The best Destiny 2 PvP weapons to use for Trials of Osiris

Destiny 2
Destiny 2 (Image credit: Bungie)

Bungie has announced that the Trials of Osiris are returning in the Season of the Worthy for Destiny 2, and that means players will want to get their hands on the best player-versus-player (PvP) weapons in the game to prepare. Though skill can help you even the odds against opponents with better gear, being well-equipped is often the difference between winning and losing a match. Here are the guns we recommend trying to chase for Trials.

Primary weapons

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Destiny 2

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Your primary weapons are your bread-and-butter, as they're designed to be "workhorse weapons" that are reliable in a variety of scenarios.

  • Spare Rations: This Hand Cannon has been the top Crucible primary for a long time, and with good reason; it has excellent aim assist and range stats, and it can also roll with a slew of fantastic perks. You'll want to look for Rapid Hit or Snapshot Sights in the first main perk column and Kill Clip, Swashbuckler, or Rangefinder in the second one. Barrels like Smallbore are nice for the range increase, and High-Caliber Rounds will help flinch opponents. Overall, it's difficult to get a bad roll on this gun. It can drop randomly from Gambit Prime or The Reckoning.
  • Thorn: Thorn is arguably the best Exotic Hand Cannon in Destiny 2 due to its high range and damage-over-time effect. In Trials, this chip damage will be particularly useful since players can't revive teammates when taking damage. To get Thorn, you'll need to go on a tough, lengthy quest that begins by searching a camp found in the Salt Mines in the EDZ.
  • Luna's Howl/Not Forgotten: These two Hand Cannons are grouped because getting Not Forgotten requires having Luna's Howl. Both are excellent due to their Magnificent Howl perk that boosts damage if you land two crits back-to-back. Luna's has less recoil, but Not Forgotten has more range. You can start the quest to get Luna's (and eventually Not Forgotten) by taking the "Rememberance" pursuit from Lord Shaxx in The Tower. Get ready to grind some Competitive Crucible.
  • Bygones: This Pulse Rifle is the best one in the game when it comes down to consistency, as it feels very smooth to fire and maintains a very competitive time-to-kill (TTK) even if you miss a couple of headshots. It also has a wonderful selection of perks. You'll want an Outlaw/Kill Clip roll, along with barrels that extend the range and High-Caliber Rounds for flinching. The Bygones normally drops from Gambit matches, but for the Season of Dawn you can also farm the weapon with Timelost Bounties.
  • Blast Furnace: Arguably the best Pulse Rifle in terms of raw TTK is the Blast Furnace, which is a weapon that can two-shot people if you nail all your crits but will lose to something like Bygones if you miss. It can be a little trickier to aim than other Pulse Rifles, so for perks I recommend Zen Moment/Kill Clip with a low magnification sight and Steady Rounds. You can farm for Blast Furnace by completing Legendary Pulse Rifle Frames from Ada-1 in The Tower.
  • Hard Light: This exotic Auto Rifle has benefitted greatly from recent buffs made to the archetype in terms of damage output. On top of this, the Hard Light doesn't have any damage falloff to speak of, so it has a much higher effective range than other Auto Rifles. Finally, the weapon's inherent Ricochet Rounds allow you to bounce bullets around corners to possibly get kills on people in cover. You can get it from random Exotic drops or from Xûr if he's selling it.

Special weapons

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Special weapons are designed to offer one-hit kill potential in specific scenarios, such as when enemies are extremely close ⁠— or far away. They don't come with a lot of ammo, though, so use your rounds wisely.

