When Bungie announced it would give allDestiny 2subclasses the Stasis treatment, few could have predicted the way it would affect the meta and the importance of having weapons that match the player’s subclass. Now, with the prominence of enhanced buildcrafting thanks loadouts, aspects, and fragments for all subclasses, players have more room than ever to center their loadouts around a specific element.
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With Threats, Surges, and Overcharged weapons becoming key variants in Grandmaster Nightfalls and other endgame content, it’s even more important for players to have a good arsenal of different types of weapons available when needing elemental damage. Luckily, Solar has some of the best Legendary and Exotic weapons inDestiny 2, so whether players enjoy PVE or PVP, they should have no shortage of great weapons to choose from. Here areDestiny 2’sbest Solar weapons.
Updated on July 06, 2025, by Anastasia Maillot:Lightfall has brought about a ton of changes to the in-game system of Destiny 2. From new mods to Surges and Threats becoming the new activity modifiers, as well as brand-new Origin Traits and old raid weapons becoming craftable, there’s a lot to take into account when picking the newbest Solar weaponsin the game. The meta has shifted quite a bit, with linear fusion rifles falling slightly (but not entirely), to the backburner and rocket launchers reigning supreme. Some weapons have also been rotated out of the game, and unless players have patterns for them, they can’t be crafted as of season 21. With this in mind, certain weapons like the Calus Mini-Tool, although still fantastic, have been removed, and only the best available and currentlycraftable Solar weapons in Destiny 2have been kept for the sake of convenience.
11Tyranny Of Heaven Combat Bow
Taking Strident Whistle’s spot on this list is theTyranny of Heaven combat bow from the Last Wish raid, which as of season 21 is craftable after five patterns are unlocked. It’s a solid combat bow for PVE with some of the greatest perks that make these slower-hitting primary weapons great—even though this one has a Lightweight Frame, making it a bit more of an agile weapon.
Players should aim to craft one with Enhanced Explosive Head and Incandescent, which will pair up well with any scorch builds and actually deal some AoE damage. Considering how underwhelming bows typically are, Tyranny of Heaven is a dream come true in its archetype, especially now that it also comes with the Explosive Pact Origin Trait that favors grenade-centric builds.
10BXR-55 Battler Pulse Rifle
TheBXR-55 Battler was introduced intoDestiny 2following the 30th Anniversary update, asHalofan service. It’san excellent pulse riflewith a nice scope and works wonderfully in both PVE and PVP. Some players, however, might be put off by the amount of zoom its scope provides, so the BXR-55 Battler is definitely one of those weapons the utility of which depends on player preference.
It also helps that the BXR-55 Battler has a fairly high aim assistance of 85, so finding and hitting targets shouldn’t be a big problem. It definitely suffers a bit in activities where players need to deal with enemies at close range, but any long-range maps and activities will be perfect for it. To get it, players will need to get Treasure Keysby playing Dares of Eternity, which can then be spent at the chest next to Xur in his Treasure Hoard. The chest has randomized rewards, and the BXR-55 Battler is one of them.
9Trustee
Scout rifles as an archetypehave suffered a bit inDestiny 2, but Trusteeis still well worth crafting for players thanks to its incredible Origin Trait, Bray Inheritance, which grants a bit of ability energy when dealing damage with the weapon. And in an era of ability spam, any ability recharge is welcome.
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Trustee also has some of the strongest perks in the game as of Season of the Deep, including Reconstruction for that reload and Incandescent for handy AoE damage effect in PVE, best suited for scorch-based Solar builds.
8Vex Mythoclast Fusion Rifle
Some players might believe that the time ofthe Vex Mythoclastis over since the end of season 15 and the long reign of Particle Deconstruction. That couldn’t be further from the truth, however, as the Vex is still a very valid choice in both PVE and PVP. Its strength comes from its secondary linear firing mode, as well as its full auto firing method that requires no Special ammo.
In fact,Warlocks in particularcan use the Vex while wearingthe Rain of Fire Exotic bootsthat grants the player the Radiant damage buff whenever they score final blows with fusion rifles or linear fusion rifles. Outside of that, the Vex is still a powerhouse in both PVE and PVP, though perhaps not an absolute must-have as of right now. However, those who have yet to score it fromtheir Vault of Glass runsshould definitely try to farm it, as fusions still have a chance to make a proper comeback.
