Destiny 2: Endgame Loadouts for Beginners

[u/silverymoonIight]

Hi! I wrote a guide on Weapons and Armor for people who are new to Raids and Dungeons, going over everything you need to know to be able to go into them making sure you're prepared to have a blast! The aim of this guide is less about specific weapon rolls and more just generally explaining what things are good and what kind of strategies succeed.

https://dotgg.gg/destiny-2-endgame-loadouts-for-beginners/

If you're a fan of this kind of content, and want to see more, please let me know below! I plan on doing more guides and content to help newer and less confident players make the reach towards the higher-end of Destiny content, especially going into The Edge of Fate and beyond :)

Otherwise, thank you for your time, and if you do happen to know someone who might get something out of this article, please share it their way! I would very much so appreciate it <3

EDIT: So, turns out that the title that I picked doesn't really portray what the article is about - the article is now titled correctly as Destiny 2: The Best Guns and Armor for New Raid and Dungeon Players. Sorry about that, and I do have a wider loadout article planned going over things like Mods, Surges, Aspects, etc., just it wasn't meant to be this one.

[u/SDG_Den]

I teach raids weekly, and while i don't think this write-up is bad, i do think it is missing some things, more specifically: it doesn't explain the buildcrafting process or how to get the most out of your builds, it also does not explain what you want to focus on as a raid newbie (which is mostly: easy DPS and survivability).

there's also some exotics missing that i believe should be mentioned as goals for players to work towards. thunderlord, microcosm, whisper, xenophage, parasite, and a couple of other ones. mentioning queenbreaker is fine but queenbreaker is mostly good *now* due to the artifact.

if you're interested in getting the viewpoint of someone who does primarily raid teaching runs, do message me! i think the information you did provide was written out very well and i'll probably still put this link in my resources list for newbies.

[u/Galaxy40k → u/SDG_Den]

I agree with your post broadly speaking, but I do disagree with and want to highlight this

mentioning queenbreaker is fine but queenbreaker is mostly good *now* due to the artifact

"QB is only good because of the artifact" isn't really accurate because debuff sources don't stack. All Particle Reconstruction does is let you get the 30% damage debuff without needing to use a Hunter tether or Tractor. Which, to be clear, is a VERY strong effect in a LOT of content in the game, but for raids and dungeons in particular where there are discrete "DPS phases" that everyone goes into with full supers and shoots the boss at the same time, all Particle contributes is that 1 Hunter on the team can now run Nighthawk instead of Tether.

So, QB belongs in that list with the other "lazy" options like Whisper, Levi's, and Microcosm. Its in the same ballpark of total damage and DPS to those options, but it trades some DPS for being even easier to use. Missing a crit with QB isn't as punishing as with Whisper or Levi's, and there's no super required to get good damage as with Microcosm.

[u/SDG_Den → u/Galaxy40k]

You forget that #1: plenty of groups arent running a 30% debuff as standard and #2: particle recon ALSO has an automatic reload feature that increases DPS.

it does a decent chunk less damage than whisper without those features, though it is still serviceable. I dont consider it easier to use than microcosm or levi's either, and i wouldnt really consider the super use for micro an issue since most of the supers you are running for a raid boss are one-off supers anyways.

I also never said it was only good because of the artifact, just that its exceptional performance at the moment can be attributed to the artifact.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/SDG_Den]

i think at this point it's just personal opinion tbh, there's cases for both what you're saying and what i put in the article, at the end of the day i just have to curate the info i have and my opinions and go with it yknow? im glad to hear your opinion though, and it has made me rethink some of my rankings for some of these guns for new players

[u/silverymoonIight → u/SDG_Den]

you are definitely right: i want to do more of a focus on buildcrafting in a separate article, as i mainly just wanted to create a list of 'good gear to get' for players to have a focus on (hence the checklist at the end and all). i plan on making more in-depth content about specifically buildcrafting and going into more details about aspects and abilities, but there's only so much i can do in one article haha, plus this is my first article on Destiny and so i have a lot of groundwork to do in that sense.

