Beyond Light

Destiny 2 – The Best Kinetic Weapons From DLCs And Free-To-Play

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There’s plenty of weapons out there in Destiny 2, but it can be a little overwhelming when you first start out. There’s also a bunch of restrictions on some weapons – For example, someone may tell you a weapon is ‘good’ only to then find it locked behind some DLC. Today I am going to go through some of the best Kinetic weapons in Destiny 2 and run through some exotics, DLC legendaries but also some weapons for free-to-play players.

The question came up in the comments recently about some decent Kinetic weapons to chase, so thanks to Allan Abraham for the discussion. We had a chat about some kinetic weapon suggestions to go after… but Allan came back saying some were locked. Massive thanks to Allan, as that kicked off the idea of a guide for some of the best Kinetic weapons. Some folks have the DLCs and some don’t, so I’ve created a guide here which hopefully caters for both audiences. There are 2 parts to the guide; DLC locked Exotic & Legendary weapons, then Free to Play Exotic & Legendary weapons.

DLC Locked Exotics & Legendary

Hawkmoon

Hawkmoon was introduced on December 8th 2020 into Destiny 2 and it’s an Exotic Kinetic Hand Cannon. Let’s have a quick look at the perks:

  • Paracausal Shot – Final blows and precision hits with Hawkmoon grant stacks of Paracausal Charge. The final round in the magazine deals bonus damage based on the number of stacks. Stowing Hawkmoon on the final round removes this bonus.
  • Transformative – Future drops of this weapon will have random rolls.

To get this one there’s a couple of quests called As The Crow Flies and then Let Loose Thy Talons. Have a chat with Spider to get started. To get random rolls on the Hawkmoon you’ll want to do the Harbinger activity, found on the EDZ.

Thorn

Thorn is an Exotic Kinetic Hand Cannon introduced in Forsaken and remains one of the best Hand Cannons in the game. There’s a couple of nice perks which include:

  • Mark of the Devourer – Rounds pierce targets and deal damage over time. Kills with this weapon leave behind Remnants.
  • Soul Devourer – Absorbing a Remnant strengthens Mark of the Devourer and partially refills the magazine.

To get this one you can pick it up from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower, but I believe you still need to own the Forsaken expansion to access this. Personally, I think it’s worth it as it’s awesome, especially in Beyond Light when paired with Necrotic Grip, some Exotic Warlock Gauntlets. Also, it could be a hint at a future poison subclass…

No Time To Explain

No Time To Explain is one of the best Pulse Rifles in Destiny 2 hands down which is very versatile and useful in both PVP and PVE. It’s a 340 rpm pulse making is good for medium and long-range encounters, and it packs a serious punch! It’s the perks that make this gun though, so let’s check that one out.

  • Rewind Again – Precision shots and shots against combatants slowed or frozen by Stasis will return to the magazine.
  • Time Slip – At 10 stacks of Rewind Again a small portal will open shooting bullets from an alternate timeline version of this weapon. Precision hits extend the duration of the portal.

To get this one you have to preorder Beyond Light’s Deluxe Edition or Standard Edition + Season, check out the Bungie website for more info.

Hailing Confusion

Hailing Confusion is a Legendary Kinetic Pulse Rifle which is an Adaptive Frame meaning it has a well-rounded grip, reliable and sturdy. The curated roll comes with Slideways where sliding partially reloads the magazine and boosts handling and stability. It also comes with Demolitionist, Extended Mag and Polygonal Rifling for an increase in stability. For PVE Surplus and Wellspring would be good, two very good new perks in Beyond Light. For PVP Quickdraw and Zen Moment would be good.

To get this one you’ll need Beyond Light and you can then pick up the Europa weapons.

Friction Fire

Friction Fire is a Legendary Kinetic Submachine Gun and it’s got a Precision Frame meaning this weapon’s recoil pattern is more predictably vertical.

For PVP WellSpring, where kills generate ability energy and Zen Moment where causing damage improves the stability. Killing Wind is also good here where finl blows increase mobility, range and handling for a short duration. Accurized or Steady rounds would be good as well as Polygonal Rifling for the barrel for more increased stability.

For PVE Threat Detector where you get an increase to reload, stability and handling when enemies are near and Vorpal Weapon would be good, where you get increased damage against bosses, vehicles and Guardians with their Super Active.

To get this one you need Season of the Hunt.

Free To Play Exotics & Legendary

Seventh Seraph Carbine

Seventh Seraph Carbine is a Legendary Kinetic Auto Rifle with a Precision Frame meaning this weapon’s recoil pattern is more predictably vertical. For PVE Auto-Loading Holster and Vorpal weapon would be good. For PVP slideshot and elemental capacitor would be good. This one is a random drop from activities. Plus it’s a warmind cell enabled weapon, meaning you can generate warmind cells and use the warmind cell mods.

Dire Promise

Dire Promise is a Legendary Kinetic Hand Cannon which is an Adaptive Frame meaning it has a well-rounded grip, reliable and sturdy. For PVP Opening Shot and Rangefinder would be good and for PVE Overflow and Swashbuckler would be a great roll. You can get this one as a random drop from activities, and it’s one of the best non-exotic hand cannons out there in the game.

The Chaperone

The Chaperone is an exotic slug shotgun with a couple of nice exotic perks including Precision Slug, which fires a single-slug precision round. Also, there’s The Roadborn where precision kills briefly grant bonus handling, range and precision damage with this weapon. This is an exotic you can get from the New Light quest, so run through that and you’ll have the chance to pick up the quest from Shaw Han. It’s a great weapon, especially considering the buff to slug shotguns in Season of Arrivals.

Sturm

Sturm is an Exotic Kinetic Hand Cannon which sits in the Aggressive 120 rate of fire hand cannon family. It has a couple of perks

  • Accomplice – Kills with this weapon fill the magazine of the equipped Energy weapon from reserves.
  • Storm and Stress – Kills with Drang reload this weapon and overflow a bonus damage round into the magazine.

Sturm is pretty good these days as Bungie made some significant changes to Aggressive Frame hand cannons when Beyond Light came out. It’s so good in fact it’s sitting at number 5 in the competitive PVP charts below only Felwinter’s Lie, The Steady Hand (another aggressive hand cannon), Adored and Seventh Seraph CQC Shotgun.

You can pick this one up from the Exotic Kios in the Tower. You’ll need 1 x Exotic Cipher, 100,000 Glimmer, 150 Microphasic Datalattice, 1 x Ascendant Shard. Sounds a lot, but it’s worth it!

Let me know down in the comments your top picks for kinetic weapons in Destiny 2, and also whether you’re free to play or have the DLCS.

That’s it for this guide on the best kinetic weapons in Destiny 2. For more Destiny 2 Beyond Light content check out the full guide and subscribe on YouTube to This Week In Video Games today.