With the introduction of the Sundered Doctrine dungeon,Destiny 2now boasts acohort of 10 unique endgame, three-player activitiesfor Guardians to overcome. Each of these, minus Prophecy, holds the key to unlocking a powerful exotic weapon, as is the case with a majority ofDestiny 2’s endgame content.
Whether through a complex quest or sheer luck, acquiring these iconic exotic weapons has become a driving goal for many players. This list looks at all 9 of the currently available dungeon exotics, ranking them on their relative power, explaining their acquisition methods, and discussing their overall impact on the endgame PvE meta.
9Heartshadow
A Void Sword for Movement and Invisibility
Heartshadowis a lackluster exotic, playing entirely around its ability to make the player invisible, yet doing little with this. Its main exotic trait makes the player invisible when using a fully charged heavy attack, with its secondary trait granting increased damage and a Void weakening debuff while invisible. Its catalyst further plays into this, granting increased movement speed while invisible.
While there are use cases for this sword,such as the boss it drops from, it never feels like the best option, outclassed and outdamaged by most other swords, even more so by most other heavy weapon types. As a random drop from the Caiatl encounter at the end of the Duality dungeon, this weapon feels a bit like a kick in the teeth to those who have bothered to farm for it.
8The Navigator
A Strand Trace Rifle for Woven Mail and Grapple Points
The Navigatoris an interesting exotic,largely relegated to a tier of its own thanks to its role as a utility tool. Unlike the other weapons on this list, the Navigator isn’t a weapon used for any kind of damage scenario; almost exclusively utilized by speed-runners and those looking to break out of the map.
As a random drop chance from the final boss of Ghosts of the Deep, acquiring this weapon is merely a game of luck, although focusing on it may feel like a mistake thanks to its underwhelming damage. If a player is looking to make an infinite Strand grapple build or one to get Woven Mail, this weapon is a top-tier option, able to generate Strand tangles with a click of a button.
7Hierarchy Of Needs
The Solar Bow for Explosive Tracking Bolts
Hierarchy of Needsfeels a little likeTicuu’s Divination’s less powerful cousin. Precision hits and kills charge up a Guidance Ring, which can be spawned once fully charged by hip-firing the weapon. Firing arrows through the ring grants them tracking and increased damage based on how far they traveled before hitting the target.
While the Hierarchy of Needs can cause huge damage with its tracking arrows, it requires a lot of set-up to get right, and then forces the player to remain still behind the ring. While this isn’t too bad in harder content,Destiny’s kinetic nature begs the player to constantly move, making this playstyle feel unnatural. Despite this, the Hierarchy of Needs is a very fun weapon to use in Grandmaster Nightfalls, and is easier to get than ever with the introduction of Spire of the Watcher to the Rite of the Nine dungeon rotation.
6Xenophage
Solar Machine Gun with Explosive Railgun Rounds
Xenophageis technically a dungeon exotic; however, unlike the previous entries,it is acquired through a lengthy quest on the Moonthat ends in the Pit of Heresy dungeon. Once a pinnacle of DPS, Xenophage has fallen by the wayside in terms of meta loadouts, thanks to grenade launchers and linear fusion rifles outclassing it when used in effective damage rotations.
Despite this, Xenophage is still great for certain raid encounters, and, similar toThunderlord, is a perfect choice for players who simply wish to point and shoot. It may not keep up with the hyperactive swap rotations of the meta, but it can deal good overall damage, even with its slow firing rate.
5Finality’s Auger
Solar Linear Fusion Rifle That Provides Helpful Turrets
Finality’s Auger isDestiny 2’s latest offering to the dungeon exotic pool, and it arrived at the perfect time. With the Episode Heresy artifact providing several powerful buffs tolinear fusion rifles, Finality’s Auger is probably the strongest it will be for some time. Yet, once again, it simply requires a huge amount of setup to effectively use.
Its main exotic trait allows the player to spawn a turret that automatically fires at nearby enemies, which can then be specifically targeted by the player. This turret is, in theory, amazing for DPS rotations as a player can set it up and forget about it while they use their other weapons. Combined with its exotic catalyst giving it Bait and Switch, Finality’s Auger has it all on paper. It simply doesn’t do enough damage to make it a top DPS contender, but its unique playstyle makes it worth a pickup anyway.
4Ice Breaker
A Returning Solar Sniper Rifle to Generate Ammo and Freeze Foes
One of two special exotics on this list, Ice Breaker is a returning fan favorite all the way back from the firstDestinygame. Providing a sniper rifle that simply generates its own ammo, never requiring the player to manually reload, the Ice Breaker is a weapon that finally suits its name. Its main perks revolve around, aptly, breaking ice, in the form of dealing extra damage to slowed and frozen enemies, creating Solar explosions upon doing so.
The main drawback to this weapon is simply where it comes from, being from one of the harder dungeons in the game, Vesper’s Host. It is also held back by its existence as a sniper rifle, which is not the current flavor of the month within the meta, however this gun does have the potential to skyrocket in power should a sniper rifle-focused artifact come around.
3Buried Bloodline
A Void Rocket Sidearm to Weaken and Devour Enemies for Overshield
Buried Bloodlineis theprototype for the rocket-assisted sidearm, which has quickly become one of the most beloved weapon types in the game. Firing two powerful, tracking bolts with each shot, the Buried Bloodline tears through all manner of enemies with little regard for their health bars, while constantly refreshing the player’s own health thanks to its life-leeching and Devour activating capabilities.
Buried Bloodline is a random drop from the final boss of the Warlord’s Ruin dungeon, with its catalyst requiring the completion of several puzzles throughout the dungeon. This catalyst pushes it over the edge into S-Tier territory, providing Void-weakening debuffs to enemies while Devour is active. All in all, Buried Bloodline is a must-have and an easy inclusion in any Void-focused build.
2Wish-Ender
Kinetic Bow
The original dungeon exotic,Wish-Ender, for quite some time, was utterly useless. However, having received a major glow-up, it has since become an endgame staple and a must-have for any player looking to attempt Grandmaster Nightfalls.Coming from a quest acquired through the Shattered Throne dungeon, this heavy-hitting bow not only provides wall-hacks but also intrinsically stuns Barrier Champions, making it a more powerful iteration of theArbalest.
No matter what loadout a player is running, or what the artifact mods of an episode say, Wish-Ender can and will run through endgame enemies with ease, stunning champions and doing great damage for a primary weapon. While some players may be hesitant to spend their exotic weapon lot on a primary weapon, Wish-Ender hits hard enough to make it worth it.
1Gjallarhorn
Solar Rocket Launcher to Buff Other Rocket Launchers
Possibly the most iconic weapon inDestinyhistory, theGjallarhornreturns inDestiny 2with the 30th Anniversary Pack, obtained through a quest that requires the player to complete several runs of the Grasp of Avarice dungeon. While not the all-powerful being it once was, Gjallarhorn is still a monster of DPS. However, now it provides bonus damage to the whole team, provided every other player is using a legendary rocket launcher.
With Wolfpack Rounds increasing the team’s DPS, as well asclearing ads with ease, this gilded beast is the perfect example of a dungeon exotic. If rocket launchers are ever the best call for a boss fight, every team will gladly have someone running this weapon, and with its lack of RNG acquisition, it is a weapon that every account should have.
