Elemental subclasses in Destiny 2 have undergone a massive shift, allowing you to select your preferred abilities, aspects, and supers instead of the previously pre-set options. Similarly, several of the best subclass-specific Exotic Armor pieces have received a shakeup in their function and viability.
Now that the dust has settled, we have a clearer picture of which Exotics are must-haves and which you should leave in your vault. Some options finally reach their potential, while newer armor pieces are welcomed into the fray with some unexpected abilities.
Updated July 21st, 2023 by Andrew Scariati: From powerful new Void Hunter Exotics like Triton Vice to some old reworked favorites, there's never been a better time to try Void. The plethora of powerful available armor choices that work on meta-relevant builds gives life to several play styles. Some Void Titan Exotics now find themselves among the very best choices for endgame content, regardless of class or subclass. If you've ignored Void in favor of another element, you may just have to reconsider after seeing the best Void Exotics.
11 Astrocyte Verse – Warlock
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Move To Survive:
- Blink further and more frequently.
- Weapon readies quickly out of Blink and radar remains up.
- Provides a moderate benefit to the airborne effectiveness stat of all weapons.
An old friend returns to its long-awaited former glory, finally moving from a fashion-only choice back into relevance. Astrocyte Verse provides several benefits to Warlocks who have forsaken their floating ways in favor of the instant teleportation of Blink. The biggest benefits include the 25 percent increase in Blink distance and a 16 percent cooldown reduction (CDR) before you can Blink again.
With Bungie's addition of an Airborne Effectiveness stat that governs midair accuracy, Astrocyte Verse gains further utility for Warlocks who can't keep their feet on the ground. With an added 30 points in your Airborne Effectiveness and maxed-out weapon-ready speed, you'll get your shots off more quickly and accurately in the air than ever before.
10 No Backup Plans – Titan
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Force Multiplier:
- While using a Void subclass, rapid Shotgun final blows or defeating a powerful combatant with a Shotgun will grant a Void overshield and health regeneration.
- While you have a Void overshield, Shotguns deal more damage, and Shotgun final blows refresh the overshield.
- Provides a moderate benefit to Shotgun airborne effectiveness and reload speed.
For Titans who love to run and gun, No Backup Plans provide lethal efficiency to your shotgun-punching ways. The exotic perk ensures you can continue the loop of rushing in, getting a shotgun final blow, then surviving long enough to do it again.
If you're using your jump or Shield Bash to gain speed and distance in the air, you'll also appreciate the added 30 to your Airborne Effectiveness, much like the boost provided by Astrocyte Verse for Warlocks. Regardless of your choice of sliding or gliding, you'll want to try this in PvE to test just how potent your shotgun playstyle can be.
9 Doom Fang Pauldron – Titan
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Horns of Doom:
- Void melee kills give Super energy.
- While Sentinel Shield is active, melee kills recharge Shield Throw, which extends your Super on hits.
If you can't get enough of your Sentinel Shield Super, Doom Fang Pauldron will provide you extended Super uptime, increase your kill potential, and prove an excellent fashion choice.
Its function is simple and to the point, and the benefits are fantastic in add-clearing situations or if you just can't get enough of that amazing shield Titan build. If you're more concerned with fashion over function, enjoy the intimidation factor this armor will add to your lumbering, punch-drunk Titan.
8 Graviton Forfeit – Hunter
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Vanishing Shadow:
- Increases the duration of any invisibility effects.
- While you are invisible, your melee recharges faster, your weapons reload faster, and your Recovery is greatly increased.
For Hunters who love disappearing from sight, there are few better -- and surely no better-looking Exotics than Graviton Forfeit. During your period of invisibility, you'll notice your melee recharging faster with a maximum boon of 800 percent in PvE and 300 percent in PvP.
In addition to your lightning-quick melee recharge, being invisible sets your Recovery and Reload Speed stats to 100, allowing you to get back into the fight at the perfect moment. There's no need to rush, so take advantage of those extra seconds of invisibility to pick exactly when and how to strike. For example, finishing combatants may be a more beneficial option than simply shooting them, depending on which Void fragments you've selected.
7 Helm Of Saint-14 – Titan
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Starless Night:
- Targets that enter Ward of Dawn are blinded, while allies that pass through gain a Void overshield.
- Guarding with Sentinel Shield blinds nearby targets.
The Helm of Saint-14 provides the rare opportunity to cosplay as one of the game's most famous NPCs — Saint-14 himself — to go along with some excellent practical uses for Ward of Dawn Titans.
As if Ward of Dawn wasn't exceptionally useful as a panic button already, this helm makes it a fortress for both you and your fireteam, cementing its place as a top-tier support Exotic. For Titans who prefer Sentinel Shield, you'll gain the ability to blind nearby targets while guarding, so while it won't receive as much benefit as Ward of Dawn, you'll look terrifying all the same.
6 Nezarec's Sin – Warlock
- Abyssal Extractors: Void-damage kills increase ability energy recharge rate.
