People like Sidearms – I get it. I still long for my old Destiny 1 Havoc Pigeon, and that weapon wasn’t even good, it was just cool. I understand why so many Guardians like using pistols, which is why I’ve put together a list of the 12 best Sidearms in Destiny 2, as of Lightfall. If you’re looking for some holdout recommendations, you won’t get better than these.
Drang
Element: Solar
Source: No longer obtainable
Best For: PvP
Drang is what really kicked off the Sidearm boom back when they got buffed. Since then, it’s been the best Sidearm in Destiny 2 – bar none. It launched alongside the Calus Mini-Tool in Season of the Haunted and somehow has managed to compete with that SMG in terms of META viability, granted the Mini-Tool is still a better PvE option.
The reason Drang isn’t a wash in PvE is the presence of Incandescent in column four. However, it can’t keep up with SMGs right now, so there’s no reason to use it over something like the aforementioned Mini-Tool. In PvP, though, Drang is still a monster. Moving Target/Rampage, combined with great base stats will have you beaming Guardians, provided you can hit your shots.
Traveler’s Chosen
Element: Kinetic
Source: Monument to Lost Light
Best For: PvE and PvP
Traveler’s Chosen is somewhat like a weapon version of Heart of Inmost Light. Getting kills with the gun gives you stacks of Gathing Light. Each stack you have will increase the Traveler’s Chosen’s reload speed, handling, and target acquisition. You can use an alt-fire mode to consume your Gathering Light stacks to refund ability energy based on how many stacks you have.
You can sort of see why this is possibly the best PvE Sidearm in Destiny 2. It’s essentially Demolitionist on crack, and it refunds all your abilities, not just your grenades. What’s more, it’s a menace in the Crucible if you’re good with Sidearms. The more kills you get, the more Gathering Light you build. The more stacks you build, the stronger your weapon becomes – which can really snowball if you get a nice kill streak going.
Peacebond
Element: Stasis
Source: Iron Banner
Best For: PvE and PvP
Back when Drang was dominating the Crucible, the only Sidearm that could give it a run for its money was Peacebond. This is a Stasis Iron Banner weapon, so you already know it’s going to be good in PvP. However, it also has a niche use in PvE thanks to rolling with Headstone – it was one of the first weapons to ever roll with that perk.
Combine Headstone with Subsistence, and you actually have a great PvE Stasis Sidearm. I don’t know why you would use it over something like Prolonged Engagement, but it’s there if you ever need a Sidearm. In PvP, Rangefinder can be combo’d with either Swashbuckler for some extra damage or Iron Reach. This will push your range through the roof, but you will have to deal with lower stability as a result.
Forerunner
Element: Kinetic
Source: 30th Anniversary Exotic Quest
Best For: PvP
There were a few weeks before Lightfall when Forerunner was genuinely the best PvP weapon in Destiny 2. It’s a special ammo pistol with a scope, and it deals a whole lot of damage. You would be three-tapping enemies across the map, with a Sidearm, and that was obviously fixed. Nowadays, Forerunner doesn’t dominate the Crucible as it used to, but it’s still incredibly powerful in the right user’s hands.
If you’re not a PvP player, don’t think you can’t have a bit of fun with Forerunner. It may not be the best Sidearm for hard PvE content, but it does have an Exotic Catalyst that lets you consume some weapon ammo after a kill to turn your grenade into a super-powered Fragment grenade. This isn’t too dissimilar to Hunter’s Gunpowder Gamble, so give it a try if you like blowing stuff up.
Brigand’s Law
Element: Arc
Source: No longer obtainable
Best For: PvE
Brigand’s Law was the go-to Voltshot weapon for a while. It was one of the first weapons to get that perk back in Season of Plunder, and there really weren’t too many good alternatives. Combined with its low base mag and Feeding Frenzy, Brigand’s Law dominated the PvE META for Arc users until the Ikelos SMG came along the season after.
Despite that, it’s still a great option for any of you soul-crushingly unfortunate enough not to have an Ikelos SMG crafted. It’s got everything you could want from a Voltshot weapon, granted it doesn’t offer much more beyond the perk itself. While the Ikelos SMG is a great PvE and PvP weapon without Voltshot, the same cannot be said for Brigand’s Law. All the same, it’s worth using if you have one.
Trespasser
Element: Arc
Source: Monument to Lost Light
Best For: PvP
Trespasser is a nightmare to play against. When you get a kill with this thing and reload, it’ll cause your next shot to be more powerful. Oh, it’s a burst fire weapon, so it’ll also fire longer too. What’s more, if you get a kill with that burst, you’ll automatically reload and get another one for free. It’s so easy to chain kills with Trespasser, if you’re good with it.
