Seasonal releases are a core part of Destiny 2 since Forsaken released. Every 3 months, Bungie releases a content update that adds new loot and balance changes for players to experiment with. Of course, these changes can drastically shift the meta of a particular season.
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep made dramatic changes to the weapon sandbox by nerfing damage perks excluding The Recluse's Master of Arms, resulting in that weapon dominating the meta. Sidearms were then buffed in Season of Dawn, so those shaped the meta. Now, Season of the Worthy has made many changes for PvP balance with the reintroduction of Trials of Osiris, again changing the meta-defining weapons this season. Here are 5 defining weapons in Destiny 2's Season of the Worthy, alongside 5 weapons that are now subpar.
10 Defining: The Fourth Horseman
The Fourth Horseman had a cult following in the original Destiny, capable of slaying most Majors in a split second. It has returned in Season of the Worthy in Destiny 2, and it's better than ever.
This Exotic Shotgun fires 4 shots near-instantly and scales its damage with every successive shot. Its Masterwork increases the magazine to 5 shots, increasing its damage per second dramatically. Builds that utilize auto-reloading well such as Hunter dodges or Sealed Ahamkara Grasps have turned this into a devastating boss-slaying machine in PvE content.
9 Terrible: Bows
Bows aren't bad. These weapons deal considerable damage with each arrow, but their damage against groups leaves a lot to be desired. That is why last season's artifact was so beloved amongst Bow enthusiasts.
During Season of Dawn, Bows could equip anti-Champion mods to be viable in endgame PvE content. Unknown to many, these anti-Champion mods gave Bows an Explosive Head-like effect with each shot, clearing groups of enemies with a well-placed shot. With the mod's removal in Season of the Worthy, the explosive damage that mod granted is now gone. It would have been fantastic with this season's Iron Banner Bow as well.
8 Defining: Xenophage
When Shadowkeep first launched, many laughed at how terrible Xenophage was. Its damage was lower than most Special weapons with little upside. Thankfully, Bungie buffed it into the monster it is today.
Xenophage has since been a staple Heavy weapon for many, but this season upped the ante even further. With the introduction of Warmind Cells and the Wrath of Rasputin mod, Xenophage can now spawn Warmind Cells on kill to clear entire rooms full of enemies with a single shot. Now, Xenophage has some of the best boss damage and group-clearing potential out of any gun in Destiny 2.
7 Terrible: The Last Word
The Last Word dominated Crucible since it released during Black Armory last year. With Trials of Osiris returning in Season of the Worthy, it was no surprise that Bungie would nerf this weapon.
No one expected the nerfs to be so extreme, though. Its damage falloff, along with most Hand Cannons, was set to punish medium-range gunfights. On top of that change, The Last Word saw its recoil increase for Mouse and Keyboard users to make landing hip-fire shots even harder. After all of these changes, this weapon is rarely seen in Crucible excluding short-range maps.
6 Defining: Sunshot
Destiny 2 certainly got many things wrong at launch, but one thing it got perfect was the new selection of Exotic weapons. Riskrunner, Wardcliff Coil, and Sunshot are all fantastic weapons to this day thanks to their unique and powerful perks.
Sunshot was forgotten by most until Season of the Worthy launched. With it, new mods released that allowed Solar weapons to spawn Warmind Cells to suppress targets or clear out waves of enemies. Since Sunshot deals Solar damage and has an obsession with explosions, it became a perfect catalyst to spawn Warmind Cells. As a result, this weapon has seen much more use in PvE activities and will likely continue to until Warmind Cells get retired.
5 Terrible: Fusion Rifles
Erentil FR4 was undoubtedly one of the strongest Special weapons for Crucible in the game. Its ability to roll with Under Pressure made the weapon compete with Sniper Rifles for effective range.
Bungie has since nerfed Fusions in a multitude of ways. The largest two nerfs were the damage decrease Fusions receive while Backup Plan is active and allowing their damage to floor at 0.5x damage instead of 0.75x. Fusions are seldomly used now thanks to these changes, effectively gutting Erentil and weapons like it. As for PvE, these weapons weren't good to begin with, excluding Bastion and Telesto.
4 Defining: Swords
Swords have been lackluster in Destiny 2 for a long time. These weapons lacked the damage of most Heavy weapons until the Annual Pass seasons introduced some powerful Swords. Even then, they were rarely used compared to Grenade Launchers and Machine Guns.
Season of the Worthy has overhauled Swords to be much stronger than before. Light attacks can now chain indefinitely and blocking is now a viable strategy. Combined with this season's Artifact mods, Swords have taken the Heavy slot by storm in the loadouts of many.
3 Terrible: Izanagi's Burden
It wasn't long ago when Izanagi's Burden was considered one of the best weapons in Destiny 2. All it took were a few changes to make this weapon obsolete in the eyes of many.
Izanagi's Burden had Outlaw removed and replaced with No Distractions. Honed Edge reloads also don't benefit from reload buffs, and this weapon was also affected by the Sniper Rifle damage nerfs released this season. All of these nerfs add up to a weapon that is solid at instantly-killing Majors and nothing else. Other Specials and Heavy weapons can do the same, hence why this weapon sees little use.
2 Defining: Auto Rifles
Destiny's Crucible has come full circle. Year 1 of the original Destiny was dominated by Auto Rifles like SUROS Regime. With the buff to Auto Rifles in Season of the Worthy, now Destiny 2's Crucible is filled with players using SUROS Regime and Hardlight.
No Primary weapon type comes close to Autos in terms of lethality and forgiveness. Autos can kill targets in under a second without constant headshots or landing every bullet. They lack the downtime that Hand Cannons and Bows have, hence why they feel so powerful. Hopefully, Bungie buffs other weapons up to the level of Auto Rifles instead of undoing the buffs Auto Rifles received this season.
1 Terrible: Sniper Rifles
Fans were overjoyed when Bungie buffed Sniper Rifles across the board in Shadowkeep. For whatever reason, Bungie was dissatisfied with the community using Snipers in PvE content so they undid those buffs in Season of the Worthy.
To no one's surprise, Sniper Rifles aren't used in PvE much anymore. The 20% damage nerf across the board on top of archetype nerfs suited for PvP made this class of weapon obsolete when compared to Grenade Launchers like The Mountaintop. It was a change no one wanted and resulted in the death of an entire class of weapon for PvE content.