The Best Grenade Launchers In Destiny 2, Ranked

Destiny 2 introduced a few new weapon types into the Destiny sandbox. These included Submachine Guns, Linear Fusion Rifles, Trace Rifles, and Grenade Launchers.

Grenade Launchers, in particular, have seen significant changes since the game’s inception. Originally, the weapon category dealt little damage and brought little utility to justify using over Rocket Launchers. Since multiple expansions and updates have gone by, Grenade Launchers are considered by many as a fantastic Special and Heavy weapon archetype. While there is a good variety of Grenade Launchers to choose from, some are much better than others. Here are the ten best Grenade Launchers you should be using in Destiny 2.

Updated February 27, 2025, by Charles Burgar: Area-Denial GLs continue to grow in popularity with each new season. Psychopomp from Episode: Heresy has some of the best perks we’ve seen on the archetype yet. We’ve updated this list to include the latest Special GL, covering everything from perks to performance compared to Lost Signal and similar GLs.

10

The Mountaintop

How to obtain: Onslaught activity and Brave Engrams.

As far as PvE Special weapons go, Mountaintop is usually a great pick. This weapon fires miniature rockets that travel in a straight line, making it easy to hit enemies at longer distances compared to most GLs. More importantly, this weapon deals enough damage to one-tap most majors. It even has Danger Close baked into its intrinsic frame, allowing you to rocket jump with this gun.

While the perk pool on Mountaintop is nothing short of fantastic, there’s only one combination worth chasing: Auto-Loading Holster and Recombination. This gives you a powerful Special weapon that can instantly kill majors and stunned Champions in most activities. Some players might enjoy Lead from Gold and Frenzy to clear adds, but we find Wave-Frame GLs are always a better pick. For slaying tougher foes, Mountaintop will never let you down.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Auto-Loading Holster
• Column Two: Recombination

9

Witherhoard

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

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to long-time Destiny 2 players. Witherhoard

is always a good choice for every activity, every build, and every playstyle imaginable. This Kinetic Grenade Launcher fires low-velocity globs of Taken energy at your foes, expanding into a Taken Blight on impact. Direct impacts will stick the blight onto the target and deal constant damage over time.

It might sound mundane compared to other Exotics and even more recent Legendary weapons, yet the simplicity of Witherhoard is its greatest strength. This Taken Blight can serve as an add-killing machine or a single-target weapon. It is the most ammo-efficient Grenade Launcher in the game, clears adds, boosts your single-target DPS, and it can help counter the more anchor-heavy playstyles in the Crucible.

Its auto-loading Catalyst was indirectly nerfed in Episode: Revenant, but the gun’s utility is so high that it still warrants a spot on the list.

8

Parasite

How to obtain: “Of Queens and Worms” Exotic quest.

Parasite

is a nuclear weapon disguised as a worm-launching GL. It only has one shot in the magazine, yet that single worm is enough to clear an entire wave of enemies. Parasite’s main gimmick is Worm’s Hunger, a perk that causes your shot to deal more damage and cover a wider area with each kill you land. Kill enough targets, and this worm deals substantial damage, capable of one-shotting Champions or seriously damaging bosses.

The real spice of this weapon comes from its synergy with armor mods. Solar loader mods on your boots can give Parasite an auto-loading property, pairing nicely with its Worm’s Hunger perk. Kill a few targets, quickly swap to Parasite, fire a shot to disintegrate every enemy near you, and repeat. It’s a powerhouse of a PvE weapon for killing Champions and weaker Nightfall bosses. As for the Crucible, you’re better off using another weapon.

7

Forbearance

How to obtain: Vow of the Disciple raid; craftable at the Enclave.

This entry refers to the Vow of the Disciple version. The Into the Light version is also quite powerful, but the lack of Ambitious Assassin and Souldrinker makes it slightly weaker than the Vow variant, at least for endgame PvE.

Forbearance is the Wave-Frame counterpart to Salvager’s Salvo, firing waves of Arc energy with each grenade. We know this list already has quite a few Wave-Frame GLs, but Forbearance is truly special. It starts with this weapon’s origin trait: Soul Drinker. Hits with this weapon cause your next reload to heal you slightly. The more targets you hit, the more healing you’ll receive.

This healing turns into a miniature version of Unrelenting thanks to this gun’s main traits. The star of the show here is Chain Reaction, causing slain targets to violently explode. This perk can trigger itself as well, so one well-placed shot can clear an entire wave of enemies all on its own. You can support this perk with Ambitious Assassin to load two, sometimes three, grenades into the weapon at once.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, this gun is craftable. You can further enhance these perks to buff Forbearance’s stats even further. Simply put, Forbearance is the best Legendary GL in Destiny 2 and easily one of the game’s strongest add-clearing tools. Not many Exotic weapons can kill enemies as effortlessly as Forbearance, let alone Legendaries.

Recommended Traits:

• Column One: Ambitious Assassin, Steady Hands
• Column Two: Chain Reaction

6

Liturgy

How to obtain: Episode: Revenant content and tonics.

Double-Fire GLs are ideal for hotswap DPS loadouts in PvE, and Liturgy is no exception. This is the first of its type to roll with Envious Arsenal, which will auto-reload this weapon once you deal damage with your other two weapons. It’s ideal for Bait and Switch DPS rotations that dominate the PvE meta.

While it lacks a solid damage perk like Vorpal Weapon, it does have Chill Clip. You unfortunately can’t outright freeze targets in a single shot, but the instant Slow application is perfect for stunning Champions and applying crowd control. It’s also not bad for proccing auto-loading Fragments like Facet of Command if you can perform your DPS rotation fast enough.

