Raids and dungeons are the pinnacle of Destiny 2 content. Whether you’re facing The Witness in Salvation’s Edge or taking on the horrors of Rhulk’s ship in Sundered Doctrine, the encounters and challenges you’ll face in Destiny’s endgame offerings are like no other.
But for these challenges, you’ll need to make sure that you have the right gear to be able to take on all of the threats you might encounter. After all, raids and dungeons are filled with powerful threats and big health bars that your white Khvostov won’t do much good against, so making sure you have everything you need for your first step into the endgame is vital.
It can all seem so overwhelming, and can sometimes even turn new players completely away from wanting to even try out the vast endgame content that Destiny has to offer. But it’s nowhere near as complicated as it seems. That’s why in this article, we’re going to go over everything you need to be able to start tackling Raids and Dungeons in Destiny in 2025.
Overview
Raids and Dungeons are incredibly complex and challenging pieces of content, so making sure that the gear you’re bringing in is potent enough to take on the hardest foes in the game will ensure that you don’t end up struggling through encounters and fights. But, it can be incredibly easy to fall into worry because you don’t have the best gear in the whole game before you go in.
But, firstly, base Raids and Dungeons aren’t designed for the top-end, highest quality gear you can find. These aren’t Master or Contest activities, so even decent world gear and good fundamentals will be enough to guide you to triumph through most encounters. So, instead, we will mainly focus on the fundamental types of weapons you’ll need to fit specific roles. We’ll go over some of the best options you can get, as well as some options that are easy to obtain, but otherwise, odds are that you don’t need to get your hands on a god-roll S-tier hand cannon, if you have a C-tier hand cannon that’s doing you fine.
Secondly, be aware that a lot of the best guns in the game are within these activities, and so you’ll naturally be able to pick up more gear as time goes on and improve your general loadout. We’ll go over the best options for each weapon type in tier lists and future articles, but generally, you can expect that you’ll probably come across the best weapons you can get, so don’t worry if you don’t have top-tier gear yet — you’ll get there!
And finally, as you play through content, there will be certain guns that you’ll need for certain encounters and mechanics. But, we’ll go over those in future raid and dungeon guides, to go into more detail about why you need those kinds of weapons as well as the best ones you can obtain. Instead, this will focus more on general things that you can take into most raids and dungeons, which will make sure you do end up having a good experience.
Buildcrafting and Preparation
Before we go into actual gear, it’s important to understand how your gear works with your build and make sure you have the right weapons to make your build shine. For example, having an Arc primary weapon for your Void build won’t work, and so making sure that whichever weapons you choose fit the build you decide to play is so important
With this, though, you don’t always need to have a specific synergistic build in mind. Especially when using builds that are, for example, centred around Prismatic or don’t really have an aim past ‘Well of Radiance’, your build can just be full of good abilities and items, and weapons that generally perform well without them having to work together in any particular fashion. So, making sure that you’re aware of your build and what it requires is vital.
Generally, in Raids and Dungeons, there are two kinds of encounters you’ll come up against — DPS and Non-DPS encounters.
- In DPS encounters, the end goal of the encounter is to defeat a boss of some kind, using damage from your weapons and abilities to take out their health bar to succeed. These encounters will also usually have some kind of puzzle or activity to complete while also staying alive in the chaos of ‘ad clear’ (having to kill ‘ads’, or additional monsters), to get to the damage phase in the first place.
- Non-DPS encounters, however, don’t have a boss that you need to DPS. Instead, you’ll usually have a lot more ads to clear out as you go through the encounter. Generally speaking, these encounters are a lot more common and can be easier, but there are also some challenging ones that you need to truly lock in to clear. Some of these encounters may also have a central mechanic or puzzle that takes focus away from combat as a whole, forcing you to split attention between a puzzle and making sure you stay alive.
It’s important to make sure that you have builds ready for both of these kinds of encounters, as bringing your full DPS strategy into a room of small ads is usually overkill — and conversely, not bringing enough damage can turn your damage phase into sometimes even a wipe. So, making sure you have builds for both of these will make sure that no matter the activity, you have gear and abilities that are relevant.
Also, making sure that your build has a way to ensure survivability is incredibly important. Especially in Raids, where you only have one revive token each, being unable to stay alive can cost your team massively, and so having an idea in mind of some kind of survivability strategy can do massive amounts to help you keep alive and keep fighting, even if it’s just having Heal Clip on your primary. Remember — ‘Dead DPS is no DPS’.
Exotic Armor
Generally, the Exotic Armor you decide to bring in with your build is going to define how your build plays out as a whole. There are a lot of different options, and making sure that your build works for you is more important than going for the objectively best option in your class.
