Shotguns in Destiny 2 are designed to be the fastest and most reliable option in close-quarter combat. They're a mostly frictionless weapon type that's designed to dish out fast damage to close targets, giving players a retort to enemies that encroach on their personal space.
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There are a lot of different Shotgun types to choose from, with behavioral differences in each archetype functioning to diversify the utility of each weapon. Below are many of Destiny 2's strongest shotguns, and while many great contenders are out there, this list will cover those that excel in various niches that shotguns find themselves in.
9 Legend Of Acrius
For Extreme Damage Output When Overcharged
- How to Acquire: Monument to Lost Lights
- Cost: One Exotic Cipher, 150,000 Glimmer, 240 Spoils of Conquest
- Element: Arc
- RPM: 55
Legend of Acrius is a niche pick, but it does considerable damage in certain instances, really showing off in activities with Overcharged Shotgun active. This weapon is a Heavy weapon, and deals extreme damage at the cost of being cumbersome and having poor ammo economy.
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The weapon is best thought of like an Arc Sword, with the caveat being that it does have the same add-clear flexibility that Swords have in lower difficulties. Players comfortable with getting up close and personal should experiment with this gun if they can, though it should be stated that it is quite a tedious grind to unlock, requiring Spoils of Conquest, which can only be obtained by completing Raid encounters.
8 Perfect Paradox
For Consistent Damage And Reloads
- How to Acquire: Episode 1: Echoes, Part 2 Completion
- Element: Kinetic
- Frame: Rapid Fire, 140 RPM
Perfect Paradox is like the IKELOS_SG series of weapons, but with less emphasis on add-clear, and more on single-target damage. This comes from its lack of perks like Voltshot, Incandescent, and Destabilizing Rounds, which help spread damage around, and its emphasis on reload perks that only require a single target to be useful.
These perks include Threat Remover, Slideshot, 
Field Prep, and Dual Loader, as well as its Origin Trait "Cast No Shadows," giving it a reload buff after melee kills. This allows the gun to more generally focus on damage uptime, though they can easily be replaced with Pugilist for players who want to utilize their powered melee more; especially given the potency of One-Two Punch.
7 Someday
For Ease-Of-Use And Burst Damage
- How to Acquire: The Pale Heart Drop
- Element: Kinetic
- Frame: Precision, 65 RPM
Someday is probably one of the easiest shotguns to acquire, and as a result, one of the largest 'power bumps' the game offers early on. New players who use Someday will immediately notice a difference between this weapon and the Shotguns that come from the World Loot pool. This weapon comes with decent perks, and packs an impressive punch in PvE. This is atypical of Precision frames, which are more commonly the stars of PvP.
This is thanks to perks like Recombination, which allows players to accrue up to 100% bonus damage on their next shot for getting kills with the games various elements, as well as perks like Lead From Gold or Threat Remover, which grant the ability to hold more ammo and allow for faster reloads respectively. This is just one roll however, and while the gun doesn't have Recombination or Auto-Loading Holster, there are more reload perks, as well as Cascade Point for players who want to make the gun more flexible between single-target and add-clear.
6 The Chaperone
For PvP Performance At Range
- How to Acquire: Blast From The Past or Tex Mechanica Tournament, Quest Archive
- Element: Kinetic
- RPM: 70
This was Destiny's first Slug Shotgun, and the weapon remains virtually identical compared to its original debut. 
The Chaperone is mobile and snappy, and a lot more forgiving than it lets on. This comes from its Aim Assist stat, which is at 70. This is unfathomably high, with only Heritage coming even close, allowing its bullets to better 'magnetize' to targets, and allowing for more forgiving shots. On top of this, scoring a precision kill grants more Handling to increase mobility, as well as Precision Damage and Range.
The lethality of The Chaperone is quite simple in that regard. It just has good stats that get even better when scoring headshot kills, and with range to challenge other Shotguns out of its range, it should be a go-to for those who think they can land their shots in PvP, which is the mode this weapon was primarily designed for.
5 IKELOS_SG_V1.0.3
For Flexibility Between Add-Clear And DPS
- How to Acquire: "Operation: Seraph's Shield" Exotic Mission
- Element: Solar
- Frame: Rapid-Fire, 140 RPM
The third iteration of this infamous Shotgun is a pretty powerful one, though thankfully not as busted as its debut version. The IKELOS_SG_V1.0.3 is designed for PvE, and does great single-target damage as well as good add-clear. Perks like Grave Robber, Subsistence, and 
Feeding Frenzy assist with Reload Speed, but in the same column, Pugilist allows players to build up 20% melee energy for every kill they get with the gun.
