Destiny 2 is full of different weapons with different perks and frames, and some are naturally better than others. To help you figure out what's good and what isn't, we've got a collection of tier lists that'll give you an indication of the best weapons to look out for.
This tier list aims to appeal to both new players and experienced players, and won't be completely statistical. It'll also consider practicality, as well as how a less-experienced player would fare using it in a real-world scenario.
Overview
This is a Legendary Auto Rifle tier list, and so it is mainly focused on the function of primaries in the game. Because of this, a lot of the weapons are rated around D-Tier. This is because, from D and above, everything is usable in most content. There isn't much difference in the viability of primaries, just how much better above the baseline one can be.
The guns in the higher tier will essentially be better for both survivability and clear, while in the mid-tiers, you'll find serviceable ARs. The higher tier ARs make clear faster, or add survivability or utility features that'll help in higher tier content.
So, if you have a gun here that you love and it's in the C or D tier, then don't think too much of it. It's not going to impact your gameplay as much as using a D-tier Heavy Weapon, for example, but using a higher-tier one will make your experience even better. If you're a newer player and have a lower-tier weapon, chances are you'll probably be able to use it pretty well until you get to the point where you can get the options in the higher tiers.
Anything lower than that is just unusable in comparison, though. Those weapons serve no place in the metagame, and are worth just spending time to even get a D-tier option in comparison. There are notes on each weapon explaining why it's in the tier that it's in, and if you disagree with our rankings, then feel free to come and chat about it (civilly) in our Discord Server, or comment down below.
There are also sunset weapons on here to act as a complete archive of every single gun that Bungie has released, but those are unobtainable and generally quite weak in comparison to modern standards.
Archetypes
All weapons in Destiny fall under an Archetype, more colloquially known as a "Frame". This will define the weapon's base characteristics, such as its maximum damage output, ammo reserves, reload time, etc.
Archetypes are very important to understanding why some Legendary weapons are better than others, as it often comes down to the extra damage provided by that weapon's Frame, even if the two weapons are otherwise identical. However, this is less important here, and the best option will be more based on your preferences for fire rate, reload rate, and other per-frame features.