  • Mindbender's Ambition: This Shotgun has been top of the meta since its release due to the fact that, with a Full Choke barrel, it has an incredibly high one-hit kill range. Accurized Rounds can extend the range further too, if you're lucky enough to get both of them in the same roll. For the main perks, you'll want either Slideshot/Quickdraw or Snapshot Sights/Quickdraw. You can grind for this weapon by completing the The Hallowed Lair Nightfall when it's in the weekly rotation.
  • Imperial Decree: The Imperial Decree is essentially a budget Mindbender's Ambition, in that it's a bit less effective since it can't roll with Quickdraw but is also a hell of a lot easier to obtain. Like with Mindbender's, you'll want to try and get Full Choke and Accurized Rounds for the range boost. The perks in the main two columns to chase are Slideshot/Snapshot Sights. You can farm for it easily by completing runs of The Menagerie with a Rune of Wealth, any green rune, and any green rune in your chalice (the green rune is optional, but guarantees the ideal range masterwork).
  • Revoker: This Sniper Rifle is a little slow to draw, but it feels very snappy to shoot and also comes with the special Reversal of Fortune perk that returns ammo to your magazine when you miss a shot, allowing you to snipe aggressively without fear of wasting ammo. You can grab this weapon by picking up the "In Your Sights" pursuit from Lord Shaxx in The Tower. It involves getting a lot of Sniper Rifle kills and reaching Mythic I Glory rank in Crucible.
  • Beloved: This is a fan-favorite Sniper Rifle that's very stable and has very smooth handling. You'll want to look for No Distractions/Quickdraw or Snapshot/Quickdraw for the main perks. Fluted Barrel and Accurized Rounds are both great to look for on the barrel and magazine perks, respectively. You can farm this in The Menagerie by putting a Rune of Jubilation in your chalice along with any red rune and any blue rune (blue rune guarantees the ideal stability masterwork).
  • Erentil FR4: Erentil is a versatile Fusion Rifle that can work well both as a counter to Shotguns as well as a medium-range burst damage weapon, depending on what perks you get. You'll want Firmly Planted/Rangefinder if you plan on hitting people from range, while Snapshot Sights/Backup Plan is ideal for close-quarters combat. You can farm it in The Menagerie by slotting a Rune of Excess into your chalice along with any blue rune and any green rune for the ideal range masterwork.
  • Bastion: Bastion is an up-and-coming Exotic that has quickly become a favorite of many Crucible players for its ability to one-shot Supers, as well as the forgiving nature of its three-burst firing mechanism when compared to traditional Fusion Rifles. You can earn it by taking the "Momento" pursuit from Saint-14 in The Tower. The quest requires about half-an-hour's worth of PvE.

Heavy weapons

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Heavy weapons are devastating and can be used to kill many enemies, but heavy ammo is extremely scarce, meaning it's unlikely you'll ever get any in a match. Nevertheless, having a quality heavy weapon matters.

  • The Wardcliff Coil: This Exotic Rocket Launcher is the top choice for most Crucible players because it has the potential to easily wipe out an entire team, provided you can get the drop on them. It fires a large volley of micro-missiles at targets, and each one is capable of killing a player. You can get it in random Exotic drops, or alternatively it can be bought from Xûr on weekends if he happens to be selling it.
  • Truth: This is another Exotic Rocket Launcher that fires rockets with extremely powerful tracking abilities. On top of that, the rockets have proximity detonations, so even if it doesn't score a direct hit it will detonate mid-air next to its target. To start the quest to get Truth, complete a run of The Menagerie to get an Awoken Script. Then take it to Petra Venj in the Dreaming City to get your next step. Most of the quest involves traveling around the galaxy while under the effects of a Tincture of Queensfoil to find hidden locations.
  • Hammerhead: The Hammerhead Machine Gun is the strongest non-Exotic heavy in the game due to how disgusting its range, stability, and accuracy are. For the main two perks, you'll want to try and get one with Tap the Trigger/Rampage or Tap the Trigger/High-Impact Reserves. All of the possible barrel perks are great, but for the magazine one, High-Caliber Rounds are ideal for flinching players. You can farm Hammerhead by taking and completing Legendary Machine Gun Frames from Ada-1 in The Tower.
  • The Colony: The grenades fired from this Exotic Grenade Launcher can crawl around and follow targets who are in cover, exploding at their feet. For this reason, it's arguably the best Grenade Launcher for Crucible, as it's very difficult for enemies to avoid. You can get one from a random Exotic drop or from Xûr when he sells it.
  • Play of the Game: This is the best non-Exotic Grenade Launcher currently. The rolls don't really matter much on it, but if you really want to chase a god roll, I recommend Auto-Loading Holster/Quickdraw with Quick Launch and High-Explosive Ordnance. You can farm it by turning in Crucible Tokens to Lord Shaxx in The Tower, or by finding it while playing Crucible.
  • Tractor Cannon: This unique "Shotgun" is a devastating close-range tool that can one-hit players. If you find yourself against a player using their Super, this weapon can completely shut it down and make them vulnerable to follow-up damage. You can get it from random Exotic drops or from Xûr.

Your thoughts

What do you think of our list? Are there any other weapons you think will be strong in Trials? Let me know.

Destiny 2 is free on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Shadowkeep, the latest expansion, is available for $35.

Brendan Lowry

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.