These perks can be paired with Cascade Point and Incandescent for creating breathing room in crowded situations, as well as One-Two Punch for single target damage, which grants 100%-150% melee damage depending on whether players can hit with all of their pellets, and which target they use the melee on. This, paired with the melee-energy-building properties of Pugilist, make the gun great for players trying to build up their close-quarters damage.
4 Matador 64
For Lethality In PvP
- How to Acquire: Grasp of Avarice Dungeon
- Element: ARC
- Frame: Precision, 65 RPM
Matador 64 is a classic shotgun from the first Destiny that was known for its outstanding performance in PvP, and it carries this legacy forward into Destiny 2. In a full-circle move, Matador 64 once again fuels the great Shotgun debates, featuring impressive perks and great baseline stats. The draw with Precision Frames in Destiny 2 PvP is that their pellet spread is in the shape of a tall oval, almost perfect for fighting humanoids.
This makes the gun type incredibly consistent to use, and takes some of the positioning skill out of the equation by making an archetype that relies more on tracing a target's lateral movement than filling up that reticle before slamming the trigger. There are some slight preferential differences when it comes to the best barrel and magazine combinations, but Opening Shot and any of the reloading perks is really all this gun needs to thrive.
3 Heritage
For Great Burst And Sustain Damage
- How to Acquire: Deep Stone Crypt Raid
- Element: Kinetic
- Frame: Pinpoint Slug, 70 RPM
Heritage is the Shotgun of choice for pure damage, and should be utilized by players that want to deal consistent damage over a long period of time. The only issue with this gun is that it really only has one good roll, Reconstruction and Recombination, with all other rolls being quite a few steps behind. This roll, however, is extremely powerful, allowing players to do serious burst and sustained DPS against targets.
Reconstruction allows the first bullet to do significant burst damage, enough to kill even minibosses on lower difficulties, and the rest of the bullets afterward plateau at a high enough output to be useful against bosses. The only issue with the weapon is that, as a Shotgun, players have to put themselves in more danger than other weapon types for it to be effective. This is true for all Shotguns though, and not all Shotguns can auto-load themselves to double mag capacity like Heritage can.
2 Tractor Cannon
For Debuffing Enemies And Providing Support
- How to Acquire: Xur, Exotic Engrams
- Element: Void
- RPM: 80
The 
Tractor Cannon is one of the few Shotguns in the game that uses Heavy Ammo, and has existed since the release of Destiny 2. The weapon functions almost like a small super, and can be used in practically every scenario. Its trait, 
Repulsor Force, pushes enemies back, and applies a debuff that makes them take 30% more damage for a short time. This is not only the same as the Hunter's Nightstalker super, but it also applies Suppression, which prevents targets from attacking for a few moments.
The up-time on this is amazing, and allows for constant debuffing, assisting both the user and their party in dispatching foes with haste. The only tradeoff is that Shotguns are much riskier to use than Sniper Rifles, as they require players to put yourself in the line of fire.
1 Conditional Finality
For Utility And Speed
- How to Acquire: Root of Nightmares Raid
- Element: Kinetic (Slot), Solar
- RPM: 55
A first in the franchise, Conditional Finality is a Raid double-barrel Shotgun, and on top of that, it is the first Shotgun to be able to fire multiple elements consecutively. It's first shot Freezes targets when "Landing nearly all..." Pellets, and Ignites targets when the same is done with its second Solar shot. This gives the gun a simple gameplay loop of freezing and exploding targets immediately after, which is pretty powerful.
In Grandmaster Nightfalls, the first Stasis shot can stun Unstoppable Champions, and in PvP it can freeze people in their super. This makes the gun incredibly good for stopping powerful enemies dead in their tracks before hopefully finishing them off. This gun is also incredibly maneuverable, with a Handling stat of 80, the same as The Chaperone, and a Reload stat of 66 that gets pushed further by 
Alloy Magazine. This makes the gun an incredibly fast weapon, helping Guardians stay aggressive and on the move.
Destiny 2
- Released
- August 28, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Bungie
- Expansions
- Destiny 2: Forsaken, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Destiny 2: Lightfall
- Platform(s)
- PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, Stadia
- Genre(s)
- FPS
