Destiny 2 best PvP weapons for Crucible, Trials of Osiris, & Iron Banner (Season of the Witch)

In Destiny 2 PvP, whether it's casual or competitive, Trials of Osiris or Iron Banner, you need the right weapons for every scenario. No one weapon covers all ranges, maps, and situations, so you need to be prepared.

With our list of the best PvP weapons in the game, you can be ready for anything. Here are the best Destiny 2 PvP weapons in Season of the Witch. Alternatively, check out our list of the best PvE weapons if that's more your thing.

Best PvP weapons in Destiny 2

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Primary weapons in either your Kinetic or Special slot are likely to be your workhorse weapons, and the best choices are the ones that fit this bill.

You want something reliable, but also you want a weapon suitable for the current map. So, here are the best options for the Kinetic and Special slots, with each one proving more effective than the others depending on the situation.

Best Kinetic weapons for PvP in Destiny 2

The Immortal

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The Immortal is an SMG that can be earned in Trials of Osiris. This makes it a bit more difficult to get a hold of, especially the Adept version, but you could see it as a reward to chase as you improve your Destiny 2 PvP skills.

The Immortal is a top-tier weapon, SMGs in general are very strong and this is by far the best one for The Crucible. A strength of The Immortal is having good range, as the biggest downside to using SMGs is their usefulness at a distance.

Still, you should use this weapon primarily on shorter-range maps. Stick to areas where you can fight in close quarters and The Immortal will be your best friend.

No Time To Explain

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Pulse rifles make for a great middle ground between the fire rate of auto rifles and the accuracy of scout rifles. No Time To Explain is fast and accurate, and its unique perk makes it even more powerful.

Rewind Again will return precision shots to your magazine, and gaining ten stacks of Rewind Again will trigger Time-Slip. This perk opens a portal through which another weapon from an alternate timeline fires with you, meaning you are firing even more bullets.

No Time to Explain is a great pulse rifle and is extremely useful in medium to long-range situations. If you can make use of the Time-Slip, it becomes an absolute monster.

Unending Tempest

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A new addition in Season of the Witch, Unending Tempest is a 600 RPM submachine gun that can be acquired as a random reward for completing matches in the Crucible. Some are dubbing this weapon the new Shayura's Wrath for its similarity to the fan favourite SMG.

It is a common drop but also has many potential perks, meaning finding a god roll for PvP might take some grinding. With the right barrel, rounds, and masterwork roll this weapon can have extremely high range, making this an ideal weapon for anyone who doesn't want to suffer the wrath of Trials of Osiris.

Ace of Spades

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There is a good reason why we have listed Ace of Spades among the best exotic weapons in Destiny 2. This classic hand cannon is a perfect example of its weapon class. It is a solid all-around weapon, with a really useful perk.

Reload the weapon after getting a kill to activate the Memento Mori perk. This massively increases the damage of your next few shots. This is strong in PvE, but is absolutely destructive in Destiny 2 PvP.

As is generally true of hand cannons, Ace of Spades is best used at medium range. This makes it a versatile weapon, suited to most maps.

Warden's Law

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Warden's Law has a complicated history in Destiny 2, especially in PvP. The hand cannon fires two-shot bursts, but some strange issue caused the aim assist to not properly apply to the second bullet, causing it to miss more often than not.

In Season of the Witch, Warden's Law returns to the Nightfall loot pool, and it comes with some improvements. Firstly, the two-shot issue appears to have been fixed and the weapon now functions properly. Couple that with the recent hand cannon buffs, and Warden's Law now hits like a truck.

Igneous Hammer

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The uncontested king of 120 RPM hand cannons, this Trials weapon lives up to the hype of its origin. Igneous Hammer dominated the Crucible when it first arrived a few years ago, and now in Season of the Witch, it is back in the Trials of Osiris loot pool.

With the recent buffs to hand cannons, and the inclusion of Keep Away and Eye of the Storm in the perks of this weapon, Igneous Hammer is back with a vengeance. If you want a hand cannon that feels truly like a cannon in your hand, this is the weapon you want.

Dead Man's Tale

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For long-range maps, there are few weapons that will serve you better than Dead Man's Tale. This old-fashioned lever-action rifle is very accurate and hits like a truck. The biggest barrier to entry is the lack of a scope, you have to use the weapon's iron sights.

