The 10 best Destiny 2 weapons you need to farm in Season of the Splicer

You don’t want to miss the likes of Chroma Rush and Ignition Code.

Between the new weapons added to the overall loot pool, the gear available from the Override activity, everything you can get from the Trials of Osiris and Iron Banner, and all the Vault of Glass raid weapons, perks, and mods, Destiny 2’s Season of the Splicer has tons of amazing weapons for players to hunt down and farm. Here’s a breakdown of the best 10 weapons to chase after during Season of the Splicer overall, as well as details on how you can get them and what the best perk rolls are for both PvE and PvP.

Chroma Rush

PvE God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Tactical Mag, Subsistence/Feeding Frenzy, Rampage/Wellspring
PvP God Roll: Hammer-Forged Rifling, Tactical Mag, Heating Up, Rampage/Kill Clip

This is one of the only strong kinetic auto rifles in the game right now, and since the rapid-fire frame archetype is currently good in both PvE and PvP, this is definitely a weapon you shouldn’t miss out on. Most of its perks are ideal for PvE activities, although with the right perks, it can also be a great choice for the Crucible.

For PvE, I recommend aiming for Hammer-Forged Rifling, Tactical Mag, and either Subsistence or Feeding Frenzy with Rampage or Wellspring. These perks give the weapon a combination of great range, reload speed/mitigation, and either better damage or boosted ability regen on each kill. For PvP, Heating Up and either Rampage or Kill Clip make the Chroma Rush very effective at killing multiple players in quick succession, provided that you’re able to get an initial kill to get your perks rolling.

The Chroma Rush can drop from completions of the Override activity, but can also be obtained from Umbral Engrams.

Ignition Code

PvE God Roll: Hard Launch, Blinding Grenades/Spike Grenades, Slideshot/Ambitious Assassin, Vorpal Weapon/One for All/Demolitionist
PvP God Roll: Hard Launch, Spike Grenades, Quickdraw, Thresh/Vorpal Weapon

This kinetic special grenade launcher has quickly become one of my favorite Destiny 2 weapons of all time, and the main reason why is due to its excellent variety of perks that are both fun and effective. It shines brightest in PvE, but it’s also an excellent PvP grenade launcher for people who want to use an energy weapon as their primary.

There are a ton of excellent PvE perks available on this weapon. I personally recommend Hard Launch, Blinding Grenades, Slideshot, and Vorpal Weapon, as these four perks make the Ignition Code a superb weapon for Nightfalls and raids. Blinding Grenades allows you to consistently stun hordes of enemies and make them easier to kill, Ambitious Assassin instantly reloads the grenade launcher every time you slide, and Vorpal Weapon makes the weapon strong against Champions and bosses. However, Spike Grenades is a good alternative choice if you want better direct damage, Ambitious Assassin lets you load two grenades into the launcher after kills, and One for All is great for its damage boost. Demolitionist is there for people who have grenade-focused builds, too.

On the PvP side of things, Hard Launch, Spike Grenades, and Quickdraw make the Ignition Code great for one-shot direct hit kills, and if you have Thresh, you’ll get some super energy as a reward for these. You could also swap out Thresh for Vorpal Weapon if you want a version of the launcher that’s strong against Guardian supers.

The Ignition Code can drop from completions of the Override activity, but can also be obtained from Umbral Engrams.

Empty Vessel

PvE God Roll: Hard Launch, Blinding Grenades/Spike Grenades, Ambitious Assassin, Vorpal Weapon/One for All/Demolitionist
PvP God Roll: Hard Launch, Spike Grenades, Quickdraw, Thresh/Snapshot Sights

Aside from being a Solar energy weapon instead of a kinetic one, the Empty Vessel is almost identical to the Ignition Code in every other way. It’s a great weapon to take into Nightfalls that have lots of Solar-shielded enemies, and it’s also superb for Warmind Cell builds in PvE since it can create Warmind Cells if you have the Wrath of Rasputin armor mod equipped. Like Ignition Code, it can also be effective in PvP with the right perks.

In PvE, I would go with Hard Launch, Blinding Grenades, Ambitious Assassin, and Vorpal Weapon for excellent all-around utility and damage against Champions and bosses (One for All and Demolitionist are also great options in the final perk column too). PvP players should go for Hard Launch, Spike Grenades, Quickdraw, and either Thresh or Snapshot Sights for reliable one-hit kills and either boosts to super regen or faster aiming.

The Empty Vessel drops randomly from completed strikes. You also have a chance to get one by turning in Vanguard Tokens to Commander Zavala at The Tower.

