Best Destiny 2 Exotic weapons and armor in 2021

Exotics are the most powerful and unique items you can obtain in the Destiny 2 sandbox, and with them at your disposal, you'll be well equipped to take on the enemies of the Guardians (or Guardians like yourself in the Crucible). With that said, some Exotics are more powerful than others, and using the best ones will help you maximize your efficiency and effectiveness in battle, especially if you incorporate them into full character builds (check out my guide to the best Destiny 2 builds for more on that topic). Therefore, you should aim to get your hands on the best Exotic weapons and armor pieces as soon as you can. Here's a look at all of the best Exotics in Destiny 2 in 2021.

Destiny 2: Best Exotic weapons

The best of Destiny 2's Exotic weapons are the ones that are effective in many different types of content and are also viable for all three of the game's character classes. Generally, the best Exotic weapons also either bring valuable utility or superb damage per second (DPS) to the table.

Witherhoard

The Witherhoard Exotic grenade launcher has become a staple in every player's inventory when it comes to endgame PvP, as its ability to spawn trap enemies and deal high damage to tanky targets like Champions makes it a versatile and powerful weapon. It's not as good as it was during Season of the Splicer since the Breach and Clear mod is gone, but it's still a fantastic option if you're using an elemental primary and want to pair it with a kinetic special weapon.

To get Witherhoard, you'll have to purchase it from the Monument to Lost Lights kiosk on the Tower.

Divinity

The Divinity is one of the best and most valuable tools for players to have in their arsenal, especially if they frequently play Raids and high-level Nightfalls. This is because this trace rifle has the unique ability to debuff enemies by covering them in a bright blue bubble that stuns enemies and makes all damage done by allies critical. Therefore, for strong enemies like Champions, Divinity is phenomenal. It's also an excellent choice for one member of a fireteam to use during a Raid boss, as bosses such as Taniks from the Deep Stone Crypt (don't miss my guide on how to beat every Deep Stone Crypt encounter if you haven't done the new Raid yet) have a weak spot that's difficult to hit normally. With Divinity's blue bubble, you can achieve critical damage without the risk of missing.

To get the Divinity, you'll need to complete a series of small puzzles spread throughout the Garden of Salvation Raid. When you kill the final boss after completing all the puzzles, you'll receive the weapon.

Ticuu's Divination

If you're going up against lots of ads that use Solar shields and also need to stun Overload Champions, the Ticuu's Divination is the best Exotic you can use in Season of the Lost. Its explosive power makes it a perfect choice for clearing entire waves of enemies, and it can do some decent damage to Champions as well. It's a particularly good choice in the Hallowed Lair Grandmaster Nightfall, as its tracking arrows make short work of the deadly mini screebs that often blow players up.

To get Ticuu's Divination, you'll have to purchase it from the Monument to Lost Lights kiosk on the Tower.

One Thousand Voices

In Season of the Lost, the One Thousand Voices Exotic heavy fusion rifle is easily the best heavy weapon you can take into endgame content. Paired with the Particle Deconstruction mod from Season of the Lost's artifact, the One Thousand Voices can do a tremendous amount of damage. With this weapon, you can blow Champions to smithereens without issues, and it's even possible to one phase most of Destiny 2's Raid bosses if everyone on your fireteam is using the One Thousand Voices as well.

To get One Thousand Voices, you'll need to complete the Riven encounter at the end of the Last Wish Raid. It isn't a guaranteed drop, but your chances of getting the weapon increase every time you don't get it.

Ager's Scepter

Season of the Lost's premiere Exotic is Ager's Scepter, which is a Stasis trace rifle that slows and freezes enemies around the ones that you kill with it. Additionally, with the catalyst that you get from Astral Alignment runs, you can choose to consume your Super energy to "overdrive" the Ager's Scepter and make its beam directly freeze targets and do significantly more damage.

In situations where you're stuck fighting tons of ads and you're not able to kill all of them fast enough, Ager's Scepter is superb since its ability to freeze crowds provides invaluable crowd control. And if someone else on your Fireteam is using a good ad-slaying Exotic like Ticuu's Divination, you'll never have to worry about hordes of generic enemies overrunning you ever again.