On top of that, its Catalyst gives it Tunnel Vision, adding a boatload of target acquisition on top of those super powerful bursts. There’s no real use for this in PvE, but in PvP – both Crucible and Trials, it’s a pain to deal with. It may not be the single best Sidearm in Destiny 2, but it’s definitely the most annoying.
Mykel’s Reverence
Element: Strand
Source: Root of Nightmares Raid
Best For: PvE
Mykel’s Reverance is a relatively new weapon, being added to the game with Lightfall’s Raid. As of Season of Defiance, it isn’t making much of a splash in PvP on account of The Immortal dominating the META right now. In PvE, though, it’s one of a handful of Strand weapons with a decent Hatchling roll, making it worth pursuing.
In particular, you’re looking for Rewind Rounds and Hatchling. While something like Subsistence would be preferred, Rewind Rounds more than does the job of keeping your weapon uptime high. Throw Hatchling on top of that with a Strand build, and you’ve got one of the better Add-clear primaries for Strand users right now – especially for all you Warlock mains.
Allied Demand
Element: Kinetic
Source: Iron Banner
Best For: PvP
I briefly talked about a Rangefinder/Iron Reach roll for Peacebond. Allied Demand is in the same boat in that god roll carrying it to META relevancy. It does have some worthwhile PvE rolls, but there’s no reason to run this thing over any of the plethora of other S-tier options we have right now. For PvP Sidearm mains, though, it’s worth considering.
Like Peacebond, you can earn Allied Demand from Iron Banner, granted you’re relying in it being in the loot pool that season. If it is, get your hands on that aforementioned roll and just watch the damage numbers you hit. You’ll be taking enemies off-guard with how much range you have, giving you the advantage in gunfights that you would otherwise lose.
Rat King
Element: Kinetic
Source: Monument to Lost Light
Best For: PvE
Whether or not you think using Rat King is trolling depends on if you’re any fun. This Exotic gets a weapon buff when other members of your Fireteam are also using it, and reloading after getting a kill with it grants you an immediate bit of Invisibility. I’m a Hunter main, so Invis-on-demand is nothing new to me. For other classes, though, this can actually be remarkably powerful.
The ability to pop Invisibility is unique to Hunters, beyond a handful of weapons that also induce the effect. Rat King is one of them, so of course I’m going to consider it amongst the best Sidearms Destiny 2 has to offer. That being said, you don’t want to go bringing one into a Grandmaster Nightfall anytime soon. For easier activities, though, it strikes a nice balance between being fun, and being effective.
Devil’s Ruin
Element: Solar
Source: Monument to Lost Light
Best For: PvE
Devil’s Ruin is a weird Exotic. You press and release your shoot button to fire with it. Holding before relating will charge up a high-powered shot. So what? Well, this extra powerful shot has inherent Anti-Champion capabilities in the form of Unstoppable – making it one of the only weapons with inherent Anti-Unstop in the entire game.
That alone would be enough to get Devil’s Ruin a spot on this list, but fully charging one of those shots also refills your weapon’s magazine. This is pretty inefficient in regular PvE activities. For endgame stuff, though, it’s a great splash option for whenever you need either a Solar weapon or a Sidearm and could do with some extra Champion support for your Fireteam. You won’t slay Adds too well, but that’s not what matters.
Final Warning
Element: Strand
Source: Lightfall Exotic quest
Best For: PvE and PvP
You can unlock Final Warning through a hidden Lightfall Exotic quest. To get this quest, you need to purchase all Strand Fragments, Grenades, Aspects, and whatever other abilities you might be missing. Once your Strand subclass is maxed out, you’ll automatically be given the quest to receive Final Warning.
Holding down your trigger with Final Warning will mark multiple targets and load multiple bullets into the weapon. These bullets fire with increased stability when you release your trigger. If you hit one of your market targets with a fully charged burst, it will Unravel them. What’s more, your shots track when fired from the hip, dealing more body damage. While ADSing, your shots have increased crit damage.
Spire of the Watcher brought quite a few new weapons, the majority of which were exciting because of their PvP capabilities. That’s exactly the case with Liminal Vigil, a Stasis Sidearm that rolls without Headstone. In other words, this has nothing to offer PvE players, but everything to offer PvP ones.
In column three, you have Tap the Trigger or Tunnel Vision. In column four, Rangefinder is of course a T1 pick, but I’d argue Desperado is better. Even after the rework, Desperado is still a great perk on the right weapon, and Liminal Vigil is the right weapon. This is a consistent PvP Sidearm, granted it won’t output the kind of damage something like a Drang would.
Conclusion
Those were what I consider to be the 12 best Sidearms in Destiny 2 as of Lightfall. This weapon archetype has had a rocky history, but there are a handful of loyalists out there who refuse to take off their pistols. I respect that, and hopefully, these weapon recommendations assist you in that endeavor.