As talked about previously, making sure that you have options for both DPS encounters and for non-DPS encounters will make sure that you’re prepared, no matter what. But, this doesn’t necessarily mean that making sure that you have solely DPS-focused exotic armor, for example, is the key. After all, getting to damage is a climb, and there’s no point having a build that’s 100% focused on the DPS phase if you don’t even make it there.
For example, lots of Solar Warlocks tend to run Speaker’s Sight to be able to stay alive throughout an encounter, even though it doesn’t directly benefit your damage. And, while a lot of those players will tend to swap to other exotics for damage, you won’t need to worry about that whatsoever at this point, as it’s a higher skill level strategy that isn’t required for any normal encounter. Most gun-based damage options tend to just do enough damage nowadays to be able to clear base-tier content efficiently, and so you can just run your survivability armor if you feel like that’s going to help you get to damage.
Let’s take a look at some of the best exotic armour you can use in each class for both DPS and non-DPS!
Hunter
Celestial Nighthawk
Celestial Nighthawk is one of the best DPS-based Exotic Armor pieces available in the game. Boosting the damage of a Golden Gun shot’s damage is no laughing matter, and combining Nighthawk with Golden Gun: Marksman will turn your super into a massive shot of damage that can end up practically doubling the amount of the original ability’s output.
On top of this, pairing Nighthawk with the Still Hunt sniper from The Final Shape will also buff those Golden Gun shots, which makes for immense amounts of DPS at a relatively low cost, to the point where this loadout was used for the first ever Solo Witness in Episode: Echoes.
Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk
If you’re a Void Hunter, Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk is a great option for survivability. Granting your weapons Volatile Rounds means that you can easily use the Stylish Executioner aspect to be able to give yourself a lengthy period of invisibility, essentially allowing you to keep out of your enemies’ eyes for long periods.
If you do end up using Gyrfalcon’s, make sure to pair it up with a Void primary to be able to make sure that you can use it, as it only gives Void weapons Volatile Rounds.
Relativism
The exotic class items from The Final Shape are excellent for all three of the classes, giving you a host of combinations of abilities from other Exotic Armor. It may take a while to unlock these and find the right roll, but getting the right roll can truly put a lot of power into your hands for a relatively low cost.
If you’re looking for pure survivability, then you can go for Spirit of Renewal/Spirit of the Cyrtarachne to be able to grant yourself Frost Armor and Woven Mail for throwing a singular grenade. Or, if you’re looking for a damage-based roll, Spirit of the Star-Eater gives you access to the power of Star-Eater’s Scales for immense Super damage while also allowing you to use other perks like Spirit of the Dragon alongside.
Titan
Cuirass of the Falling Star
Cuirass of the Falling Star is a great option for Arc Titans that want to take advantage of the super Thundercrash, as it boosts Thundercrash damage by 55% simply by wearing it. This turns it into one of the best DPS options in the game, after receiving quite a few buffs over the past year.
And, on top of this, Cuirass also rewards you for getting melee kills by refunding around 2.5% of your Super with each final blow. So, if you like Arc Titan, slam on Cuirass and start crashing into bosses!
Hazardous Propulsion
If you’re a rocket lover, Hazardous Propulsion is a great Exotic that gives you a massive amount of power both in DPS and during ad-clear. Essentially, it rewards you for weapon hits and final blows, by sometimes loading a rocket into your armour. Then, by activating your class ability, it fires off those rockets to a nearby target.
All of that is already cool, but firing off those rockets also gives you a boost to all of your rocket damage output, which means that it’s great to pair with your DPS rocket. However, it also works really well with not only the new Rocket Sidearms, but also with weapons that fire rockets like Grand Overture — a common and popular DPS strategy for a lot of Titans, especially with the current popularity of Bolt Charge-centric DPS strategies.
Synthoceps
By far the most infamous Exotic in the game, Synthoceps needs no introduction. It boosts melee damage when you’re surrounded, and gives the same boost to your Super aswell. Which is already incredibly nice, especially in encounters with a lot of ads around DPS.
But, pairing Synthoceps with the Consecration and Knockout aspects on Prismatic will allow you to wipe out whole screens of enemies with ease, and is still a very popular choice for even the highest tier of endgame content. If you’re a Titan and you’re not already using this, do so now — it’s probably one of the best strategies in the game at this point.
Warlock
Getaway Artist
Getaway Artist is a potent piece of Exotic arms that let you take advantage of your grenade by bringing a little turret buddy along with you. This does passive damage and ad-clear, all for the small price of consuming your grenade energy.
