The Best Trace Rifles In Destiny 2

Trace Rifles are a unique weapon archetype introduced in Destiny 2. These weapons fire continuous beams of energy with near-perfect accuracy. Every Trace Rifle, save one, is in the Exotic category, which means you’ll need to give up your Exotic slot to see everything this archetype has to offer.

Is it worth the cost? In most situations, it isn’t worth it. With that said, the Exotic perks on these Trace Rifles can prove to be a large boon in certain activities, and the Legendary Trace Rifle currently in Destiny 2 is solid for PvE content. Most players use this weapon archetype in PvE content, although some Trace Rifles do surprisingly well in Gambit and even Crucible. Ranging from Coldheart

to Divinity

, here are all seven of Destiny 2’s Trace Rifles ranked from worst to best.

Updated February 29, 2025, by Charles Burgar: Trace Rifles continue to receive some strong additions in recent seasons, notably in Heresy. We’ve updated this list to include two new powerful Trace Rifles for PvE endgame use: Warlord’s Spear and Unsworn.

10

Divinity

How to obtain: Complete the Divinity Exotic quest. Requires Shadowkeep ownership.

Obtained from the Garden of Salvation raid, Divinity is the ultiamte utility weapon for endgame PvE content. While its Exotic perk doesn’t boost Divinity’s add-clearing potential, it will greatly buff your team’s overall DPS.

Divinity’s beam will create a Vex cage around a target if it makes contact for a few seconds. Any allies that shoot in the cage deal precision damage. Better yet, the cage inflicts Weaken, a 15% debuff. It can also disrupt Overload Champions, making it a staple for Grandmaster Nightfall runs.

Nearly every fireteam uses this weapon in pinnacle PvE content, as it dramatically increases the damage output of your fireteam. It might not debuff enemies quite as effectively as the Nightstalker’s Shadowshot Super or Tractor Cannon

, yet Divinity’s ease of use and crit bubble make it a fantastic weapon for endgame raiding and a solid option for GM Nightfalls.

9

Ruinous Effigy

How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower.

Ruinous Effigy

is a surprisingly good option for PvE content. With Void 3.0 keywords like Volatile Rounds, Ruinous Effigy can dish out some solid damage to fodder enemies, disintegrate majors with its Transmutation

Orbs, and its incredibly ammo efficient.

Unlike other Trace Rifles, Ruinous Effigy is focused more on spawning weapons than dealing damage itself. Defeating a target will spawn a Transmutation Sphere which can be used to melee targets or drain their life essence. That drain attack is especially powerful, capable of proccing effects like Volatile if Volatile Rounds are equipped.

This combo is especially deadly on Nightstalker Hunters using the Stylish Executioner

Aspect, allowing them to stay permanently invisible while dealing solid damage to fodder enemies.

Ruinous Effigy is downright awful in PvP, yet its buildcrafting potential in PvE makes it a great weapon for buildcrafters and casuals alike.

8

Coldheart

How to obtain: Exotic Engrams and Xur.

Coldheart

is a versatile Special weapon that works in most situations. Its Exotic perk ramps up Coldheart’s damage as you deal damage, similar to Target Lock. That makes it a great weapon for slaying fodder units and majors alike.

This is also the only Exotic Trace Rifle in Destiny 2 that doesn’t rely on a gimmick, opting to spawn Ionic Traces that boost your ability energy instead of raw damage output. It can deal solid boss damage in PvE and Gambit, and can down Guardians in an instant if you don’t miss. Other Exotic weapons excel at killing bosses or dealing with rank and file enemies, yet Coldheart’s versatility can’t be ignored.

7

The Navigator

How to obtain: Ghosts of the Deep dungeon.

The Navigator

sits firmly in the support category of Exotics, similar to the likes of Lumina

and Divinity. This Strand Trace Rifle fires a beam of energy that severs targets, lowering their damage output. That alone isn’t great, but The Navigator’s Exotic perk allows you to empower your teammates with this gun, granting both you and your ally Woven Mail upon landing a few hits.

The Navigator also has a hidden perk where Severing targets gives the user Woven Mail, and its Catalyst lets you create a Grapple point.

While the weapon itself is somewhat mediocre and doesn’t output a ton of damage, the ability to gain Woven Mail on any subclass makes this gun immensely useful for solo flawless dungeon runs, GM Nightfalls, and Master raids. Builds that have an open Exotic slot can make a strong case for using the Navigator to greatly improve their survivability.

6

Wavesplitter

How to obtain: Exotic Engrams and Xur.

Originally a PlayStation exclusive during Forsaken, Wavesplitter

is a Void Trace Rifle that deals an oscillating amount of damage. While the perk implies that the damage is random, Wavesplitter’s damage output depends on how much ammo you’ve expended, allowing skilled players to maximize the damage of this weapon with some practice.

