Although players are focused on power leveling as much as possible before Destiny 2 launches its first raid, that is only one part of the equation. Being strong enough to deal and sustain high levels of damage is important, but weapon loadouts are worth considering as well.

No doubt every Destiny 2 player is thinking about which weapons to take in the raid, in each slot. They are also debating which exotic will be the best against the endgame challenge.

To that end, we’ve put together a list of the 5 exotic weapons we think will be the most useful in the Leviathan raid. Obviously there will be uses for a lot of different exotics, but we feel the below weapons will be the most effective.

5 1. Merciless (Fusion Rifle)

Fusion rifles are rarely considered powerful raid weapons, but this exotic fusion rifle is quite unique. With its exotic perk, Merciless fires consecutive shots that get faster and faster as long as the player does not kill its target.

For boss phases where players need to do a lot of damage in a short amount of time, Merciless could be one of the best exotic weapons since it can blow through 8 fusion shots in less than a minute.

4 2. Wardcliff Coil (Rocket Launcher)

Everyone in Destiny 2 is looking for the new Gjallarhorn, but while Wardcliff Coil (formerly known as Dubious Volley) is not nearly as powerful of an exotic rocket launcher, it is still very strong. Like Gjallarhorn, Wardcliff is great for clearing out large groups of enemies, firing all of its smaller rockets at once.

The other benefit to the exotic rocket launcher is that it reloads every time a player picks up Power Weapon ammo. So if you time your rocket shots right and make sure an elite is in the group, it should be possible to wipe out a lot of enemies in a short amount of time.

3 3. Borealis (Sniper Rifle)

This exotic sniper rifle is likely to be very useful in the raid (and in general) because players can swap its elemental damage simply by holding reload. For boss phases, it shouldn’t matter what damage the Borealis sniper is dealing; the focus is only on hitting as hard as possible.

But for times during the raid when tough enemies with elemental shields spawn, the sniper will come in handy. It’s especially useful since using the matching element to “pop” a shield creates an area of effect explosion that damages nearby enemies.

The only big drawback is that Borealis is a PlayStation exclusive, which means that Xbox and PC players will not have access to it until next year. Still, if you are on PS4 and have the sniper, it should make the trip into the raid.

2 4. Coldheart

Like many of the exotic weapons on this list, Coldheart should have solid utility in the raid because it can deliver sustained damage for a decent amount of time. Essentially, the weapon fires a concentrated beam of arc energy, which does more and more damage the longer it is fired.

More importantly, Coldheart is an easy to obtain exotic, available to any that pre-ordered the game ahead of time. Outside of major boss damage sections, we would argue that there are better options, but for the DPS phase we can see Coldheart being a favorite.

1 5. Riskrunner

Risk Runner should be good for sections that require clearing a large amount of enemies. Any time Risk Runner’s Arc Conductor perk is active, the submachine gun chains lightning between enemies and keeps refilling its ammo.

In a lot of ways, Risk Runner is the Destiny 2 equivalent of the Zhallo Supercell, a fast-firing weapon that can attack multiple enemies at a time and refills its ammo when the main perk is active. Admittedly, submachine guns are not the most accurate, but when a bunch of enemies are in your face, a little muzzle climb is hardly an issue.

Ultimately, players will find the loadout that suits them, but if these exotic weapons are available we highly recommend taking them along for the Leviathan raid. If past raids are any indication, there will be a variety of encounters to survive and conquer, and different types of weapons will come in handy depending on the situation.

Destiny 2 is out now for PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC release following on October 24th.