Summary
- Into the Light free expansion offers new PVE activity Onslaught & Lord Shaxx's BRAVE Arsenal weapons with refreshed perks.
- Players must complete attunement quests in Onslaught to farm specific weapons with increased drop chances.
- Not all weapons are available at once; veterans will rejoice in familiar powerhouse weapons with new perks.
As Destiny 2 players wait for the arrival of The Final Shape, Bungie has released Into the Light to tide everyone over in the meantime. Into the Light is a free expansion that includes a new PVE activity, Onslaught, which grants access to Lord Shaxx's special armory of "banned" weaponry: the BRAVE Arsenal. Many veteran players will recognize some of these powerhouse weapons that are making a comeback with slightly refreshed perk pools and features, as well as a new Origin Trait.
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In order to gain these weapons, players need to hop into Onslaught. Completing attunement quests for each weapon lets players attune to a specific weapon they would like to farm, increasing their drop chance from an Onslaught reward chest by 50%. Note that not all of these weapons will be available right out of the gates, and starting from April 9, Elsie's Rifle, Succession, Hung Jury, The Recluse, Falling Guillotine, and Edge Transit will be available to farm. April 16th will introduce The Mountaintop and Midnight Coup. On April 23rd, Hammerhead and Forbearance will be released, and April 30th will see Blast Furnace and Luna's Howl added.
Not all weapons pictured here have their BRAVE arsenal reskin. The article will be updated as more weapons are unlocked throughout Into the Light.
12 Blast Furnace
Kinetic Pulse Rifle
- God Roll: Kinetic Tremors & Firefly
Starting at the bottom of the ranking are archetypes that are seeing a bit less use in the game, generally speaking. Pulse rifles are not doing great, especially in the kinetic weapon slot, which is why Blast Furnace takes the bottom spot on the list.
Despite that, it still comes with commendable perk options. Kinetic Tremors is a nice way to add some AoE damage to a weapon archetype that is known for precision, single-target damage. Pair it up with Firefly, and it's a classic PVE roll for a scout.
11 Elsie's Rifle
Void Pulse Rifle
- God Roll: Repulsor Brace & Adrenaline Junkie
This Void pulse rifle has a decent perk pool, but like Blast Furnace, it suffers a little from its unpopular archetype. For PVE uses, it does have a few interesting choices for those who wish to pair it with their Void build.
Repulsor Brace and Adrenaline Junkie are looking particularly promising, though the Desperate Measures perk is also an interesting option for those who aren't big fans of Adrenaline Junkie.
10 Hung Jury SR4
Kinetic Scout Rifle
- God Roll: Kinetic Tremors & Firefly / Explosive Payload
A classic scout rifle that has been brought back through Nightfalls over and over again, Hung Jury is likely a weapon many will have already added to their collection. As always, with this archetype, the best is to go for something that adds a pinch of AoE damage.
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Kinetic Tremors is a nice option to pair with either Firefly or Explosive Payload, which are nearly interchangeable. It's hard to go wrong with Hung Jury in general, and despite its archetype, it's a weapon every guardian should have in their vault.
9 Midnight Coup
Kinetic Hand Cannon
- God Roll: Outlaw & Opening Shot
Hand cannons are starting to see a bit more love. For PVP, players can try Outlaw and Opening Shot as a classic pairing. Those who prefer using hand cannons in PVE also have a few options in the form of Firefly or Explosive Payload, and then Desperate Measures and Frenzy.
Out of the two hand cannons, Midnight Coup is probably going to be less PVE-friendly due to several great Exotic hand cannons outclassing it.
8 Luna's Howl
Solar Hand Cannon
- God Roll: Eye of the Storm & Opening Shot
Luna's Howl is the second-hand cannon in Shaxx's special arsenal, but unfortunately, its Magnificent Howl perk has been gutted, to say the least. While it will likely still be a decent perk pick for those who can work a bit harder for the kills, a safer option is always Eye of the Storm and Opening Shot.
For PVE hand cannon enjoyers, the only truly interesting perk here is Incandescent.
7 Succession
Kinetic Sniper Rifle
- God Roll: Reconstruction & Firing Line (if in fireteam) / Vorpal Weapon (if solo)
Succession is a fantastic sniper rifle originally from the Deep Stone Crypt raid. Now, anyone can get their hands on it through Onslaught. It pairs well with a lot of boss DPS combination builds in PVE, so having a solid roll for the sniper is a must.
Reconstruction is a no-brainer for the first perk, and then depending on the activity, players should either pick Firing Line or Vorpal Weapon.
6 Falling Guillotine
Void Sword
- God Roll: Relentless Strikes & Whirlwind Blade
With Crota properly back in the game as a boss, swords are back on the menu. For those who don't yet have The Lament, or who simply enjoy using swords for damaging tankier enemies and clearing ads, Falling Guillotine is a solid, must-have PVE weapon in an archetype that barely offers anything to gameplay.
The classic perk combination is still the same old: Relentless Strikes and Whirlwind Blade.
5 Edge Transit
Void Heavy Grenade Launcher
- God Roll: Cascade Point & Bait and Switch
Bungie has been teasing players with increasingly more powerful and promising heavy grenade launchers since before Lightfall, but nothing substantial has really come out of it—yet. Edge Transit does show some promise, as it can roll with Cascade Point and Bait and Switch.
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Even better if players get extremely fortunate and earn a roll that contains both Cascade Point and Envious Assassin in the same column. Definitely one of the top contenders among all the weapons here, but will be ranked a bit lower for now as the meta still stays in favor of rocket launchers.
4 Hammerhead
Void Machine Gun
- God Roll: Rewind Rounds & Killing Tally
Commemoration is finally getting some proper competition in the form of a reborn Hammerhead. Machine guns are doing really well in terms of ad-clearing, so those who haven't been able to get their hands on the Deep Stone Crypt machine gun can simply farm a Hammerhead instead.
Rewind Rounds is a great choice here to avoid reloading a heavy weapon, paired with the classic Killing Tally perk that increases damage with each slain target—perfect for ad-clearing weapons.
3 The Mountaintop
Kinetic Grenade Launcher
- God Roll: Ambitious Assassin & One For All
The legendary kinetic grenade launcher finally makes its return in May. It's also one of the toughest weapons to rank on this list, mainly because of how good its entire perk pool is. Almost any and all combination here will work wonders for PVE players.
Here, the recommended combination is Ambitious Assassin and One For All. Ambitious Assassin is fantastic as it loads two shots into the magazine, giving players more bang for their buck. Alternatively, Auto-Loading Holster is also an option, but more of a preference question. One For All is an incredible perk that buffs damage by 35% when players hit 3 separate enemies in 3 seconds, which is extremely easy with a grenade launcher. It may not be the most appealing perk, but it's definitely worth trying. Otherwise, Recombination is a decent choice as well.