Summary

  • Season 16 of Destiny 2 from 2022 was the first to introduce craftable seasonal weapons—Risen/Psi-Ops gear.
  • The Risen weapons come with a unique Origin Trait known as Land Tank, which buffs the Resilience stat, making them some of the best craftable weapons around.
  • In 2023, players can earn Risen weapons by playing the Vox Obscura Exotic mission when it appears as a weekly Exotic mission to unlock Deepsight patterns for them.

After a season of extremely underwhelming seasonal weapons in Destiny 2, Bungie brought in a whole host of new tools of destruction that are already proving their worth with one common perk alone. The new Land Tank perk that boosts the player's resilience gives all of these seasonal weapons a ton of worth, regardless of their ranking on this list.

Destiny-2-Best-Raid-Exotics,-Ranked
Destiny 2: Best Raid Exotics, Ranked

Destiny 2's best exotics come through as rewards within their challenging raids.

To get these weapons, players simply had to play Psi-Ops Battlegrounds activities or purchase them from the H.E.L.M.'s War Table with materials. Here's which of the Risen weapons players should craft first in Destiny 2, and what their god rolls are.

Updated on October 4, 2023, by Anastasia Maillot: It has been over a year since Season of the Risen, or season 16 of Destiny 2, opened up the year of The Witch Queen for the game. It introduced craftable seasonal weapons, and the Psi-Ops gear continues to be some of the best seasonal craftable weapons the game has seen since then. For a while after Lightfall was introduced, Risen weapons were available only in limited ways through Xur or Banshee-44, but as of Season of the Witch, the Exotic mission rotator allows players to earn Deepsight weapons from the year of The Witch Queen. In order to earn Risen weapons in 2023 of Destiny 2, players need to wait for Vox Obscura to be the weekly Exotic mission. It has a chance to drop Deepsight versions of these weapons, but players who have Deepsight Harmonizers can also extract patterns from weapons without red borders. In light of all the meta changes for PVE (and to a degree, PVP), here are the best Season of the Risen/Psi-Ops battleground weapons in Destiny 2, ranked.

6 Sweet Sorrow

Destiny 2 Sweet Sorrow Auto Rifle
  • God Roll: Perpetual Motion & Demolitionist

Although auto rifles have certainly received improvements since the Risen weapons were first introduced, Sweet Sorrow's perk pool is its biggest weakness when compared to other craftable auto rifles. Rufus' Fury, for example, is a far better pick, as is the Ammit AR2.

The Arc auto rifle therefore earns its rightful spot at the bottom of the list. Out of its weaker perk pool that definitely could use something like Voltshot, Perpetual Motion and Demolitionist seem like the most solid combination for those who insist on choosing this auto rifle in PVE.

5 Under Your Skin

Destiny 2 Under Your Skin Combat Bow
  • God Roll: Archer's Tempo & Explosive Head

Under Your Skin is now one of several craftable bows in the game, and as such, it's nothing remarkable. Bows continue to be very niche in PVE, but depending on the seasonal artifact perks, they can be quite useful against champions or depending on an activity's overcharge weapons and surges.

Destiny-2-25-Best-Weapons-To-Craft-First
Destiny 2: 25 Best Weapons To Craft First

With Destiny 2 approaching the end of the Lightfall era, which weapons should players craft as soon as possible?

Under Your Skin is a Void bow, and it suffers from a long draw time due to being a Precision Frame one. That's why players should craft one with Archer's Tempo and pair it with Explosive Head for that extra AoE damage against hordes of enemies.

4 Recurrent Impact

Destiny 2 Recurrent Impact Machine Gun
  • God Roll: Subsistence & Frenzy

Recurrent Impact was quite a sight when it was first introduced, being one of the few Stasis heavy weapons in the game—and a machine gun at that. Now that machine guns have received substantial buffs and are a staple of clearing out hordes of enemies, it has lost a bit of its luster against other, better machine guns.

That said, it does have a decent perk pool that saves it from being completely irrelevant. While there are a few good combinations that can be argued for, Subsistence is fantastic even after its nerf to avoid reloading a heavy weapon. Frenzy further buffs reload, as well as increases damage substantially along with handling, so long as players are in combat.

3 Thoughtless

Destiny 2 Thoughtless Sniper Rifle
  • God Roll: Overflow & Firing Line

Snipers are set to receive more buffs before The Final Shape, so getting Thoughtless, the Stasis sniper rifle from Season of the Risen might be a good call for any PVE enthusiasts. That said, it does come with stiff competition in the form of Succession, a kinetic sniper rifle with the powerful Braytech Origin Trait from the Deep Stone Crypt raid.

Destiny 2 Ascendant Shard Guide
Destiny 2: How To Get Ascendant Shards

Gathering Ascendant Shards in Destiny 2 can be a difficult process, so use this guide for the best ways to locate the rare resource.

Those who can't access raids easily can simply complete Vox Obscura on its corresponding week to get their hands on Thoughtless' patterns instead. For perks, Overflow is excellent to avoid reloading such a sluggish weapon, and Firing Line boosts precision damage against enemies when allies are in close proximity.

2 Piece Of Mind

Destiny 2 Piece Of Mind Pulse Rifle
  • God Roll: Perpetual Motion & Moving Target

A kinetic slot pulse rifle, Piece of Mind saw great popularity in the PVP side of Destiny 2 when it first came out. While that might be less the case now, Piece of Mind remains a solid pick, even if pulse rifles are in a bit of a weak spot on the PVE side of matters.

Perpetual Motion and Moving Target is the best combination here, with the first perk buffing three stats in total while moving (handling, reload speed, and stability), while Moving Target lets players have better mobility with this weapon out and aiming down its sights. Alternative options for PVP would be Heating Up and for PVE Adrenaline Junkie.

1 Explosive Personality

Destiny 2 Explosive Personality Grenade Launcher

Grenade launchers are back and with a vengeance since The Witch Queen days, and Wave Frames are especially popular. The likes of Forbearance are dominating the scene, but for a Solar option, Explosive Personality is pure perfection.

Auto-Loading Holster is the must-have perk here, but the second perk option is where things get a bit more interesting, and where players can pick and choose depending on what their preference is. Disruption Break is fantastic, as it buffs any kinetic damage dealt on targets that have their shield broken by Explosive Personality. On the other hand, Frenzy just provides such a massive damage boost that it's hard to ignore it as a second potential option.

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Destiny 2
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Released
August 28, 2017
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Developer(s)
Bungie
Publisher(s)
Bungie
Genre(s)
FPS