And if you don’t care about DPS, Liturgy doubles as a strong utility weapon as well. Rimestealer allows you to gain Frost Armor stacks by killing enemies afflicted with Chill Clip, giving you a constant DR buff if you can maintain the killing spree.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Arsenal, Rimestealer
• Column Two: Chill Clip

5

Psychopomp

How to obtain: Episode: Heresy content.

Psychopomp is Witherhoard’s Legendary cousin. This weapon works identically to Witherhoard but fires its payload in short bursts, allowing it to cover a wider area or focus on a specific target. In a sense, it’s actually more versatile than Witherhoard.

If you value utility over DPS, give VS Velocity Baton a try. It can get Attrition Orbs, allowing it to spawn Orbs of Power with each burst.

Unlike Lost Signal, the first Area-Denial Frame, Psychopomp features a stronger perk pool for endgame PvE content. Envious Arsenal and Elemental Honing is fantastic for hotswap DPS rotations, offering up to a 35% damage buff if your build uses five damage types.

If you need an add clear weapon, look no further than Ambitious Assassin and a damage perk—we recommend Frenzy or Elemental Honing. This weapon does a little bit of everything and has excellent ammo conservation. Be sure to farm for one while Heresy is still available.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Arsenal, Ambitious Assassin
• Column Two: Elemental Honing, Frenzy

4

Cataphract GL3

How to obtain: Trials of Osiris matches and Engrams.

Cataphract GL3 is one of a select few GLs in Destiny 2 to roll with a powerful sustained DPS perk: Bait and Switch. If you deal damage with all three of your weapons, Cataphract will gain a 30% damage buff for ten seconds, 20% more than Vorpal Weapon with a much longer-lasting buff than Explosive Light or Cascade Point. It’s also much more consistent than Full Court.

If you don’t want to farm Trials, you can also get Wicked Sister from Vanguard Ops. It can get the same roll.

What makes this so notable is that Cataphract can also roll with Envious Assassin in the first trait column. If you equip a Backup Mag, you’ll be able to fit a whopping 18 grenades into the magazine, all of which benefit from Bait and Switch’s 30% damage buff. This gives Cataphract an excellent burst DPS weapon for just about every PvE scenario.

Ironically, Cataphract is less desirable for PvP players that already have a good Adaptive GL. Since it’s part of the Trials of Osiris loot pool, it’s a little harder to get than a Typhon GL5 or similar weapon. Still, this weapon is absolutely fantastic if you need a good Legendary Heavy. Paired with perks like Impulse Amplifier and Chain Reaction, Cataphract GL3 will easily one-tap enemies if you can get a high enough Blast Radius stat (roughly 70).

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Assassin, Field Prep, Auto-Loading Holster
• Column Two: Bait and Switch, Explosive Light, Cascade Point

3

Edge Transit

How to obtain: Onslaught activity and Brave Engrams.

The worst Grenade Launcher in Destiny history has become one of the best. Edge Transit is a 120 RPM Heavy GL that was notorious for its high drop rate back in Forsaken. It has turned with Into the Light, complete with a new paint job and perk pool. As with Cataphract, Edge Transit is the king of burst DPS with Envious Assassin and Bait and Switch.

If you want to mix things up a little, you can also get Cascade Point in the first column. Pair it with Deconstruct for some great burst DPS or Explosive Light to melt Champions in GM Nightfalls. And unlike Cataphract, you don’t need to play Trials of Osiris to get your hands on this gun. Simply farm the Onslaught playlist, and you’ll have a small chance of obtaining a perfect roll.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Assassin, Auto-Loading Holster, Cascade Point
• Column Two: Bait and Switch, Explosive Light

2

Bitter/Sweet

How to obtain: Episode: Revenant content.

Bungie drastically buffed 150 RPM Grenade Launchers in Revenant, and they’re now the best archetype for PvE DPS. Bitter/Sweet takes this to another level with its perk pool, including the fantastic Envious Arsenal trait in the first perk column. Dealing damage with your other two weapons will automatically reload Bitter/Sweet, which is perfect for Bait and Switch DPS rotations.

It just so happens that Bitter/Sweet can also roll with Bait and Switch for a constant 30% damage buff. And if you’re running a precision weapon like a Sniper Rifle, you can opt to use Cascade Point instead. This will trade total damage for substantially higher DPS.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Arsenal
• Column Two: Bait and Switch, Cascade Point

1

VS Chill Inhibitor

How to obtain: Vesper’s Host dungeon.

VS Chill Inhibitor is undeniably the strongest Heavy GL in Destiny 2, at least for PvE DPS. Envious Arsenal with Bait and Switch pairs together exceptionally well here, similar to Bitter/Sweet. Mag dump the GL, damage the target with your other two weapons, and repeat.

What makes this weapon special is its second DPS perk combination: Attrition Orbs and Explosive Light. Sustained damage will spawn an Orb of Power at the target’s location and, more importantly, at your location for your allies. This means that if your entire fireteam is using this roll, you can have near 100% uptime on Explosive Light.

The only downside to this weapon is, paradoxically, its archetype. Rapid-Fire frames are terrible in the Crucible, but if you focus on PvE exclusively, you’ll have an excellent time with this GL.

Recommended Traits

• Column One: Envious Arsenal, Attrition Orbs
• Column Two: Bait and Switch, Explosive Light