Submachine guns are not the most popular choice right now in Destiny 2, but they are powerful regardless in both PVE and PVP. In fact, some of the top-tier weapons in the game are SMGs that are considered staples for any player to have in their vault, so this weapon archetype is nothing to scoff at, even players prefer to play at longer range.

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SMG gameplay is usually limited by its short range, as well as (in some cases) small magazine size. This means that players will want to find SMGs with perks that increase range or provide powerful buffs from kills, such as better stability or ability regeneration. Here are some of the best submachine guns Destiny 2 players can get, as well as some suggestions for great perks, and where to find these weapons.

Updated on November 5, 2022, by Anastasia Maillot: Submachine guns are in a good spot in season 18, both in PVE and PVP of Destiny 2. Although they are limited when it comes to their range, many of Destiny 2's SMGs have excellent perk pools, which make them desirable weapons for a variety of builds. In season 18's PVP meta, for example, Funnelweb is one of the top weapons in Trials of Osiris matches. Arc weapons like Out of Bounds have also received some attention from the community, and the Calus Mini-Tool continues to be an absolute powerhouse of a Legendary SMG in most Solar PVE builds. Here's what Destiny 2's best SMGs are, as of Season of the Plunder.

12 Forensic Nightmare

• How To Get: Throne World chests and The Witch Queen campaign
• Best Perks: Grave Robber or Perpetual motion, with Headstone, Swashbuckler or Kill Clip

This craftable Stasis SMG can be found in the Kinetic slot and is a great SMG option for any PVE builds that require players to have a Stasis primary. It may not be the strongest SMG on this list or even overall in the game, but the fact that it does come with Stasis damage and can be crafted put Forensic Nightmare into a relatively good spot.

Players will first need to unlock patterns for this Throne World weapon, after which it can be crafted and then leveled. It's highly recommended to go for the Enhanced Perks to really get maximum value out of this weapon. Headstone is easily one of the coolest perks for this SMG and has good synergy with a lot of Stasis-centric builds.

11 Pizzicato-22

• How To Get: Legendary Engrams and rewarded by vendors
• Best Perks: Perpetual Motion paired with Threat Detector, Swashbuckler, or Demolitionist (some builds benefit from Osmosis)

New in season 18, Pizzicato-22 is a weapon that can be acquired as a world drop from Legendary engrams and is also sometimes a reward from various vendors around the Tower when ranking them up. The Suros SMG has a commendable pool of perks for players to choose from, and it's also a Kinetic SMG which makes it even more appealing, as it leaves the Energy weapon slot open for possibilities.

Aside from the nice, typical SMG perks like Threat Detector and Swashbuckler, Pizzicato-22 also comes with Osmosis. This means that it can become an Energy weapon for any subclass the player currently has equipped and therefore has great synergy with many of the 3.0 elemental subclass builds for PVE.

10 Out Of Bounds

• How To Get: Crucible reward from Lord Shaxx and completed matches
• Best Perks: Threat Detector or Demolitionist paired with Golden Tricorn, Adrenaline Junkie, Swashbuckler or Surrounded

For Arc 3.0 in particular, players should keep an eye out for Out of Bounds, an SMG with a lot of promise. It's an Arc SMG in the Energy weapon slot, and its perk pool is one of the deepest in the entire game, so there are a lot of chances to get a decent roll for PVE in particular.

Threat Detector and Demolitionist are both fantastic choices in the first perk slot, and the second slot has up to four options that stand out, all ideal for PVE builds that rely on regenerating ability energy and increasing spammy, ability-focused gameplay. It's an incredible weapon of choice for any Arc 3.0 builds for players who prefer to play up close and personal rather than plinking at enemies from afar with a pulse rifle or a scout rifle like the Tarnished Mettle.

