Destiny 2: All Dawning Weapons, Ranked

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Summary

• The Dawning event in Destiny 2 features limited time weapons and fun activities with seasonal currency.
• Glaives like Albedo Wing offer unique gameplay but are overshadowed by other weapons in the meta.
• Weapons like Zephyr, Avalanche, Stay Frosty, and Glacioclasm provide varying perks but may not be top choices

Destiny 2 is back with its holiday-themed event, The Dawning. The Dawning continues with a familiar formula of gathering ingredients and baking delicious treats for the various characters of the Destiny world. Players must first pick up Eva’s Holiday Oven 2.4, and an introductory quest from event vendor and space grandmother, Eva Levante.

Once the intro quest is completed, by giving Zavala his favorite Gjallerdoodles and returning to Eva, players are free to collect seasonal currency, Dawning Spirit, and the various ingredients to their heart’s content until the event ends. Of course, with The Dawning, Bungie gives the players the chance to earn limited-time Dawning weapons, as well as a new entry into the mix while the event lasts.

6 Albedo Wing

Underpowered Weapon On Underpowered Weapon Type

• One of the more accessible glaive options
• Glaives aren’t very powerful or popular

Glaives were an interesting addition to Destiny 2 since they were added in The Witch Queen expansion. They’re a combination of both a melee and projectile weapon with a shield that gets charged with each enemy defeat. Albedo Wing sits as the most accessible Arc glaive in Destiny 2. The other options in Unexpected Resurgence and Nezarec’s Whisper are locked behind Trials of Osiris and the rotating Exotic mission Presage.

Some of the newer perk combinations are enticing, such as Closing Time, Strategist, and Desperate Measures, but glaives are handily outclassed by not only other Dawning Weapons but aren’t very popular in the meta at all. An exception would be niche use cases in the Crucible, but that’s it.

5 Zephyr

Perks On Weapon Are Underwhelming

• Solid overall package
• Underpowered in high-end content

Zephyr is the oldest Dawning weapon in Destiny 2, so it has had many iterations as each Dawning event passes. The base sword has an okay overall package in terms of its stats, but the new perks of Rimestealer and Cold Steel really play into the Stasis fantasy well. Each charged heavy attack by a Zephyr with Cold Steel grants the Slow effect, slowing and eventually freezing enemies, while Rimestealer grants Frost Armor with each defeat of a frozen target. It can also stun Overload champions with Slow, Unstoppable champions when they Shatter, and assist in freezing Barrier champions for other players.

Unfortunately, outside of Stasis, Zephyr is pretty weak compared to other sword options like the Bequest and the Exotic option, The Lament. Even with champion stunning properties, champions become very real threats in higher-end content like Nightfalls and Raids, where many of them can kill players with a single melee hit in Grandmaster Nightfalls. In PvP, swords are not seen as priority heavy weapons.

4 Avalanche

Good Rolls But Oversaturated

• Fun weapon rolls
• Oversaturated

With many Dawning weapons, they are more of a sidegrade to more popular, but harder-to-get options in Destiny 2. The Avalanche machine gun got refreshed with a bevy of popular perks, such as Heal Clip for some health regeneration while reloading the magazine after an enemy defeat, Collective Action for elemental buffs to players’ subclasses, and Incandescent for creating Solar explosions on enemy defeats. It’s in good company with other Solar heavy machine gun options, like Fixed Odds from the Duality dungeon and Speleologist from Episode: Echoes.

With those rolls, the Avalanche fills a perfectly serviceable role within a player’s arsenal. However, the Adaptive Frame is common on other more appealing options like the Hammerhead, Commereration, and Song of Ir Yut. The latter two are raid-exclusive, but Hammerhead is accessible via the Onslaught activity. The rolls also do not favor the Avalanche in any sort of PvP either.

3 Mistral Lift

An Accessible Raid And Dungeon DPS Weapon

• Many great combinations for a DPS role
• Linear Fusion Rifles are not in the meta right now

Mistral Lift is the newest weapon to be introduced into The Dawning, being an Aggressive Frame heavy Linear Fusion Rifle with an excellent perk pool. Combinations like Envious Arsenal + Bait and Switch, Reconstruction + Vorpal Weapon, and Envious Assassin + Precision Instrument all complement the 3-round burst Linear Fusion Rifle really well.

On the other hand, great boss-damaging weapons are more plentiful than they used to be, so Mistral Lift isn’t exactly a stand-out option for the moment. High DPS loadouts also live and die by certain artifact perks and rotating damage surge modifiers for each activity, meaning a drop-off in sweet sweet DPS if players aren’t playing to the activity’s modifiers. Rocket Launchers and Grenade Launchers provide more damage, but limited reserves, whereas Linear Fusion Rifles can output damage for longer. Linears are also more niche in PvP environments.

2 Stay Frosty

Well Balanced Pulse Rifle For Activities​​​​​​

• Excellent in both PvE and PvP
• Not very unique

Aside from the seemingly retired Cold Front SMG, Stay Frosty is the only Primary Kinetic weapon from The Dawning. It has some perks that work very well in PvP as a main damage dealer, with combinations like Encore + Headseeker, Moving Target + Kill Clip, and Lone Wolf + Desperado providing players with some downright essential PvP perk combinations. For PvE, it can also roll with Rimestealer + Headstone for some Stasis fun.

Stay Frosty is a very fun weapon, working hard on plenty of PvP maps and modes, but it’s hard-pressed to move the needle compared to other ubiquitous PvP picks like Graviton Lance, No Time To Explain, and even the BxR-55 Battler. There are better options out there for players to grab, but Stay Frosty is still a very competitive weapon in the pool of Legendary Pulse Rifles.

1 Glacioclasm

A Special Ammo Menace

• Top-tier weapon in many activities
• No longer best-in-class in PvE

Glacioclasm is an overall great weapon to use in any activity. Almost any roll of the Glacioclasm is a great roll, no matter the perk combination. Glacioclasm has had a reputation for being a menace in PvP with perk rolls like Under Pressure + High Impact Reserves, and Slideshot + Desperate Measures. It even has some backup boss DPS potential with the likes of Envious Assassin + Vorpal Weapon, and Overflow + Reservoir Burst.

Although Glacioclasm has been in the spotlight for some time, more utilitarian Fusion Rifles like Riptide from Crucible or Deliverance from the Vow of The Disciple raid hold more value in PvE due to their Stasis damage type and ability to stun champion enemies. Despite that, Glacioclasm is still a popular pick for its high damage output in both PvE and PvP.