But, Getaway Artist is even better when used on Prismatic, where you can take advantage of Bleak Watcher and Feed the Void, giving you two turrets (one Stasis and one Arc) as well as giving you Devour, letting you heal up for any kills those turrets get. This was way stronger at the release of The Final Shape and has since been nerfed, but is still a really good option nonetheless.
Sanguine Alchemy/Speaker’s Sight
These two options for armour go together, as both of them are used in the main Solar Warlock build. Speaker’s Sight is a great option for survivability, as it turns your healing grenade into a healing turret that will make sure you and your teammates can stay alive throughout an encounter.
Sanguine Alchemy is a great option solely for DPS, as it will boost your damage output immensely during your Well of Radiance if using a Solar weapon. A lot of players will switch to this Exotic during damage, but this is a higher-level strategy that you don’t really need to worry about unless you want to start minmaxing damage. But if you don’t have or don’t want to run Speaker’s Sight, Sanguine Alchemy will improve your damage massively.
Solipsism
Solipsism is the Warlock version of the Exotic class item, and is filled with a host of different rolls that you can take advantage of and have fun with. Spirit of Apotheosis and Spirit of the Inmost Light are both key perks here, as they allow you to use your abilities for immense benefit — something that Warlocks love to do.
However, Solipsism has a few non-Warlock perks that completely change the game. Spirit of Synthoceps lets you take advantage of the melee side of Synthoceps, giving you immense melee damage that can be used with Lightning Surge to wipe whole rooms, and Spirit of Star Eaters boosts damage supers like Nova Bomb: Cataclysm to their highest limit.
Weapons
The bread and butter of the game, weapons, are also vital to your success. Choosing the right weapons will give you the best chance of getting through an encounter, and bringing the wrong ones could lead to a headache or even a wipe if your decision is wrong enough.
But once you understand how to pick weapons for encounters, you’ll easily be able to make the right decisions in no time!
Like with everything else, weapon choices in Destiny 2 generally tend to fall into the same two categories of DPS and non-DPS. Higher damage weapons like Rocket Launchers and Linear Fusion Rifles will be better for DPS all around, while firing your Eyasluna at Oryx probably won’t do much in the form of damage.
The goal here is to make sure that you have one decent roll of each type of weapon in each element that you can have it, to give yourself maximum flexibility at any point. But, that’s easier said than done, so just making sure that you have an idea of what you’ll need when putting a build together will be more than enough for success.
Exotic Weapons
Exotic weapons are immensely powerful and unique, and utilising the right one can define your entire build. But, there are a lot of options, some of which may seem great on paper but end up terrible, and some of which go completely under the radar for most.
Here are some of the essential exotic weapons to get your hands on that’ll be a help throughout your endgame journey!
Tractor Cannon/Divinity
Tractor Cannon and Divinity are both great debuff tools that are great to help your team reach their damage maximums. While Divinity requires running a Raid to obtain, it should be an early priority to make other raids far easier to complete, and Tractor Cannon is a great debuff option if the encounter allows for it and is obtainable right at the start of the game.
Sunshot
A potent Solar primary, Sunshot is a great option if you’re looking for an all-rounder ad clear option that can generally just get the job done. It’s easy to get, as you can claim one from the New Player kits that Ikora gives, and it slots well into any Solar build, giving you a gun that can just do lots.
Choir of One
Available in the Encore exotic mission from Episode: Echoes, Choir of One is a very flexible and potent gun that can do pretty much anything you need it to. From killing minor ads to major ads, and even offering some good DPS capabilities, Choir of One is one of the best Exotic weapons in the game and is worth getting your hands on.
Gjallarhorn
Providing massive amounts of damage amp to your team, Gjallarhorn is an absolute classic from the days of the original Destiny game, and a must-have for any player. It gives your teammates the Pack Hunter buff, turning all of their rockets into more rockets and ultimately increasing team damage tenfold.
The Queenbreaker
The Queenbreaker is currently one of the most solid damage options in the game, and the addition of the Particle Reconstruction seasonal perk only helps make it even stronger. By obtaining its newly added Catalyst, you give Queenbreaker the perk Rewind Rounds, letting you continuously fire it without having to reload.
Legendary Weapons
While Exotic weapons are the flashier weapons for sure, Legendary weapons are also very important, as they make up the majority of your weapon selection.
While the importance of having very specific weapon rolls is overstated, making sure that you know the role of each weapon type and what rolls to opt for will give you a good idea of what you should leave in your vault, and what you should take with you into Raids and Dungeons.