9 Calus Mini-Tool

• How To Get: Opulent Chests and Crown of Sorrow
• Best Perks: Incandescent, with almost any perk of choice, like Unrelenting and Grave Robber

Despite Incandescent receiving a slight nerf with Solstice 2022, the Calus Mini-Tool with Enhanced Incandescent can still be a fantastic weapon if players have a build with the Ember of Ashes fragment applied, which increases the Scorch stacks it applies effectively. The Calus Mini-Tool is a returning Opulent Weapon that players can now craft with their favorite perks and level it up to level 16 to unlock the powerful Enhanced perks.

Since Solar 3.0 is so powerful, Calus Mini-Tool pairs excellently with it thanks to its enhanced Incandescent when crafted. It can become a beastly addition to any Solar 3.0 builds, with the ability to ad-clear quite efficiently, despite being an SMG. Although it's the very first entry on this list, that shouldn't be interpreted as it being weak. For any PVE enthusiasts, it's a holy grail they should have in their vaults, preferably crafted.

8 Multimach CCX

• How To Get: Iron Banner rewards (last available during Season of the Risen)
• Best Perks: Killing Wind and Kill Clip or Iron Reach

The Multimach CCX is another weapon that currently isn't available, but will likely return next season as part of the Iron Banner rewards. This submachine gun was, however, recently available during Season of the Risen as an Iron Banner reward, so again, it's very likely that some players will have one lying around in their vault somewhere if they haven't dismantled everything.

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This SMG is in the Kinetic slot, and it has some potentially interesting PVP rolls that those who like to play up close and personal will enjoy. Killing Wind with Kill Clip is a classic and good choice, but there are a few other perks to look at as well like Quickdraw and Iron Reach. The latter perk is an absolute must-have for PVP in particular, where long-range weapons currently reign supreme. For PVE, there are better options out there, but if players do need a Legendary Kinetic SMG, they can go for Subsistence and Unrelenting.

7 Tarrabah

• How To Get: Purchased from the Monument to Lost Lights Exotic Kiosk

For players who believe that SMGs are incapable of dealing good damage, the Tarrabah Exotic SMG is proof that this is simply not true. Once an Exotic drop from the Crown of Sorrow raid, the Tarrabah can now be found at the Exotic Kiosk at the Tower and purchased for enough Glimmer, an Exotic, Cipher, and other materials.

The Tarrabah stores damage into it in the form of Ravenous Beast. Once this is full, players can unleash the beast by shooting with additional damage, and the duration of this is extended if players continue to shoot with the SMG. This Solar Exotic can do well in PVE as well given that season 17 is the perfect season for Solar weapons, but in the long run, it performs best in PVP provided that players can stay alive and store power in the weapon. It's a great choice for Crucible players looking to fill an Exotic slot in their build.

6 Unforgiven

• How To Get: Duality dungeon rewards
• Best Perks: Demolitionist paired with either Golden Tricorn or Frenzy

The new Duality dungeon gave players some extremely fancy-looking weapons, including the Unforgiven SMG. Given its Void element, it pairs magnificently with any Void builds that players might have following the release of Void 3.0 in season 16, though it will never beat Funnelweb due to its slightly inferior stats.

Its main advantage, however, over the rest of the Legendary SMGs, is its unique Origin Trait called Bitterspite. When players take damage while this weapon is equipped, they will reload the Unforgiven faster. This means that it's ideal for PVE purposes but will likely fall short on the PVP side of things. Those who have yet to find a good Funnelweb might want to keep a good roll of this weapon around in their vaults for now.

5 Riskrunner

• How To Get: Exotic mission from Banshee for New Lights

One of the oldest Exotic weapons in Destiny 2, the Riskrunner Exotic SMG is one of those weapons that won't leave the player disappointed. Even when the meta doesn't necessarily favor it, the Riskrunner can still be viable in some niche PVE circumstances, if the player absolutely wishes to use it. In particular, it will benefit from any activities where Arc burn is one of the modifiers, but in PVP, it won't see much use.

