Destiny 2 Exotic Weapons Tier List (2026)

Monument of Triumph is Destiny 2's final live-service content update (live since June 9, 2026 — Bungie “Monument of Triumph is Live” + Update 9.7.0). There is no next season to obsolete this list; rankings below are for the forever sandbox as of August 25, 2026.

Freshness note (Aug 25): maintenance hotfixes through 9.7.0.4 (Jul 28) and weekly resets since have been activity rotation only (Pantheon/raids/dungeons) — no sandbox or Exotic weapon balance hotfix. MoT / 9.7.0 remains the forever sandbox.

Three global systems reshuffled the Exotic deck:

• Every Exotic has a catalyst. 9.7.0 added 25 new catalysts and gave real perks to nine old stat-only ones (Bungie Update 9.7.0).
• Anti-Champion 2.0. Champion stuns are intrinsic to weapon frames — no artifact shuffle. Exotics that were benched in GMs for lacking champ utility are legal again.
• Primary pressure is up. Bungie's official MoT overview says broad Primary-ammo tuning targeted underperformance in harder activities. We rely on the named Exotic changes below rather than repeating an uncorroborated community damage percentage.

How we ranked: load-bearing buff numbers come from Bungie Update 9.7.0; item identity (slot/element) from light.gg; forever-meta curation from our own PRO completion data plus Mobalytics (2026-06). Mobalytics rates many more guns S and parks Whirling Ovation / Lament / Anarchy in A — we treat that board as inflated and note disagreements instead of mirroring it.

PvE weight: Grandmaster Nightfalls, featured Master raids, Pantheon. PvP weight: Trials of Osiris + Competitive. Full buyable catalog → complete exotic armory list.

These are the guns that still show up in GM clears, Pantheon gauntlets, and raid DPS comps after the 9.7.0 rebalance. Filter chips follow weapon slot / type.

S

Whirling OvationStrand rocket · Solar payload

S

The LamentSolar sword · Archive

S

AnarchyArc GL · Archive

Tier	Weapon	Type / Element	Why it's S-tier	Source
S	Whirling Ovation	Strand Power rocket · delayed Solar payload	Charge-and-release heavy; 9.7.0 raised Anticipation gain ~11%. light.gg lists it as Strand Power (Solar explosion). Mobalytics parks it A — we keep S for raid DPS loops	The Desert Perpetual · Koregos
S	The Lament	Solar sword	9.7.0 reverted ~70% of the old nerf — top single-target sword DPS with self-heal (Bungie patch notes; community tier boards agree on S)	Exotic Archive kiosk
S	Anarchy	Arc grenade launcher	Trap lifetime 15s (+50%), trap damage +30%, detonation damage doubled — fire, swap, keep melting (community boards call it the best passive DPS buff in the patch)	Exotic Archive kiosk
S	Vex Mythoclast	Solar fusion rifle	Linear-fusion precision kills trigger ignitions; full-auto mode carries a Rewind Rounds-style loop (Bungie 9.7.0; community boards S)	Vault of Glass · Atheon
S	Truth	Void rocket launcher	Full MoT rework: empty the mag cleanly → next mag fires faster with stronger tracking + clusters (community boards S; Mobalytics C — disclosed)	Exotic Archive kiosk
S	Gjallarhorn	Solar rocket launcher	Team Wolfpack windows still define raid DPS — a forever staple, and Mobalytics S	Grasp of Avarice dungeon
S	Divinity	Arc trace rifle	Penance buffed — +20% damage, activates in 3s, cage in 10 shots (Bungie). Community boards call the tighter aim window a soft nerf for bad aim; numbers are still a buff	Garden of Salvation · puzzle quest
S	Heirloom	Solar exotic crossbow	Charge rate + impact / champ / boss buffs in 9.7.0; catalyst gains Incandescent. Mobalytics C — we keep S on Bungie tuning + dungeon chase value	Equilibrium dungeon · Sere
S	Microcosm	Kinetic heavy trace rifle	Boss-melting beam that also shreds champions with zero setup — forever-meta heavy	The Final Shape quest
S	Choir of One	Void special auto	Mobalytics S — room-clear + sustained pressure. Note: 9.7.0 cut ammo per brick (45→35 base)	Exotic quest / Episode path
S	Tractor Cannon	Void shotgun	Team-wide weaken utility that never left the raid checklist; Mobalytics S support pick	Exotic Archive / legacy
S	Still Hunt	Solar sniper	Mobalytics S + community DPS charts call it a Golden Gun meter boss-melter — no MoT nerf; still a premiere Exotic sniper	Episode / Exotic path

Chase items locked behind weekly RNG (Whirling Ovation, Heirloom, Mythoclast) are exactly what our PROs farm on request.

The Crucible meta froze with 9.7.0. Cross-check: Mobalytics PvP filter (inspected July 11, 2026 — mode=PvP, slot=All) lists Ace / Cloudstrike / Hawkmoon / Gjallarhorn / Le Monarque in S; Mobalytics marks Hawkmoon + Khvostov + Conditional Finality as S for PvP. Graviton Spike is strong in community Trials talk but was not on that Mobalytics PvP S board — we keep it with that caveat.

