Collect the best Arc weapons and see how far you can go with Arc 3.0.
Destiny 2’s Arc element is all about speed and lightning. Subclasses with this element move quickly, hit hard, and use their bodies as the best tool. Now that Arc 3.0 is out, bringing the right guns can make a big difference in how much damage you do in PvE or how useful you are in the Crucible.
Arc 3.0 works well with arc guns as well. Arc Legendaries can trigger certain Fragments and roll with Voltshot, which is probably the strongest version of Kill Clip so far. If you want to get the most out of Arc 3.0, you should keep an eye out for these ten guns.
Half-Truths
How to obtain: Xur’s Treasure Hoard.
Half-Truths isn’t very good as a Sword. The damage done by Sola’s Scar, Razor’s Edge, and even Bequest is better. Then why is Half-Truth’s here? It can roll with the perk “Eager Edge,” which makes your character move forward when you swing the Sword for the first time. This perk is great for jumping tasks and general speedrunning, just like movement exotics. All Guardians should have Half-Truths because of how useful it is.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Tireless Blade, Thresh
- Column Two: Eager Edge
Trespasser
How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower.
Trespasser is a Sidearm from the first Destiny game. After a kill, this Sidearm’s three-round burst becomes enhanced and fires twice as many rounds in its next burst. When you kill an enemy with the salvo, the gun will instantly reload, letting you fire six-round bursts with just one pull of the trigger.
As with Trinity Ghoul and Riskrunner, Trespasser is amazing for clearing out fodder enemies in PvE. In all PvE activity, a single burst kills red bars, and supercharged rounds do a lot of damage to majors. When you combine this with a damage boost like Radiant or Arc Weapon Surge, you have a devastating Primary weapon that can take on some of Destiny 2’s hardest enemies.
Riskrunner
How to obtain: Complete “A Spark of Hope.”
Riskrunner is a good skill that shouldn’t need to be explained because every Guardian gets it as part of the New Light training. If you haven’t used Riskrunner in a while, this SMG shoots lightning rounds that chain to nearby targets while Arc Conductor is active.
If you take Arc damage, your weapon will become supercharged for a few seconds. This will make your Riskrunner shoot chain lightning shots and reduce the Arc damage that comes at you. During this time, you don’t have to reload the gun, so you can shoot a lot of lightning-charged bullets at your enemies. Riskrunner has everything you need to use a Stormtrance Super in your pocket.
Iterative Loop
How to obtain: Neomuna activities.
As far as Fusion Rifles go, Iterative Loop is one of the best guns you’ll find in the Special spot. It can be used for almost everything. PvE players have a set of great perks for killing adds, and PvP players can take advantage of a lot of stability perks that make this Rapid-Fire Fusion a good choice when compared to other Specials.
For PvE, Compulsive Reloader with Voltshot is the clear winner.Get a kill, quickly reload your gun, and then enjoy dealing Jolt damage with your next burst.With just one shot, you can kill a whole wave of enemies or do a lot of damage to a Champion.Iterative Loop has many ways to stay consistent in PvP.Under Pressure and Elemental Capacitor are great for general games. When used with either Adagio or Kickstart, Killing Wind can do a lot of work for more offensive play styles. Best of all, this gun is craftable if you can get enough red border versions from Neomuna Engrams and Heroic Patrols.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Compulsive Reloader, Under Pressure (PvP), Killing Wind
- Column Two: Voltshot, Elemental Capacitor (PvP), Adagio
Divinity
How to obtain: Defeat a secret Minotaur in the Lunar Battlegrounds and finish the quest it gives you.
Divinity is the best group material in terms of how useful it is. This Trace Rifle shoots an Arc beam that removes 15% of the target’s buffs. This is the same as the Weaken term from the Void. It also makes an Arc bubble around the target, which turns all damage into precision damage.Divinity works with weapons that have critical hit perks, so this is an easy choice for raids and GM Nightfalls.It won’t kill enemies on its own, but it does a huge amount of damage to your fireteam.
Thunderlord
How to obtain: Drops from Exotic Engrams.
