The Best PvE Sniper Rifles In Destiny 2

After years of constant updates and expansions, Destiny 2 has seen the rise and fall of certain weapon archetypes. The meta has shifted dramatically over the game’s lifespan, ranging from buffing certain weapon archetypes or nerfing others into obscurity.

Sniper Rifles are a fantastic DPS option in PvE during tough activities such as raids and Nightfalls. Even when you aren’t firing a salvo of rounds into a boss, you’ll want a good weapon for defeating Champions and other tough foes. For those looking for a good PvE Special weapon, here are the ten best PvE Sniper Rifles you should be using in Destiny 2.

Updated December 27, 2024, by Charles Burgar: We’ve updated this list to include this season’s Veleda-F Sniper Rifle, an Aggressive Frame that can get the amazing Withering Gaze perk. If you want a Sniper Rifle with utility over raw DPS, look no further.

10

Locus Locutus

How to obtain: Season of the Witch activities.

Locus Locutus is an Adaptive Frame
Sniper Rifle that deals Stasis damage, filling the same niche as Thoughtless back during The Witch Queen. If you never got that weapon, Locus is effectively a one-to-one replacement. Overflow and Firing Line is the chase roll here, allowing this weapon to overflow its magazine and benefit from 20% more precision damage.

Beyond single-target DPS, Locus Locutus has a few rolls for more general play as well. High Ground is an interesting option, providing a 20% damage buff if you’re attacking enemies from an elevated surface. Headstone is also a great pick if you use Sniper Rifles to kill packs of adds from a distance.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Overflow, Keep Away
• Column Two: Firing Line

9

Veleda-F

How to obtain: World drops.

Veleda-F is the ultimate utility Sniper Rifle. This is one of a select few Special weapons that can get Withering Gaze, a variant of Box Breathing that infuses your next shot with a 15% Weaken debuff. This is a fairly rare debuff that’s usually tied to Exotics, so getting access to a free debuff on your Legendary Special is a huge boon. Pair this with Repuslor Brace for an easy way to generate Overshields.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Repulsor Brace, Air Trigger
• Column Two: Withering Gaze

8

Cloudstrike

How to obtain: Empire Hunts

Cloudstrike
is an absurdly good Sniper Rifle, both for PvE and PvP. This weapon is a Rapid-Fire Sniper Rifle that generates lightning bolts whenever it lands a precision kill.

Lightning bolts from this weapon deal immense damage, capable of clearing out an entire wave of enemies in most activities. If that wasn’t enough, Cloudstrike also generates these lightning bolts on rapid precision hits. Since this weapon fires at 140 RPM, expect a flurry of lightning bolts to rain from the sky whenever you use Cloudstrike on a boss.

It deals excellent damage, can clear out groups of PvE enemies with ease, and has a high base aim assist value of 68. Combined with its range of 64, Cloudstrike gives a lot of leeway for landing precision hits. No matter the game type, Cloudstrike is a fantastic Sniper Rifle that will serve you well.

7

Irukandji

How to obtain: Legendary Engrams.

If you missed out on last year’s Thoughtless, Irukandji makes for an excellent replacement. This Rapid-Fire Sniper Rifle deals Stasis damage and features the Veist Stinger origin trait, causing the weapon to automatically reload a portion of its magazine on hit.

When paired with the likes of Fourth TIme’s the Charm and Firing Line, you’ll be dishing out some solid DPS from a safe distance. It won’t dethrone Succession or Supremacy, but Irukandji is a solid weapon nonetheless.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Fourth Time’s the Charm
• Column Two: Firing Line

6

IKELOS_SR_v1.0.3

How to obtain: Legendary Engrams.

Warmind’s IKELOS weapons have been brought back for the third time, complete with new perk pools and a solid Origin Trait. Thanks to this weapon’s perks, it’s effectively a Solar version of Thoughtless with slightly better DPS thanks to its Rapid-Fire Frame.

As with Thoughtless, the IKELOS Sniper Rifle can get Overflow and Focused Fury, leading to a relentless barrage of high-damage shots against majors and bosses. If you dislike Overflow for raids and dungeons, consider a roll with Fourth Time’s the Charm and High-Impact Reserves instead. And just like Thoughtless, this version of the IKELOS SR is fully craftable.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Overflow, Fourth Time’s the Charm
• Column Two: Focused Fury, High-Impact Reserves (with FTTC)

5

Izanagi’s Burden

How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower. Costs 1 Exotic Cipher, 150,000 Glimmer, and 2 Ascendant Shards.