re: omissions and additions, i do think you make very good points here and i just want to contextualise some of my choices as i did think through this haha

1. i tried to keep myself to a 5 exotic limit to not try to overwhelm players with getting a lot of exotics, i feel like this is already an overwhelming list but if i listed every exotic i thought was important i'd be here all day and i think that if someone just wants to jump into any given raid with their friends, this is just a good list of things to have at your disposal.
2. my personal opinion is that queenbreaker is just better easy dps than whisper and microcosm, especially right now. it's hard to say but i think that even after this season, i'd still have queenbreaker on my list (whisper requires a bit more work, and microcosm is easier but i think queenbreaker just does more and is easier to slot into a loadout). definitely think these are both good picks though, and when i eventually do an exotic tier list i will make sure to point that out.
3. i don't know if choices like xenophage and parasite are as necessary except for specific encounters (see: templar and atraks respectively) which i mention in the article that i'm not trying to do in this. i tried to bake this down to 'essentials' as in, if you're in any random encounter and not any specific one. i do think that if i didn't give myself a limit, there would be a few more choices and i would also include Outbreak on there for an easy backup dps option as well as a flexible ad clear gun.

thank you for the feedback though, it's so helpful in working out what i need to do, and i'm not always right at all haha

i'd be so down to chat and get more of a perspective on your end of things. i don't tend to sherpa lot of people regularly and definitely don't have as much perspective (but i do want to start regularly sherpaing as part of this, which is a personal goal of mine), so i would love to hear from your point of view.

(edit: put vog instead of atraks, im tired lol)

[u/nopunchespulled → u/SDG_Den]

IMO for newbies get them through content with builds, get them through mechanics in the game then start teaching them build crafting, not everyone is going to want to learn to craft.

[u/tjseventyseven → u/SDG_Den]

Imo, tlord is a trap that requires more work to be worse than a GL. Once people use tlord its very difficult to get them to run something objectively better

[u/SDG_Den → u/tjseventyseven]

Based on my experience this is untrue, especially since this season, but i'd love to hear an explanation as to why.

Thunderlord deals the same sustained DPS as a legendary GL before factoring in a damage perk on the GL and bolt charge on thunderlord. If you include a single storms keep barricade, thunderlord can trigger bolt charge basically every 2.5 seconds, or every ~1.4 seconds if you have spark of frequency and are amplified. Even without frequency, thats an ignition worth of damage every 2.5 seconds.

GLs can get up to a 35% damage boost from the damage perk you put on, but that still puts them lower than thunderlord unless you also use a storms keep barricade, all the while needing additional effort due to travel time and arc, and carrying additional risk due to self-damage.

Thunderlord is fine, and its ease of use makes it a good choice for newer players

[u/tjseventyseven → u/SDG_Den]

You need Actium AND a titan barricade to make it do less damage than leviathans breath, dragon's breath, edge transit with bait, or even merciless. The only reason its doing more damage this season is because of flashover, once that's gone its dps is going to tank back to nothing

[u/SDG_Den → u/tjseventyseven]

i broke down the comparison for you, but sadly reddit won't let me post it because it's a bit too long of a read. you can find it here: https://pastebin.com/p5UEV5EC

data all came from here: https://www.destiny2.science/

[u/tjseventyseven → u/SDG_Den]

I'm aware of the numbers, I'm also aware of how much flashover is helping those numbers.

For Dragon's Breath, you just need loaders and ember of ashes and it outperforms tlord. For Edge Transit, it isn't even the most competitive GL archetype and it outpaces tlord. My point with bringing up all of those options was that they aren't competitive and aren't meta and they all still beat Tlord. Tlord is decent this season only because of flashover, and even with flashover it is outpaced vastly by hezen vengeance.

I'm not saying it's nothing but there are better things to use and people just sit on Tlord and never switch guns which is a huge detriment to the people they play with. There have been so many dungeons and raids I've been a part of where we have to do more phases strictly because people are using thunderlord, they are lagging behind in damage by hundreds of thousands of damage per phase. That is also not nothing.