You can get the Ager's Scepter by completing the story quest available in Season of the Lost.

Dead Man's Tale

While scout rifles are overall pretty weak across the board, the Dead Man's Tale Exotic from Season of the Chosen is one of the best weapons you can take into the Crucible right now, and the gun is pretty strong in PvE as well. Rapidly chaining precision hits improves your damage and quickens your reload speed, which can help you significantly in duels against other players or in situations where you have a lot of enemies to kill in PvE activities. The weapon can also roll with some nice random perks like Outlaw, Vorpal Weapon, and Snapshot Sights.

To get the Dead Man's Tale, you'll need to first obtain its quest, then complete the Presage story mission, which you can access from the Tangled Shore map screen.

Vex Mythoclast

The Vex Mythoclast is one of the best Exotic fusion rifles you can use in either PvE or PvP right now. The fact that it uses primary ammo and shoots like an auto rifle makes it great for stunning Unstoppable Champions (with the Unstoppable Fusion Rifle mod equipped) and applying the Particle Deconstruction debuff to enemies, and its high damage means that you can rely on it for quick Guardian kills or chunking down tough ads. Additionally, once you get a few kills with it, you can hold down the reload button to temporarily transform the weapon into a linear fusion rifle that's capable of one-shotting enemy players and many PvE foes.

To get Vex Mythoclast, you'll need to complete the Atheon encounter at the end of the Vault of Glass raid. It isn't a guaranteed drop, but your chances of getting the weapon increase every time you don't get it.

Destiny 2: Best Titan Exotics

Titans are generally at their most powerful when fortifying and defending ground or aggressively taking it. Because of this, the most effective Titan Exotics are ones that strengthen these approaches.

Helm of Saint-14

The Helm of Saint-14 has been a top-tier pick ever since Bungie buffed the Ward of Dawn super (colloquially known as "bubble") in Shadowkeep, and it's my favorite Exotic armor for high-end PvE content. This Exotic makes it so that you and your allies gain an overshield each time you walk into your bubble, which helps immensely with survivability and makes strafing in and out of the bubble to do damage much safer. Additionally, the Helm of Saint-14 also causes your bubble to blind enemies when they walk into it, making them much easier to kill.

To get this Exotic, you'll need to get a lucky drop from Exotic Engrams or obtain it from Xur.

Ursa Furiosa

The Ursa Furiosa is an Exotic that I consider extremely underrated, and I'm not sure why. It makes it so that the damage you block with your Sentinel Shield super is converted into super energy after the super ends, effectively allowing you to chain Sentinel Shield supers very quickly, especially if you have a high Intellect stat that helps recharge what this Exotic does not. This isn't that useful for bottom-tree Sentinel Shield, but it's fantastic for the Code of the Commander skill tree since it makes your shield huge and amplifies your allies' damage when they shoot through it. If you're not a fan of the immobile nature of Helm of Saint-14 with Ward of Dawn, I highly recommend this combo as an alternative.

To get Ursa Furiosa, you'll need to own the Forsaken expansion and get a lucky Exotic drop or buy it from Xur when he has it available.

The Insurmountable Skullfort

This Exotic has been the prime choice for Striker Titans ever since Destiny 2 came out, and that hasn't changed one bit. It returns your melee energy to you when you get an Arc melee kill while also triggering health regeneration, making it a superb choice for aggressive close-quarters play in PvE and PvP alike. It's also one of the few offense-focused Exotics that shines in Master-level content and Raids since the health regeneration effects allow you to survive against stronger enemies.

To get this Exotic, you'll need a lucky Exotic Engram drop, or you'll need to get it from Xur.

Heart of Inmost Light

This is a stellar subclass-independent Exotic that makes it so that using any of your core three abilities (barricade, melee, grenade) causes the other two to recharge faster and become more effective when used (barricades have more health, melees and grenades do more damage). This effect allows you to chain your abilities together quite quickly, making it very effective overall across every game mode and difficulty level.

You'll need to own Forsaken and either get a lucky drop or buy from Xur to get this Exotic.

