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Destiny 2’s shotguns are no longer a default Crucible choice, but the best ones still pack a powerful punch.
Info on Melee damage & Super inquiries in Destiny (all should read) Please take note all the info here is straight from the Destiny strategy guide. Thus I am not making this stuff up everything is 'working as intended'. Sep 21, 2017 How To Use Mods In Destiny 2: Legendary, Armor, And Weapon Mods, Components Guide How do Destiny 2's mods work? Get the most of your weapon and armor mods with our quick guide. Apr 21, 2019 I was told earlier this week that Titans have lost the war in Melee damage to Hunters. So here it is. The ultimate Melee Damage for Titans. No melee has this level potency or damage. Because highly available one shot weapons came back, that's why. Each kind of Titan has a way to shoulder charge. If they did NOT one shot but shotguns were everywhere, they'd be 100% pointless and would really neuter those subclasses in PvP because they'd have 1 of their 4 perks be utterly useless. Massive Breakdown of Destiny 2 Mods. These are all of the Armor, Weapon, and Ship mods in Destiny 2. If we get other types of mods, I’ll add them in. A special thank you to Datto, FalloutPlays and Mercules for laying some of the groundwork that went into this. Notes for Using This Guide. Ctrl-F is your friend.
Shotguns are a favourite choice of agile, up-close types in Destiny 2, and under best conditions their damage output is high enough that they’re one shot kills.
Still, shotguns aren’t as deadly as they were in D1 – and for that we can probably be thankful; Destiny 2’s meta is much more varied as a result, although swords have arguably fallen into the gap left by shotguns. You can still have a pretty good time in PvE with shotties in Destiny 2, but precision and closing range is far more important, so be sure to get those barrels right up under the enemy’s chin before you expend your ammo.
In PvE, a shotgun is handy for quickly blasting majors or shielded enemies like Minotaurs – especially if you know what element you’ll be up against and can mod to match. You must carry a kinetic energy weapon with some range on it, though!
On this page, part of our Destiny 2 guide, we’ll run down the best shotguns for PvE and PvP. Combine this with our advice on the best armour attributes in Destiny 2 and our lists of armour sets and where to find them, and you have everything you need to craft a perfect Destiny 2 build.
The best shotgun on Destiny 2 really depends on how you want to use it and your skill with these unwieldy beasts, but if you try out those we recommend here we’re pretty sure you’ll find one you like.
Note that the opinions expressed here are derived from the state of the Destiny 2 PvP and PvE meta during Season 1 (September 2017 onwards). A major rebalance is expected when Season 2 begins, and we’ll update once the dust settles.
Let’s dive on into the best shotguns in Destiny 2. Windows how to open dmg.
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Best no-frills shotgun: Good Bone Structure
Good Bone Structure is the best shotgun in Destiny 2 if you only look at base attributes. With middle of the road impact and reload speed, it has better than average aim assist, range and stability; a comfortably-sized mag; and excellent handling. As a Precision paradigm shotgun its rate of fire is pretty low, although better than the Aggressive models, and it has no obvious weaknesses – unlike all the other members of its family. This all round upper tier average and its superb (for a shotgun) handling are what make it so beloved in Crucible and PvE despite its lack of interesting perks; it feels a lot like D1’s Chaperone, if that was your kick.
- “This one is a real looker.”
- View on Destiny Tracker: Good Bone Structure
- Found in: Gunsmith, Faction and random drop Legendary engrams
- Alternative: First in, Last Out is the popular alternative, but watch out for the low aim assist.
Best shotgun for massive damage: Somerled-D
If you’re just looking for a shotgun to deliver one almighty powerful hit, the Aggressive paradigm has you covered. There are three good choices in this family and we’re backing Somerled-D as the top pick because it’s the most user-friendly and customisable: you can tweak it to your preferred style of play, and you don’t need to be a pro player to make the most of it. Also, its Threat Detector trait makes it far more deadly when enemies are close by, which – well, it’s a shotgun, isn’t it? You can see why that makes it a great boomstick. The Trials of the Nine shotgun A Sudden Death has the same perk, but is far less flexible.
- “Heroes are not born, but made.”
- View on Destiny Tracker: Somerled-D
- Found in: Gunsmith engrams
- Alternative: Baligant is a Crucible favourite thanks to the Snapshot perk, but unless you’re a PvP hound who really makes use of that you’ll find it tricky to wield.
Best rapid-fire shotgun: Hawthorne’s Field-Forged Shotgun
There are three shotguns that could be called rapid fire and two of them have a full auto mode. Of this collection, Hawthorne’s Field-Forged Shotgun is our absolute favourite – provided you can pack a Power weapon recoil counterbalance mod if you’re going after small targets. Nothing in the shotgun category pumps out pellets faster than this common drop, which also boasts a very good reload speed and strong aim assist. As a lightweight shotgun it increases your movement speed, which is lovely, and it has some great perks to choose from to suit it to your playstyle and the job at hand. Its only major downside is the amount of time you’ll spend without ammo
- “What am I supposed to put here? ‘It’s a gun. Kill bad guys with it.'” – Suraya Hawthorne
- View on Destiny Tracker: Hawthorne’s Field-Forged Shotgun
- Found in: EDZ, Gunsmith, Faction and random drop Legendary engrams
- Alternative: Unification VII is the other full-auto shotgun and has better range, but lower aim assist.
