In theApril 25 This Week in Destiny blog post, Bungie confirmed that sunset weapons will have their Power limits removed. This means you can use any sunsetDestiny 2weapon in The Final Shape expansion and beyond.
There are over a hundred weapons that were left behind in Beyond Light, some of which are still quite powerful by modern standards. In this list, we will be looking at the ten strongest sunset weapons in Destiny 2 that you can bring into The Final Shape. From iconic PvE Hand Cannons to infamous PvP Shotguns, here are some of the strongest sunset weapons in Destiny 2.
Honorable Mentions
Before we start, there are some amazing sunset weapons that weren’t quite strong enough to make the list but were worth mentioning. All the weapons listed below are worth keeping if you have a spare copy in your Vault.
10Revoker
Original Drop Source:Pinnacle weapon (Crucible, Season of Opulence).
Revoker’s claim to fame isReversal of Fortune, an upgraded version of Mulligan that activates upon missing two shots. Since you spawn with two Sniper Rifle bullets in PvP, this allows you to gain a third Sniper shot for free. It encourages you to take risky shots that you otherwise might not land.
For PvE, it’s clearly not useful. But when you consider the ammo economy changes in PvP, Revoker can bend the rules a little bit in your favor. We doubt this willoutperform Sniper RIfles with Discordin the hands of a good player, but if you’re new to sniping and want to get more practice, you can’t do much better than Revoker.
This weapon can be purchased at the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. Players who already own this weapon can reclaim it from Collections.
9Smuggler’s Word
Original Drop Source:World drop during Forsaken.
Smuggler’s Word is one ofthreeKinetic 325 RPM Sidearms to grace the Destiny 2 sandbox during its entire lifespan. The only other Aggressive Sidearms to grace the Kinetic slot were Breachlight (now sunset) and Empirical Evidence, which has a truly awful perk pool.
While Smuggler’s Word isn’t quite as iconic as Breachlight, two-round burst Sidearms are incredibly strong in most content, and this one actually had a good perk pool.Moving TargetandZen momentfeels downright illegal in PvP. You’ll have a whopping 97 aim assist and become immune to incoming flinch. Alternatively, you may useTap the Triggerin place of Zen Moment, a perk that’s seldom seen on modern Sidearms.
Your PvE options aren’t quite as spectacular, with the main standouts beingOutlawandRampage.PvE fans will likely use Breachlight instead, but if you were fortunate enough to get a good PvP roll, don’t let it rot in your Vault. This gun is nightmare fuel in the hands of a good player.
8Bygones
Original Drop Source:Gambit matches during Forsaken.
The Drifter’s iconic Pulse Rifle has aged like fine wine. Bygones is a 390 RPM Pulse Rifle that has a surprisingly good stat package. Compared to every non-sunset Adaptive Pulse, Bygones is the second best in every category except aim assist and airborne effectiveness. It even outclasses Smite of Merain, a weapon fromthe King’s Fall raid. Throw on a clean chevron optic, and you have the ultimate dueling Primary.
But that’s not all. Bygones also has a fantastic perk pool that’s well-suited for PvE and PvP play. The classic combination ofOutlaw and Rampageis present if you want a good workhorse weapon, but the real standout for PvP players isKill Clip and Headseeker.Both perks drastically lower this weapon’s TTK and make two-bursting opponents a breeze. It’s the only 390 Pulse that can get this combo, even if we include sunset weapons.
In other words,Bygones is effectively a raid weapondisguised as a ritual playlist reward. Few weapons can match the overall stat package of this gun, and even fewer feel quite as good as Bygones did in its heyday. If you kept a good roll of this gun, be sure to take it for a spin when The Final Shape launches.
7Hush
Original Drop Source:Pinnacle weapon (Gambit, Season of Opulence).
Hush is a Pinnacle Bow that drops withOpening ShotandArcher’s Gambit.The latter perk is effectively Archer’s Tempo cranked up to 11. When you land a hipfire precision hit, Hush’s draw speed drops from 684ms to roughly 300ms; it’s near-instant. You’ll need to keep chaining hipfire precision hits to keep this perk active, however, so good reticle placement is mandatory.
Considering how powerful Bows can be in both PvE and PvP, having a Precision Bow that fires faster than all Lightweight Bows is nothing to scoff at. It might not have a traditional damage perk, but if you get used to Archer’s Gambit, Hush will quickly become your new favorite Bow.
6The Ringing Nail
Original Drop Source:Black Armory Forges.
The Ringing Nail is a 450 RPM Auto Rifle that dropped from Black Armory Forges. Since it is a Black Armory weapon, Ringing Nail could roll with scopes instead of barrels, allowing it to reach 20+ zoom and fairly high range stats for its archetype. If you have a good roll of this weapon, you can compete with meta PvP Autos like Prosecutor and Positive Outlook.