Speaking of Exotics with a terrifyingly intimidating visage, Void Warlocks should love Nezarec's Sin for its massive increase to your ability uptime, dark lore, and of course, as the centerpiece to any outfit. Void kills trigger Nezarec's Abyssal Extractors perk, which provides a 300 percent increase to grenade recharge rate and a 200 percent class ability and Super recharge rate bump.
Each subsequent Void kill will elongate Abyssal Extractors' duration by 2.5 seconds, up to a maximum of 20, putting you in the recharge rate fast lane as you shred through lower-tier enemies in preparation to unleash your powerful Nova Bomb or reality-bending Nova Warp.
5 Triton Vice – Hunter
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Halberdier's Reach:
- Increases Glaive reload speed and melee damage when surrounded.
- Glaive melee final blows overflow a round to the magazine.
- Glaive projectile final blows detonate if the Glaive deals damage matching your subclass type.
Triton Vice is a wonderful exotic choice that reaches its potential when combined with Ecliptic Distaff, Season 20's ritual weapon. Replenishing Aegis and Destabilizing Rounds are excellent perk choices for Distaff, making it one of the best Glaives in Destiny 2.
When Ecliptic Distaff and Triton Vice combine, you have an incredibly potent combination that was born to tear through Legend Lost Sectors and Grandmaster Nightfall content with ease. Triton Vice will improve Destabilizing Rounds (DR) as enemies will immediately become Volatile due to DR's effect and then trigger a chain reaction when Halberdier's Reach activates the detonation after a final blow.
This is a must-try combination that seems intentionally made for each other.
4 Ursa Furiosa – Titan
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Ursine Guard:
- Move faster while guarding when Sentinel Shield is active.
- Guarded damage converts to Super energy when the Super ends.
Support Titans are eating well these days, with Ursa Furiosa providing incredible enhancements to Sentinel Shield users that rival what Helm of Saint-14 does for Ward of Dawn. Firstly, while blocking with your Sentinel Shield, you move 90 percent faster than your normal speed.
Secondly, Ursa Furiosa converts any damage received while guarding into Super energy once your shield expires, up to a maximum of 50 percent of your Super. These perks allow you to constantly use Sentinel Shield to keep your team protected. However, be wary not to combine it with Well of Radiance as Well's overshield interferes with the damage taken and prevents you from regaining your Super energy upon completion.
3 Omnioculus – Hunter
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Beyond The Veil:
- You gain a second Smoke Bomb charge and have damage resistance while invisible.
- When you make an ally invisible, they gain damage resistance while invisible, and you gain 50 percent melee energy.
Omnioculus stands alone as perhaps the most unsettling Exotic Armor, both due to its creepy blinking eyes and excellent usage of invisibility to disorient your opponents. If you time it correctly, you can infinitely maintain smoke bombs by making two allies invisible with each throw. However, the allies must not already be invisible for the melee energy refund to trigger.
The damage resistance the invisibility provides is also significant, boasting a 50 percent defensive increase in PvE and a 25 percent resistance in PvP. If you're aiming to challenge some of the game's hardest content, like Grandmaster Nightfalls, then this Exotic will make your life much easier with a little teamwork.
2 Contraverse Hold – Warlock
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Chaotic Exchanger:
- Resist incoming damage while charging your Void grenade.
- Charged Void grenades return grenade energy on a hit.
Contraverse Hold provides a superb blend of offensive and defensive capabilities that shine the brightest on Devour builds. While charging your Void grenade, you receive 20 percent damage resistance while you wait for it to fully charge. Once charged, hitting targets with your grenade will grant a 2,000 percent grenade recharge rate increase in PvE and 1,000 percent in PvP.
This works best with Vortex Grenades, as the initial hit will trigger the recharge, and the last few hits of lingering damage should activate the recharge again once its four-second cooldown elapses. Careful placement among crowds or large, immobile foes provides the greatest benefit to ensure you fully recharge your grenade almost instantly.
1 Gyrfalcon's Hauberk – Hunter
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See Me, Feel Me:
- Your Void weapons gain Volatile Rounds after you emerge from being invisible.
- When you are invisible and defeat a combatant while using a finisher, all your weapons gain bonus damage; you and your nearby allies gain a reserve overshield and improved class ability regeneration.
- These reserve overshields can be deployed by using a class ability.
Gyrfalcon's Hauberk is more than just a mouthful to say, as it's a handful to deal with for your opponents. Gyrfalcon's provides a multi-layered set of benefits, headlined by a 35 percent damage bonus (15 percent in PvP) once you emerge from your invisibility. Once you or your allies activate your class ability, the overshield is deployed, allowing you to continue your void-fueled rampage.
For Hunters who use the Vanishing Step Aspect to go invisible after dodging, this enables the perfect protection loop as you will be going invisible, emerging to inflict a ton of damage or finish a combatant, then using the Vanishing Step ability to gain an overshield and repeat this deadly process. This can alternatively be combined with the Echo of Obscurity fragment for extra invisibility shenanigans.