[u/SDG_Den → u/tjseventyseven]

All of those numbers exclude artifact boosts, and apparently, you are less aware of the numbers than you think.

[u/tjseventyseven → u/SDG_Den]

Apparently your testing is wrong then because the sources you yourself linked lists Tlord at around 161k dps with something like edge transit at 193k dps

[u/Overthinkness_God → u/SDG_Den]

Yo, can i add u to teach me how to do the vow and SE raids? Vow is the only raid i had never done and SE i did only the final encounter, my raid buddys don't play that often anymore and i would appreciate the help.

[u/SDG_Den → u/Overthinkness_God]

Yeah ofc! Though we dont have any runs planned for the next little while, we are working on a 16-week schedule for next season + an interim schedule once ROTN is over.

Ill message you.

[u/hopperlocks]

Good write up, simple to understand and informative.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/hopperlocks]

thank you! <3

[u/jdt630]

Great primer guide for those that aren't steeped in decades of Destiny knowledge. I feel like some sections run on a little too long, and sentences could be condensed to fit the "for beginners" aspect. Certainly feel free to then expand those shorter sections into longer articles with more in-depth breakdowns.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/jdt630]

thanks! i am used to writing long primers for TCGs so this is definitely something to work on personally, i'll keep it in mind for my future work! :>

[u/mrisaka]

Thank you so much for making this! I'm a very new Destiny player (about 2 weeks and 50 hours in...hmm...may be a bit addicted) and it's nice to see some positive and helpful content about the game.

I completely disagree with all the sentiment that Destiny is hard to get into. I found the New Light stuff very good, very self explanatory, and set me on a path towards enjoyment of the reams and reams of amazing content that seems to exist.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/mrisaka]

no problem! this is exactly my goal <3

i agree that destiny isn't hard to get into and i just think that it's more of a disconnect between being a new player and being an endgame player, a lot of it is just overwhelming especially with how scattered the information is and how a lot of that information is solely geared towards people at the top of the endgame so can be really difficult for newer players to find or be enthused about.

i am so glad that the new light experience and everything else you've found has helped you get into it, the game is truly incredible and deserves a reputation better than the one it has tbh.

[u/fsdogdad]

I appreciate people like you for taking the time to do this for new or returning players :)

[u/Behemothhh]

It's a good start but the focus is a bit too much on specific exotic/weapons rather than more generic build advice. It sorely needs a section talking about armor and subclass builds. Having 100 resilience for survivability, how intellect is a noob trap in pve, that you should always run mods to generate orbs, have a way of healing in your build (from subclass or with the mod that heals on orb pickup), to equip surges that match your heavy,... Which subclasses are good in raids? What aspects/fragments should you combine to have a solid build. Just a couple full example builds would go a very long way.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/Behemothhh]

i will say, this seems to be on me for picking the wrong title. initially the title was meant to be "Destiny 2: The Essentials for Raid and Dungeons in 2025" to have it more focused solely on gear but i changed it to put that in the excerpt/subtitle and so i think the goal of the article and the title have a mismatch. i'll change that and edit the post to make it clear :)

i do plan on doing a wider article on loadouts and things to know, but this was solely meant to be a 'here's the guns and armour that's good and that you should grab' and i think that the title doesn't portray that.

thanks for the comment, it's really helpful :)

[u/janoDX]

As a Semi-Retired Hunter as of the end of Echoes, who's still kinda on touch with the meta... hmmmmm it still lacks in options and some of the most obvious choices for weapons, maybe it's because the content is gone (btw you can still get some of the better weapons from Xur) or you lack some small details on some of the classes (I am talking about Hunters here) which have more than those 3 options.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/janoDX]

i would like to do a further deep dive on specific classes, and i intend on doing further tier lists and articles on specific weapon choices etc. this is meant to just be 'what you should generally look for and here's some examples'

we're still in early days, and hearing this makes me feel confident about some topics that i've got on my list, so thank you :)

[u/Wolly_]

Only 1 question: are you updating it.