One-Eyed Mask

The One-Eyed Mask has received nerf after nerf over the last few years, but while it's not nearly as effective as it used to be, it's nevertheless the Exotic most Titans should reach for in PvP. Its special effect is that it highlights whoever last damaged you in yellow, and if you kill them, you're rewarded with a full heal and an overshield. This overshield then lets you confidently fight your next opponent, resulting in another overshield if they damage you, proc the highlighting effect, and lose. You can go on a pretty huge streak if you can chain this effect, although be wary of becoming too aggressive since multiple players working together can burn through your overshield pretty quickly. This Exotic is also a good choice for solo PvE content if you're not a fan of playing with others.

You can obtain it once you own Forsaken and either get a lucky drop or purchase it from Xur.

Cuirass of the Falling Star

Cuirass of the Falling Star massively buffs the Titan's Thundercrash super, making it do double damage and also giving the Titan an overshield (the farther you fly before hitting a target, the stronger it is). This gives Titans a massive burst damage option like Warlocks and Hunters have, and it can also be a bit useful in Crucible and Gambit as well since using your super will be safer and less risky.

You can get this Exotic by farming solo Legend and Master Lost Sectors that have chest armor drops active (the drops rotate daily).

Destiny 2: Best Hunter Exotics

Hunters are the most agile of Destiny's classes. Most Hunter abilities are designed to give players opportunities to use that mobility to have strong bursts of impact on the battlefield. As a result, the best Hunter Exotics are ones that enhance and improve these bursts of impact.

Celestial Nighthawk

When paired with the Way of the Sharpshooter skill tree, this Exotic turns your Golden Gun super into a devastating single-shot nuke that does hundreds of thousands of damage points to an enemy, assuming you're hitting a crit. This makes it perfect for instantly deleting difficult enemies like Champions in Nightfalls and making it fantastic to do some big boss damage in Raids. This Exotic is even more effective with a build centered around super regeneration, as you'll have your Golden Gun available frequently.

You'll need a lucky drop or a purchase from Xur to obtain this Exotic.

Omnioculus

The Omnioculus allows bottom-tree Nightstalker users to get their smoke bombs back very quickly as long as they make themselves and their teammates invisible with them, which effectively allows your entire fireteam to stay hidden from enemies frequently. This is invaluable in high-level Nightfalls since staying hidden from deadly foes is a great way to increase your survivability, and it also allows everyone in the fireteam to ambush enemies like Champions before they get a chance to fight back. It's also incredibly useful when you need to go for a risky revive.

You can get this Exotic by farming solo Legend and Master Lost Sectors that have chest armor drops active (the drops rotate daily).

Orpheus Rig

This is a superb Exotic for top-tree Nightstalkers that gives you huge ability regeneration for each enemy you or an ally kills that is affected by your debuff tethers, including up to 50% of your super. This makes it a stellar choice for endgame PvE content, especially if you pair it with an Intellect build that helps recharge the rest of your super meter quickly so you can use another tether.

You can get this Exotic from random drops or from Xur.

Liar's Handshake

This Exotic is perfect for Arcstrider Hunters that like to go on the offensive in close quarters. It hugely buffs your melee attacks whenever you either have your Arc melee ability charged or get hit by an enemy melee attack, allowing you to decimate any enemy (including Guardians!) that isn't a Raid boss. Its main strength is in PvE, although it's also a great counter to punch-happy Titans in PvP, who will undoubtedly expect to win the melee duel after landing the first hit.

You can get this Exotic by owning Forsaken and then either getting a lucky drop or buying it from Xur.

The Sixth Coyote

This Exotic is simple, yet very effective. All it does is give you an extra dodge to use in combat. Still, since Hunters can dodge to reload instantly or instantly recharge their melee, this Exotic ends up being hugely effective when used with builds centered around melee abilities or powerful weapons that have low magazine sizes. It's also a superb Exotic to pair with Stasis, as you can pair it with Gambler's Dodge to recharge your ice shuriken melee and freeze enemies consistently.

You'll need to own Forsaken and either get a lucky drop or purchase this Exotic from Xur to use it.