Primary Weapons
Primary weapons are the weapons that you’ll be using for most of the time, but realistically, there’s not much difference between them other than using the ones that you like the most and are most comfortable with.
Perks are everything here, as picking perks like Heal Clip will give you a lot of survivability, whereas AoE perks like Incandescent, Voltshot, and Destabilizing Rounds will let you slay whole hordes of ads with minimal effort. But otherwise, just pick a gun that you like, and it should be enough.
However, there is one standout here — Support Frame Assault Rifles. No Hesitation and Adamantite are easy to get, but provide a lot of support power in allowing you to heal yourself and your team by using the perks Physic and Reciprocity, respectively. If you’re looking to get a primary that lets you support the whole team, you can get one of these either from The Final Shape or the current episode.
Special Weapons
Special weapons can do a great job of balancing utility and power, with some of the most flexible options in the game. Making sure that you have a good and reliable special option to be able to utilise in any given scenario can be incredibly helpful, even more so than your primary.
Breech-Loaded Grenade Launchers
Breech-Loaded Grenade Launchers (BGLs) are a diverse set of weapons that have a lot of utility and ad clear potential. The two best forms of BGLs for endgame content are Area Denial Frame and Wave Frame launchers, both of which are good for dealing with ads, with Area Denial being one of the most popular specials in the game currently.
For a great area denial launcher that’s easy to get, Lost Signal is available in Episode: Echoes and provides a great gun that can roll Auto-Loading Holster and One for All, or Vorpal Weapon, depending on if you want better ad clear or DPS. Similarly, Martyr’s Retribution is a great classic Wave Frame launcher, with a reworked version available from Failsafe that can roll Heal Clip and Incandescent.
If you want to step into the territory of movement strategies and want a potent BGL for damage, The Mountaintop is a great option with its TF2-esque rocket jump, and is obtainable from Onslaught.
Fusion Rifles
Fusion Rifles provide a great balance between damage and utility, with great major killing ability while also providing an alternative DPS option if you run out of heavy ammo. Bringing one of these with you is a must-have, simply due to how easily they can become relevant in any encounter.
The best option for a fusion is Riptide, which you can obtain from Shaxx as a reward using Crucible engrams. It, too, can roll with Chill Clip, giving you a great way to kill majors while having a damage backup that isn’t awful.
Glaives
While traditionally laughed off as a joke, Glaives have become incredibly popular with recent buffs. Their shields provide protection against practically anything, and their melee potential gives you primary-level ad clear with the ability to shoot a high-damage shot versus majors.
Rake Angle is a great glaive which can be obtained from Nightfalls on its farm week, that too can roll Chill Clip for disruption potential. The current seasonal glaive, Refusal of the Call, is also a great option here.
Rocket Sidearms
Rocket Sidearms are a relatively new addition to the Destiny sandbox and are a must-have.
They’re great for either replacing your primary for a ‘double special’ loadout, or as a flexible special ammo weapon that can do a lot for your loadout.
Generally speaking, all of these are great. But the standouts here are Tinasha’s Mastery and Aberrant Action, both of which provide immense utility through their available perks.
Tinasha’s Mastery is a Stasis rocket sidearm that comes from Iron Banner, and can roll Chill Clip, which is a great utility perk that can not only stun champions but also generally freeze majors. Plus, with the right perks, it has the best ammo economy of any of the legendary rocket sidearms. It’s worth getting your hands on, even if the grind is pretty long.
On the other hand, Aberrant Action is a Solar sidearm that comes from Episode Echoes, and can roll Heal Clip and Incandescent for two powerful perks that come with added survivability and ad-clear opportunities, with a decent enough ammo economy.
Shotguns
Shotguns are very reliable workhorse guns that can kill majors at close range with relative ease, while also being useful in short-range DPS situations as well. If you need to mow down a major with speed, a shotgun is going to be ideal for it.
For a great shotgun, you can get Perfect Paradox from Episode: Echoes with a range of great rolls, including fan-favourite One Two Punch for melee synergies.
Snipers
Snipers are very similar to Fusion Rifles, but with lots more damage potential. A good sniper provides a better secondary DPS option, but with less flexibility than a fusion generally has. These are not essential by any means, though.
Succession is a sniper that is both easily obtainable from Onslaught, but can do a lot of damage as a secondary DPS weapon.
Trace Rifles
Trace Rifles are great utility weapons that provide a great ammo economy for a double special setup while also letting you take advantage of perks like Shoot to Loot. While not essential, they can prove to be handy.
Chronophage from Episode: Echoes is a great option, as it can roll both Shoot to Loot and Destabilising Rounds, making it a great ad clear option if you do want to opt for two Special weapons.