7Acacia’s Dejection Trace Rifle
From thenew raid located on Neptune,Acacia’s Dejectionis a Solar trace riflethat shouldn’t be scoffed at. Sure, it’s a trace rifle, but withDestiny 2’smeta leaning towards double Special weapon builds due to the relative weakness of primary weapons, trace rifles have become a beastly and extremely valid choice on the PVE side of things.
Acacia’s Dejection pairs particularly well with Solar builds thanks to its Incandescent perk, providing a slight AoE effect when used. Not just that, but its Origin Trait, Paracausal Affinity, favors pairing it with other weapons from the same set for added stat bonuses. Moreover, it deals extra damage against Lucent Hive, Tormentors, and guardians in their Super, the former coming in handy in the new Ghosts of the Deep dungeon.
6Parasite
King of instant burst damage,Parasite is a heavy Solar grenade launcherthat can deal incredible amounts of raw damage in its first “bullet”—which, by the way, is an actual Hive worm, adding to the sheer coolness of this weapon. When players score kills with any weapon while Parasite is part of their loadout, it will grant stacks of Worm’s Hunger. At stack 20, the next projectile will deal maximum damage.
Pair this up with triple Solar surge mods, and it’s the perfect weapon for extremely short boss DPS phases like Atraks that require players to do quick damage in a short window of time. Its only downside is that after the first projectile is launched, all stacks of the Worm’s Hunger are consumed and players will need to farm kills again.
5The Lament Sword
Swords always make a brief comeback at the beginning of every season, when the community hasn’t quite figured out what the best damage options are in PVE.The Lament Exotic swordis often something many fall back to, thanks to its ability to dish out a respectable amount of damage on bosses where dealing precision damage isn’t an option or the team lacks precision damage. It’s also great for quick bursts of damage and has been useda lot in Last Wish’s Riven encounter.
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The Lament has also seen increased usage againstmelee bosses like Ecthar from Ghosts of the Deep, or Gahlran from Duality, due to its ability to grant the wielder some health and keep them alive. It can increase its damage when the player first blocks and then performs four consecutive sword strikes before blocking again. Mastering this can be quite difficult at first, but it’s one of those tricks that PVE players will benefit from in particular.
4Gjallarhorn Rocket Launcher
The original DPS king fromDestiny,Gjallarhorn, has returned toDestiny 2after a long wait from fans, and it remains extremely powerful. In its first months, it was an absolutely beastly rocket launcher that was quickly toned down by Bungie due to the damage of Wolfpack Rounds. It also gives these rounds to any nearby Legendary rocket launchers, which means even a single fireteam member with Gjallarhorn is enough to turn everyone into a proper damage dealer.
Now, Gjallarhorn is the go-to choice of fireteams who still prefer rockets for damageover linear fusion rifles. The difference is, that only one player needs to run Gjallarhorn, as running six Gjallarhorns isn’t actually beneficial. In that sense, the Gjally has lost some of its juice over time but remains a must-have in the same way that having Divinity or Arbalest in one’s Exotic weapon arsenal is a must for PVE players.
3Xenophage
Xenophage is an interesting weapon, which has dominated both the peculiar Gambit scene ofDestiny 2, as well as certain boss encounters in raids like Deep Stone Crypt’s Crypt Security and the Oracles encounter in Vault of Glass. Lately, it has also made a comeback as a weapon of choice for some players attemptingto complete the Ghosts of the Deep dungeon, which goes to show Xenophage is here to stay.
Xenophage is an Exotic, Solar machine gun, but it’s actually almost like a sniper rifle capable of shooting these slow, single-target explosive shots that deal an immense amount of damage. Because of its simplicity and strength, it’s a go-to for a lot of different PVE challenges and endgame content, so having this one in the vault is a must for any tryhard player. As usual, pairing it with Solar surge mods will make it even deadlier.
2Cataclysmic Linear Fusion Rifle
A weapon that is here to stay even after a tough nerf of 15% less damage against linear fusion rifles,Cataclysmic just keeps on giving, mainly thanks to its Bait and Switch perk. Even post-Lightfall, this linear fusion rifle keeps seeing use and as of Season of the Deep, remains one of the best ways to deal with the Ghosts of the Deep dungeon bosses.
The downside is that it’s not accessible as a world drop, and to get the perfect stats, players will need to grind forits Deepsight pattern from the Vow of the Disciple raidand level it to level 16 to unlock its Enhanced perks.
Cataclysmic also requires players to hit precision shots to gain the most out of its god roll perks, which makes it quite a difficult linear fusion rifle to handle. However, it’s undoubtedly the best option even over Stormchaser and Taipan, so any players with access to it should grind it out quickly.
