Best Arc weapons to get for Arc 3.0 Builds in Destiny 2

Arc 3.0 is scheduled to land in less than three weeks, which means it’s time to start thinking about builds for the final light subclass moving into the 3.0 system. Today I am going to pick out ten great Arc weapons, run through why they are good, plus how to get them, so you are ready for Season 18 and all the Arc 3.0 build crafting fun we have ahead of us.

I’m going to pick on some legendary and exotic weapons from Destiny 2. If you think I have missed any, let me know in the comments. Without further delay, let’s dive into the weapons.

Insidious (Pulse Rifle)

Insidious is a Legendary Energy Pulse Rifle that is Aggressive Burst, meaning it’s a hard-hitting four-burst fire. Insidious is fairly unique among Pulse Rifles given it’s aggressive frame with a four-round burst rather than three.

For PVE Arrowhead Brake, Accurized Rounds, Rapid Hit and Rampage would be good. Rapid Hit – Rapid hit is where rapid precision hits temporarily increase stability and reload speed. Rampage – Kills with this weapon temporarily grant increased damage. Stacks 3x.

You can get this one from the Vow of the Disciple Raid on Savathun’s Throne World.

Ikelos SMG (Submachine Gun)

This is a legendary energy submachine gun that deals arc damage. It’s an aggressive frame SMG, which means high damage and high recoil. For PVE I would go for something like Disruption Break and Grave Robber as per the curated roll. Vorpal plus Threat Detector would also be good. For PVP Tap The Trigger and Dynamic Sway Reduction would be good. This is a great SMG, and it spawns Warmind Cells, so it’s good for builds.

To get this one these days you can get it as a random drop from Dares of Eternity when it’s on rotation. The loot pool for dares rotates each week, and a quick google search will reveal the weapons for that week.

Cloud Strike (Sniper)

Cloudstrike is an Exotic Energy Sniper Rifle

• Mortal Polarity – Precision final blows generate a lightning bolt at the target’s location.
• Stormbringer – Rapid precision hits create a lightning storm at the point of impact.

Cloudstrike is a random drop from the Weekly Empire Hunts activity on Europa. You can easily speedrun the Weekly Empire Hunts. Getting a drop of Cloudstrike is a random drop, and to get mine I had to run about 15 Empire Hunts, so do be prepared for a bit of a grind for this one. You’ll also need access to the Beyond Light DLC for this Sniper. Also, check out CoolGuy on YouTube and Twitter, he has some great plays with CloudStrike.

Half-Truths (Sword)

Half-Truths is a Legendary Power Sword with an Adaptive Frame meaning you can launch a heavy uppercut attack. Heavy attacks are stronger with full energy.

This sword is based on the Halo Energy Sword, although it does appear to have been cut in half, which is indicated through the name Half-Truths. We do have ‘The Other Half’, which is a void version of this sword. Many in the community have been speculating that we’ll be able to put the two halves together, to create the original energy sword. However, no one has any evidence for this at the moment, and it’s likely just something we want to do, rather than something that will actually happen.

For PVE Hungry Edge, Balanced Guard, Relentless Strikes, and Eager Edge would be a good roll. Hungry Edge gives you increased sword ammo and Balanced Guard has overall balance defences. Relentless Strikes will grant you sword ammo after three light attacks and the Whirlwind blade increases the sword’s damage for a short duration. Eager Edge is where you gain increased sword lunge distance immediately after switching to the weapon, which makes it very much like the Halo energy sword.

You can get this from Dares of Eternity as a random drop, or by opening Xur’s treasure chests.

Salvager’s Salvo (Grenade Launcher)

Salvager’s Salvo is a Legendary Energy Arc Grenade Launcher which has a Lightweight Frame with a One-shot handheld Grenade Launcher with remote detonation.

• Ambitious Assassin – Overflows the magazine based on the number of rapid kills before reloading
• Demolitionist – Kill with this weapon give grenade energy
• Vorpal Weapon – Increased damage against bosses, vehicles, and Guardians with their Super active
• Chain Reaction – Each final blow with this weapon creates an elemental damage explosion

The perk options here are very good. Demolitionist is very good on a breech-loading grenade launcher. Demolitionist on special weapons seems to give back more grenade energy than kinetic weapons meaning you’ll have your grenades back pretty much right away. You can also throw a grenade to reload, meaning you can shoot, throw, reload and then shoot again all in quick succession.

Chain Reaction is my choice for the fourth slot, as the elemental explosions are going to help you clear out loads of enemies. Salvager’s Salvo is the only breech-loading grenade launcher to have Chain Reaction, so I would use it – it’s going to make clearing out loads of enemies nice and easy. This would definitely come in handy for Battlegrounds against the waves of Cabal you have to face, plus future nightfalls too.

To get this one you’ll need Beyond Light DLC, access to Season of the Chosen and pick up the quest from Banshee-44 or the Quest Kiosk in the Tower.

