Best Competitive Crucible Weapons, Ranked

Summary

• Destiny 2’s competitive playlist thrives due to player desire for challenging ranked experiences and amazing weapon rewards.
• Mercurial Overreach, The Riposte, and Deadlock are solid weapon choices for PvP and PvE in Episode: Heresy.
• Weapons like Redrix’s Estoc and Rose have optimal rolls for PvP and PvE content, providing versatility and effectiveness in combat.

Destiny 2 isn’t the first game many think of when thinking of competitive PvP. Despite that, Destiny‘s competitive crucible playlist has a healthy player base at most times (outside the weekends that house Trials of Osiris). While this is somewhat due to the players wanting a challenging ranked experience, what drives the majority of players to the playlist is the amazing weapon rewards on offer should a player get ranked — and maintain their rank throughout the season.

This list looks at all the currently available weapons from this activity and ranks them in order of their overall viability across various aspects of the game. While some thrive more in their native PvP landscape, others flourish in PvE, and a few are absolute powerhouses across both. Whether looking to learn how to snipe in PvP or wishing for a new weapon to flesh out a specific build, this list has weapons for almost every type of Destiny player.

6

Mercurial Overreach

Arc Adaptive Frame Sniper Rifle

• Best PvE Roll: Discord and Vorpal Weapon
• Best PvP Roll: Snapshot and Opening Shot

The Mercurial Overreach is by and large a solid weapon for a newer player to pick up if they are looking for a powerful option to learn the ins and outs of sniping in Destiny. While there are several other Adaptive Frame snipers in the game that take the top spot in many player’s lists of snipers, Mercurial Overreach has great base stats and the option to roll the coveted combination of Snapshot and Opening Shot, making quick snipes a legitimate option.

Unfortunately, Mercurial Overreach has effectively no great rolls for PvE, leading to it finding itself at the bottom of this list. While it has access to the recently buffed Discord as well as the workhorse perk of Vorpal Weapon, neither of these gives it an edge over any other sniper rifle in PvE.

5

The Riposte

Void Lightweight Frame Auto Rifle

• Best PvE Roll: Repulsor Brace and Destabilizing Rounds
• Best PvP Roll: Zen Moment or Tap The Trigger and Target Lock or Kill Clip

The Riposte is a great alternative to several fan-favorite Void auto rifles. With Gnawing Hunger only available from the Gunsmith or Xur, and Ros Arago IV being a pain to farm, The Riposte is the next best option for Destiny players who don’t want to grind raids for Age-Old Bond or Reckless Oracle. Rolling with Repulsor Brace and Destabilizing Rounds, this weapon is not only fantastic in any Void build, but also made yet more potent by the episodic artifact perks available in Episode Heresy.

For PvP, this weapon rolls with Zen Moment or Tap The Trigger to make its recoil more manageable, with Target Lock making the time to kill more forgiving, or Kill Clip allowing for some powerful kill-chaining potential. While auto rifles aren’t the flavor of this episode’s PvP sandbox, this is still a solid workhorse weapon that’ll serve anyone well.

4

Deadlock

Stasis Precision Frame Shotgun

• Best PvE Roll: Grave Robber or Threat Detector and Trench Barrel or One-Two Punch
• Best PvP Roll: Threat Detector or Slideshot and Opening Shot or Closing Time

Deadlock is one of many precision frame shotguns, not to be confused with the pinpoint slug frame. While this weapon has a precise pellet spread, it does still have a spread, making it easier to use than a slug shotgun, yet not quite as powerful as said slugs. In terms of PvE perks, Deadlock has Grave Robber as a perk to help refresh its ammo economy, or Threat Detector to increase the weapon’s handling, reload, and stability when close to multiple enemies. Paired with Trench Barrel or One-Two Punch, this weapon can fit well into several melee-focused builds.

For PvP, Threat Detector or Slideshot paired with Opening Shot or Closing Time makes for a traditional, yet well-tested combination that’ll serve any guardian well. It may be uninspired, but it does the job.

3

Belisarius-D

Strand Aggressive Burst Frame Pulse Rifle

• Best PvE Roll: Slice or Vorpal Weapon and Hatchling
• Best PvP Roll: Keep Away or Eye Of The Storm and Headseeker

Aggressive Burst pulse rifles have fallen out of popularity slightly, in favor of the more powerful Heavy Burst frame. Despite this, Balisarius-D is still a serviceable weapon throughout the game’s various activities. With both Slice and Hatchling available on this weapon, it makes for a powerful Kinetic slot choice for any Strand build, spreading Sever and Threadlings around the battlefield. This pairs well with the Episode Heresy artifact, which has several perks that buff the power of Strand weapons.

For PvP, Keep Away allows this weapon to duel surprisingly well at extended ranges, while Eye of the Storm allows for the weapon to become more consistent as the player loses health in a gunfight. Either of these paired with Headseeker can make this weapon feel great and have a rather forgiving optimal time-to-kill.

2

Rose

Kinetic Lightweight Frame Hand Cannon

• Best PvE Roll: Rapid Hit and Explosive Payload
• Best PvP Roll: Moving Target or Slideshot and Explosive Payload or Rangefinder

Rose is a legend of a weapon to many veteran Guardians, being a reintroduced weapon from many years ago. This iteration of the weapon struggles a little in PvE, with Rapid Hit and Explosive Payload being its greatest options. While this isn’t necessarily a bad combo for PvE, it falls off quite quickly when taken into higher-end activities.

Where Rose truly shines is PvP, being a consistent mainstay in many Guardian’s load-outs. With Moving Target or Slideshot both making this weapon feel incredibly sticky, and giving it an impressive range, and Rangefinder further boosting the range, Rose is one of the best options for any player looking for a PvP hand cannon. Forgoing Rangefinder for Explosive Payload makes this weapon even better for 1v1 dueling, increasing the weapon’s damage and the flinch given to any enemies.

1

Redrix’s Estoc

Stasis Legacy Pr-55 Frame Pulse Rifle

• Best PvE Roll: Demolitionist or Rimestealer and Headstone or Desperate Measures
• Best PvP Roll: Zen Moment or Lone Wolf and Headseeker or Sword Logic

The final weapon on this list is also the newest: Redrix’s Estoc is the second Legacy Pr-55 frame pulse rifle in the game after the BXR-55 Battler was introduced in the 30th Anniversary Pack. This archetype of pulse rifle is super-accurate when firing from the hip, while also having great range when aiming-down-sights. For PvE, pairing Demolitionist with Desperate Measures can make for an amazing general-use weapon, refueling grenade abilities while boosting its damage with grenade kills. For a Stasis-focused build, however, Rimestealer and Headstone will produce a huge number of Stasis crystals while also providing Frost Armor, feeding into the gameplay loop of many Stasis builds.

For PvP, where this weapon also excels, Zen Moment or Lone Wolf both make this weapon feel incredibly snappy and stable, with Headseeker boosting headshot damage after a body shot. Headseeker can, alternatively, be replaced by Sword Logic for the option to kill chain, ramping up damage with each subsequent kill while the perk is active. Overall, with the right roll, there is very little content Redrix’s Estoc cannot take on with relative ease.