Better still, the perk Cranial Spike means that the more accurate you are, the more accurate you can get. Precision hits increase the weapon's target acquisition and range, which makes racking up multiple kills much easier.

Best Special weapons for PvP in Destiny 2

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For special weapons in Destiny 2, you'll want to use either Cloudstrike, the Ikelos SMG, Jotunn, or Matador 64 in PvP encounters. Keep reading for a rundown on these weapons below and why we think they're the cream of the crop.

Jotunn

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This one won't make you any friends, but it is an excellent way to get some easy kills. Jotunn gets one shot per load, so you will start each life with a single shot in the weapon. One shot is really all you need because it is more than enough to defeat an enemy.

You also don't really need to aim the weapon either. It has a massive blast radius, so as long as you land your shot relatively close to your target you will likely kill them. As if you needed any more help, the exotic perk Charge Shot allows you to charge your shot, which will then track your target.

Jotunn is not a weapon to rely on, as ammo is not plentiful. That said, you are almost guaranteed a kill for each shot you fire, making this great for Trials of Osiris, or Competitive Crucible.

Cloudstrike

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If you have a reliable Kinetic weapon, particularly one with some range, pairing it with a sniper rifle can be a great idea. Sniper rifles are great for objective modes where you have some knowledge of where enemies will be, and a great way to take advantage of that is with Cloudstrike.

This exotic sniper has the potential to wipe out multiple enemies with a single shot. Hitting a precision shot causes lightning to strike anyone nearby. Excellent for clearing out a heavily defended objective.

Matador 64

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A beast from the past has returned to Destiny 2 and instantly changed the shotgun game. Matador 64 is an all-rounder, powerful with few drawbacks. It can only be acquired from the Grasp of Avarice dungeon, so grab some friends if you want to get this shotgun.

What makes this shotgun even more powerful is the changes to pellet spread. Now, precision frame shotguns have a diamond-shaped pellet pattern. This shape is taller than it is wide, just like Guardians. This makes it even more likely that your pellets will hit your target.

Pair this shotgun with a Kinetic SMG like The Immortal to be a close-range beast.

Ikelos SMG

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If you have a powerful weapon in your Kinetic slot, or you simply prefer a Special weapon as your primary, you won't go far wrong with the Ikelos SMG. As mentioned, SMGs are particularly potent in Destiny 2 and there are few more sought-after from the Gunsmith or Xur than the Ikelos SMG.

Particularly useful is the fact that this weapon can be crafted, allowing you to tailor it to your liking. A crafted Ikelos SMG can have just about any perk imaginable, paired with the weapon's impressive base stats to make a very potent weapon.

One of the weapon's greatest strengths is its range, which goes a long way to counter the biggest weakness of SMGs. The Ikelos SMG is a versatile and adaptable weapon as a result, a perfect companion for most encounters.

Best Heavy weapons for PvP in Destiny 2

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When it comes to the best Heavy weapons in Destiny 2 for PvP, this is a slightly broader choice, as Heavy weapons don't factor quite as much into Destiny 2 PvP as Kinetics or Specials. Ammo is very limited, and most matches will go by without any Heavy ammo coming your way. There are two ways you can go with your Heavy choice; something you can fire and forget, or a more active-use weapon.

Rockets are great for the former, especially in objective modes. If you know multiple enemies are likely gathered in a particular spot, a rocket on target can clear them all out in one fell swoop. If you don't want to focus much on using your Heavy, throw on any handy rocket launcher just in case.

If you want to focus on using your Heavy weapon a bit more, you want to go with a machine gun. Ammo is still very rare, but where a Heavy ammo brick might give you one or two rockets, it might also give you a few dozen machine gun rounds.

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Bring a machine gun with a bit of range, and a high ammo capacity. Those two things rarely come together, but if you can find a good balance, such as the Commemoration from the Deep Stone Crypt raid, it should work well.

Then you can treat it like you have an auto rifle, but one that kills in two or three bullets. It won't last, but that period of time where you have a few dozen shots in your machine gun can turn into quite the killing spree.

Those are our choices for the best PvP weapons for Crucible, Trials of Osiris, Gambit, and Iron Banner in Destiny 2. For more, head to our Destiny 2 homepage, for guides like Destiny 2 promo codes for some free emblems and shaders, or keep up to date with our Destiny 2 weekly reset guide.