Do not waste your time in Destiny 2‘s Trials of Osiris with weapons that stand no chance against the meta load-outs that have proven their worth in the Season of the Worthy. Here is an updated list of the top 10 best weapons for Trials, according to statistics taken of the total kills made by each weapon in the first week of Trials, as reported on Friday, March 20th, before the start of the second week of Trials.
In addition to kill count, this guide includes each weapon’s Intrinsic perk, which is guaranteed to roll on the weapon it corresponds to. The Legendary Traits listed, however, are not guaranteed, but represent a part of each weapon’s curated roll. Therefore, do not expect each of these weapons to roll with the Legendary Traits provided. That said, here are the best weapons based on kill counts from last week’s Trials of Osiris.
10. Dire Promise: 528,635 kills
- Legendary Kinetic Hand Cannon
- Exotic Intrinsic – Lightweight Frame: Superb handling. Move faster with this weapon equipped.
- Legendary Trait – Triple Tap: Rapidly landing precision hits will return 1 round to the magazine.
While this hand cannon looks pretty unassuming, it surpassed Jötunn in Trials kills in the first week, effectively pushing the crazy powerful fusion rifle off of this list. Just let that sink in for a moment.
9. Not Forgotten: 989,367 kills
- Legendary Solar Hand Cannon
- Exotic Intrinsic – Precision Frame: Recoil pattern on this weapon is more predictably vertical. Fires quickly with high accuracy.
- Legendary Trait – Magnificent Howl: Rapidly landing two precision shots increases the next shot’s damage and range for a short duration.
Not Forgotten is an excellent choice for those players who want to use a killer hand cannon but need to save their kinetic slot for weapons such as SUROS Regime or Revoker. It’s accurate, powerful, and fast, which makes it an attractive option.
8. Thorn: 1,041,197 kills
- Exotic Kinetic Hand Cannon
- Basic Intrinsic – Mark of the Devourer: Rounds pierce targets and deal damage over time. Kills with this weapon leave behind Remnants.
- Legendary Trait – Soul Devourer: Absorbing a Remnant strengthens Mark of the Devourer and partially refills the magazine.
Thorn is one sharp hand cannon, and not just in looks or name. It has been a favorite in PvP and PvE alike since Destiny 1, and there’s no sign of that changing any time soon.
7. Dust Rock Blues: 1,217,273 kills
- Legendary Kinetic Shotgun
- Exotic Intrinsic – Precision Frame: This weapon’s recoil pattern is more predictably vertical.
- Legendary Trait – Moving Target: Increased movement speed and target acquisition when moving while aiming down sights.
With a little fewer than half of Mindbender’s kills, Dust Rock Blues is another solid shotgun choice for those Guardians who like to get up close and personal when they spread the blues to the Guardians they deny of Flawless runs.
6. Spare Rations: 1,580,879 kills
- Legendary Kinetic Hand Cannon
- Exotic Intrinsic – Lightweight Frame: Superb handling. Move faster with this weapon equipped.
- Legendary Trait – Explosive Payload: Projectiles create an area-of-effect detonation on impact.
It’s hard to go wrong with hand cannons in the Crucible, and Trials is no exception. The handling on this thing is as smooth as its design. In fact, it’s so easy to handle, you might just forget you’re wielding a hand cannon. The best part is, this PvP favorite hasn’t changed one bit.
5. Beloved: 2,178,146 kills
- Legendary Solar Sniper Rifle
- Exotic Intrinsic – Adaptive Frame: A well-rounded grip, reliable and sturdy.
- Legendary Trait – Box Breathing: Aiming this weapon for a short period without firing grants bonus range and precision damage that resets after firing or exiting zoom.
If you don’t have Revoker but you simply have to snipe in Trials, look no further than Beloved. It’s quite easy to obtain, too. Just fire up the Menagerie and farm away. Its accuracy and range seem hardly compromised by recent sniper nerfs.
4. SUROS Regime: 2,295,928 kills
- Exotic Kinetic Auto Rifle
- Exotic Intrinsic – SUROS Legacy: The bottom half of each magazine deals bonus damage and has a chance to return health on kill.
- Legendary Trait – Spinning Up: Holding down the trigger increases rate of fire.
While the SUROS Regime is not quite as powerful as Hard Light this season, its Exotic Intrinsic, SUROS Legacy, is an indispensable perk to have in the Trials of Osiris. If you want to use an auto rifle in your kinetic slot or simply don’t have Hard Light, this gun is the clear way to go, especially if you recently grabbed it with your Twitch Prime membership.
3. Mindbender’s Ambition: 2,372,584 kills
- Legendary Solar Shotgun
- Exotic Intrinsic – Aggressive Frame: Hard-hitting, high recoil. Increases rate of fire after kill.
- Legendary Trait – Rampage: Kills with this weapon temporarily grant increased damage. Stacks 3x.
With the latest buff to shotguns, which corrects the precision aim feature, Mindbender’s Ambition is the clear shotgun of choice for Trials. With its powerful impact and exceptional Legendary traits roll options, there are very few bad rolls for this shotgun, especially when it’s so easily farmable.
2. Revoker: 4,616,350
- Legendary Kinetic Sniper Rifle
- Exotic Intrinsic – Aggressive Frame: High damage, high recoil.
- Legendary Trait – Reversal of Fortune: Missing a shot returns the bullet to the magazine after a short duration.
The Revoker’s kill count makes it more than twice as deadly as its sniper rifle cousin, Beloved. If a player is fortunate enough to have their Revoker rolled with the Reversal of Fortune trait, missing a shot is not the end of the world, but instead grants another chance to strike where the Trials game mode typically wouldn’t allow it. After a major nerf of Izanagi’s Burden, it’s easy to see how Revoker has rapidly become the new sniper favorite.
1. Hard Light: 8,782,900
- Exotic Void Auto Rifle
- Exotic Intrinsic – Volatile Light: Rounds fired from this weapon have no damage falloff, overpenetrate targets, and ricochet off hard surfaces. Projectile damage increases after bounce.
- Legendary Trait – The Fundamentals: Change this weapon’s damage type, cycling between Solar, Arc, and Void.
Coming in first as Destiny 2‘s most popular yet hated weapon for Trials on both sides of the spectrum is Hard Light. When it was first released, it became notorious for its poor performance. Now, after receiving a buff that reduced the auto rifle’s screen shake, Hard Light is infamous for being the weapon that stops Guardians dead in their Flawless tracks, halting all progress on their own trips to the Lighthouse.
While this guide only lists the top 10 weapons by kill count in the first week of the Trials of Osiris, this article lists all of the top Exotic weapons for Crucible, and this one lists all of the best Legendary PvP weapons. Glance through them to see what you might already have in your possession, and maybe we’ll see some changes to this list following this coming weekend as players look for more weapons to carry their teams to victory.
The kill counts in this article were sourced from Destiny Trials Report, whereas the weapon perks and images were sourced from Light.GG.