Heavy Weapons
Often the cornerstone of DPS strategies, Heavy weapons generally pack a punch and so often come with damage perks to make the most of their damage output. Generally speaking, the best perk on most Heavy weapons is Bait and Switch, and so we’re going to be looking for this plus a reload perk to be able to keep damage sustain high.
Having access to a few different types of Heavy weapons, both Exotic and Legendary, is incredibly important for meeting DPS checks and killing bosses.
Heavy Grenade Launchers
Heavy Grenade Launchers (HGLs) were a top damage strategy for quite some time until recently. With recent nerfs, they don’t sit atop the throne, but having one in your Vault gives you a handy and easy-to-use DPS option when applicable.
There are a couple of HGLs that are easy to get, namely Bitter//Sweet from Episode Revenant or Edge Transit from Onslaught. Both of these weapons can roll Bait and Switch, and Bitter//Sweet can roll Envious Arsenal, while Edge Transit can roll Envious Assassin.
Machine Guns
For non-DPS encounters, a Machine Gun (LMGs) is a must-have to be able to quickly and efficiently kill ads. After all, a DPS heavy isn’t great if you have no DPS encounter, and LMGs provide a lot of ammo to plow into waves with.
While specific guns and rolls aren't too important for LMGs, Hammerhead is a great option from Onslaught’s B.R.A.V.E. Arsenal, and can roll Destabilising Rounds for a massive amount of AoE output. From The Final Shape, Pro Memoria is a great weapon that can be crafted and rolls with Reconstruction and Dragonfly for great ad clear potential.
Linear Fusion Rifles
Linear Fusion Rifles (LFRs) are great precision damage options that can do a lot to targets that have small hitboxes that need to be consistently fired at. While not essential, especially due to how good The Queenbreaker is, having one is still nice.
Scintillation is available on the Nightfall rotation, and can roll Rewind Rounds and Bait and Switch for a really high damage output.
Rocket Launchers
The best legendary Heavy DPS option right now, Rocket Launchers are very strong and can do a lot of damage, especially when paired with Gjallarhorn. Especially when paired with a reload and damage perk, if a rocket is usable, it’s probably one of the best options for that encounter.
The best rocket available, Hezen Vengeance, is in the raid Vault of Glass, and so I recommend running it early on to get your hands on the best DPS legendary in the game. But, until then, you can run Vanguard strikes to farm for Cynosure, which can also roll Envious Arsenal and Elemental Honing for a high damage output.
Another good option is Crux Termination IV, which can roll Reconstruction and Explosive Light — which, while not as good, is perfectly serviceable for what is a simple weapon to acquire, being both a world drop and available for focusing at Banshee-44.
Swords
Swords are essential for some encounters, and so having one for those encounters is important. So, getting a good one should be at the top of your checklist, for sure.
The best option here that isn't in a Raid or Dungeon is Geodetic HSm (or Double Edged Answer, which is an ever-so-slightly worse version), which is a world drop that can be bought at Banshee-44. You’ll be looking for Relentless Strikes and Whirlwind Blade, which is the standard Sword DPS combo.
Weapons Checklist
Here’s all of this information in an easy checklist for quick reference. You can use this to keep track of what you need and what you’ve got. But, even if you don’t have all of these, don’t worry — work towards them as a goal, and you’ll be fully raid-ready in no time!
Exotic Weapons
- Tractor Cannon/Divinity ☐
- Sunshot ☐
- Choir of One ☐
- Gjallahorn ☐
- The Queenbreaker ☐
Legendary Weapons
- Ad Clear Primary ☐
- Rocket Sidearm ☐
- BGL ☐
- Fusion Rifle ☐
- LMG ☐
- Rocket Launcher ☐
- Sword ☐
In any case, as long as you have a DPS and a non-DPS plan, other than encounter-specific strategies, you should be prepared to give any Raid or Dungeon a shot.
Closing Time
Raids and Dungeons are some of the most fun and challenging content in Destiny, but getting the right gear to be able to try them out might feel like a challenge. But this guide should’ve given you everything you need to truly be able to start taking on endgame content, and a better understanding of why you should look towards certain weapons.
And, this article is perfect if you want to get involved with the Rite of the Nine event beginning on May 6th, where you’ll be able to battle through revamps of the fan-favourites Prophecy, Spire of the Watcher, and Ghosts of the Deep.
Ultimately, the endgame content of Destiny is a wonder, and hopefully, this helps some of you take the first step towards feeling confident enough to step foot into the world of raiding and dungeoneering.
