Division 2 Exotic Tier List: The Pair You Equip

Year 8 Season 3 opened on 27 August 2026. Ubisoft named the season Red Horizon. The live pool is 78 exotics: 44 weapons and 34 armor. You still equip 1 exotic weapon and 1 exotic armor. A 2nd exotic rifle stays in the stash. A 2nd exotic backpack stays in the stash.

The default pair for most PvE is St. Elmo's Engine and Memento. That is the answer if the ask was “what is S right now” and the tab is about to close. Activity loadouts live on Division 2 builds. Everything below is when that pair is the wrong pair.

Weapon S on this page means both recent public lists put the gun there. A gun that is S on only 1 list is written as A, and the split is named in the chip. Armor has 1 current public slot list. Those letters are slot defaults, and the board says so. Red Horizon added Fafnir on the season track, Iron Will on the season track, and Loaded for Bear on the manhunt climax. Until a 2nd list ranks them, they stay off S.

Open-world and Countdown farm: St. Elmo's Engine and Memento. Shock magazine plus kill trophies. Both farm from Countdown targeted loot.

Skill or hybrid PvE: Capacitor with Memento, or Capacitor with NinjaBike Messenger Bag. Capacitor is S on both weapon lists for skill damage. NinjaBike if the build wants a brand cheat more than trophies.

Legendary stronghold: St. Elmo's Engine or Scorpio, with Memento or Coyote's Mask. Scorpio is the close-range control gun both lists keep in S. Coyote's Mask if the team needs crit in the mask slot.

Dark Hours or Iron Horse: St. Elmo's Engine or Regulus, with Memento or Tinkerer. Regulus is S on both lists as a pistol. It does not eat the primary slot. Tinkerer if the raid plan is skill uptime.

Paradise Lost: St. Elmo's Engine and Memento on the way in. Ouroboros is the reward. It is A here because the lists split on the magazine nerf.

Dark Zone and Conflict: St. Elmo's Engine or Eagle Bearer, with Coyote's Mask or Catharsis. Only 1 recent list ranks PvP armor and weapons together. Treat that split as a starting pair.

If St. Elmo's and Memento are already in the stash, stop opening random exotic caches. The next hour belongs to a locked piece: Eagle Bearer, The Ravenous, Ouroboros, or Regulus. Or to optimizing the pair already worn.

The older weapon list is 3 months behind the August refresh. Where the 2 lists fight, the newer list wins the slot call and the gun is A on this page.

St. Elmo's Engine is the default AR on both lists. 70-round magazine. Shock ammo on the talent. Countdown with assault rifle targeted loot. Copies farm after the 1st drop.

Capacitor is S on both lists for skill damage. Stacks rise while you shoot. Leave it off a full-red DPS stack. Summit challenges still gate the 1st copy for many agents, then Countdown for extras.

Scorpio is S on both lists. Close-range control plus team utility. Countdown shotgun targeted loot.

Regulus is S on both lists as a pistol. Headshot kills explode. Iron Horse plus the exotic project. Targeted loot will not substitute after you own 1.

Ouroboros is S on the newer list for the SMG slot and A on the older list after the magazine change. Printed A. Paradise Lost only.

Chameleon is S on the older list and A on the newer list. Close-range crit gun. Printed A.

Pestilence is S on the newer list for the LMG slot and A on the older list. Pack-clear DoT. Printed A.

Eagle Bearer is A on the newer list and B on the older list. Tenacity is a risk. Dark Hours, or a rare Dark Zone roll.

Shroud is S on the newer marksman list and A on the older list. Printed A. Determined high-ends still compete.

Liberty is the shield pistol on both lists. Quest, then targeted pistols for copies.

The Ravenous is A on the newer list and B on the older list. Iron Horse. Shoulder-swap primer. Raid niche.

Prima Donna is S on the newer marksman list and missing from the older S row. Printed A.

Caduceus is the Year 8 Season 2 season-track AR. The older list does not rank it. B until a 2nd list does. Fafnir is the Year 8 Season 3 season-track shotgun. Same rule. C on this board.

Diamondback still wins the rifle slot on 1 list. That is a 1-source rifle take. Kenly waits until St. Elmo's is already worn.

Armor letters on this page follow 1 current slot list, refreshed 31 August 2026. There is no 2nd public armor ladder in the window we read today. Treat the S chips as slot defaults, then spend the exotic armor slot on the piece the build document names.

Backpack: Memento is the overall exotic armor on that list. Kill trophies. Countdown backpack targeted loot. NinjaBike Messenger Bag if the build is buying a brand cheat instead of trophies.

Mask: Coyote's Mask is the slot winner. Catharsis and Tinkerer share that slot’s S on the same list. Coyote's for team crit. Tinkerer for skill uptime. Catharsis for Conflict.

Chest: Tardigrade is the team plate. Ridgeway's Pride if the quest is done and the fight stays in melee range.

Gloves: Overdogs. Loaded for Bear is the new Year 8 Season 3 manhunt climax pair. Guaranteed on the 1st Master clear. Too new for S.

Knees: Nurse's Kneepads, from the Year 8 Season 2 season track, now on kneepad targeted loot. That list has no S in the slot. This is the A they would equip.

Holster: Dodge City Gunslinger's Holster. Same story. Quest-gated, then holster targeted loot for duplicates.

If the weapon is St. Elmo's, Capacitor, or Scorpio, take Memento unless the build document names a mask or chest. Acosta's Kneepads sit in B on that list. Familiar names do not spend the exotic slot.

Iron Will is the Year 8 Season 3 season-track chest. Same new-item rule as Fafnir. Off the S row.

Most exotics are Countdown, Summit, or open-world targeted loot once the blueprint is owned. The exotics below sit outside targeted loot.

St. Elmo's Engine, Scorpio, Memento, Coyote's Mask, Pestilence, Chameleon: Countdown with that slot as targeted loot. The 1st Capacitor still wants Summit challenges, then Countdown for copies.

Eagle Bearer: Dark Hours, and a rare Dark Zone roll. Weekly raid on every character. The carry for that raid is on the Dark Hours page.

The Ravenous: Iron Horse, same Dark Zone footnote as Eagle Bearer.

Regulus: Iron Horse plus its exotic project. Both weapon lists say you cannot target-loot it later.

Ouroboros: Paradise Lost only. 1 list writes a 1% boss / 10% weekly-cache figure. That rate is unverified here. Plan on weekly characters.

Vindicator: Descent vendor, 350 NSA Credits. Guaranteed. Both lists keep it off the chase list.

Nurse's Kneepads and Caduceus: Year 8 Season 2 season track, then targeted loot. Fafnir and Iron Will: Year 8 Season 3 season track. Loaded for Bear and Underboss: manhunt climax, 1st Master clear.

If the missing gun is the raid AR, the activity is Dark Hours. Another exotic cache will not substitute.