Wormhusk Crown

This Exotic is great for turning the tables on foes in PvP, as it boosts your dodges by giving you a small burst of healing and shield regen when you use them. This is incredibly effective when used to dodge out of an enemy's line of sight during a duel, only for you to pop back out with half of your health back and either a fully reloaded weapon or a freshly recharged melee ability. This Exotic is also a good choice in PvE content as well if you need survivability.

You can get it from Exotic Engrams or from Xur whenever he's selling it.

Destiny 2: Best Warlock Exotics

Warlocks are more ability-driven than the other two classes, and often, the most effective way to play Warlock is to find ways to keep your abilities off cooldown as much as possible. Due to this, the best Warlock Exotics are the ones that help give Warlock players maximum ability uptime. Exotics that enhance the effects of rifts in cooperative PvE content are also excellent choices.

Nezarec's Sin

This Exotic boosts the regen rate of all of your abilities, including your super, whenever you score kills with Void damage. This Exotic has become a favorite of Voidwalkers due to this, but it's also a strong choice for other subclasses, too, provided that you're using a good Void primary weapon. This is the Exotic I recommend if you're looking to play aggressively with your abilities.

You can get this Exotic by finding it in random Exotic drops or buying it from Xur.

Phoenix Protocol

Fans of the Well of Radiance super in high-end PvE content will love this Exotic, as it makes it so that any kills or assists you get while standing in your Well of Radiance will return super energy to you. Depending on how many kills and assists you and your teammates can rack up, it's possible to get up to half of another Well of Radiance back. This makes it very potent since Well of Radiance is one of the best ways to stay safe against lethal enemies like Champions, and being able to use them often is awesome..

You can get it by owning Forsaken and either getting a lucky drop or buying it from Xur.

Eye of Another World

The Eye of Another World helmet is the perfect Exotic for Warlocks using Stasis, as it boosts your ability recharge rate. This means that you'll be able to get your melee, grenade, rift, and super available much faster, and since Stasis is so ability focused, being able to use your Stasis powers as frequently as powerful is ideal. This Exotic is particularly effective when using the Bleak Watcher Aspect, as it helps give you new Stasis turrets (which use your grenade energy) to throw as often as possible. This combo becomes even more effective when you use tools like the Grenade Kickstart mod and the Whisper of Shards Fragment, as well as high Discipline stats from your armor.

To get it, you'll need to get a lucky Exotic drop or purchase it from Xur.

Crown of Tempests

This is basically the Stormcaller's version of the Nezarec's Sin, with two noticeable differences. Firstly, only Arc abilities can proc the ability regen effect; Arc weapons will not work like Void weapons do for the Nezarec's Sin. Secondly, the Crown of Tempests also allows you to extend the Stormtrance super's duration by getting kills with it. Overall, this is a stellar Exotic if you prefer playing as a Stormcaller instead of a Voidwalker or Dawnblade.

To obtain it, you need to get it via random Exotic drop or from a Xur purchase.

Ophidian Aspect

Warlocks don't have many good PvP Exotics, but the best one is, by far, Ophidian Aspect. It boosts your weapon reload speed permanently, allowing you to always have your weapons ready no matter when an enemy decides to attack you. Additionally, it also gives you a longer melee range, which can be advantageous if you want to start a melee duel by landing the first hit. This Exotic may not be flashy, but the huge boost it gives your neutral game is extremely valuable.

This Exotic can be obtained from random drops or from Xur whenever he sells it.

Geomag Stabilizers

The Warlock's Chaos Reach super is one of the better options for a general use high damage super that's great for both boss damage and clearing ads. The Geomag Stabilizers simply extend the duration of the super, allowing you to deal even more damage with it. This is incredibly beneficial in endgame PvE activities like Nightfalls where enemies like Champions tend to be tankier and may not die quickly.

This Exotic can drop randomly, but you can also buy it from Xur when he's selling it.

Your thoughts

What do you think of the list? What are some of your favorite Exotics, or Exotics that you consider to be the best? Let me know.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available for preorder now on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One consoles, and Windows 10 PCs for $40. The base game is free on all platforms, so if you haven't tried it out yet, I highly recommend doing so since it's one of the best Xbox One shooters available. If you do end up giving it a shot, don't miss my guide on how to get into Destiny 2 in 2021 for some tips, tricks, and important information.