PLUG ONE.1

PvE God Roll: Extended Barrel, Liquid Coils, Feeding Frenzy, Reservoir Burst
PvP God Roll: Extended Barrel, Accelerated Coils, Quickdraw, Reservoir Burst/Kickstart/Backup Plan

PLUG ONE.1 is a returning Arc energy fusion rifle from the original Destiny, and with the right perk rolls, it’s an absolute beast. It’s an awesome weapon to take into Nightfalls (and even some raids), and can also be a strong counter to shotguns in PvP if you play smart.

For PvE, Extended Barrel, Liquid Coils, Feeding Frenzy, and Reservoir Burst allow you to eviscerate groups of enemies by killing one of them with the high damage first shot in your magazine, then quickly reload thanks to the fact that the explosive effects of Reservoir Burst will kill all of the other enemies and proc several Feeding Frenzy stacks. You can then kill another enemy with your next full magazine Reservoir Burst shot, keeping the chain going. Notably, Extended Barrel boosts the weapon’s range and helps keep it steady with each shot.

In PvP, Extended Barrels, Accelerated Coils, Quickdraw, and Reservoir Burst give you a strong opening shot that will not only one-hit kill Guardians at short-to-medium range, but will also go off faster thanks to Accelerated Coils. You could also trade Reservoir Burst for Kickstart if you like sliding and would benefit from the charge time reduction that perk provides. Backup Plan is also a viable alternative if you’d prefer to switch to the weapon whenever someone is bearing down on you with a shotgun.

The PLUG ONE.1 is one of the three Nightfall-exclusive weapons in rotation this season (the weapon that drops from Nightfalls changes weekly). If you want to grind for it, make sure to farm Nightfalls during the week that PLUG ONE.1 drops are active.

Shayura’s Wrath

PvE God Roll: Smallbore, Flared Magwell, Killing Wind, Kill Clip/Adrenaline Junkie
PvP God Roll: Smallbore, Accurized Rounds/Flared Magwell, Heating Up, Kill Clip/Snapshot Sights/Tap the Trigger

The Shayura’s Wrath is easily the best PvP SMG that Destiny 2 has seen in a long time due to its auto rifle-like range and excellent stability, and it’s also got some value in PvE since its currently the only Void SMG available in the game currently.

The PvE options on this weapon aren’t great, but if you want a PvE roll, I recommend Smallbore, Flared Magwell, Killing Wind, and either Kill Clip (for general ad clearing) or Adrenaline Junkie (for people who have grenade builds).

PvP is where this weapon truly shines. Smallbore, Accurized Rounds, Heating Up, and Kill Clip, Snapshot Sights, or Tap the Trigger turn this weapon into a laser beam that can take down Guardians consistently from farther away than most SMGs can. Kill Clip is ideal if you’re confident in your ability to make the most of the post-kill damage boost, but Snapshot Sights and Tap the Trigger are also superb options for quicker target acquisition and even more stability and accuracy, respectively. Notably, Shayura’s Wrath is effective even with bad perks thanks to its excellent base stats.

Shayura’s Wrath can be obtained as a reward from winning matches in the Trials of Osiris. Adept versions are sometimes available if you can manage to go flawless.

Occluded Finality

PvE God Roll: Corkscrew Rifling, Ricochet Rounds, No Distractions/Auto-Loading Holster, Vorpal Weapon
PvP God Roll: Corkscrew Rifling, Ricochet Rounds, No Distractions/Snapshot Sights, Opening Shot/Vorpal Weapon

The Occluded Finality is an aggressive frame Arc sniper rifle that has strong stats and a deep zoom magnification. It’s one of the snappiest sniper rifles released in recent months, and while it’s not as good as the Frozen Orbit from Season of the Chosen, it’s still an excellent PvP sniper. It also has some good PvE perks as well, especially for boss damage.

For PvE, go with Corkscrew Rifling, Ricochet Rounds, and either No Distractions (for resisting flinch from ads) or Auto-Loading Holster (if you’re pairing it with heavy weapons and supers for boss DPS) with Vorpal Weapon. These perks give you a flat boost to several stats while also making it easier to hit your shots against bosses, mitigating reload downtime, and bolstering your damage-per-shot against bosses. For PvP, I would trade Auto-Loading Holster for Snapshot Sights and Vorpal Weapon for Opening Shot in most cases. You could also go with No Distractions in PvP as well, and Vorpal Weapon can also be a strong counter to Guardians in their super.

The Occluded Finality can be obtained from playing in the Iron Banner and by turning in Iron Banner Tokens to Lord Saladin at The Tower.

Riiswalker

PvE God Roll: Full Choke, Accurized Rounds, Slideways, Vorpal Weapon/Swashbuckler
PvP God Roll: Full Choke, Accurized Rounds, Quickdraw, Iron Reach

This lightweight frame kinetic shotgun is fantastic for aggressive PvP players who like to quickly close the distance with their opponents and take them down with a quick shotgun blast. It also has some decent PvE perks, too, making it quite versatile.