Wavesplitter saw new life with the release of The Witch Queen. It received a 40% damage buff versus red bars and can make great use of Volatile Rounds in PvE. While not the most ammo-efficient Exotic you can use, Wavesplitter is a great workhorse Exotic for players that want to melt red bars and majors alike with little issue, especially if you’re using Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk

as a Hunter.

5

Warlord’s Spear

How to obtain:

Iron Banner
matches and Engrams.

Warlord’s Spear is an Arc Trace Rifle that has some amazing perk combinations. Jolting Feedback is the real standout in the second trait column, inflicitng Jolt upon landing 19 consecutive hits on a target. Since Trace Rifles fire at 1,000 RPM, landing that many hits doesn’t take much time at all. Pair this with Rewind Rounds for a strong major-slaying Special weapon. Or if you dislike Jolt, you can run Detonator Beam instead.

If you want a PvP Trace Rifle, Warlord’s Spear has an interesting combo worth considering: Hip-Fire Grip and Fourth Time’s the Charm. Hipfire shots near the head will give you critical damage, which should proc Fourth Time’s the Charm’s ammo refund. It’s not the strongest Special weapon for PvP, but it’s a unique roll seldom seen in this weapon family.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Shoot to Loot, Stats for All, Subsistence
• Column Two: Voltshot, One for All

4

Retraced Path

How to obtain: Xur’s Treasure Trove

The Focus Rifle from Halo: Reach has made its way to Destiny 2, complete with random rolls. It had its perk pool refreshed in Season of the Plunder this year, granting it an origin trait and some more Solar-themed perks to roll from.

This Trace Rifle can pack a serious punch with the right rolls, and it’s fairly easy to use. Subsistence and Golden Tricorn is a standout on this weapon, granting a 50% damage buff if you land a kill with your weapon and subsequent Solar ability. Adds simply melt under the sheer power of this gun, and it can deal solid damage to majors if a Solar burn is active.

For more general add-clearing options, you have Incandescent, One for All, and Frenzy. And for column one options, Subsistence is your main pick for general add clear. Shoot to Loot is also an S-tier pick for general utility.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Subsistence, Shoot to Loot
• Column Two: Golden Tricorn, One for All, Incandescent, Frenzy

3

Ager’s Scepter

How to obtain: Purchased from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower.

Ager’s Scepter

is the first Stasis Trace Rifle in Destiny 2. This weapon serves as an add-clearing machine, emitting a slowing pulse with every kill. This pulse freezes PvE enemies, allowing you to shatter them for immense damage. It has arguably better add-clear than Prometheus Lens

and requires much less setup.

That alone makes Ager’s Scepter

great, but what makes this weapon truly amazing is its Catalyst. Masterworking Ager’s Scepter allows you to consume Super energy to overcharge the weapon, granting an 80% damage boost and causing each hit to slow. You can also pair this weapon with Stasis Aspects and Fragments, allowing this weapon to spawn Stasis Shards and deal much more shatter damage.

For PvP, Ager’s Scepter is somewhat disappointing. Most of its perks require either a kill or Super energy. It’s a mediocre weapon on its own, lacking the bonus damage from Coldheart

or the AoE of Prometheus Lens. If you want to use a Trace Rifle in PvP, you’re better off with Wavesplitter

.

2

Microcosm

How to obtain: Microcosm Exotic quest.

The Traveler’s power has been made manifest with this gun, an Exotic Heavy Trace Rifle that fires a pure beam of Kinetic energy. It hits like an absolute truck and is fairly ammo efficient, acting as a higher DPS variant of a Machine Gun in most situations. Since it deals Kinetic damage, it’s also fantastic for generating Transcendence energy as a Prismatic subclass.

Unlisted in its description, this weapon also annihilates Darkness enemies. Tormentors, Subjugators, and all Dread forces melt under the sheer power of this gun. If you’re farming Dual Destiny or any Dread-themed content, give Microcosm

a shot. It will trivialize those combat encounters.

1

Unsworn

How to obtain: Sundered Doctrine dungeon.

Unsworn is easily the strongest Legendary Trace Rifle in Destiny 2 currently. Its origin trait gives this weapon Explosive Payload for free, dealing 15% more damage to red bars passively. Tougher opponents are Exhausted instead, reducing their damage output. That alone makes this weapon fantastic for Cenotaph Mask

Warlocks and similar builds, and we haven’t even covered perks yet.

This weapon can get Detonator Beam in the second column, arguably the best AoE damage perk for a Trace Rifle. Sustained damage on a target will cause them to explode, similar to Kinetic Tremors but with a shorter activation period. You can pair this with Shoot to Loot to pick up ammo and orbs from afar. And yes, Detonator Beam does proc Shoot to Loot.

If you care more about utility, this weapon can also get Tear in the first column to debuff targets with Sever, reducing enemy damage output in PvE content. Run Killing Tally for some free damage, and you have a strong utility weapon for endgame content. Regardless of your loadout, Unsworn is a strong choice.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Shoot to Loot, Tear
• Column Two: Detonator Beam, Killing Tally