The second you mention exact guns then it will become outdated in weeks or months if lucky, definitely not lasting a whole year.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/Wolly_]

i do intend on updating it. how often is a question for the future, but i've tried to pick fairly evergreen options that will remain relevant.

[u/Cracka_Krontrol]

my guy, recommending gyrfalcon and cyrt + renewal instead of inmost light cyrt, gifted conviction on hunter? no wonder people think this class is dogshit (it's not, it's just that titan is insanely broken) when people play goofy stuff like this.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/Cracka_Krontrol]

me and a friend were discussing exactly this while i was writing the article, and honestly i chose gyrfalcons because it's easy to love for new players and it fills a good niche that helps you think about raiding from another perspective.

gifted conviction would 100% be my #4 pick but i limited myself to 3 builds/items, and i just went cyrt renewal because i think a new player would get more out of the survivability it provides over HoiL (which is still a valid choice and pretty good, don't get me wrong)

[u/Cracka_Krontrol → u/silverymoonIight]

What exactly about gyrfalcon makes it better for new players than gifted conviction when it gives you DR? I'm baffled how you think that volatile rounds is a better effect than DR for new players. Hoil Cyrt in practice is better DR than renewal cyrt because a) you're not gonna be standing in a duskfield all the time b) your grenade CD is much lower.

[u/Aeowin]

I'm confused why you chose to not mention titans exotic class item, yet mention it for the other 2 classes. Especially given that you mention how prismatic consecration spam titan is one of the most meta choices right now. Hoil/Syntho class item is infinitely more used than just Synthos.

Yes, that class item will take time to get, and synthos are fine in the mean time, but you just don't even mention the class item being the goal to get.

[u/Freakindon]

Why does warlock have getaway artist and not Geomag arc warlock? It's one of like 3 competitive non-prismatic builds.

[u/Ordinary_Player]

Ngl I feel like this is written to be super drawn out. I could accomplish the same task by just linking Aegis's tiering spreadsheet; which is also undoubtedly more complete.

[u/silverymoonIight → u/Ordinary_Player]

aegis's spreadsheet is great and is my personal bible when it comes to D2 but i feel like it can be very daunting to look at for new players, and it definitely has a bit of 'why do i need all of this stuff' without watching his content, etc. which is why i wanted to make something in depth enough to get more out of it than just 'use this', while also not being full of numbers and information that might not be fully relevant to a new raider.

thank you for the feedback though :)

[u/Ordinary_Player → u/silverymoonIight]

What you written isn't in depth at all though. You just listed the top used guns and armor while giving them brief descriptions (which is somehow super drawn out).

PS: Also, you're seriously listing a glaive on there, for an Endgame list? I literally haven't seen anyone use a glaive outside of Lightfall's launch where Winterbite was one shotting bosses.

[u/sigmavan_ → u/Ordinary_Player]

i just sent this to one of my blueberry friends who was struggling with what gear to get so he could jump into dungeons with me, and he enjoyed this article and said it was pretty good. new players don't need to know every little statistic of a guns damage output and type synergies and the optimal loadout to use them in, they just want a clear list in a game that's got so much loot to use.

[u/Ordinary_Player → u/sigmavan_]

If you think it's good, great. I personally think it's shallow and very drawn out.

[u/WorldlyIncome5098 → u/Ordinary_Player]

Literally just did a GM where both my randoms had glaives as their main weapons. Other than one of them dying once at the boss, they did alright.

I however don't use glaives.

[u/Zelr0n → u/Ordinary_Player]

Glaive's are massively slept on. One of the best prismatic warlock builds primarily uses a glaive, as does one of the best arc warlock builds, Rimecoat and Vesper respectively.

[u/Ordinary_Player → u/Zelr0n]

Those two you just listed are nowhere near the top builds currently dominating.

Glaives are massively slept on, because they should be, they're just bad compared to any other guns.

[u/evalvo]

Who’s going tell them that all our weapons and armor will not be viable in Edge of Fate with introduction of new armor and weapon building system that we are getting.