Destiny: Here are the best exotic weapons in PvE – 16,000 Guardians have voted

In Destiny, 16,000 Guardians voted on which exotic weapons they consider the best in PvE: in the battle against Crota, Atheon, the weekly Nightfall strike, and in other activities outside the Crucible.

We already told you on Monday evening about the survey on reddit that involved 16,000 Guardians. In the first article, we reported on the frequency and rarity of exotic weapons and how Xur influences what the elites on reddit are using.

Equally interesting is their assessment of which weapons are the strongest in the PvE part of the game, in the fight against enemies.

The Top 5 Weapons are the usual suspects

The following weapons placed in the Top 5:

• In first place, as expected, is the exotic rocket launcher Gjallarhorn, which now enjoys a near-iconic reputation. Among those who have it and those who wish to have it. Some raids that want to play it safe even take only players who own a Gjallarhorn.
• In second place is the Ice Breaker. The exotic sniper rifle with solar damage takes a special position among weapons due to its unique ability to regenerate ammunition. It is probably the prototype of a sniper with an extremely high damage per shot. And as in the previous raid with the Templar, this time Crota serves as an excellent target for the Ice Breaker.
• Bronze goes to the Vex Mythoclast. This is certainly due to the buff that increased its damage again before the add-on, after it had been significantly weaker in the meantime. As a fusion rifle in the primary slot and the only “endboss-only” exotic, it also occupies a special place, even though it is no longer as dominant as it was in the early days. It is also the only exotic weapon, that cannot be upgraded beyond the new value of 331; 323 is the limit.
• In fourth place is the PlayStation-exclusive hand cannon Hawkmoon. We have already dedicated a separate article to it.
• In fifth place, the automatic rifle SUROS Regime makes it on the list and is even stronger in PvP.

These 5 weapons are essentially the “Big 5” in Destiny.

What has changed compared to the last vote? Who are the winners, who are the losers of recent months?

Before the “upgrading weapons” began, before some exotics were fixed, and before three new exotic weapons came with the “The Darkness Rises” DLC, there was already such a vote. That was almost two months ago, at the beginning of November.

Since then, the Guardians’ assessment has changed, especially for these weapons:

• The Thorn was rated very low by Guardians two months ago, but is now in the upper midfield. This is likely due to its buff. The Thorn now fulfills a special role in the fight against enemies, where Guardians want to ensure that their health regenerates due to its damage-over-time effect. (And it looks impressive in our world as well.)
• Bad Karma ranked last in the voting in November. This has changed; the pulse rifle is now in a solid mid-range position.
• Without many changes being made, the sniper rifle Patience and Time has made several places up. From 12th it rose to 6th. Especially in Nightfall, it is extremely popular when you want a bit more precision.
• However, the Guardians’ love for The Last Word has notably cooled in Destiny. While there was a real cult around it during the last vote, the hand cannon has now fallen from 7th place to 16th. This only applies to PvE; in PvP, it is still a headshot machine.

Shotguns and the DLC Sniper mark the end

The last places in the ranking are almost exclusively occupied by shotguns in PvE. The new PlayStation-exclusive 4th Horseman takes third to last place. Similarly unpopular are the Invective (second to last) and the No Land Beyond (fourth to last). Shotguns just aren’t built for PvE.

In last place is the DLC sniper rifle No Land Beyond. We’ve already reported in detail about it. Guardians see the primary sniper as “way too weak,” even if it is possible to achieve extremely unusual successes with it.

The third new DLC weapon, Dragon’s Breath, is assessed to be significantly weaker in PvE than the two other exotic rocket launchers Gjallarhorn and Truth. That only earns it a spot in the lower mid-range.

And the fourth new DLC weapon Necrochasm? We will have to wait for that.

Even the YouTuber Datto has dealt with the topic of “best PvE” weapons in one of his videos:

The complete ranking of the best and worst exotic PvE weapons in Destiny

This is the complete PvE ranking from the survey conducted by Debo37 on reddit. S-Tier is the highest rank, while C-Tier is the weakest.

S-Tier

• Gjallarhorn (Gjallarhorn)
• Ice Breaker (Ice Breaker)
• Vex Mythoclast (Vex Mythoclast)
• Hawkmoon (Hawkmoon)
• SUROS Regime (SUROS Regime)

A-Tier

• Patience and Time (Patience and Time)
• Thunderlord (Thunderlord)
• Truth (Truth)
• Thorn (Thorn)
• MIDA Multi-Tool (MIDA Multi-Tool)
• Plan C (Plan C)
• Bad Juju (Bad Juju)
• Dragon’s Breath (Dragon’s Breath)
• Red Death (Red Death)

B-Tier

• Pocket Infinity (Pocket Infinity)
• The Last Word (The Last Word)
• Monte Carlo (Monte Carlo)
• Hard Light (Hard Light)
• Super Good Advice (Super Good Advice)
• Invective (Invective)

C-Tier

• The 4th Horseman (The 4th Horseman)
• Universal Remote (Universal Remote)
• No Land Beyond (No Land Beyond)