Combat bows in Destiny 2 are all about precision and timing. They reward accurate fire with steady damage, and in the right hands can clear a room of enemies or devastate a single hard target. With so many options it can be tough to decide which bow is the best one for you, which is why we’ve put together this list of the 10 best combat bows.
About the Author
With multiple bows who’s kill trackers are in the tens of thousands, it’s safe to say I’m a bow aficionado. It's a favored weapon, and one I rarely like to go into battles without. Crafting this list I took advantage of excellent online resources like Light.gg and Blueberries.gg to see what people are using, and what perks are potentially at play. Truthfully, it’s not a simple question of whether or not a bow is good. More often it’s a matter of what a bow is good for. That involves comparing options to the top builds available, and even seeing what rolls people are bragging about online in places like Reddit.
Disclaimers About the Tier List
This tier list is designed to help you figure out the best combat bow in Destiny 2. There are many different factors to consider when considering a specific weapon including average rolls, god rolls, game mode, weapon type, weapon archetype, and Bungie’s constant balance changes. Because of this, it’s important to understand the context around these weapons in our explanations. As always, tier lists are inherently opinionated as well even if they’re driven by data like popularity and DPS output.
We will endeavor to update the tier list whenever balance changes occur and after new seasons or expansions as our understanding of the metagame solidifies.
Tier List for Combat Bows
- S: These are best-in-class weapons that are the go to options for anyone using the archetype.
- A: These weapons are popular overall, but are edged out for one reason or another by the truly top tier weapons.
- B: These weapons usually have an inherent weakness or downside compared to the higher tiered options usually do to things like perk pool.
- C: These weapons are just average. Nothing special to set them apart.
- F: These weapons are lackluster and mediocre. You’ll rarely see them used.
Tier List Ranks and Explanations
- Ticcu’s Divination
- Point of the Stag
- Wish Ender
- Biting Winds
- Le Monarque
- Tyranny of Heaven
- Lethophobia
- Raconteur
- Vengeful Whisper
- Tripwire Canary
S Tier Combat Bows
Ticcu’s Divination
Ticcu’s Divination is the ultimate one-two punch Exotic bow. Hip fire launches a salvo of arrows that automatically track and stick enemies in your reticle. Aiming down sight fires a more powerful arrow that detonates them, it’s great for clearing large groups and capable of surprising damage. The smaller arrows will also explode on final blows, so feel free to load up all the enemies and let your teammates join in on the fun.
- Excels in: PVE
- Source: Tower Exotic Archive
- Craftable: No
Point of the Stag
Point of the Stag is a perfect conversion of bow and perks. As a precision bow, it is meant to trade fire speed for stopping power. If you get a roll with Archer’s Tempo, however, it will fire significantly faster after a precision hit. Add Swashbuckler, which increases damage after final blows and melee final blows, and this becomes an outrageously lethal weapon.
- Excels in: PVE + PVP
- Source: Iron Banner
- Craftable: No
- PVE God Roll: Archer’s Tempo + Swashbuckler
- PVP God Roll: Archer’s Tempo + Golden Tricorn
Wish-Ender
Wish-Ender has always been good, but recent buff to bows has made it really good. Aiming down sights lets you see enemies behind walls, it has anti-barrier built in, and the arrows will penetrate multiple targets. Add that to the fact that it hits like a truck and has a damage buff against taken, and you’ve got a beat of a bow.
- Excels in: PVE
- Source: Forsaken Exotic quest
- Craftable: No
A Tier Combat Bows
Biting Winds
Biting Winds is a great all around bow. It can drop with Swashbuckler, great for a more or less free damage buff, and Rapid Hit to increase reload speed and stability with each precision hit. If you can hit your precision shots this can rapidly put down tough enemies in both PVP and PVE.