Plug One.1 (Fusion Rifle)

PLUG ONE.1 is a Legendary Energy Fusion Rifle with a Precision Frame meaning this weapon’s recoil pattern is more predictably vertical.

For PVE Heating Up and Reservoir Burst would be a decent roll. Heating up has the trait for final blows with the weapon increasing accuracy and stability while improving vertical recoil. Reservoir Burst effect is when the battery is full, your next burst deals additional damage, and causes your enemies to explode… which is always entertaining. Liquid Coils are good for the battery, slower building charge for higher damage which increases impact damage but has a slower charge time. Finally, Corkscrew Rifling is good for the increase in range and stability and slightly increased handling speed. Feeding Frenzy and Cornered are also good for PVE, with Cornered giving you faster charge time when surrounded by enemies.

To get this one farm Nightfalls when Plug One is available. Do be aware, that it’s going away at the end of Season 17, so get it before the season ends on August 23 2022. Also, run GM Nightfalls for an Adept version.

Riskrunner (Submachine Gun)

Risk Runner is an Exotic Energy Submachine Gun. This one uses chained lightning to good effect in regards to clearing rooms of smaller enemies.

Arc Conductor – When taking Arc Damage, this weapon becomes more powerful and resists incoming Arc Damage. Kills extend the time in this overcharged state.

Superconductor – When Arc Conductor is active, shots fired have the chance to become chain lightning and return ammo.

This is a classic Destiny 2 weapon, you most likely have it, if not Risk Runner is free for all players, you can get this one in the New Light questline, when you run through the quests on the Cosmodrome by speaking to Shaw Han.

Trinity Ghoul (Bow)

Trinity Ghoul was introduced in Forsaken, but it didn’t really get popular until its catalyst was released, which makes the weapon 100% better. Let’s check out the perks on the Combat Bow.

• Split Electron – Fires an arrow that splits when released. Aiming down sights and fully drawing the bow both decrease the spread.
• Lightning Rod – Precision kills grant the next shot chain-lightning capabilities.

The main benefit of the catalyst is something called Forked Lightning where the Lightning Rod perk now triggers on all Arc final blows. This means you can roll around strikes, nightfalls, nightmare hunts, raids – wherever you want to use this and chain together lightning attacks. Previously you needed a precision kill to trigger this perk, but now it’s much more common and really makes the Trinity Ghoul feel like a powerful Exotic weapon in your hands.

To get Trinity Ghoul it’s a random world drop exotic, so finding them out there in the wild, grinding nightfalls and making sure you check Xur each Friday to see if he’s selling it or not. Beware, you do need access to the Forsaken expansion to pick up this weapon.

Horror’s Least (Pulse Rifle)

Horror’s Least is a Legendary Energy Pulse Rifle with a Rapid-Fire Frame meaning deeper ammo reserves. Slightly faster reload when the magazine is empty. The Rapid-fire frame Pulse Rifles really have found their place in the crucible this season and we have a good few examples out there.

For PVE Heating Up and Vorpal Weapon is a good roll.

• Heating Up – Final blows with this weapon increase accuracy and stability while improving vertical recoil.
• Vorpal Weapon – Increased damage against bosses, vehicles, and Guardians with their Super active.

For PVP Perpetual Motion, Kill Clip is a good roll.

• Perpetual Motion – This weapon gains bonus stability, handling, and reload speed while the wielder is in motion.
• Kill Clip – Reloading after a kill grants increased damage.

We also have a couple of origin traits, Stunning Recovery and Vanguard’s Vindication.

Stunning Recovery – Stunning a Champion partially refills your magazine, triggers health regeneration and improves recovery for a short duration.

Vanguard’s Vindication – Final blows with this weapon grant a small amount of health.

You can get this Pulse Rifle from Nightfalls when it’s in the rotation for that week.

Anarchy (Grenade Launcher)

Anarchy is an exotic, power grenade launcher that features Arc Traps. These are grenades that stick to surfaces and chain arc bolts to other mines. It’s great for DPS and will help you take down dungeon and raid bosses in no time at all, so it’s definitely a good one to pick up.

Anarchy once dominated the game for a long period of time, it was nerfed in Season 15, but it was grown in popularity again in Season 17. In Season 18, I think this thing is going to be a monster once again.

Anarchy is one of the most powerful and devastating weapons in the game and it’s going to help you out with Dungeons, Legend, and Master activities like Nightfalls and Lost Sectors, Grandmaster Nightfalls, and of course Raids.

Anarchy is arguably much easier to get today. It used to be down to luck in the Scourge of the Past raid, but now you can now buy the Exotic Grenade Launcher from the Exotic Kiosk in the Tower, which you can find next to the Vault in the Tower called Monument to Lost Lights.

Let me know in the comments what you think of this Arc Weapon List, plus which Arc weapons are you looking to use in Season 18 for the Arc 3.0 rework?

That’s it for this guide for the Top Ten Arc Weapons for Arc 3.0 Builds in Destiny 2. For more Destiy 2 content like this check out This Week In Video Games on YouTube and subscribe today.