You won’t find a better Sniper Rifle for one-shotting enemies than Izanagi’s Burden
. This Exotic Sniper Rifle is capable of collapsing its magazine into an overcharged shot, causing this weapon to deal an absurd amount of damage. One bullet is usually enough to kill a Major or even Champions in mid-tier content.

Since it’s easier than ever to craft a Rocket Launcher with Auto-Loading Holster, Izanagi’s Burden has become a staple for raid boss DPS. Fire a rocket, swap to your Izanagi’s Burden, fire a shot, reload, and repeat. It’s great for Nightfalls, raids, and overworld content when you need something to die in a single round.

4

Embraced Identity

How to obtain: Pale Heart reward.

If you need a strong DPS Sniper Rifle but don’t want to farm endgame PvE content, then Embraed Identity is for you. This can get Reconstruction with Precision Instrument for an easy 30% damage buff while landing rapid precision hits. Reconstruction will give you a large magazine to dump some high-powered shots. Rewind Rounds is also a good option if you dislike Reconstruction. It’s not a meta option, but it’s a decent option for New Lights and returning Guardians.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Reconstruction,
  Rewind Rounds

• Column Two: Precision Instrument

3

Critical Anomaly

How to obtain: Salvation’s Edge raid.

Critical Anomaly has taken over Riptide as the new king of utility. This is the first Sniper Rifle to roll with Chill Clip, inflicting slow whenever you hit a target with the top half of your magazine. This lets you stun Overload Champions with a single bullet, freeze Barrier Champions with two shots, and outright stun Unstoppable Champions with three rounds. Pair it with Reconstruction to never reload.

You can also use this weapon for boss DPS, although it’s not quite as strong as Supremacy. Reconstruction paired with Bait and Switch is a solid combo that can deal some solid sustain DPS while you wait for a Heavy weapon to passively reload. It’s not going to top the DPS charts, but Critical Anomaly is a decent companion weapon for any respectable DPS lodout.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Reconstruction,
  Snapshot Sights

• Column Two: Chill Clip, Bait and Switch

2

Succession

How to obtain: Deep Stone Crypt raid (Atraks-1 encounter)

For those looking for a hard-hitting Sniper Rifle, the Deep Stone Crypt raid’s Succession Sniper Rifle is arguably the best option available to you. It received a perk refresh in Season of the Seraph, although its new perk combinations can’t top its top-tier combination of Reconstruction and Recombination.

Reconstruction and Vorpal Weapon make for an S-tier PvE sniper, allowing this weapon to obtain a six or eight-round magazine that passively reloads itself. Recombination can be used in place of Vorpal Weapon for better burst damage, sacrificing sustained DPS. Overall, Succession can one-shot majors with enough Recombination stacks, auto-reload itself, and is easy to use.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Reconstruction
• Column Two: Vorpal Weapon, Recombination

Brave Succession

We’re going to give special mention to the Brave variant of Succession, found in the Onslaught playlist. This is the only Sniper Rifle that can roll with Discord and Redirection. Land a kill with your other weapons, then swap to Succession to proc Discord. Kills will refund ammo and build stacks of Redirection, greatly increasing your damage against tougher foes. It’s a fantastic roll for turning your Succession into a juiced Scout Rifle.

1

The Supremacy

How to obtain: Last Wish raid.

The Supremacy has always been seen as a good PvP Sniper Rifle since it was brought into Destiny 2 through Forsaken’s Last Wish raid. Season of the Deep gave all Last Wish weapons a major perk refresh, including Supremacy. That perk refresh didn’t just buff Supremacy for PvE, it made this gun arguably one of Destiny 2’s strongest Sniper Rifles.

This is the first Sniper Rifle to roll with Bait and Switch, providing a 35% damage buff if you hit a target with all three of your weapons. This makes Supremacy great for backup DPS when your Heavy weapon runs out of ammo, outshining every other Legendary Sniper Rifle.

If you frequently farm raids and have a Divinity
user, you might want to use Rewind Rounds and Fourth Time’s the Charm. This combination lets you fire over 40 shots before needing to reload, giving Supremacy excellent sustained DPS.

While it won’t top an Exotic Sniper Rifle, this is a Legendary weapon that resides in the Kinetic slot, letting you run an Exotic Primary or Heavy instead. And if you want your Sniper Rifle to slay adds with ease, you can use Kinetic Tremors in the final perk column to give Spuremacy some AoE damage. Best of all, this weapon is craftable.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Rewind Rounds
• Column Two: Bait and Switch, Fourth Time’s the Charm, Kinetic Tremors