- Excels in: PVE + PVP
- Source: Empire Hunt’s
- Craftable: No
- PVE God Roll: Rapid Hit + Swashbuckler
- PVP God Roll: Rapid Hit + Moving Target
Le Monarque
Le Monarque might be the toughest bow to deal with in PVP. It has the ability to poison targets with arrows fired right after a full draw. Precision hits apply stun, and can spread the poison. This is great in any mode, but it’s devastating in the Crucible when you think you escaped behind with a bit of health, only to drop dead moments later as you succumb to the poison.
- Excels in: PVP
- Source: Tower Exotic Archive
- Craftable: No
Tyranny of Heaven
Tyranny of Heaven is the Solar build dream bow. As a recurve bow it fires rapidly, greater for activating skills that require rapid hits. It’s also fully craftable, meaning you can create the exact roll you need. For most solar kits that means Dragonfly, so targets explode on final blows, and Incandescent, which spreads scorch damage in a wide radius. Those add up to amazing AOE damage on kills.
- Excels in: PVE
- Source: Last Wish Raid
- Craftable: Yes
- PVE God Roll: Dragonfly + Incandescent / Archer’s Tempo + Explosive Head
B Tier Combat Bows
Lethophobia
Debuting during the Season of the Wish, Lethophobia checks a lot of great boxes. It’s craftable, so you can choose your own god roll. It’s perfect for Void builds, and great for every type of player. Just make sure to get one with Impulse Amplifier and Explosive Head for hid speed arrows that detonate on impact, or Repulsor Brace if you are using Void debuffs.
- Excels in: PVE
- Source: Season of the Wish activities
- Craftable: Yes
- PVE God Roll: Impulse Amplifier + Explosive Head / Impulse Amplifier + Repulsor Brace
Vengeful Whisper
The first Strand bow in Destiny 2 is a doozy. A Vengeful Whisper with Explosive Head and Hatchling turns enemies killed with precision hits into explosive piñatas filled with Threadlings that will seek out and damage other foes in the area. It’s exceptional at clearing rooms, and the threadlings can be very effective against mini-bosses.
- Excels in: PVE
- Source: Warlord’s Ruin Dungeon
- Craftable: No
- PVE God Roll: Explosive Head + Hatchling
C Tier Combat Bows
Raconteur
Raconteur is an exceptionally versatile kinetic bow. It’s a craftable stasis weapon with, and Archer’s Tempo allows anyone to deal rapid damage. Most subclasses would do well to consider the bonus damage of Explosive Head, but Stasis build can take added advantage of Headstone, with drops Stasis Crystals where enemies are defeated.
- Excels in: PVE + PVP
- Source: Season of Defiance activities
- Craftable: Yes
- PVE God Roll: Archer’s Tempo + Explosive Head / Archer’s Tempo + Headstone
- PVP God Roll: Surplus + Explosive Head
Tripwire Canary
Tripwire Canary is really strong in the right situation. It’s a craftable Arc bow, making it great for activating abilities that require arc final blows for Arc sunglasses. It has Archers Tempo, which is great in PVE for rate of fire, or Sneak Bow, which hides you from enemy radar in PVP while shooting if you are crouched. Add Frenzy to either one and you’ve got a bow that can output surprising damage in the right situation, and should be a staple in any Arc build.
- Excels in: PVE
- Source: Season of the Seraph activities
- Craftable: Yes
- PVE God Roll: Archer’s Tempo + Explosive Head / Archer’s Tempo + Successful Warmup
Are Bows Good Right Now?
The short answer is yes, bows are in a strong place right now. Their accuracy is near perfect, and they do maximum damage at exceptionally long ranges, but are also extremely usable in close range. They can be the ideal weapon for taking on high level content solo due to the unlimited ammo and steady damage output, and are very difficult to deal with in the Crucible when wielded by a skilled guardian. They generally lack the ability to do great DPS on bosses, making them better suited to clearing mobs of enemies. As long as you have a solid plan B for those situations, however, they are viable in all content.