Best Exotic shotgun: Legend of Acrius
It’s no wonder Legend of Acrius is so bloody hard to get: it’s an absolute beast across both PvE and PvP. Its rate of fire puts it in the Aggressive paradigm but it hits harder than any of its brethren and has whopping enormous range for a shotgun, with great stability and aim assist to boot. The recoil isn’t half bad, though the handling is a right pain and will take time to adjust to – but when you get it right it hits like an asteroid, and over-penetrates to boot. You only get four shots but you won’t need more. We love the Long March radar extension for tracking down enemies before they find us. Shut down supers. Mow down majors. Lovely.
- “In the Cabal legend, a hero seeks to possess the sun. He succeeds. Then, he becomes Emperor. The Cabal… are not a subtle people.” – Tyra Karn
- View on Destiny Tracker: Legend of Acrius
- Found in: On The Comms Leviathan Raid weapon quest
- Alternative: Tractor Cannon can be fun. Bring it to Distant Shore in Control mode and wait for someone to jump round the pillars, then blow them back off into space. Ha! Ha!
You may have your own pick for the best shotgun in Destiny 2. We’re prepared to hear your arguments.
Destiny 2 players can use mods to up their game. But which ones are worth keeping, and which ones should you dismantle for parts and try again?
Destiny 2 Melee Damage
As the levelling up and Power article in our Destiny 2 guide notes, mods are an important part of late game growth and Infusion. Getting hold of the rare +5 Attack and Defence mods, either in random drops or by the crafting facility available at Power 280 and up, is essential if you want to keep pushing without waiting on weekly Milestones.
But there are heaps of mods in Destiny 2 beyond the +5 Attack and Defence mods, and once you do have a full set of Power cap endgame gear you’ll want to swap out those Power boosting mods for something more useful. Which ones are worth holding onto, and which can you safely dismantle?
Arekkz has done some serious testing on mods to see how they actually affect your performance in Destiny 2. The video below explains his methodology and goes through his results, or you can read our full write-up below.
Grenade, melee and class ability cooldown mods
Turns out there’s no difference at all between the Rare and Legendary ability cooldown mods, which is surprising and a bit perplexing. Regardless of whether you pop a blue or a purple ability cooldown mod in, you’ll get the same result. So except for those +5 Power mods, which are only available in Legendary form, feel free to harvest all your Legendary mods for components.
The good news is these mods actually stack, so if you kit yourself out with more than one you can experience more profound effects. It seems that not all mods are available for every type of armour though, so you can’t, for example, put grenades on everything.
Additionally, you get diminishing returns by stacking mods. Arekkz found that one grenade mod reduced his cooldown by 8 seconds, while two reduced it by 14 – not 16. Testing this again with three class ability mods, he saw a similar pattern.
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In terms of raw numbers, you’ll see better results by mixing up ability mods. That’s not to say specific build goals may not choose to stack mods anyway, but if you just want general improvement across the board then one mod for each of the three abilities – with other slots reserved for different mods – may be the optimal result.
Destiny 2 Titan Melee Build
Weapon reload, recoil and handling mods
Just a heads up: in Destiny 2 “weapon handing” means how quickly the weapon readies after you swap weapons or sprint, as well as how quickly you move between hipfire and a down-the-sights view.
Destiny 2 Melee Dmg Shotgun Mod Guide
In terms of reload speed, the Kinetic weapon reload speed mod gave 2.1 secs to 1.8 secs, which adds up to a significant edge in clutch situations. The Energy weapon handling speed mod made a noticeable difference, but it’s not as dramatic as the reload speed mod.
![Melee Melee](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5d305ff8167165000ada3796/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
The recoil reduction mods for both categories made a noticeable difference to shot pattern, but will probably need to be tested on each individual weapon to see how effective it is. I’d recommend trying it if you have a weapon you love but struggle to keep stable; Arekkz reckons it’s not worth the loss of an ability mod.
Like the Kinetic weapon version, the Power weapon recoil mod was definitely worthwhile, as it increases DPS significantly. Once again the weapon handling mod made a more subtle difference; see the video for comparisons.
Mobility, Resilience and Recovery mods
The resilience, mobility and recovery mods are pretty straight forward and are of most use for min-maxing. That is, if you want to hit up an extreme of tankiness or agility, or you love your current build in all ways bar its speed or fragility, you can fill in a hole.
That said, armour stats already provide one way to customise these stats, so it’s important to think about whether you really need a mod to do it – or whether a weapon or ability mod might serve you better.
Conclusions
Depending on how you play, your mod choice can make a huge difference. In the Leviathan Raid, reload speed mods may be the best way to increase your DPS for boss fights. On an encounter-to-encounter basis in PvE, though, the grenade and melee mods will almost certainly increase your chances to deal out more damage, more often. A 2-2-1 set up, with two mods each on your two most used abilities and one free choice (Power weapon reload is very tasty), is probably optimal for most players.
In PvP, weapon reload and handling mods are more important than abilities, due to the focus on weapon skills over grenade and melee. That said, given how prevalent the Hunter’s dodge is in the Crucible meta right now, it might be worth thinking about that.