.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
A wide range of new weapons has been introduced in The Witch Queen expansion of Destiny 2, as well as its accompanying Season 16 seasonal content. Players have been busy trying to come up with cool new builds around the Void 3.0 changes, which has completely refreshed the last six months of meta.
With the current meta still somewhat of a question mark, there are favorites among players that have emerged. This list will only reflect the selection of weapons early into the season and will be updated as the season progresses to give a more accurate ranking. The highlighted perks include only the last two changing perks of each weapon and are just examples of powerful perks. For now, here are the best new weapons in Destiny 2's Witch Queen expansion
10 Ogma PR6
- Type: Pulse Rifle
- Perks: Heating Up, Dragonfly
Omolon's Ogma PR6 is a Solar primary pulse rifle that players can slot into their Energy weapon slot. It's a surprisingly smooth weapon that really benefits from that Omolon Fluid Dynamics foundry perk, which gives a reload and stability stat boost for the first half of the magazine.
There are a few really solid perks for the Ogma PR6, but players should try ones with Heating Up or Dragonfly. It's definitely more of a PVE-oriented gun, though some perks like Turnabout (Guardians with their Supers active killed with this weapon grant the shooter overshield) will work surprisingly well in PVP as well.
9 Syncopation-53
- Type: Pulse Rifle
- Perks: Outlaw, Rangefinder, Headstone, Headseeker, Moving Target
Suros' new pulse rifle Syncopation-53 is a Stasis weapon found in the Kinetic weapon slot. Stasis weapons are in abundance this season and are fantastic for any Stasis builds that can still hold a candle to the Void 3.0 builds.
It also works wonderfully in PVP, with powerful perks like Headstone, Outlaw, and Rangefinder making this a nice budget option for players who haven't got their hands on the Messenger or other higher-end pulse rifles. The Suros Synergy foundry perk is also a nice bonus, as it gives players better handling and reduces flinching after reloading the weapon.
8 Under Your Skin
- Type: Combat Bow
- Perks: Archer's Tempo, Successful Warm-Up, Explosive Head
Bows are one of the anti-barrier weapons for this season, and while they might feel awkward to use, Under Your Skin is actually a very solid choice for players. This weapon is seasonal and comes with the Land Tank perk, which increases resilience after getting final blows with it, making it fantastic in more challenging PVE activities.
Some perks to look out for this bow are Successful Warm-Up and Archer's Tempo. Both perks boost draw and charge time, with one perk rewarding final blows and one precision hits. These are great perks because they essentially fix what is often the weakness with bows: their slowness. It's also a Void bow, which means it slots in nicely into any Void 3.0 build.
7 Snorri FR5
- Type: Fusion Rifle
- Perks: Heating Up, Successful Warm-Up, Reservoir Burst, High Impact Reserves
Fusion rifle meta might be long gone, but the Snorri FR5 is making a lot of fusion rifle enthusiasts wish it had been around last season. It comes with the Omolon Fluid Dynamics foundry perk, which means reload speed and stability for the top half of the magazine is better.
Depending on what activity players prefer, they can go for Liquid Coils for better damage but slower charge time, or Accelerated Coils for a faster charge but lower damage. Reservoir Burst is a nice add-on to any explosive Void build, as Snorri FR5 is above all a Void fusion rifle. The recoil is very small, vertical, and controlled, so it can even work fantastically in PVP.
6 Palmyra-B
- Type: Rocket Launcher
- Perks: Auto-Loading Holster, Impulse Amplifier, Lasting Impression
Rocket launchers are a good boss damage source this season, provided one fireteam member has the Gjallarhorn. It's mainly thanks to Gjally that the new Palmyra-B rocket launcher even ranks this high on the list since it's one of the best Legendaries to pair with it.
It's a Stasis rocket launcher in the Heavy slot, and with the right perks can deal some serious damage. Players should look for Impulse Amplifier and Lasting Impression for better blast radius and rocket speed, though Explosive Light is also a valid perk. The auto-loading holster makes DPS-heavy boss fights significantly easier, too.
5 Glaives
- Type: Blade and Projectile Launcher
- Perks: N/A
Glaives have a special spot on this list. This new unique first-person melee weapon with projectile damage and a shield built into it is the jack-of-all-trades. Given all the seasonal artifact mods that also make glaives ridiculously powerful, it's hard to imagine playing Destiny 2 in season 16 without a glaive.
The good part about glaives is that the perks don't matter that much, because glaives acquire their power from their innate Psychohack perk, which makes enemies do less damage when hit by the glaive. They also get significant power from the Suppressive Glaive seasonal mod, which lets them turn enemies completely useless by preventing them from using their abilities.
Players can go wild when crafting their own first glaive, and each Exotic glaive for the three classes also comes with some powerful perks like shielding, damage, and healing.
4 Collective Obligation
- Type: Pulse Rifle
- Perks: N/A
The new Vow of the Disciple raid has been released, and after a grueling fight to defeat Rhulk, players have the chance to receive the new Exotic pulse rifle, Collective Obligation. This Void pulse rifle slots into the Energy weapon slot, and is showing a ton of promise for season 16.
The pulse rifle is essentially able to leech and store any Void debuffs applied on its targets (volatile, suppressed, or weakened), and then release them all at once on the enemy by switching into its secondary firing more, reapplying these debuffs. This means it could potentially be an endgame weapon that can reapply debuffs once players have used their cooldowns. That said, it doesn't earn a higher spot on this list just yet as it seems niche and unique to this season only.
3 Funnelweb
- Type: Submachine Gun
- Perks: Feeding Frenzy, Frenzy, Adrenaline Junkie
Funnelweb is another weapon that might only be good because of this season's Void 3.0 changes. This Veist foundry SMG is an absolute beast and is the go-to for most players when it comes to a primary weapon for their Void builds. It has quickly become a staple for many players.
To get the most out of it, players need to look out for perks like Frenzy, Feeding Frenzy, and Adrenaline Junkie. These perks will work the best when paired with the Volatile Overflow seasonal mod and Void weapon damage boost.
2 Parasite
- Type: Grenade Launcher
- Perks: N/A
Once more, the guardians have turned an actual "god" into a weapon: the Parasite. Following a long quest with Mara Sov, players will be able to turn Savathun's worm into a deadly grenade launcher with the ability to annihilate ads and bosses alike.
The reason why the Parasite ranks higher than some other more "meta" weapons is because it isn't reliant on Void to be good, though Void buffs will certainly aid its damage output. The Parasite stores each kill with other weapons into a maximum 20 stacks of Worm's Hunger, which can be released in a deadly blast of damage. Splash damage on the shooter themselves will give them the Worm By-Product buff, which also boosts their damage.
1 Osteo Striga
- Type: Submachine Gun
- Perks: N/A
This SMG has quickly risen to be a favorite among casual players and streamers alike in both PVP and PVE. The Osteo Striga is a unique Exotic SMG that players can craft at the Enclave after completing the Witch Queen campaign. The only catch is that players need to have purchased the Deluxe Edition of the new expansion.
Osteo Striga needs to then be leveled before some of its interchangeable perks can be chosen. These are very much player-dependent, and even without being leveled, this SMG is an absolute beast as it fires projectiles that can burst into a poisonous area of effect cloud when hitting a final blow or several precision hits.
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.