Tier	Weapon	Type / Element	Why it wins
S	Ace of Spades	Kinetic hand cannon	Memento Mori still ends duels — Mobalytics PvP S + Mobalytics staple
S	Hawkmoon	Kinetic hand cannon	Paracausal Charge deletes Guardians — Mobalytics S PvP + Mobalytics PvP S
S	Cloudstrike	Arc sniper	Precision kills spawn lightning storms — Mobalytics PvP S special-ammo map control
S	Khvostov 7G-0X	Kinetic auto rifle	Every 7th shot ricochets harder — Mobalytics S for PvE+PvP; forgiving dueling primary
S	Graviton Spike	Arc / Stasis hand cannon	Dual fire modes — charge the second mode, then two-tap. Renegades-era king; not on Mobalytics PvP S (July 11 inspect) — keep with uncertainty
A	Lodestar	Arc trace rifle	Burst primary trace with high aim assist + jolting Starlight Beam — strong, but below the Mobalytics PvP S cut we inspected
S	Conditional Finality	Stasis / Solar shotgun	Freeze barrel → ignite barrel. Mobalytics S for PvE+PvP; Mobalytics PvP A — still the most feared close-range Exotic in Trials
S	Le Monarque	Void bow	Poison spread + MoT bow damage buffs — Mobalytics PvP S

Winning consistently with them is the other half — that's what a Trials of Osiris carry is for. On the legendary side, the 120 hand-cannon lane still runs through Igneous Hammer; our god roll guide covers the perks.

Workhorses that clear content without defining every loadout:

Tier	Weapon	Element	Role
A	Outbreak Perfected	Kinetic	SIVA nanite stacking + exotic-primary buff — best never-swap pulse (9.7.0 trimmed max nanite mult 4.5×→4×)
A	Graviton Lance	Void	Cosmology chain pops — Mobalytics/Mobalytics rate it S for add-clear; we keep A for endgame DPS vs utility
A	Barrow-Dyad	Strand	Enormous add-clear uptime; popularity fixture outside pure DPS comps
A	Trinity Ghoul	Arc	Chain-lightning bow; MoT bow damage buffs + Lightning Rod ammo progress
A	Jade Rabbit	Kinetic	MoT glow-up: 15-round mag, Firefly, Shoot to Loot, Micro Missile catalyst (Bungie 9.7.0)
A	Crimson	Kinetic	To the Pain catalyst — bonus damage while wounded on a heal-on-kill frame
A	Thorn	Void	Poison pressure in Crucible; PvE primary buffs finally help it
A	Sunshot	Solar	Mobalytics everyday Solar primary — explosions for days in GMs and farms
A	Heir Apparent	Arc	Spin-up Arc shield zone control — returning via MoT reward track (Bungie “MoT is Live”; community boards concur)
A	Praxic Blade	Prismatic-era special	Mobalytics S chase piece; we hold A unless your build is built around the blade fantasy
A	The Queenbreaker	Arc	Mobalytics S+ linear — we place A/S border; excellent for champ + boss lanes when heavy ammo is sparse

Every Exotic got a catalyst in 9.7.0 — a catalyst can't invent an identity. These work in the right lobby:

Tier	Weapon	Notes
B	Merciless	Solar fusion with Heal Clip catalyst — niche, occasionally great
B	Hard Light	Element-switching utility for shields / coverage
B	Skyburner's Oath	Solar Cabal-slayer; Incandescent + Burning Ambition catalyst — Cabal aren't the whole game
B	Sturm & Drang	Fun combo; demanding both slots keeps it B
C	MIDA Multi-Tool	Museum piece with improved radar catalyst — Mobalytics still likes it for PvP speed; PvE = C (community boards rate it D for PvE)

If you stepped away after The Final Shape, here is the two-minute catch-up (Bungie MoT is Live + Update 9.7.0):

• The Edge of Fate (July 2025) — Gear Tiers 1–5 for legendaries + The Desert Perpetual raid (home of Whirling Ovation).
• Ash & Iron (September 2025) — Epic Desert Perpetual drops the Whirling Ovation catalyst.
• Renegades (December 2025) — Equilibrium dungeon (Heirloom), Praxic Blade, and the PvP crop headlined by Graviton Spike. Owners of Edge of Fate or Renegades can claim New Land Beyond + catalyst at Special Deliveries.
• Monument of Triumph (June 9, 2026) — forever sandbox: catalysts for every Exotic, intrinsic champion stuns, targeted reworks for Truth / Anarchy / Jade Rabbit / Vex Mythoclast, The Lament's un-nerf, Heirloom & Whirling Ovation tuning, plus Fafnir and Heir Apparent on the reward track.

Exotic weapons still have no random perk columns — acquisition + catalyst is the whole upgrade path (unlike Tier 5 legendaries).

Acquisition paths, ranked from deterministic to pure RNG:

• Kiosk buys (guaranteed): The Lament, Anarchy, Truth, Tractor Cannon, and most legacy Exotics sit in the Exotic Archive — pay the materials, walk away.
• Quest Exotics (guaranteed, slower): Microcosm and Khvostov from Final Shape questlines; retired classics like The Whisper / Zero Hour live in Pinnacle Ops. Divinity still needs a coordinated six-player Garden of Salvation puzzle.
• Raid & dungeon RNG: Whirling Ovation from Koregos (Desert Perpetual), Heirloom from Sere (Equilibrium), Vex Mythoclast from Atheon, Conditional Finality from Nezarec, Ice Breaker from Vesper's Host. Weekly lockouts constrain attempts; triumphs can raise the odds, but Bungie does not publish a universal base drop percentage for these weapons.

Three characters × weekly lockouts × low RNG odds can mean months of resets. Our PROs run featured raids and dungeon farms on your schedule until the Exotic drops. Several chase items at once? Bundles are cheaper than piecemeal.

The current exotic glaive chase is the VS Velocity Baton god roll.

The auto path that is not a kiosk buy is how to get Khvostov 7G-0X.