After multiple seasons worth of Machine Gun buffs and an Exotic Catalyst, Thunderlord is now the powerhouse Heavy weapon it was meant to be. This gun shoots high-damage rounds that cause lightning strikes on kills or repeated hits. The longer you hold the trigger, the faster it fires. At full power, Thunderlord is like a machine gun that shoots Storm Grenades at 900 RPM.
Thunderlord is a master of all trades when it comes to PvE. It’s great for getting rid of adds, killing Champions, and if you have the Catalyst, even hurting raid bosses. Thunderlord is still useful in the Crucible, but he is not nearly as strong as other meta Heavy picks. If you can get past the fact that Thunderlord only has a small amount of ammunition, you’ll be shocked by how useful this Machine Gun can be.
Forbearance
How to obtain: Do the Vow of the Disciple raid and fight the Caretaker and Rhulk.
Do you love explosions? Like it when explosions cause more explosions? If that’s the case, you might want to farm for Forbearance. Forbearance is a Wave Frame Grenade Launcher that you get from the Vow of the Disciple raid. With each shot, it sends out a wave of Arc energy.
More importantly, Forbearance can work with Ambitious Assassin and Chain Reaction. When you kill someone with your Arc wave, they will explode, setting off a chain reaction of blasts. With the two-round magazine from Ambitious Assassin, this is one of the best Special guns in Destiny 2 for getting rid of adds.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Ambitious Assassin
- Column Two: Chain Reaction
The Hothead
How to obtain: Nightfall reward (rotates weekly).
Since Gjallarhorn came back, rocket launchers have taken over the meta like a storm. Legendary Rockets are now the best way to deal a lot of damage quickly in endgame PvE content, like The Hothead. This is one of the best Rocket Launchers for mobbing and fight DPS in Destiny 2.
Hothead has good base numbers, but its real power comes from its perks. You can roll Demolitionist and Clown Cartridge at the same time on this gun, which lets you do some crazy amounts of damage. Throw a bomb, fire a rocket, fire another rocket, reload, and then fire two rockets. Hothead is tied with Royal Chase as the best Legendary Rocket Launcher in the game because it lets you fire all of your Rockets in a few seconds.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Demolitionist, Field Prep
- Column Two: Clown Cartridge
IKELOS_SMG_v1.0.3
How to obtain: Season of the Seraph activities.
The IKELOS SMG is back for the third time in Destiny 2, this time with a unique origin trait and what might be the best set of perks we’ve ever seen on an SMG. With the IKELOS SMG, you can make the most of Voltshot by giving your shots Jolt when you reload after a kill. With how hard-hitting this SMG is, your Jolt procs will deal absurd damage in all Wordle Unlimited gameplay.
It’s best to pair Voltshot with a repeat perk, especially Threat Detector, since Feeding Frenzy doesn’t work on Jolt kills. So, if you have ammo finders in your build, you might want to think about Shoot to Loot. If Voltshot isn’t your thing, you can also use Surrounded, which gives a huge 47% damage boost if it’s improved through crafting—almost as good as Golden Tricorn. With Dynamic Sway Reduction and Rangefinder, PvP players can also make this weapon very easy to hit the head with. The IKELOS SMG is an S-tier Primary weapon that everyone should have.
Recommended Traits:
- Column One: Threat Detector, Shoot to Loot, Dynamic Sway Reduction (PvP)
- Column Two: Voltshot, Surrounded, Rangefinder (PvP)
Trinity Ghoul
How to obtain: Exotic Engrams.
Trinity Ghoul is the best way to clear a room full of enemies with a single shot. This Exotic Bow shoots three shots instead of one, and if you ADS, they all stay close together. More importantly, any Trinity Ghoul kills, or any Arc kills if you have the Catalyst, will make your next Arc lightning arrow stronger.
Because of this Exotic perk, Trinity Ghoul is great at killing adds in PvE. Arc lightning kills red-bar enemies in all activities with just one hit, which, when the Catalyst is installed, will refill your arrows with Arc energy. No Primary in Destiny 2 can clear adds as quickly as Trinity Ghoul, not even Riskrunner.