The reason for its utility in Arc burn activities is that incoming Arc damage will actually charge up the Riskrunner and provide Arc resistance to the player while empowering the weapon. While this Arc Conductor buff is up, players also have a chance of triggering the Superconductor perk, which creates chain lightning when shooting with this weapon and returns ammo into the magazine. For Arc 3.0, Riskrunner might suddenly become the next best thing.

4 Shayura's Wrath

• How To Get: Trials of Osiris
• Best Perks: Heating Up or Killing Wind, paired with Kill Clip or Snapshot Sights

This Void SMG, Shayura's Wrath, is one of the many weapons players have a chance of receiving as a reward for completing games and challenges in the Trials of Osiris. Given how this game mode can be daunting for many players, this SMG might feel a bit unattainable for some. However, players only need to win rounds in order to gain access to Trials engrams and focusing at Saint-14 over in the Tower Hangar.

Shayura's Wrath is a PVP favorite. Although other weapon archetypes might currently outclass it, it remains extremely powerful in the right hands, given the right perks as well. There are a few options that Crucible players can play around with, with Kill Clip being a must-have. Those not afraid of challenging themselves in Trials should spend a bit of time and grind for this weapon, and potentially its Adept version as well, which is available during its respective week at the Lighthouse after going Flawless.

3 Submission

• How To Get: Vow of the Disciple raid
• Best Perks: Substisence or Encore, paired with Frenzy, Thresh, or Demolitionist

The Vow of the Disciple raid comes with an SMG, called Submission. This is actually one of the most interesting SMGs in Destiny 2, mainly due to the number of fantastic perks it can roll with. Moreover, players don't even need to wait for the perfect roll, since unlocking Submission's pattern five times allows players to craft one themselves, level it, and gain access to even better Enhanced Perks at level 16.

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Submission definitely is more of a PVE SMG, but it's possible to make it work in PVP as well if the player is confident. Perpetual Motion and Swashbuckler can work wonderfully for PVP, for example. Players looking to use this in PVE, however, have a ton of options between Subsistence and Encore, and even Thresh, which helps with Super energy regeneration. The downside is that it's a Kinetic weapon, so it won't necessarily play well into Elemental builds.

2 Funnelweb

• How To Get: Legendary Engrams
• Best Perks: Subsistence, paired with Frenzy or Adrenaline Junkie

When Void 3.0 came out earlier in 2022, Funnelweb quickly rocketed into spot number one of the best primary weapons available. There are many advantages to the Funnelweb, but its main strength is the fact that it's so easy to access for most players. There's no need to buy expansions or dungeons to get one of the best SMGs in the game, and that's the real beauty of this Void SMG, which comes with a whole host of great rolls.

Funnelweb pairs best with any Void 3.0 builds, provided it has some of the ideal perks listed above, with Subsistence being an absolute must-have. The second column can take either Frenzy or alternatively Adrenaline Junkie–this largely depends on what the player themselves prefers, but Subsistence-Frenzy is considered the original godroll when Void 3.0 first came out. The downside of Legendary weapons like this one is the fact that players will be grinding for them for a while due to being subject to RNG.

1 Osteo Striga

• How To Get: Complete The Witch Queen campaign

The Witch Queen expansion introduced players to weapon crafting, and that also includes Exotic weapons. One of the first Exotics that players have access to is the Osteo Striga SMG, which is extremely unique due to it firing projectiles thanks to its Screaming Swarm perk. These projectiles were actually godsent for PVE, where SMGs are one of the options to stun Overload champions, and Osteo Striga made that simple task even more reliable than before.

That said, it also excelled, and still does to a degree, in PVP. Though, for it to really be effective, players will need to level the Exotic SMG to level 16 to unlock its catalyst. Final blows with the Osteo Striga creates a poisonous burst, the spread of which is improved once its catalyst is unlocked as well. This makes it a solid choice for ad-clearing one fully Masterworked, but it can also be a menace in PVP against teams that like to stick together a bit too much.

Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia.

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