If you thought keeping track of Destiny 2‘s Exotic weapons was a pain, in comes the game’s ridiculously large list of Exotic armor pieces. Remember: each Guardian Class has its own unique Exotics, to boot! That’s where this Exotic armor tier list comes into the picture, though.
While some of us end up choosing to “main” a Guardian Class for the most part, others may wish to double or even triple-up on Destiny 2‘s content by multi-classing all day long. If you find yourself doing that, then the odds are good that keeping track of all the different Exotic armor pieces takes a fair bit of time. And that’s if you’re even coming up with your own builds to begin with, as many might just choose to stick with one particular Exotic that does one job particularly well.
That’s how it goes.
This article is designed to give you a broader overview of some of the must-have Exotic armor pieces for each of the three Guardian Classes in both PvE and PvP. We won’t highlight all of them for brevity’s sake, but you cannot go wrong with any of the items mentioned here.
Destiny 2 Titan Exotic armor tier list
Titans are the powerful front liners who excel at dishing out and taking damage from virtually any source. Their Exotics are usually all about pushing forward towards the enemy for terminal effect, which makes them an absolute pain to play against in PvP in particular. Here’s a short list of must-have top-tier Exotic Titan armor pieces.
Best Exotic Titan armor in PvE
Dunemarchers
The Dunemarchers are a huge boon for almost any playstyle’s natural game. They bolster your sprint speed, which builds up a static charge that can be dispensed with a melee attack. Doing so not only kills the enemy, but also chains Arc damage to all nearby enemies.
Heart of Inmost Light
Whenever you use an ability with the Heart of Inmost Light equipped, your two other abilities are empowered (i.e. faster regen, more damage, etc.).
Loreley Splendor Helm
This Exotic helm could make your Titan unkillable in some of its early iterations. Whenever you have the Sun Warrior perk active as a Sunbreaker, Loreley Splendor will make your Sunspots heal you. Further, when you’re wounded, a Sunspot spawns at your location.
Best Exotic Titan armor in PvP
Synthoceps
Though the Synthoceps works phenomenally well in PvE too, I find it most useful in PvP specifically. It massively increases your melee lunge range and improves melee and Super damage whenever you’re surrounded.
Peacekeepers
A huge upgrade for SMG-wielding CQB-oriented Titans, the Peacekeepers reload your towed sub-guns, improve your handling with them, and grant you better mobility. This all makes for a very aggressive forward-looking PvP build.
Eternal Warrior
The Eternal Warrior infamously gives Titans a powerful overshield whenever the Fists of Havoc Super is triggered. On top of that, Arc kills grant them an escalating damage bonus with Arc weapons.
Destiny 2 Hunter Exotic armor tier list
Hunters are hard-hitting tricksters that zip around the battlefield like it’s nobody’s business. With the abilities to see through walls, become invisible, or even turn into Warlock-adjacent area denial monstrosities, Hunters are not to be trifled with. Granted, their Exotic armor is more oriented towards PvE, which might come as a surprise to some.
Best Exotic Hunter armor in PvE
Star-Eater Scales
Star-Eater Scales give you more Super energy from picked up Orbs of Power, but also whenever your Super is full, picking up an Orb overcharges it. The kicker is that Star-Eaters work with any old Hunter Super, making this Exotic particularly important and versatile.
Omnioculus
How about invisibility on steroids? The Omnioculus grants you a second Smoke Bomb charge (which grants invisibility by default) and adds damage resistance to the effect. Further, whenever you make a Fireteam member invisible, they also get the resistance and you get bonus melee energy.
Assassin’s Cowl
A must-have for players focusing on melee and Finisher combat, Assassin’s Cowl grants you invisibility on both of these effects, as well as restoring a portion of your health and shields along the way. The hardier the target you finish off, the more resources you get.
Best Exotic Hunter armor in PvP
Lucky Pants
Lucky Pants are, possibly, the most powerful situational PvP Exotic Hunters currently have. They need to be combined with a solid Kinetic hand cannon (e.g. Malfeasance), or with a hand cannon that matches your equipped subclass. Each hit from that hand cannon buffs its next shot fairly substantially, on top of being able to draw and swap to it much faster.
Graviton Forfeit
Speaking of invisibility on steroids, Graviton Forfeit takes a different approach to the same job as Omnioculus. Except, it substantially buffs any pre-existing invisibility sources, which includes Exotic weapons and other abilities. An excellent passive choice for sweaty PvP matches.
St0mp-EE5
For those who just want to buff their neutral game, there’s no better choice than the St0mp-EE5 in PvP. This is a plain old (albeit fairly massive) boost to the Hunters’ sprint speed, slide distance, and jump agility whenever their Dodge ability is full.
Destiny 2 Warlock Exotic armor tier list
Warlocks are, somewhat unexpectedly, both versatile melee combatants and essential lifelines when the going gets tough. Most Fireteams take one on truly desperate missions, and that’s all thanks to the Warlocks’ immaculate Exotic armor choices. Here are a few notable must-haves for both PvE and PvP!
Best Exotic Warlock armor in PvE
Felwinter’s Helm
Felwinter’s Helm is fairly ridiculous in how potent it is. Powered melee kills create a powerful burst of energy that weakens nearby targets by a hefty 30%, making crowd control a breeze. Remember: for Warlocks, powered melee isn’t necessarily an actual melee attack.
Karnstein Armlets
Another melee-focused Exotic, the Karnstein restores a hefty chunk of health whenever you kill an enemy with any melee attack. The initial burst of healing is followed with some bonus over-health time, for good measure.
Sunbracers
A Solar Warlock with Sunbracers is the stuff of memes if we’re being honest. These Exotic gloves supercharge your Solar grenades by default, but also whenever you get a Solar melee kill, you get infinite Solar grenade energy for a short period of time. Ridiculous, right?
Best Exotic Warlock armor in PvP
Getaway Artist
The Warlock doesn’t have that many powerful and varied PvP Exotics, but the Getaway Artist almost makes up for that. It turns your Arc grenade charges into Arc drones that will happily provide support against anyone you come across.
The Stag
A support Warlock’s go-to choice in PvP, the Stag enhances your Rifts with damage reduction for all ally Guardians standing in it. When you’re critically wounded, you get a burst of Rift energy, and when you die, a healing rift spawns where you fell. Neat!
Transversive Steps
Another decent neutral game Exotic, the Transversive Steps increases your Warlock’s sprint speed and auto-reloads your equipped weapon after a short time sprinting. Not bad, but not particularly exciting, either.
Published: Oct 28, 2024 06:03 am