release a wave of energy when making contact with the ground. SoulDrinker is this weapon’s basic origin trait and it restores the user’s health based on the number of hits this weapon gets on targets before reloading. 

If you don’t want to use up your exotic weapon slot on Witherhoard then Forbearance makes for a great substitute. It isn’t quite as good at dealing damage to bosses, but it does have pretty good mob-clearing abilities and it keeps you alive. In some cases that’s more valuable than just straight-up damage.

Rufus’s Fury (S-Tier)

Rufus’s Fury is a kinetic auto rifle that shoots Strand bullets. Rufus’s Fury can be obtained as a drop from specific encounters in the Root of Nightmares raid. Once obtained via an encounter, the gun will also begin to drop from secret chests throughout the raid. 

Rufus’s Fury’s Archetype perk is Rapid-Fire Frame which gives it a larger magazine size and slightly faster reloading speed when the weapon’s magazine is completely empty. 

This weapon’s basic origin trait is Harmonic Resonance which grants a bonus to reload speed and handle when you have other weapons from this set equipped. Rufus’s Fury also deals increased damage to Tormentors, Lucent Hive, and Guardians that are using their Supers.

Gjallarhorn (A-Tier)

Gjallarhorn is an exotic Solar rocket launcher. It can be obtained via the “And Out Fly the Wolves” quest and is part of the Bungie 30th anniversary celebration. 

Gjallarhorn’s exotic perk is called Wolf Park Rounds. This perk causes rounds fired to split into a cluster of tracking missiles upon detonation. Its exotic catalyst grants increased stats and the More Wolves perk, which increases the weapon’s magazine size by one and causes the final blows of Wolf Pack Rounds to spawn missiles that are faster and more powerful.

Gjallarhorn’s basic trait is Pack Hunter which increases the weapon’s reload speed and handling while standing near allies. This perk also grants Wolf Pack Rounds to allies using non-exotic rocket launchers. This makes Gjallarhorn a great choice for any Solar Warlock running Well of Radiance with a fire team rocking all rocket launchers. This combo can absolutely shred bosses.

Acasia’s Dejection (A-Tier)

Acasia’s Dejection is a legendary Solar trace rifle that uses special ammo. Acasia’s Dejection is a raid weapon, meaning it can only be obtained via encounters and chests in the Root of Nightmare raid. 

The weapon’s Archetype perk is Adaptive Frame which grants a bonus to the weapon’s switch speed, aim down sights speed, and movement speed while aiming down sights. This weapon shares a basic origin trait with Rufus’s Fury and many other Root of Nightmare raid weapons, that being Harmonic Resonance. 

Acasia’s Dejection and Rufus’s Fury make for a great pair and work well with a Solar or Strand Subclass build. The weapon is solid on its own but if your looking for a Solar trace rifle there certainly are better options available.

Commemoration (A-Tier)

The Commemoration is a legendary Void machine gun. This power weapon can only be obtained within the Deep Stone Crypt raid so gather your fire team and prepare for a grind.

This weapon’s Archetype perk is Adaptive frame which increases the weapon’s switch speed, aim down sights speed, and movement speed while aiming down sights. This weapon’s basic origin trait is called Bray Inheritance and it regenerates a small amount of class ability energy each time you deal damage with this weapon. This weapon’s usefulness depends on your class and your build, but when paired with the right build, you and your fire team can do some serious damage.

Osteo Striga (B-Tier)

Osteo Striga is an exotic submachine gun. This powerful kinetic weapon can be obtained via the Vox Obscura quest. Much like other quest exotics, it’s well worth the time and trouble to get.

This weapon’s exotic perk is called Screaming Swarm. Screaming Swarm fires a stream of sentient, toxic projectiles that track down enemies. Obtaining Osteo Striga’s exotic catalyst is a bit different from other exotic weapons. The player must first craft the Osteo Striga. Then the player must get that crafted weapon to level 10. After reaching level 10 the player must return to the Enclave and reshape the weapon with its exotic catalyst. This weapon’s catalyst makes final blows from poison return ammo to the magazine.

This weapon also has an exotic perk called Toxic Overload which generates a burst of poison on final blows or when you get multiple precision headshots with this weapon. This poison burst can damage enemies nearby. Osteo Strig has really high range and impact stats for a submachine gun at 80 and 25 respectively.

CALUS Mini-Tool (B-Tier)

The CALUS Mini-Tool is a legendary Solar submachine gun. This weapon could be found in The Derelict Leviathan but that area was vaulted after the release of Lightfall. The weapon can still be obtained from Xur if it is in his weekly inventory cycle.

This weapon’s Archetype perk is called MIDA Synergy. It grants the weapon increased handling, faster movement to the Guardian using this weapon, and if MIDA Multi-Tool is also equipped the Guardian will gain additional speed benefits. The basic origin trait for The CALUS Mini-Tool is To Excess. This trait grants a bonus to the user’s Strength and Discipline for a short time after getting weapon final blows with full Super energy.

Join the High Ground

Remember, all of the weapons discussed in our Destiny 2 PvE weapon tier list guide are solid picks for PVE content, some just perform better than others. Many of the best weapons on this list require the completion of a raid or specific questline. Many of these weapons will also require you to have a specific expansion in order for you to access their associated raid/quest. Are you interested in more Destiny 2 weapon and armor tier lists? Sign up for our newsletter today and lead your fire team to the high ground!

Happy gaming!