But as with most weapons, the perks are what make the weapon. To this day, Ringing Nail is the only Auto Rifle that can roll withDragonflyandRampage. Land a precision kill to proc Dragonfly, and all enemies that die to the explosion will proc Rampage and further scale your Dragonfly damage. This makes Ringing Nail a fantastic PvE workhorse weapon.
Crucible players with aZen MomentandKill Cliproll will dominate most lobbies. Zen Moment greatly reduces incoming flinch and reticle bounce, and final blows will proc Kill Clip’s damage bonus. With both perks active, you’ll win virtually every 1v1 duel. And when you consider the high zoom that some scopes provide, Ringing Nail can prove more consistent than even the best 450 Autos.
5Oxygen SR3
Original Drop Source:Pinnacle weapon (Vanguard, Season of the Drifter).
Oxygen SR3 never got a chance to shine when it was relevant. This is the only Scout Rifle withMeganeura, a perk that scales the damage and radius of Dragonfly as you land precision hits. With just three headshots,your Dragonfly explosions deal 180% more damage. That’s roughly as strong asa Solar Ignitionby today’s standards, and that works witheveryDragonfly explosion this gun makes.
As strong as that perk was, it never saw much use because Scout Rifles just weren’t very good. But thanks to multiple years of buffs and Subclass 3.0 keywords, you can turn Oxygen into an add-slaying machine with the right build. Throw on Radiant and some Surge mods, and this weapon should have little issue with one-tapping red bar enemies. Expect Oxygen to pull some serious weight come Final Shape.
4Breachlight
Original Drop Source:The Sundial (Season of Dawn)
Breachlight is the single best PvE Sidearm to grace the Destiny sandbox. Not a single Sidearm has managed to feel quite as powerful as Breachlight. This is a 325 RPM Sidearm that deals Kinetic damage, one of three across Destiny 2’s lifespan. And out of the trio, Breachlight is hands-down the best of the bunch.
The high aim assist and stability of Breachlight make this weapon function closer to a two-round burst Hand Cannon than a proper Sidearm. It was also one of the first Primary weapons to rollDemolitionistin the first column, which you could pair withRampageorMultikill Clipfor deadly results. It’s been somewhat powercrept by modern perks and Exotics, but it’s undeniable that Breachlight was (and arguably still is) the best Sidearm in the Destiny franchise. It also looks gorgeous.
3Mindbender’s Ambition
Original Drop Source:“The Hollowed Lair” Nightfall reward.
To this day,Mindbender’s Ambition is the only Aggressive Frame Shotgun to roll with Quickdraw.This perk was deemed so powerful on 55 RPM Shotguns that Bungie retroactively removed it from Felwinter’s Lie and Astral Horizon back in Season of the Worthy.
That change didn’t affect Mindbender’s Ambition. Quickdraw only lasts for a short duration now, but being able to instantly draw an Aggressive Frame Shotgun with zero drawbacks is practically unheard of. You can then pair it withSnapshot Sightsto create the snappiest 55 RPM Shotgun in D2 history. It likely won’t dethrone Conditional Finality or even Matador, but Mindbenders should still be competitive in the current Crucible sandbox.
2Duke MK.44
Duke Mk. 44 is the very first Hand Cannon we ever saw in the Destiny franchise. It was firstshowcased in the E3 2013 gameplay trailer—originally shown as a Special weapon—yet it never made its way to the original Destiny. Fortunately, the weapon was added in Destiny 2’s Forsaken expansion, and it is easily one of the best 120 RPM Hand Cannons the franchise has seen.
This gun’s stat package iscomparable to Igneous Hammer.It’s only a few stat points behind that weapon, and Duke existedyearsbefore Igneous. Its perk options are also fantastic, including the classicOutlawandKill Clipcombination for PvE. Crucible players can rockZen MomentwithMoving Targetfor a whopping 79 aim assist and tons of flinch mitigation. This gun has it all.
1Kindled Orchid
Bungie threw balance out the window when designing Kindled Orchid. To this day, this is theonlyHand Cannon in Destiny 2 that can roll with two major damage perks simultaneously. Weapons like Fatebringer and Zaouli’s Bane canroll Explosive Payloadalongside perks like Frenzy, but that pales in comparison to what Kindled Orchid can get.
The curated roll for this gun could infamously getKill ClipandRampageat the same time. It also came with the now-retiredDrop Magperk in the magazine column, which effectively gives you permanent x2 Feeding Frenzy at the cost of magazine size. And thanks to how Destiny calculates damage buffs, the damage perks aremultiplicativewith one another. You don’t deal 58% more damage, you deal 66% more damage.Throw on a Spec mod, and now you’re dealing79% more damage.
You could even getSurroundedin place of Kill Clip if you wantedeven moredamage. And thanks to the current sandbox, Kindled Orchid can make good use ofVolatile Roundsand subclass verbs like Radiant. If you can proc Kill Clip and Rampage in PvP while Radiant, this gun can two-tap Guardians. Calling this gun OP would be an understatement. Kindled Orchid is going to utterly dominate in Final Shape.
