There are a lot of Kinetic weapons in Destiny 2. Knowing which ones are worth your time to get is essential in a looter shooter.
Today, we’ve got a list of the best Kinetic weapons currently available in the Destiny 2 sandbox.
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The Best Kinetic weapons in Destiny 2 are Quicksilver Storm, Malfeasance, Witherhoard, and Conditional Finality.
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Best Kinetic Weapons in Destiny 2
The best Kinetic weapons in Destiny 2 are the weapons that give you the most options.
Versatility is a great thing to have. A weapon that can do more than just kill minor enemies will make the game much easier on yourself.
We will be covering weapons for both PvE and PvP activities, so you will be ready to go in with a Loadout that will serve you well.
Quicksilver Storm
This Exotic Autorifle is currently one of the best in the game, as it is easily accessible and provides exceptional damage for a Kinetic weapon.
With the Intrinsic Perk Rocket Tracers, this weapon spawns homing missiles that deal additional damage to your target.
After landing a few missiles, you will chamber a Grenade Launcher shot, with a maximum of three grenade charges.
Switching to your alternative fire mode will allow you to fire off any Grenade Launcher shots you have built up, with each shot dealing a massive amount of damage. This has led to Quicksilver Storm being a Swiss army knife for PvE activities.
The Catalyst will give this weapon the Strand damage type, making it compatible with any Strand builds you have in mind.
This weapon is unlocked by purchasing the Lightfall Expansion. Find out more about how to get the Quicksilver Storm here.
Malfeasance
In terms of Primary weapon damage, Malfeasance is currently the highest on the list. Landing multiple shots with this Exotic Hand Cannon will cause all of your shots to detonate, dealing high damage.
The Taken Predator Perk makes this weapon deal additional damage to Taken enemies.
When paired with the Hunters Exotic Lucky Pants leg armor, this weapon becomes a monster of DPS.
Activating the detonation on all of your shots will cause the Lucky Pants Perk to instantly activate, increasing the damage of every shot substantially.
Add on the fact that Witherhoard shots turn any enemy into Taken, and this becomes a great DPS option for any Raid or Dungeon.
Osteo Striga
This Exotic Submachine Gun has become an ad-clearing favorite for many due to its ease of use and versatility.
The Screaming Swarm Perk causes this weapon to fire sentient, toxic projectiles that seek out enemies, meaning you won’t have to aim when firing this weapon.
Final blows and landing multiple precision shots will trigger the Toxic Overload Perk, spreading poison to nearby enemies.
The AoE poison effect, along with the fact that you literally don’t have to aim this weapon, make it a very nice and efficient ad-clearing weapon that can be used in just about any activity.
Ace of Spades
As long as this Exotic Hand Cannon has existed, it has been one of the best PvP Hand Cannons.
The Intrinsic Perk Memento Mori acts as a sort of Kill Clip, increasing your damage when reloading after a kill. Unlike Kill Clip, this Perk has no time limit.
As long as you don’t stow the weapon, you will have increased damage for your next few shots.
This weapon also comes with the Firefly Perk, causing AoE damage on precision final blows and increasing reload speed. This leads to the snappy, responsive nature PvP players look for in a gun.
While these Perks definitely carry this weapon, its base stats are still one of the best of any Hand Cannon, with plenty of Range and decent Aim Assist.
Find it in the Exptic Kioske in the Tower.
Riptide
There is a single reason why Riptide is as popular as it is, and that reason is Chill Clip.
Riptide was one of the first weapons to make great use of this new Perk, allowing it to freeze Champions with only a few shots.
With freezing being as powerful as it is, this weapon has become a staple for dealing with all types of Champions.
Get one with Auto-Loading Holster, and you will always have a freeze ready in your back pocket. You can obtain this weapon from Crucible Engrams. The easiest way would be to Focus Engrams at Shaxx.
Kept Confidence
While this Strand Hand Cannon may not look like much on paper, it is a sleeper pick in PvP.
Many players thought this weapon would be garbage due to its lackluster Perk pool.
Many still gave it a try anyway, and it passed the most important test in PvP. It feels good to use. Something about the stats or the way the gun handles just makes it feel great in PvP.
While not amazing, you have the option of going Quickdraw and Eye of the Storm for some added Handling and Range.
Unlock the crafting pattern and add an Enhanced Range Masterwork and this thing will really shine.
You can pick up this weapon from the Ritual Table in the H.E.L.M. Getting the crafting pattern should be easy, as it is a Seasonal weapon drop.
The Immortal
The Submachine Gun that has become the bane of the Crucible.