In PvE, your best bet is Full Choke, Accurized Rounds, Slideways, and either Vorpal Weapon or Swashbuckler. Vorpal Weapon is a powerful perk for dealing heavy damage to Champions and bosses, while Swashbuckler pairs well with Slideshot and allows you to build up a strong damage boost by repeatedly sliding into enemies and shooting or punching them. PvP players should target Full Choke, Accurized Rounds, Quickdraw, and Iron Reach for deadly opening shots against other players. Quickdraw lets you swap to the weapon near-instantly, while Iron Reach gives it a massive range boost that significantly increases how far away you can one-shot other players from.

The Riiswalker can be obtained from playing in the Iron Banner and by turning in Iron Banner Tokens to Lord Saladin at The Tower.

Found Verdict

PvE God Roll: Smallbore, Appended Mag, Rewind Rounds, Vorpal Weapon/One-Two Punch
PvP God Roll: Full Choke, Accurized Rounds, Slideshot, Opening Shot

The Found Verdict is one of the returning Vault of Glass weapons from the original Destiny, and it’s got some amazing perks in Destiny 2 for both PvE and PvP.

For PvE, I recommend Smallbore, Appended Mag, Rewind Rounds, and either Vorpal Weapon or One-Two Punch. These perks give the shotgun good range and magazine size, and Rewind Rounds also ensures you won’t need to reload until your target is dead. Vorpal Weapon is excellent for boss damage, while One-Two Punch is ideal for a melee combo build. In PvP, go with Full Choke, Accurized Rounds, Slideshot, and Opening Shot for one-hit kills on other players while sliding.

The Found Verdict is one of the weapons that can drop from the reprised Vault of Glass raid, which is available to all players.

Fatebringer

PvE God Roll: Smallbore, Steady Rounds, Rewind Rounds/Explosive Rounds, Frenzy/Firefly
PvP God Roll: Smallbore, Accurized Rounds, Rewind Rounds/Explosive Rounds, Kill Clip/Opening Shot

The iconic Fatebringer is back in Destiny 2, and it comes with a variety of old and new perks that PvE and PvP players alike will love.

For PvE, Smallbore, Steady Rounds, Rewind Rounds, and Frenzy make for a deadly combo that allows you to basically never stop shooting damage-boosted rounds so long as you don’t miss. You could also use Explosive Rounds with Firefly to mimic the static roll that the original Fatebringer had, which is also incredibly effective. In PvP, Accurized Rounds should replace Steady Rounds for better range, and you should use Kill Clip or Opening Shot instead of Frenzy or Firefly. Explosive Rounds are a decent option instead of Rewind Rounds since the bullets won’t have damage fall-off at longer ranges.

You can get Fatebringer from completing encounters in the Vault of Glass raid.

Hezen Vengeance

PvE God Roll: Hard Launch, High-Velocity Rounds, Impulse Amplifier/Overflow, Vorpal Weapon/Cluster Bomb
PvP God Roll: Hard Launch, High-Velocity Rounds, Tracking Module, Cluster Bomb

The Hezen Vengeance rocket launcher is perhaps one of the most interesting ones that Bungie has ever released in all of Destiny, primarily because of the fact that you can get Overflow on it. It has several great PvE rolls for killing ads and bosses, and it also has a strong PvP roll for Crucible or Gambit invading.

In PvE, go with Hard Launch, High-Velocity Rounds, Impulse Amplifier, and Vorpal Weapon for maximum boss damage. If you want something superb for ad clearing, go with Overflow and Cluster Bomb instead. For PvP, Hard Launch, High-Velocity Rounds, Tracking Module, and Cluster Bomb makes it much easier to kill other players from afar. The splash damage of Cluster Bomb also gives you a greater opportunity to kill multiple players in one explosion.

The Hezen Vengeance can drop from completed encounters of the Vault of Glass raid.

Your thoughts

What do you think of my weapon choices in this list? What are some other guns you think players should make sure they get during Season of the Splicer? Let me know in the comments, and make sure to share your favorite perk rolls, too.

Destiny 2’s latest expansion, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, is available for $40. If you haven’t tried out Destiny 2 yet, I highly recommend doing so as it’s one of the best Xbox One shooters out there. Make sure you check out my beginner’s guide on how to get into Destiny 2 in 2021 for useful tips, tricks, and more if you do, as it will help introduce you to the game and its systems. If you’re planning to jump into the Vault of Glass for the raid weapons in this list, don’t miss my guide to the best Destiny 2 builds, and how to make your own for some excellent builds you can take into the raid as well as my full Destiny 2 Vault of Glass raid guide on how to beat every encounter.

Wield the Darkness

Destiny 2: Beyond Light

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Europa awaits

Beyond Light is the next big expansion for Destiny 2, introducing a new element for Guardians to wield, a new area on the Jupiter moon Europa, a new story, and plenty of loot to go around.

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