There are a ton of Exotic weapons in Destiny 2, and they can’t all be winners. Whether they’re too niche, a little awkward, or just not as powerful as the other options, some Exotics aren’t up to snuff. Here’s our list of the worst Exotic weapons in Destiny 2. While some of these weapons may have utility in very specific circumstances, for the most part they’re not worth using.
Update History
- March 2023: Removed Grand Overture and Two-Tailed Fox, added Edge of Concurrence and Edge of Intent
10. The Queenbreaker — Worst Destiny 2 Exotic Weapons
Fires a long-range precision Arc bolt that blinds enemies on hit.
The Queenbreaker has languished for years as an underwhelming linear fusion rifle. It got a a buff in Lightfall, giving it some new capabilities. Additionally, it escaped unscathed by the linear fusion rifle nerf. Still, The Queenbreaker remains one of the worst and least-used Exotic weapons in Destiny 2.
9. Worldline Zero
[Heavy Attack] : Use while sprinting with full energy to launch a heavy Blink attack.
Worldline Zero has only ever been good for one thing — doing movement tricks to speedrun or go out of bounds. As Bungie has patched this capability and introduced Eager Edge as a perk on legendary swords, there’s very little reason to ever use Worldline Zero anymore. It certainly wasn’t worth the long and complicated quest that it took to originally obtain it.
8. Borealis
[Alternate Weapon Action] : Changes this weapon’s damage type, cycling between Solar, Arc, and Void. Grants different stats based on your selected damage type. Breaking a combatant’s shield—or the shield of a Guardian using a Super—with the matched damage type refills the magazine from reserves and grants bonus damage rounds. Breaking a combatant’s shield with a matched damage type Ionic Return round refreshes the perk.
There are several Exotic weapons in Destiny 2 whose gimmick is allowing you to switch between different damage types, and Borealis is probably the worst. Hard Light has had its time in the sun as a Crucible killer, and Dead Messenger can be quite effective in PVE. But Borealis just doesn’t do enough to justify its Exotic status. While you could probably find use for it while running certain activities solo, there’s almost always going to be a better option available.
7. Edge of Intent — Worst Destiny 2 Exotic Weapons
When weapon energy is full, consume it before firing to make your next shot deploy a healing turret on impact.
In theory, a glaive that can heal your teammates sounds pretty cool. Unfortunately, there are much more reliable ways to support your teammates as a Warlock, like the Exotic hand cannon Lumina.
6. Trespasser
Reloading after defeating a target causes the next burst to be a longer, more powerful superburst. Final blows with Unrepentant superbursts automatically reload your weapon and provide an Unrepentant superburst.
Trespasser is simply underwhelming. It’s fine for low-level content, but sidearms tend to suffer in endgame PVE. In PVP, its damage falloff is so substantial that it’s hard to get kills at anything but point-blank range, and it’s also hard to chain the superbursts its perk provides. With some tweaks, Trespasser could be quite useful in PVP at least, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen anytime soon.
5. D.A.R.C.I.
Aim at an enemy to view its health and other critical information in the scope. When Personal Assistant is active, this weapon has better target acquisition, deals significantly more precision damage, and jolts the target.
Oh, D.A.R.C.I. Outshone by Whisper of the Worm and even special Exotic sniper rifles, it’s never quite found its niche. It does Jolt enemies now, which is something, but it’s still not enough to justify using it over any other Exotic Heavy weapons in the vast majority of cases. Maybe if it delivered witty little quips to live up to its talking gun concept then it’d be more fun.
4. Edge of Concurrence — Worst Destiny 2 Exotic Weapons
When weapon energy is full, consume it before firing to make your next shot track targets across the ground and unleash chain lightning on impact.
Of the three lackluster Exotic glaives that launched with Witch Queen, Edge of Concurrence is without a doubt the worse. All it does is fire an Arc chaining attack that doesn’t even Jolt. Truly awful.
3. Cryothesia 77k
[Alternate Weapon Action] : Swap firing mode after a final blow to enable a charged shot. Direct hits by a charged shot instantly freeze the target. Indirect hits freeze combatants and slow opposing Guardians.
Do you like Stasis weapons? Do you like freezing enemies? Well, Ager’s Scepter is right there. Cryothesia 77K is… also there? It’s certainly much better than it used to be before its rework and it does have utility for certain builds, but it’s an extremely niche weapon with not much to recommend it, especially considering there are other, better guns that have similar synergy with Stasis subclasses.
2. Cerberus+1
Shoots erratic bullets from all gun barrels at the same time. Aiming this weapon reduces the spread of its projectiles.
Cerberus+1 was among the first Exotic weapons one of us here at Fanbyte ever got, and we desperately tried to make it work before abandoning it in disgust. It’s an auto rifle that has an alt-firing shotgun-lite mode. That sounds kind of cool, but in practice there’s no real situation where Cerberus+1 stands out. Use it if you like the cobbled-together aesthetic, but you’ll be hampering your effectiveness given that there are much, much better Exotic weapons out there.
1. Salvation’s Grip — Worst Destiny 2 Exotic Weapons
[Shoot] : Hold to charge; release to fire. This weapon’s projectiles create Stasis crystals and freeze nearby targets. Charging this weapon increases the freeze radius and amount of Stasis crystals created.
You might dispute this one, arguing that Salvation’s Grip has its uses and is a truly “Exotic” weapon in Destiny 2. To that, we’d say — when’s the last time you actually used this after finishing the Beyond Light quests it’s necessary for? The idea of a freeze ray is fantastic, but the execution here leaves a lot to be desired. This is one case where ice is not nice.