This Stand SMG has a lot going for it. It is an Aggressive Frame weapon, with the best RPM for PvP, decent base stats, and some insane Perk options.
Target Lock is the Perk that sets this weapon over the top, increasing its damage the longer you stay on target.
This leads to one of the faster time-to-kill Kinetic weapons in the game and has dominated the competitive Crucible game modes since its release.
Pair this with the Rangefinder Perk to shred enemies from range as well.
This weapon is only available through Trials of Osiris. Be sure to try and get yourself an Adept version when it is on rotation.
Hung Jury SR4
One of the best Scout Rifles in the game right now, Hung Jury has some great Perks for both PvE activities as well as PvP game modes.
In PvE, you have access to Shoot to Loot or Rapid Hit in the first column, both providing great utility.
In the second column, you have Frenzy, Kinetic Tremors, and Firefly, each being a great Perk in its own right.
This weapon truly shines in PvP. The Box Breathing Perk gives this weapon just enough of a damage boost to kill any player with three headshots instead of four.
You will have No Distractions as a great complimentary Perk as well.
While this weapon is amazing, it is one of the harder weapons to obtain, let alone get a good roll. Hung Jury SR4 is only available as a reward for Nightfall Strikes.
Warden’s Law
Malfeasance’s little Legendary brother.
Warden’s Law was recently reintroduced to Destiny 2 after Bungie finally reworked the weapon and made it actually work.
Now, it is one of the only Legendary Hand Cannons that fires in a three-burst round, similar to Crimson.
This three-burst shot is significant for a number of reasons.
The main reason is that every bullet in the three-burst fire counts towards the damage activation of Lucky Pants, meaning you will begin dealing increased damage with every shot after only a couple of trigger pulls.
The god-roll takes advantage of Fourth Time’s the Charm to continually return bullets to the magazine along with Vorpal Weapon to increase damage to Champions and Bosses by 20%.
These Perks, combined with Lucky Pants on a Hunter make for the highest solo Primary weapon damage in the game right now, second in total damage only to Malfeasance with Witherhoard.
The Adept variant will also have access to the Adept Big Ones Spec Mod, further increasing your total damage with this gun.
This weapon is also only obtainable from Nightfall Strikes. It is definitely worth grinding for if you happen to see it on rotation.
Conditional Finality
One of the few Exotic Shotgungs that is both good in PvP and great in PvE.
This double-barrel Shotgun is very unique, with the Intrinsic Perk Split Decision causing the first shot of the magazine to always deal Stasis damage while the second shot always deals Solar damage.
It also comes with the Perk Paracausal Pellets, which causes enemies to either freeze or ignite when landing almost every pellet of your shot.
This makes for the perfect Shotgun to deal with Champions, as you can easily freeze them or even ignite them to stun.
The freeze and ignite aspect of this weapon plays perfectly into Stasis and Solar subclass builds, activating any Fragments or Aspects that take advantage of freezing or igniting enemies.
This is especially potent in PvP, where killing a frozen enemy can chain-freeze other enemies nearby.
All in all, this is one of the better Exotic Shotguns and has become the go-to for many PvP players. You can only get this Exotic from the Root of Nightmares Raid. Good luck.
Witherhoard
One of the most reliable ad-clear and DPS options in the game.
Witherhoard is a very unique Exotic Grenade Launcher with the Intrinsic Perk Primeval’s Torment.
This Perk causes the projectiles fired by this weapon to blight areas or enemies shot, leaving behind a puddle that deals damage over time to any enemies in it.
The Break the Bank Perk causes enemies hit directly with this weapon to take increased damage over time and spawn a blight when they die, making this a great weapon for general add clear, as a single shot will not only kill an enemy but also leave a blight pool to continually damage any enemies nearby.
While this weapon is good for clearing ads, it is even better at dealing damage to Champions and Bosses.
A single shot from this Grenade Launcher will damage an enemy for a little over seven seconds, giving you time to swap to your other weapons and get off a good damage rotation before re-applying the DoT shot.
For grounded Bosses, this is especially good as you can hit them directly with one shot for damage over time and shoot another shot on the ground to double-dip your DPS.
The Catalyst for this weapon gives increased Handling for faster weapon stowing along with Auto-Loading Holster, making it an even better choice for damage rotations as you will always have a shot ready when you need it.
You can get this Exotic from the Exotic Kioske in the Tower. It is definitely a must-have weapon that is well worth the price.
These are some of the best Kinetic weapons in Destiny 2.
What do you think of this list? Are there any weapons you think deserve a spot? Let me know in the comments!
